My old ThinkPad 760XL, bought used from eBay, only needed a new battery and hard drive. The screen is still very bright, the keyboard and trackpoint still work fine and it's built like a tank. It runs Windows 98SE with old software and old hardware that requires a parallel port, etc.
Getting inside it to replace the battery or hard drive is a 1-second job that only requires pushing two levers on the side. It has spare room inside that's big enough to store three PCMCIA cards. I plan on replacing the hard drive with a 4GB compactflash card to make it even more rugged and get a longer battery life.
Is it sexy or ergonomic? Hell no, but it's 18-years old and it still works fine. That's what a ThinkPad is all about.
If you enhance a prior idea, isn't the enhancement a new thing in itself?
I do agree about the whole thing being a mess, especially software patents. I don't even want to know how much money Atari made on the concept of sprites.
I get the idea about having multiple people trying to make their own version of "the best GUI", the problem with that is that users need to keep learning new interfaces and programs that don't follow the standard of the OS they're running on.
A good example of breaking standards is Adobe CS6 on Mac OS X. Horizontal scrolling works with Shift+scrollwheel in all OS X applications EXCEPT in CS6 where Adobe somehow decided that it should be Command+scrollwheel. And there's no way to make it behave in the standard way, making me hate Adobe a little more every time I encounter their "better idea".
There's two problems with your ideas about Apple: 1. First of all, the patent system is a mess but it's there and you have to use it to protect your ideas like everybody else is doing. 2. Steve Jobs was right about Android needing to invent their own damn stuff. If all they're doing is copying Apple then Android will never be able to create new stuff. It doesn't matter if the patents and courtroom wars are valid or not, the very idea what Android can just take everything Apple does and put it in their own OS is an ass-backward way of doing things. They'll always be followers if that's all they do.
The wild life crossing the road would suddenly become blind and wouldn't be able to get out of the way when hearing a car approaching. Don't think small critters, think deers or bigger. You really don't want to crash into one of these.
Even with a receipt, if he gives or sells a DVD then he gives up the license for that movie. He could give/sell the boxes away and simply keep the original discs inside a tower like you get when buying 100's of blank discs. That way he would still be legal and still own the licenses but cut on the space required for them.
Another idea: apart from those stupid printed-directly-on-cardboard boxes, most DVDs come in plastic boxes so he could keep the printed sleeves in a binder and the discs in a tower.
Slashdot Mirror
Disable Flash and Java. Most websites with video will work fine, even if some require to change your user-agent to "iPad".
What do you mean, your browser can't display H.264 natively? Get a real browser.
My old ThinkPad 760XL, bought used from eBay, only needed a new battery and hard drive. The screen is still very bright, the keyboard and trackpoint still work fine and it's built like a tank. It runs Windows 98SE with old software and old hardware that requires a parallel port, etc.
Getting inside it to replace the battery or hard drive is a 1-second job that only requires pushing two levers on the side. It has spare room inside that's big enough to store three PCMCIA cards. I plan on replacing the hard drive with a 4GB compactflash card to make it even more rugged and get a longer battery life.
Is it sexy or ergonomic? Hell no, but it's 18-years old and it still works fine. That's what a ThinkPad is all about.
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." - Ronald Reagan
Do you mind explaining that bit about flash? There's no Adobe Flash on iPhones...
Apple didn't steal anything from Xerox, they simply recognized the true value of something that Xerox created and ignored.
If you enhance a prior idea, isn't the enhancement a new thing in itself?
I do agree about the whole thing being a mess, especially software patents. I don't even want to know how much money Atari made on the concept of sprites.
I get the idea about having multiple people trying to make their own version of "the best GUI", the problem with that is that users need to keep learning new interfaces and programs that don't follow the standard of the OS they're running on.
A good example of breaking standards is Adobe CS6 on Mac OS X. Horizontal scrolling works with Shift+scrollwheel in all OS X applications EXCEPT in CS6 where Adobe somehow decided that it should be Command+scrollwheel. And there's no way to make it behave in the standard way, making me hate Adobe a little more every time I encounter their "better idea".
There's two problems with your ideas about Apple:
1. First of all, the patent system is a mess but it's there and you have to use it to protect your ideas like everybody else is doing.
2. Steve Jobs was right about Android needing to invent their own damn stuff. If all they're doing is copying Apple then Android will never be able to create new stuff. It doesn't matter if the patents and courtroom wars are valid or not, the very idea what Android can just take everything Apple does and put it in their own OS is an ass-backward way of doing things. They'll always be followers if that's all they do.
And here's a picture of it (NSFW).
Correction: you can transfer it all to that magical drive.
"interactive lights that switch on as cars pass"
The wild life crossing the road would suddenly become blind and wouldn't be able to get out of the way when hearing a car approaching. Don't think small critters, think deers or bigger. You really don't want to crash into one of these.
http://www.tofurky.com/tofurkyproducts/deli_slices.html
No, I did mean James Cameron, although the parent talked about lowering the bar and not raising it.
We're going to need James Cameron.
You obviously haven't used Steam on Mac. I'd choose iTunes on Windows over Steam on Mac any day.
Even if the number of Mac users is growing it doesn't mean the client doesn't suck. Steam on Mac is worst than iTunes+Quicktime+Safari on Windows.
Anti-Google comments automatically need to be pro-Microsoft. Only on Slashdot.
Help governments everywhere spy on their citizens.
Idiots.
Terminator Baby
Even with a receipt, if he gives or sells a DVD then he gives up the license for that movie. He could give/sell the boxes away and simply keep the original discs inside a tower like you get when buying 100's of blank discs. That way he would still be legal and still own the licenses but cut on the space required for them.
Another idea: apart from those stupid printed-directly-on-cardboard boxes, most DVDs come in plastic boxes so he could keep the printed sleeves in a binder and the discs in a tower.
I want to say FOUR words to you. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Think about that.
Who uses Windows?
We need to build our own Slashdot! With blackjack and hookers!
Just random technology news and cool hack-of-the-day kind of thing. You know, REAL news for NERDS.
"You need to have the Adobe Flash Player to view this content."
Godamnit Slashdot, we're almost in 2013 and you're still pushing that has-been technology dinosaur from the 1990's.