Seriously, in the past 3 months we've eliminated both and switched to Over-The-Air broadcasts supplemented by digital downloads (your pick Amazon/Apple/Sony/Netflix/Hulu/etc.), and the occasional purchase of season DVDs.
Its dropped out "TV" bill by 50% and we're still watching the shows we want, but with more freedom, better picture quality, and less commercials.
If Best Buy's display were all one had to go on, one might be inclined to wonder aloud about what the big deal is with this newfangled high def that everyone's talking about.
When my wife and I went looking for an HDTV we checked out a few of the local "chain" stores and ended up getting it from J&R in NYC.
They have a great selection, a good showroom devoted to TVs, and they seemed to have knowledgeable reps (they are paid on commission so they try real hard). You can even haggle a bit on price which made them competitive with on-line for the same model (especially including shipping). The nice part about getting it local is you can be more careful getting it home. A lot of time when things getting broken in transit, its the "last mile" where it happens.
The truly mind-boggling thing about the surreal experience, however, was that all of the televisions were universally badly configured and fed. There wasn't a single "this is the one we're trying to push" model on any shelf in any price-range.
Maybe this is why Sony decided to pay them to have a Blu-Ray setup in stores, not so much to push BD, but to make sure at least ONE of their sets is hooked up to a real HD source.
Depending on the model, a lot of the adjustments aren't even exposed through the menu system, and the test pattern generators I've seen for HD are stupidly expensive. (stupid, because with HDMI, every player should be able to push a perfect test pattern off a cheap mass-produced BD).
It means 20 years of waiting for the patent to expire before this kind of interface can be advanced at all.
Yes... because there was already such a tremendous spirit of innovation in the SmartPhone market before apple joined the fray. [/sarcasm]
Your choices were:
Blackberry, which had changed form factor slightly (to include a trackball in the Perl), but always retained the keyboard and a small screen.
WinCE, which sometimes had a keyboard, but was essentially an OS designed for a keyboard and mouse, stuck on a phone.
Palm, which hadn't updated their OS in ~3-5 years to the point of producing Palm phones with Windows on them.
Smaller market player who provided a phone that had some of the features of a smartphone, but usually not available in all regions.
Since Apple released the iPhone and made a SmartPhone that people OUTSIDE business were buying in droves, we've seen lots of innovation in the SmartPhone area, primarily with people trying to release "iPhone killers". There is no reason someone couldn't have released an iPhone like device before iPhone. Very few phones bothered to offer the full touch screen w/multimedia features. Certainly the fact that so many already used iTunes meant that it had a quick added advantage to get peoples interest, but Palm could have beat them to it if they hadn't lost their way, or MS if they had bothered trying to really innovate. Blackberry got pretty complacent with their leading share in the business world, and nobody was doing much innovation.
Alternatively, a lot of auditors that I've met have only a rudimentary understanding of computer systems.
They understand some, but, the same way as most people in computers would have to have GAAP or IFRS explained to them, auditors might need someone to explain Caching, Access controls, etc. to THEM.
Don't equate foolishness with ignorance. The first you might be able to put something over on, the second might know something is being done that shouldn't, even if they are not sure what.
Go learn more about the spec. "A PCIe card will fit into a slot of its physical size or bigger, but may not fit into a smaller PCIe slot. Some slots use open-ended sockets to permit physically longer cards and will negotiate the best available electrical connection. The number of lanes actually connected to a slot may also be less than the number supported by the physical slot size. An example is a x8 slot that actually only runs at x1; these slots will allow any x1, x2, x4 or x8 card to be used, though only running at the x1 speed. This type of socket is described as a "x8 (x1 mode)" slot, meaning it physically accepts up to x8 cards but only runs at x1 speed. The advantage gained is that a larger range of PCIe cards can still be used without requiring the motherboard hardware to support the full transfer rate - in so doing keeping design and implementation costs down." (from the requisite Wikipedia page)
As for motherboards without a PCI-e slot:
1) some 1U servers. Granted most of them seem to have at least one slot, but then you can get into issues with how much clearance the actual card needs and cable runs (which rack mounted servers can be tricky about, but is not relevant to the discussion we're having). You might also have issues with Blade servers using an expansion card to power adjacent storage blades. Its very doable, but it might not be your first choice. Dropping disks directly into storage blades might be "easier" from a logistics and support perspective, which can be a huge benefit to a lot of larger companies.
2) laptops/portable devices. There is a reason SSD drives are coming in 2.5" hard-drive form factors. The theoretical combination of lower power requirements, quicker response, more resistance to jostles and bumps, make it SSDs a good fit.
Yeah, I don't know what the power requirements of the RAM disk are versus an SSD, but if they are competing against SSDs, then it is a market segment they may also be targeting.
i can't imagine MS would be THAT stupid to ignore such obvious common sense in the face of such steep competition. can they really be that out of touch? are they intentionally trying to fail?
You may be right and they aren't really that out of touch, but I wouldn't want to be the user who guesses they are "MS would never be THAT clueless", only to find out otherwise.
You can get SSD cards with a PCI-e interface that hit 800MB/sec. Why RAM disk manufacturers stick to SATA I don't know.
PCI-e even has from standby power available.
Well... I would imagine that the main reason they stick to SATA is the ubiquity of the interface.
At this point, just about every motherboard or computer out there contains a SATA drive, even if it doesn't have a PCI-e slot (or a slot available, or a slot of the required bandwidth available). That, theoretically, expands their potential market.
At the point that becomes useful for them, and is adopted in large numbers is the point that the "precursor" to the "year of linux on the desktop" happens, since the only OS that can be set up as a LiveCD is either Linux or BSD, and I believe linux is further along in that regard.
I wonder how long it would take for a determined kid to glean the password=) (I'm assuming the parents won't be anal regarding computer security)
Well... if they are going THAT far, at least they are ahead of lots of other people, and perhaps that will at least teach them (both the parent and the child) about proper password security.:)
Why does a KID have an iPhone? The only phone my kid has is a preprogrammed one with 7 set phone numbers they can call.
Possibility 1. They don't have an iPhone, they have an iPod Touch. (queue the "why does a KID have an iPod Touch?" question)
Possibility 2. Maybe they saved their money and bought it themselves (as a "major purchase") Either with them paying for it through their job, or with the understanding that the parents pick up X amount of the monthly fee, and they have to pay the difference out of chores/allowance/income?
I could certainly see kids (and I'll be generous and group anyone under ~16 in that category) wanting an iPhone, and with that generation's increased use of SMS/IM, social networking sites, etc I see the iPhone/ipod Touch as a great tool for them (don't need a dedicated computer most of the time, can "time share" the family computer to load music or new apps). The only barrier to entry for them is the initial cost, and any reoccurring charges (for the iPhone), and of course keeping your "friends" from stealing it.
Of course the real problem here is what the definition of "KID" is.
How do you monitor what your children do online? That is the equivalent of trying to keep track of everyone that your children associate with, everywhere that they go with their friends, everything that they say, etc. It is just not possible to do that, and it never was.
I'd imagine Its sort of like monitoring what they watch.
- Set them up on a restricted account (on whatever OS you use), so that they CAN'T change things/install things without your approval. That might mean that you need a different computer for YOUR use, vs. the "whole families use". - Add a password, don't tell them what it is. If they want to use the computer, then an "adult" needs to be monitoring their usage. Yes, you might sometimes just unlock it and let them play on site X, but if they want to get on-line, you have to know they are there. Check in from time to time at random and see how its coming. Maybe spend some time playing their games with them, or just watching. - Install "parental control" software (yes, its not 100% effective, but its at least a step up).
Talk to your children and let them know about the "dangers" to both themselves and their computer of going to random web sites, "accepting digital candy/files from strangers", etc.
Realize that at the point they can bypass all of your "controls" to look at pornography, they are doing the equivalent of you sneaking into your fathers drawer of Playboys (albeit quite a bit more graphic)
Alternatively, perhaps one idea is to make a drawer of playboys something that they can "sneak into" so they have less initial dive to get at the hard-core stuff?
At a certain point they will be old enough that it just won't matter, part of that is their age, and part of that is how you raise them (and who their school friends are).
Okay. Sounds good, but considering how many people get out of jury duty where I live, I figure you'll have to do one of two things.
1) Mandatory Service. Won't go over so well, but it would probably work. You'll still probably have to make some exceptions (health related most likely).
or
2) You may send a representative of your to fulfill your service if you are called, so instead of you putting your life on hold for a month every X time, you could just select this person to represent your views. These people can serve in place of blocks of the population whom they will tentatively represent. Perhaps since they are representing people in a geographic region we could name them after the Greek word for city, Polis, and call them Politicians.
We Tivo everything, so those ads get skipped over. (:-)
We do too, but the TiVo we got two years ago has a built in dual ATSC tuner (for recording two shows), so we figure we're covered anyway.;)
Once DTV signal strength gets increased a bit, I'm looking into ditching Cable and either keeping them just as an ISP, or switching to DSL (slower but WAY cheaper).
Slashdot Mirror
People still pay for Satellite/Cable?
Seriously, in the past 3 months we've eliminated both and switched to Over-The-Air broadcasts supplemented by digital downloads (your pick Amazon/Apple/Sony/Netflix/Hulu/etc.), and the occasional purchase of season DVDs.
Its dropped out "TV" bill by 50% and we're still watching the shows we want, but with more freedom, better picture quality, and less commercials.
When my wife and I went looking for an HDTV we checked out a few of the local "chain" stores and ended up getting it from J&R in NYC.
They have a great selection, a good showroom devoted to TVs, and they seemed to have knowledgeable reps (they are paid on commission so they try real hard). You can even haggle a bit on price which made them competitive with on-line for the same model (especially including shipping). The nice part about getting it local is you can be more careful getting it home. A lot of time when things getting broken in transit, its the "last mile" where it happens.
Maybe this is why Sony decided to pay them to have a Blu-Ray setup in stores, not so much to push BD, but to make sure at least ONE of their sets is hooked up to a real HD source.
Well, Sony provides HD Calibration tests as an "easter egg" on all of their Blu-Ray disks.
Check http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=32738 for more information on accessing the tests (as well as information on a few other low cost alternatives) and http://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=47055&postcount=207 for advice on how to use them to calibrate your TV.
Since BestBuy already operates in NY, its a moot point for them, they already charge sales tax on all on-line purchases.
Likewise I bet they charge sales-tax for all purchases to all states, since chances are, they operate a brick and mortar store in all of them.
Yes ... because there was already such a tremendous spirit of innovation in the SmartPhone market before apple joined the fray. [/sarcasm]
Your choices were:
Since Apple released the iPhone and made a SmartPhone that people OUTSIDE business were buying in droves, we've seen lots of innovation in the SmartPhone area, primarily with people trying to release "iPhone killers". There is no reason someone couldn't have released an iPhone like device before iPhone. Very few phones bothered to offer the full touch screen w/multimedia features. Certainly the fact that so many already used iTunes meant that it had a quick added advantage to get peoples interest, but Palm could have beat them to it if they hadn't lost their way, or MS if they had bothered trying to really innovate. Blackberry got pretty complacent with their leading share in the business world, and nobody was doing much innovation.
Alternatively, a lot of auditors that I've met have only a rudimentary understanding of computer systems.
They understand some, but, the same way as most people in computers would have to have GAAP or IFRS explained to them, auditors might need someone to explain Caching, Access controls, etc. to THEM.
Don't equate foolishness with ignorance. The first you might be able to put something over on, the second might know something is being done that shouldn't, even if they are not sure what.
Nah, he just couldn't be bothered to LATFP (Look at the "Fine" Pictures).
Interesting if they are real. In some ways they still feel like a reflection of the old Cold War shots:
Obama is using the small, light, glossy, 13"
Medvedev is using the large, powerful, 17"
Still ... gotta love their choice in laptop if its true. :D
Maybe they'll just localize it? :)
If they're feeling generous, perhaps include a spanish localization and ship it off to Cuba. ...
A 4x PCIe card will not fit into a 1x PCIe slot.
Go learn more about the spec. "A PCIe card will fit into a slot of its physical size or bigger, but may not fit into a smaller PCIe slot. Some slots use open-ended sockets to permit physically longer cards and will negotiate the best available electrical connection. The number of lanes actually connected to a slot may also be less than the number supported by the physical slot size. An example is a x8 slot that actually only runs at x1; these slots will allow any x1, x2, x4 or x8 card to be used, though only running at the x1 speed. This type of socket is described as a "x8 (x1 mode)" slot, meaning it physically accepts up to x8 cards but only runs at x1 speed. The advantage gained is that a larger range of PCIe cards can still be used without requiring the motherboard hardware to support the full transfer rate - in so doing keeping design and implementation costs down." (from the requisite Wikipedia page)
As for motherboards without a PCI-e slot:
1) some 1U servers. Granted most of them seem to have at least one slot, but then you can get into issues with how much clearance the actual card needs and cable runs (which rack mounted servers can be tricky about, but is not relevant to the discussion we're having). You might also have issues with Blade servers using an expansion card to power adjacent storage blades. Its very doable, but it might not be your first choice. Dropping disks directly into storage blades might be "easier" from a logistics and support perspective, which can be a huge benefit to a lot of larger companies.
2) laptops/portable devices. There is a reason SSD drives are coming in 2.5" hard-drive form factors. The theoretical combination of lower power requirements, quicker response, more resistance to jostles and bumps, make it SSDs a good fit.
Yeah, I don't know what the power requirements of the RAM disk are versus an SSD, but if they are competing against SSDs, then it is a market segment they may also be targeting.
You may be right and they aren't really that out of touch, but I wouldn't want to be the user who guesses they are "MS would never be THAT clueless", only to find out otherwise.
(for an example, see: "Plays For Sure")
Exactly.
Preview.app on OS X, or Foxit Software's Foxit Reader for Windows are both examples of lightweight PDF viewers that render pretty darn quick.
I'm sure there must be one for Linux, but hey, we all use the CLI there right? ;)
Well ... I would imagine that the main reason they stick to SATA is the ubiquity of the interface.
At this point, just about every motherboard or computer out there contains a SATA drive, even if it doesn't have a PCI-e slot (or a slot available, or a slot of the required bandwidth available). That, theoretically, expands their potential market.
Business Card boot disks are great ... unless the machine you're looking at only has a slot-loading drive.
Nothing like having to burn a 50MB distribution onto a 650MB disk to make one sit there and wonder why they don't just switch to a bigger LiveCD. :)
terrific.
At the point that becomes useful for them, and is adopted in large numbers is the point that the "precursor" to the "year of linux on the desktop" happens, since the only OS that can be set up as a LiveCD is either Linux or BSD, and I believe linux is further along in that regard.
(Gack, too late and too many run on sentences)
Well ... if they are going THAT far, at least they are ahead of lots of other people, and perhaps that will at least teach them (both the parent and the child) about proper password security. :)
Possibility 1. They don't have an iPhone, they have an iPod Touch. (queue the "why does a KID have an iPod Touch?" question)
Possibility 2. Maybe they saved their money and bought it themselves (as a "major purchase") Either with them paying for it through their job, or with the understanding that the parents pick up X amount of the monthly fee, and they have to pay the difference out of chores/allowance/income?
I could certainly see kids (and I'll be generous and group anyone under ~16 in that category) wanting an iPhone, and with that generation's increased use of SMS/IM, social networking sites, etc I see the iPhone/ipod Touch as a great tool for them (don't need a dedicated computer most of the time, can "time share" the family computer to load music or new apps). The only barrier to entry for them is the initial cost, and any reoccurring charges (for the iPhone), and of course keeping your "friends" from stealing it.
Of course the real problem here is what the definition of "KID" is.
I'd imagine Its sort of like monitoring what they watch.
- Set them up on a restricted account (on whatever OS you use), so that they CAN'T change things/install things without your approval. That might mean that you need a different
computer for YOUR use, vs. the "whole families use".
- Add a password, don't tell them what it is. If they want to use the computer, then an "adult" needs to be monitoring their usage. Yes, you might sometimes just unlock it and let them play on site X, but if they want to get on-line, you have to know they are there. Check in from time to time at random and see how its coming. Maybe spend some time playing their games with them, or just watching.
- Install "parental control" software (yes, its not 100% effective, but its at least a step up).
Talk to your children and let them know about the "dangers" to both themselves and their computer of going to random web sites, "accepting digital candy/files from strangers", etc.
Realize that at the point they can bypass all of your "controls" to look at pornography, they are doing the equivalent of you sneaking into your fathers drawer of Playboys (albeit quite a bit more graphic)
Alternatively, perhaps one idea is to make a drawer of playboys something that they can "sneak into" so they have less initial dive to get at the hard-core stuff?
At a certain point they will be old enough that it just won't matter, part of that is their age, and part of that is how you raise them (and who their school friends are).
Aha! I didn't RTFA but no doubt the Dept. of Homeland Security was involved in finding all those Cells.
I hope they detained them for further questioning, although I still don't understand why the terrorists were using Heelys.
Well ... considering that season 4.5 just started ...
think of it more as a Half-Adder.
Even in "Airplane" mode?
When you say "Open-Source" here, do you mean "Free" as in "Speech" or as in "Beer"?
The one where Jessica Alba is my love slave.
I guess our history diverged when Nixon wasn't impeached. ... Great! Now how do I get back!?! :P
Okay. Sounds good, but considering how many people get out of jury duty where I live, I figure you'll have to do one of two things.
1) Mandatory Service. Won't go over so well, but it would probably work. You'll still probably have to make some exceptions (health related most likely).
or
2) You may send a representative of your to fulfill your service if you are called, so instead of you putting your life on hold for a month every X time, you could just select this person to represent your views. These people can serve in place of blocks of the population whom they will tentatively represent. Perhaps since they are representing people in a geographic region we could name them after the Greek word for city, Polis, and call them Politicians.
Ah yes ... I hear the HAL-9K unit is especially prone to operator overload errors.
Its also prone to occasional operator overboard errors.
We do too, but the TiVo we got two years ago has a built in dual ATSC tuner (for recording two shows), so we figure we're covered anyway. ;)
Once DTV signal strength gets increased a bit, I'm looking into ditching Cable and either keeping them just as an ISP, or switching to DSL (slower but WAY cheaper).
I dunno. I guess it depends how old you are.
I remember missing a week of school with the chicken pox the first time the Columbia flew, and how exciting it was.
I also remember my father surprising me with a trip down to Florida to watch the space shuttle take off.
We drove back and forth to the cape every morning before sunrise to get our pass and get bussed from the main gate out to the viewing peninsula.
Ended up being the Challenger's last mission. :(
That was pretty inspiring in and of itself, for a lot of reasons.
Only later did I think about having missed out on Apollo and Skylab, but I remember Mir popping up quite a bit.
All things considered, if you gave me the opportunity to travel into space with a 50/50 chance of not making it back, I'd probably still take it.