GSM is a predominantly French-designed standard (GSM originally stood for ), and compared to CDMA2000 it is quite outdated (UMTS, the "new" GSM, is based on CDMA technology).
CDMA2000 has faster data than GSM (1xEV-DO is faster than GPRS/EDGE, and 1x-RTT is faster than GPRS), and it supports more users in the same bandwidth. It also excells in rural areas where the slot delay prevents a GSM cell from contacting hansets, even if the signal is strong enough.
That said, GSM is the right standard for Iraq. Every other country in the region uses GSM. It's also less encumbered by patents, unlike the relatively proprietary CDMA2000.
Frankly, I think that Iraq should be deciding for itself what phone system to implement. Here in the US, the government didn't mandate any particular system, and as a result Qualcomm was allowed to develop a whole new system for cellular communication.
Then it would be impossible to get political change in the US. We have an electoral vote for many reasons, but one of them is that it makes the elections close. Neither Bush nor Kerry would pay any attention to my state if we had a popular vote. There's simply not enough population here.
The purpose of an electoral vote is to make every vote count. A potential leader cannot simply attract the majority, they must attract all of the different opinions accross the entire country. The idea is that the president should have to compromise to represent *all* the people, instead of simply representing the majority.
"Have you seen on TV advertisements for drug companies now selling drugs whose purpose is to "Provide positive energy?" another drugs actual slogan is "It takes the edge off" Yet if I want to do the same thing with marijuana I'm the criminal?"
I bet the drugs those companies are selling aren't restricted by the DEA.
"if I write a program that takes over your computer and spies on you -- I'm a hacker/terrorist. A company does it -- its legit (spyware/adware)."
Spyware/Adware is legal because the user agrees, albeit often without knowing it, to install it on their computer. You cna do this.
"Sorry for the bile -- I've just had it with our country right now."
MHz *does* matter. A 3GHz Opteron should be 2x as fast as a 1.5GHz Opteron (of course, that doesn't take into account the rest of the system - memory bandwidth, disk bandwidth, etc.)
The "MHz Myth" referrs to the fact that MHz is a poor metric to compare CPUs with. It's fair to compare a 3.2GHz P4 Prescott to a 3.6GHz P4 Prescott and expect that the 3.6GHz chip will be faster. What doesn't make sense is to comare a 3GHz P4 to a 2.4GHz Opteron and claim that the P4 is faster.
With the proper drivers and a little rewiring, you can already use XBox controllers on your PC. They are standard USB, so all you need to do is change the connector.
"Windows update depends on activex. Without it you cannot scan for packages. It's best to just go ahead and use ie for windows update. The odds of WU getting hacked are pretty slim as surely Microsoft concentrates all its security efforts there, and if your DNS isn't pointing to someplace bad then it ought to be fairly safe in general."
The updates are Authenticode signed anyway, so unless Microsoft's private key is compromised you can be sure that you are getting unmodified updates.
This story is ripe with bias. Microsoft isn't stupid or powerful enough to force everyone to abandon all of their USB devices.
That's why neither this nor NGSCP (Palladium) are of any concern.
Everyone wants to FUD about how Microsoft is going to make a BIOS that "locks out linux", or a USB standard that locks out old devices. It's not going to happen. 5 years from now, you're still going to be able to run Linux on your computer, and you're still going to be able to access your USB devices in Longhorn and Linux.
Now, certain devices - music players, primarily, will probably be "secure" (DRM encumbered). But you'll probably still be able to use them in Linux, so long as someone writes the drivers. The new Microsoft USB-spec is just a way for media players to confirm to the OS (and DRM framework) that they will obey the DRM restrictions.
It's pointless to debate this anyway. It hasn't happened yet. Remember back in 2001 when Slashdot was spreading FUD about Palladium? As it turns out, we can still run Linux on our computers, and we will be able to do so for the immediate future.
The systems I use regularly at school have PIIs @ 300mhz, 128MB of PC100, piss-slow graphics, and awful 4800rpm Quantum drives. They run Windows XP, and while I wouldn't call it "smooth", Word 2003 starts in under 5 seconds. OpenOffice.org takes at least 10 seconds on my Athlon XP 3200+/1GB DDR/WD Raptor/Fedora Core 2 system. Firefox also takes 5+ seconds to start, compared to 2 seconds for the same app on the same system under Windows.
I'm not alone - others I know who use both Windows and Linux/GNOME keep asking me why Windows feels so much faster.
Perhaps, according to you, I should tell them that their experience is simply a fallacy. It's not. Don't "fix" the problem by telling me that Windows "cheats" by precaching recently used binaries, aggressively swapping unused code, sharing system libraries, having a faster GDI (X is fine but GTK2 is rather slow), and leveraging the speed of today's GPUs. Fix the problem by making Linux do the same.
"But what if I was in Italy- and buying from Dell was a pain in the ass?"
It's not. That's why Dell is so successful. No matter who you are or what you need, you call them up, and they ship it to your doorstop.
Dell is very good at what they do: taking Intel parts, slapping them in a box, and shipping them out the door. Dell was the first company that realized that succeeding in the PC business had nothing to do with having the best PCs. Succeeding in the PC business means undercutting everyone else in overhead. That's what their entire business is designed to do, and that's why they succeed.
Cable is easier to deploy (no CO distance limitations, most neighborhoods already have fiber for cable, etc.), it supports higher bandwidth than regular DSL (and the high-bandwidth DSL technologies like VDSL require massive network upgrades).
Like CDMA, cable is technologically superior to DSL. DSL proponents claim that the DSL is better because the bandwidth isn't shared, but in reality, the bandwidth on a cable line is so high (45mbps for DOCSIS 2.0) that it doesn't really make a difference.
In Europe, however, cable isn't nearly as common as in the US. In the US, most people in towns above 5,000 people can get cable. The same can not be said for Europe. That's why DSL is more popular.
Many of the Tablet PCs actually use touch technology from Wacom. If you use a tablet PC, you'll notice that the cursor moves when you hover the stylus above the touch surface - just like a Wacom tablet. Most Tablet PCs are also pressure and angle sensitive.
Slashdot Mirror
GSM is a predominantly French-designed standard (GSM originally stood for ), and compared to CDMA2000 it is quite outdated (UMTS, the "new" GSM, is based on CDMA technology).
CDMA2000 has faster data than GSM (1xEV-DO is faster than GPRS/EDGE, and 1x-RTT is faster than GPRS), and it supports more users in the same bandwidth. It also excells in rural areas where the slot delay prevents a GSM cell from contacting hansets, even if the signal is strong enough.
That said, GSM is the right standard for Iraq. Every other country in the region uses GSM. It's also less encumbered by patents, unlike the relatively proprietary CDMA2000.
Frankly, I think that Iraq should be deciding for itself what phone system to implement. Here in the US, the government didn't mandate any particular system, and as a result Qualcomm was allowed to develop a whole new system for cellular communication.
Get a 17" LCD with the 16ms or 12ms AU Optronics panel, or (better yet) an LCD with the 16ms HyDis panel.
I have the Hitachi CML174SXW (AU Optronics 16ms) and it performs excellently. No "ghosting" in UT2004.
"If we had a direct popular vote..."
Then it would be impossible to get political change in the US. We have an electoral vote for many reasons, but one of them is that it makes the elections close. Neither Bush nor Kerry would pay any attention to my state if we had a popular vote. There's simply not enough population here.
The purpose of an electoral vote is to make every vote count. A potential leader cannot simply attract the majority, they must attract all of the different opinions accross the entire country. The idea is that the president should have to compromise to represent *all* the people, instead of simply representing the majority.
"Have you seen on TV advertisements for drug companies now selling drugs whose purpose is to "Provide positive energy?" another drugs actual slogan is "It takes the edge off" Yet if I want to do the same thing with marijuana I'm the criminal?"
I bet the drugs those companies are selling aren't restricted by the DEA.
"if I write a program that takes over your computer and spies on you -- I'm a hacker/terrorist. A company does it -- its legit (spyware/adware)."
Spyware/Adware is legal because the user agrees, albeit often without knowing it, to install it on their computer. You cna do this.
"Sorry for the bile -- I've just had it with our country right now."
I hope you plan on voting.
MHz *does* matter. A 3GHz Opteron should be 2x as fast as a 1.5GHz Opteron (of course, that doesn't take into account the rest of the system - memory bandwidth, disk bandwidth, etc.)
The "MHz Myth" referrs to the fact that MHz is a poor metric to compare CPUs with. It's fair to compare a 3.2GHz P4 Prescott to a 3.6GHz P4 Prescott and expect that the 3.6GHz chip will be faster. What doesn't make sense is to comare a 3GHz P4 to a 2.4GHz Opteron and claim that the P4 is faster.
"My geforce 2 GTS smoked my FX 5200 with 128 megs of ram I had at work, and that's just plain said."
You probably had a 64-bit memory interface 5200. They really suck. The 128-bit variant is actually pretty decent.
Remember, your FX5200 was probably purchased by the OEM for $30. Yeah, it sucks, but it's a lot cheaper than your GeForce GTS was.
With the proper drivers and a little rewiring, you can already use XBox controllers on your PC. They are standard USB, so all you need to do is change the connector.
"AMD chipsets support slower CPU to memory times than Intel (32bit or 64bit) counterparts. "
Bzzzt... wrong answer.
In AMD64 chips, the chipset doesn't have the memory controller - it's in the CPU.
AMD's CPU-to-DDR latency is much lower than Intel's.
"I do have a digital tuner and the digital broadcasts don't make the trip. I can pick up 1 station in a 30 mile radius"
That's because most digital stations in the country are at low power.
KWGN out of Denver is at 1/2 power, and I can recieve their signal on a 1st-generation digital reciever with a $9.95 pair of rabbit ears.
DTV rocks when it's at full power. Compared to analog, it travels further and provides increased quality.
Now if only the other Denver stations would move to a reasonable power level...
T-Mobile USA - $19.95 per month for unlimited GPRS access with a voice plan. Alternately, $29.95 without a voice plan.
If that's too much, how about $4.95 for "T-Zones" which provides unlimited HTTP and HTTPS access.
Unsurprisingly, we have that in the US too. It's called AT&T Wireless, and they offer EDGE nationally.
Sprint and Verizon offers 1xRTT nationally, and Verizon offers 1xEV-DO in certian markets.
If Amazon displays Google ads, Google could use a cookie to track your purchase.
That's the real problem - networks like DoubleClick are known for using their cookies to track when you access any web page with their advertising.
"Windows update depends on activex. Without it you cannot scan for packages. It's best to just go ahead and use ie for windows update. The odds of WU getting hacked are pretty slim as surely Microsoft concentrates all its security efforts there, and if your DNS isn't pointing to someplace bad then it ought to be fairly safe in general."
The updates are Authenticode signed anyway, so unless Microsoft's private key is compromised you can be sure that you are getting unmodified updates.
This story is ripe with bias. Microsoft isn't stupid or powerful enough to force everyone to abandon all of their USB devices.
That's why neither this nor NGSCP (Palladium) are of any concern.
Everyone wants to FUD about how Microsoft is going to make a BIOS that "locks out linux", or a USB standard that locks out old devices. It's not going to happen. 5 years from now, you're still going to be able to run Linux on your computer, and you're still going to be able to access your USB devices in Longhorn and Linux.
Now, certain devices - music players, primarily, will probably be "secure" (DRM encumbered). But you'll probably still be able to use them in Linux, so long as someone writes the drivers. The new Microsoft USB-spec is just a way for media players to confirm to the OS (and DRM framework) that they will obey the DRM restrictions.
It's pointless to debate this anyway. It hasn't happened yet. Remember back in 2001 when Slashdot was spreading FUD about Palladium? As it turns out, we can still run Linux on our computers, and we will be able to do so for the immediate future.
"This increases the Windows start time but decreases the time taken to start an Office application."
Then why does Windows XP boot twice as fast as most Linux distros?
The systems I use regularly at school have PIIs @ 300mhz, 128MB of PC100, piss-slow graphics, and awful 4800rpm Quantum drives. They run Windows XP, and while I wouldn't call it "smooth", Word 2003 starts in under 5 seconds. OpenOffice.org takes at least 10 seconds on my Athlon XP 3200+/1GB DDR/WD Raptor/Fedora Core 2 system. Firefox also takes 5+ seconds to start, compared to 2 seconds for the same app on the same system under Windows.
I'm not alone - others I know who use both Windows and Linux/GNOME keep asking me why Windows feels so much faster.
Perhaps, according to you, I should tell them that their experience is simply a fallacy. It's not. Don't "fix" the problem by telling me that Windows "cheats" by precaching recently used binaries, aggressively swapping unused code, sharing system libraries, having a faster GDI (X is fine but GTK2 is rather slow), and leveraging the speed of today's GPUs. Fix the problem by making Linux do the same.
Guess who purchased the company who made Virtual PC?
They already have solid x86-on-PPC emulation code.
RealPlayer 10 is installed on my system, and so far it's been excellent:
- No ads, except for a few "upgrade to plus" buttons in the interface
- It didn't add stuff to the startup registry keys
- Ad-Aware and Spybot don't detect anything
"Why not sell music in .ogg and .mp3 then?"
Because the RIAA wouldn't let Real do it. They want DRM, and Vorbis/MP3 don't offer it.
The Diebold machines already run Windows CE.
Currently, Kerry leads in Colorado, as does Ken Salazar, the democratic canidate for Senate opposed by Pete Coors.
It's not over yet. I'd know - I'm working on Salazar's campaign.
"But what if I was in Italy- and buying from Dell was a pain in the ass?"
It's not. That's why Dell is so successful. No matter who you are or what you need, you call them up, and they ship it to your doorstop.
Dell is very good at what they do: taking Intel parts, slapping them in a box, and shipping them out the door. Dell was the first company that realized that succeeding in the PC business had nothing to do with having the best PCs. Succeeding in the PC business means undercutting everyone else in overhead. That's what their entire business is designed to do, and that's why they succeed.
Cable is easier to deploy (no CO distance limitations, most neighborhoods already have fiber for cable, etc.), it supports higher bandwidth than regular DSL (and the high-bandwidth DSL technologies like VDSL require massive network upgrades).
Like CDMA, cable is technologically superior to DSL. DSL proponents claim that the DSL is better because the bandwidth isn't shared, but in reality, the bandwidth on a cable line is so high (45mbps for DOCSIS 2.0) that it doesn't really make a difference.
In Europe, however, cable isn't nearly as common as in the US. In the US, most people in towns above 5,000 people can get cable. The same can not be said for Europe. That's why DSL is more popular.
Guess what? I plugged in a DeskJet 970cxi into my Windows XP system yesterday and it "just works".
Of course, when this happens on a Mac OS X system, it's worthy of front-page status on Slashdot, complete with a mini-dig at XP.
This is why people call Slashdot "Apple biased".
Many of the Tablet PCs actually use touch technology from Wacom. If you use a tablet PC, you'll notice that the cursor moves when you hover the stylus above the touch surface - just like a Wacom tablet. Most Tablet PCs are also pressure and angle sensitive.