This is a bullshit article. The basis for it is that food supplements didn't (and don't) work but an NSAID would probably have worked. No shit. It's well known that the supplements industry for people is mostly snake oil. Of course it will be more so for pets. There are plenty of references on the net if you search, but in case you're lazy I just found this one. If a drugs works, there may be side effects (as with the NSAIDs in the TFA). This doesn't mean that "pet medications don't work." It means you need to do your research and not believe the crap it says on the packet. If people stopped buying this shit, the companies would stop selling it.
If you haven't seen it, I suggest you watch Black Mirror. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L... Season 2 Episode 1 is about exactly this concept, just much more extreme. That episode is seriously freaky and intelligent sci fi. The others are all excellent too and each is different from the rest.
The actual source code is this, from briffa_Sep98_d.pro http://wattsupwiththat.com/200... - you can decide for yourself whether this is "torture" or not, and whether this particular debate should be squelched:
I really must disagree here. You can't infer anything worthwhile about the data just by reading some snippets of source code. If the analysis is convoluted and you don't trust it then the only way to "decide for yourself" is to analyse it for yourself. A bellicose blog ("arrogant programmer" and similar terms appear) doesn't count for much. A few lines of code don't tell you what the raw data look like, if the processing is reasonable based on the data, or if anything is being hidden. In this case, for instance, that code may be just a badly written attempt to produce a smoother curve.
One of my most favorite museums in the world used to be the Science Museum in London, then I visited it and discovered the steam engine in the entrance doesn't run, the ship model gallery has been sent to storage never to be seen again to be replaced with a gift shop, I couldn't find the working Babbage engine section, in fact basically every display I wanted to see was gone and replaced by junk.
These so called "modernized" displays are nothing better than what you could read online, I want to go to a museum to see *actual* history, not to see a cartoon representation of a simplified version of history that assumes I am a moron.
I get where you're coming from, but don't you think you're being a little harsh? The Babbage difference engine and the steam engine are both there, as I recall. They may not be working, but they're present. Possibly the museum can't afford the maintenance if the exhibit is in motion. That doesn't mean the science isn't on display, though. I know this is why H4 isn't running at the Greenwhich observatory: it would wear out fairly soon if it was allowed to keep running.
China will eventually learn the same lesson that the US now, finally, is seeming to learn: spending money on space exploration is a money pit, a drain on national coffers and more productive endeavors
Like killing people? The US has spent 6 times as much as the entire shuttle program on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars alone. The total military spending for the US in 2010 was $680 billion (ref). The entire shuttle program, consisting of over 100 flights, cost $196 billion (ref). The total cost of the Curiosity lander, the largest rover ever landed, was $2.5 billion (ref). Don't even get my started on the bailout, which wouldn't have been necessary if the financial industry was properly regulated. Space exploration is a fucking bargain.
It is unfortunate in some ways that you're modded down. This is the evidence for why there is no face on Mars: The other side of the coin is that seeing faces where there aren't any is an artefact of how your brain is wired up. Random natural formations (on any scale) stand a better chance than most people think of appearing as a face. This also extends to other objects, however, such as Jesus, andgenitals. This one is really cool too.
And much like evolution there's no direction towards a "higher" lifeform, there's just selection pressure. For example, they say the inuits have so many words for snow.
And "they" are wrong, it turns out. But on another note, I do agree that, of course, language evolves. What's wrong today becomes accepted usage tomorrow. It's perhaps unfortunate because it muddies the origins of our language, but it's also inevitable. Interestingly, there have been attempts to go the other way and bring back the older usages. For example, the modern Greek Katharevousa, "purist", dialect. Which is a marriage of ancient and modern Greek that was invented about 200 years ago and persisted until the mid-twentieth century. It died out because it has no real use and nobody really used it. However it does persist in the church (where else, right?) and a lot of the liturgy is in Katharevousa.
Except for RAM, the vast majority of PC users will never fully max out their machine. They won't even get close to what the CPU can do. Even 10 years ago when someone asked me what kind of PC they should buy, I would tell them to buy the oldest machine they can find with twice as much memory as they think they need -- because in my experience, lots of RAM contributes more to the longevity of a machine than loads of CPU.
This is probably true, but I don't think most people have realised this. Recently, when a colleague's Win 7 laptop started to run slowly she announced that it was time to get a new computer. Most people I know really do seem to believe that when a computer starts running slowly that is indicative of some sort of flaw that can only be repaired by a violent hardware change. It either doesn't occur them that a reinstall of Windows can fix the problem or they don't have the skills/confidence/motivation to perform the operation.
Plant life does not factor into it because they can not suffer. They can’t suffer because they have no nervous system with which to think. They also have no physical mechanisms with which to feel pain. And even if they did, they have no thoughts, so the pain would mean nothing. They have no fear, panic, or sadness. They live, but they live without consciousness. So you can not torture a plant or make it suffer.
This is true, but it seems not have stood in the way of these characters who have created what they call The Society of Plant Neurobiology. Of course this is just an old field that's been re-badged, but it still sounds ridiculous and is confusing to lay people.
Well my dear fellow Greek, (Greek) Orthodox Christianity is against "deeply held religious convictions"...
I wouldn't say that was a good way to sum up the Orthodox faith. A more accurate sound-bite would be "rejection of papal supremacy." Other than that, I seem to remember there was some East/West friction with the Creed. So basically there are doctrinal differences that priests get very excited about. Greeks are possibly against deeply held religious convictions but their church is not. How could it be when the priests hold such convictions and there exist Orthodox monasteries?
Whatever Metaxas' ideals, if Golden Dawn are claiming to be their ideological successors then this is solely a ploy to make them appear more palatable. It's spin. Any dispassionate individual can see that Golden Dawn are a violent homophobic racist fascists, and the only reason they have the people's ear at all is because the people have been fucked by the Troika. Extremism flourishes in dire circumstances.
No offense intended, but most non-native English speakers I know appreciate corrections to their English. The word "movie" explicitly refers to a "feature film." "Video" is the word you are looking for. Other than that, thank you for the informative post.
Hmmm.. Thank you for the correction but your prior is in error.:) You see, I am a native English speaker. You're correct that the dictionary definition of "movie" is a feature film watched in a theatre (I had to look that up, TBH), however my alternative usage of the term "movie" is not unusual, even if it's wrong. For instance, Nature include "supplementary movies" at the end of some of their papers. These movies may be only a few seconds or possibly minutes in length. e.g. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v461/n7260/suppinfo/nature08241.html
I am Greek also, living in Greece - most things you wrote are not very wrong (but not very right!).
Almost all Greeks are Orthodox Christians (not fanatics, but ALL -yes, even Atheist!- Greeks go to church few times a year) - even you, as a Greek living abroad you, should know that and you should admit that you go to church also!
Indeed, I agree. That is why I said "few go to church regularly", rather than "few go to Church at all." Yes, I'm an atheist and I went to church for Easter this year because I was in Greece then. I can't remember the time I went prior to that and I certainly don't go when I'm not in Greece. It's true that very many turn up for the big events like Easter, but the way they do so frankly hardly counts. For instance, during the resurrection mass most people turn up only for the resurrection itself and then go home. As you know, the service itself goes on for quite some time both before and after that point. This leads me to believe that most go out of habit, for the social aspect, to sing the hymn, etc. I don't think most people are going because of any deeply held religious convictions. This, as you say, is because Greeks are not religious fanatics and aren't interested in a church that judges their private lives. For a lot of Catholics or bible-belters the latter is a rather foreign notion.
I'm Greek but haven't lived there permanently since I was I child, so someone who's currently living there may have a different take on this: What you have to understand is that religion in Greece is approached somewhat differently to countries like the US or the UK. If you're Greek then it's pretty much a given that you're also baptised Christian Orthodox. It's only recently, amidst controversy, that "religion" has been removed from the national ID cards (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_identity_card).
The link between nationality and religion is particularly strong because of the recent history of the country. What was to become the modern state of Greece begun its revolution from the Ottoman empire in 1821. Religion was an important factor in helping to create the "us vs them" mentality required to rise the people against the Ottomans. Following the revolution, religion was one of the tools used to bind the nation together. Religion and history were used a vital social glue, since the post-revolution Greeks were having a hard time organising and governing themselves without squabbling. Furthermore, the 19th century was the first time Greece existed as a state in its own right, so this was a particularly difficult period. Before that "Greece" was part of the Ottoman empire, before that the Byzantine (which was, admittedly, Greek speaking), before that it was the Romans, before that it was city states. Over the course of its history, different parts of Greece have also been occupied by the Venetians, the Franks, and the English.
As a result of this turbulent history, Greeks now take their national identity very seriously and religion is part of that identity. Most Greeks aren't truly religious and few go to church regularly. There isn't any crazy religious extremism like the Bible belt US and there is little preaching in church: the priest does the liturgy (same every day) then he leaves. However, the extreme right wing Golden Dawn have, predictably, hijacked religion as it's a good way of mobilising Greeks against the dark skinned immigrants and gays they so detest. So none of this really about religion at all and religious Greeks can cope with satire of the sort discussed here. All of this is about the Golden Dawn seeking every opportunity to flex its muscles.
The Golden Dawn are pretty fucking crazy. They've yelled "Heil Hitler" during a parliament session (http://www.euronews.com/2013/05/17/golden-dawn-and-syriza-clash-over-heil-hitler-cries-in-greek-parliament/) and their PR guy smacked a far-left politician in the face on live TV (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi6TbLmeFoQ) and later claimed, again on TV, that he was defending himself and that she hit him first (I don't have an English language link to that movie).
I don't get this summary (or TFA, for that matter). They're saying the sun is too quiet and this could explain the recent cold spell. The sun may have fewer sunspots than expected for this time in the cycle, but it still has more spots than it did during the last minimum: http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/images/Zurich_Color_Small.jpg Certainly we're nowhere near something that looks like the Maunder Minimum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunder_Minimum).
Motherboard failure happed to me with a Mac Mini only one month after the warranty expired. The problem was that the epoxy used on the boards when they were made was in short supply, so a substitute resin was used on some to keep production up. Apple wanted $499 for a new board. I never bought another Apple product again. If your MacBook Pro died. Find out what it will cost to replace the board. After your shock go look for a new machine. Apple price gouges the aftermarket.
I have the opposite story. I brought my MBP in to the Apple store because it was over-heating and I asked them to change the fans. They refused (for some reason) but they gave me a free motherboard replacement instead (or at least they claimed they did). This fixed the problem for a while but the over-heating came back eventually. I then paid to have the fans changed, which meant it ran quieter because the bearings were shot. Still over-heated, though.
Just listen sometime to how people brag about being technically illiterate as if it's some badge of honor. "I just don't know these computer thingees," says someone with no shame whatsoever. Do you think they would so proudly admit to being unable to read and write?
This isn't really bragging, you know. It's a way of making oneself feel better about being ignorant. If you play down the importance of X, then it's not so bad that you're ignorant about X. I think a lot of us do this to some degree for some X (even without meaning to).
What people call "pc gaming" is nothing more than windows gaming.
I disagree. Your definition of PC is obviously too broad. A PC is a desktop or laptop computer running a multi-purpose OS. The new kids of the block, tablets and smart-phones, don't really qualify as PCs because of the poor software selection and bad input device (touch-screen). You can make the case of tablets and phones, but it doesn't change my real point: that a toaster or a PS4 is not a PC. One is a cooking device and the other is a locked-down games console. PC gaming does not mean "windows gaming." You can PC game on Linux, Mac and Windows box. If I run Doom 3 on a Windows box I'm PC gaming and I'm still PC gaming if I fire it up under Linux. I agree, however, that with the addition of a Steam box the distinction between a PC and console becomes blurred.
I've never had a Mac desktop that wasn't my primary desktop machine for five years.
I've never heard a PC guy say his primary desktop machine is five years old, even if it's one he built himself and is continually upgrading.
Meet me. My primary work desktop machine (home built) was 6 or 7 years old with no significant changes until I upgraded earlier this year to an 8 core in order to speed up data analysis. My home machine, which is only used occasionally for gaming, is 6 years old. Also home built. In that time it's had a new PSU (free warranty swap) and, this year, a new graphics card.
Don't even bother with the cover, just re-map the layout. I type Greek sometimes. I've go keyboard layout changes bound to a short-cut combo and away I go. You learn the layout pretty quickly that way and it's totally free. I don't think the German layout has extra keys, so no new keyboard needed.
MS hasn't supported XP in years, unless you buy a support contract.
They were releasing security updates, though. Still are, aren't they? The point of the previous user's post is that Apple aren't doing even that for an OS that's much newer.
Slashdot Mirror
This is a bullshit article. The basis for it is that food supplements didn't (and don't) work but an NSAID would probably have worked. No shit. It's well known that the supplements industry for people is mostly snake oil. Of course it will be more so for pets. There are plenty of references on the net if you search, but in case you're lazy I just found this one. If a drugs works, there may be side effects (as with the NSAIDs in the TFA). This doesn't mean that "pet medications don't work." It means you need to do your research and not believe the crap it says on the packet. If people stopped buying this shit, the companies would stop selling it.
If you haven't seen it, I suggest you watch Black Mirror. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L... Season 2 Episode 1 is about exactly this concept, just much more extreme. That episode is seriously freaky and intelligent sci fi. The others are all excellent too and each is different from the rest.
The actual source code is this, from briffa_Sep98_d.pro http://wattsupwiththat.com/200... - you can decide for yourself whether this is "torture" or not, and whether this particular debate should be squelched:
I really must disagree here. You can't infer anything worthwhile about the data just by reading some snippets of source code. If the analysis is convoluted and you don't trust it then the only way to "decide for yourself" is to analyse it for yourself. A bellicose blog ("arrogant programmer" and similar terms appear) doesn't count for much. A few lines of code don't tell you what the raw data look like, if the processing is reasonable based on the data, or if anything is being hidden. In this case, for instance, that code may be just a badly written attempt to produce a smoother curve.
One of my most favorite museums in the world used to be the Science Museum in London, then I visited it and discovered the steam engine in the entrance doesn't run, the ship model gallery has been sent to storage never to be seen again to be replaced with a gift shop, I couldn't find the working Babbage engine section, in fact basically every display I wanted to see was gone and replaced by junk.
These so called "modernized" displays are nothing better than what you could read online, I want to go to a museum to see *actual* history, not to see a cartoon representation of a simplified version of history that assumes I am a moron.
I get where you're coming from, but don't you think you're being a little harsh? The Babbage difference engine and the steam engine are both there, as I recall. They may not be working, but they're present. Possibly the museum can't afford the maintenance if the exhibit is in motion. That doesn't mean the science isn't on display, though. I know this is why H4 isn't running at the Greenwhich observatory: it would wear out fairly soon if it was allowed to keep running.
China will eventually learn the same lesson that the US now, finally, is seeming to learn: spending money on space exploration is a money pit, a drain on national coffers and more productive endeavors
Like killing people? The US has spent 6 times as much as the entire shuttle program on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars alone. The total military spending for the US in 2010 was $680 billion (ref). The entire shuttle program, consisting of over 100 flights, cost $196 billion (ref). The total cost of the Curiosity lander, the largest rover ever landed, was $2.5 billion (ref). Don't even get my started on the bailout, which wouldn't have been necessary if the financial industry was properly regulated. Space exploration is a fucking bargain.
It is unfortunate in some ways that you're modded down. This is the evidence for why there is no face on Mars: The other side of the coin is that seeing faces where there aren't any is an artefact of how your brain is wired up. Random natural formations (on any scale) stand a better chance than most people think of appearing as a face. This also extends to other objects, however, such as Jesus, and genitals. This one is really cool too.
And much like evolution there's no direction towards a "higher" lifeform, there's just selection pressure. For example, they say the inuits have so many words for snow.
And "they" are wrong, it turns out. But on another note, I do agree that, of course, language evolves. What's wrong today becomes accepted usage tomorrow. It's perhaps unfortunate because it muddies the origins of our language, but it's also inevitable. Interestingly, there have been attempts to go the other way and bring back the older usages. For example, the modern Greek Katharevousa, "purist", dialect. Which is a marriage of ancient and modern Greek that was invented about 200 years ago and persisted until the mid-twentieth century. It died out because it has no real use and nobody really used it. However it does persist in the church (where else, right?) and a lot of the liturgy is in Katharevousa.
Except for RAM, the vast majority of PC users will never fully max out their machine. They won't even get close to what the CPU can do. Even 10 years ago when someone asked me what kind of PC they should buy, I would tell them to buy the oldest machine they can find with twice as much memory as they think they need -- because in my experience, lots of RAM contributes more to the longevity of a machine than loads of CPU.
This is probably true, but I don't think most people have realised this. Recently, when a colleague's Win 7 laptop started to run slowly she announced that it was time to get a new computer. Most people I know really do seem to believe that when a computer starts running slowly that is indicative of some sort of flaw that can only be repaired by a violent hardware change. It either doesn't occur them that a reinstall of Windows can fix the problem or they don't have the skills/confidence/motivation to perform the operation.
That's interesting to hear. What you describe sounds very much like Greece.
Plant life does not factor into it because they can not suffer. They can’t suffer because they have no nervous system with which to think. They also have no physical mechanisms with which to feel pain. And even if they did, they have no thoughts, so the pain would mean nothing. They have no fear, panic, or sadness. They live, but they live without consciousness. So you can not torture a plant or make it suffer.
This is true, but it seems not have stood in the way of these characters who have created what they call The Society of Plant Neurobiology. Of course this is just an old field that's been re-badged, but it still sounds ridiculous and is confusing to lay people.
Well my dear fellow Greek, (Greek) Orthodox Christianity is against "deeply held religious convictions"...
I wouldn't say that was a good way to sum up the Orthodox faith. A more accurate sound-bite would be "rejection of papal supremacy." Other than that, I seem to remember there was some East/West friction with the Creed. So basically there are doctrinal differences that priests get very excited about. Greeks are possibly against deeply held religious convictions but their church is not. How could it be when the priests hold such convictions and there exist Orthodox monasteries?
Whatever Metaxas' ideals, if Golden Dawn are claiming to be their ideological successors then this is solely a ploy to make them appear more palatable. It's spin. Any dispassionate individual can see that Golden Dawn are a violent homophobic racist fascists, and the only reason they have the people's ear at all is because the people have been fucked by the Troika. Extremism flourishes in dire circumstances.
No offense intended, but most non-native English speakers I know appreciate corrections to their English. The word "movie" explicitly refers to a "feature film." "Video" is the word you are looking for. Other than that, thank you for the informative post.
Hmmm.. Thank you for the correction but your prior is in error. :) You see, I am a native English speaker. You're correct that the dictionary definition of "movie" is a feature film watched in a theatre (I had to look that up, TBH), however my alternative usage of the term "movie" is not unusual, even if it's wrong. For instance, Nature include "supplementary movies" at the end of some of their papers. These movies may be only a few seconds or possibly minutes in length. e.g. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v461/n7260/suppinfo/nature08241.html
I am Greek also, living in Greece - most things you wrote are not very wrong (but not very right!). Almost all Greeks are Orthodox Christians (not fanatics, but ALL -yes, even Atheist!- Greeks go to church few times a year) - even you, as a Greek living abroad you, should know that and you should admit that you go to church also!
Indeed, I agree. That is why I said "few go to church regularly", rather than "few go to Church at all." Yes, I'm an atheist and I went to church for Easter this year because I was in Greece then. I can't remember the time I went prior to that and I certainly don't go when I'm not in Greece. It's true that very many turn up for the big events like Easter, but the way they do so frankly hardly counts. For instance, during the resurrection mass most people turn up only for the resurrection itself and then go home. As you know, the service itself goes on for quite some time both before and after that point. This leads me to believe that most go out of habit, for the social aspect, to sing the hymn, etc. I don't think most people are going because of any deeply held religious convictions. This, as you say, is because Greeks are not religious fanatics and aren't interested in a church that judges their private lives. For a lot of Catholics or bible-belters the latter is a rather foreign notion.
I'm Greek but haven't lived there permanently since I was I child, so someone who's currently living there may have a different take on this: What you have to understand is that religion in Greece is approached somewhat differently to countries like the US or the UK. If you're Greek then it's pretty much a given that you're also baptised Christian Orthodox. It's only recently, amidst controversy, that "religion" has been removed from the national ID cards (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_identity_card).
The link between nationality and religion is particularly strong because of the recent history of the country. What was to become the modern state of Greece begun its revolution from the Ottoman empire in 1821. Religion was an important factor in helping to create the "us vs them" mentality required to rise the people against the Ottomans. Following the revolution, religion was one of the tools used to bind the nation together. Religion and history were used a vital social glue, since the post-revolution Greeks were having a hard time organising and governing themselves without squabbling. Furthermore, the 19th century was the first time Greece existed as a state in its own right, so this was a particularly difficult period. Before that "Greece" was part of the Ottoman empire, before that the Byzantine (which was, admittedly, Greek speaking), before that it was the Romans, before that it was city states. Over the course of its history, different parts of Greece have also been occupied by the Venetians, the Franks, and the English.
As a result of this turbulent history, Greeks now take their national identity very seriously and religion is part of that identity. Most Greeks aren't truly religious and few go to church regularly. There isn't any crazy religious extremism like the Bible belt US and there is little preaching in church: the priest does the liturgy (same every day) then he leaves. However, the extreme right wing Golden Dawn have, predictably, hijacked religion as it's a good way of mobilising Greeks against the dark skinned immigrants and gays they so detest. So none of this really about religion at all and religious Greeks can cope with satire of the sort discussed here. All of this is about the Golden Dawn seeking every opportunity to flex its muscles.
The Golden Dawn are pretty fucking crazy. They've yelled "Heil Hitler" during a parliament session (http://www.euronews.com/2013/05/17/golden-dawn-and-syriza-clash-over-heil-hitler-cries-in-greek-parliament/) and their PR guy smacked a far-left politician in the face on live TV (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi6TbLmeFoQ) and later claimed, again on TV, that he was defending himself and that she hit him first (I don't have an English language link to that movie).
I don't get this summary (or TFA, for that matter). They're saying the sun is too quiet and this could explain the recent cold spell. The sun may have fewer sunspots than expected for this time in the cycle, but it still has more spots than it did during the last minimum: http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/images/Zurich_Color_Small.jpg Certainly we're nowhere near something that looks like the Maunder Minimum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunder_Minimum).
Motherboard failure happed to me with a Mac Mini only one month after the warranty expired. The problem was that the epoxy used on the boards when they were made was in short supply, so a substitute resin was used on some to keep production up. Apple wanted $499 for a new board. I never bought another Apple product again. If your MacBook Pro died. Find out what it will cost to replace the board. After your shock go look for a new machine. Apple price gouges the aftermarket.
I have the opposite story. I brought my MBP in to the Apple store because it was over-heating and I asked them to change the fans. They refused (for some reason) but they gave me a free motherboard replacement instead (or at least they claimed they did). This fixed the problem for a while but the over-heating came back eventually. I then paid to have the fans changed, which meant it ran quieter because the bearings were shot. Still over-heated, though.
I admit I haven't had the experiences you've had, and I agree it's dangerous.
Just listen sometime to how people brag about being technically illiterate as if it's some badge of honor. "I just don't know these computer thingees," says someone with no shame whatsoever. Do you think they would so proudly admit to being unable to read and write?
This isn't really bragging, you know. It's a way of making oneself feel better about being ignorant. If you play down the importance of X, then it's not so bad that you're ignorant about X. I think a lot of us do this to some degree for some X (even without meaning to).
What people call "pc gaming" is nothing more than windows gaming.
I disagree. Your definition of PC is obviously too broad. A PC is a desktop or laptop computer running a multi-purpose OS. The new kids of the block, tablets and smart-phones, don't really qualify as PCs because of the poor software selection and bad input device (touch-screen). You can make the case of tablets and phones, but it doesn't change my real point: that a toaster or a PS4 is not a PC. One is a cooking device and the other is a locked-down games console. PC gaming does not mean "windows gaming." You can PC game on Linux, Mac and Windows box. If I run Doom 3 on a Windows box I'm PC gaming and I'm still PC gaming if I fire it up under Linux. I agree, however, that with the addition of a Steam box the distinction between a PC and console becomes blurred.
I've never had a Mac desktop that wasn't my primary desktop machine for five years.
I've never heard a PC guy say his primary desktop machine is five years old, even if it's one he built himself and is continually upgrading.
Meet me. My primary work desktop machine (home built) was 6 or 7 years old with no significant changes until I upgraded earlier this year to an 8 core in order to speed up data analysis. My home machine, which is only used occasionally for gaming, is 6 years old. Also home built. In that time it's had a new PSU (free warranty swap) and, this year, a new graphics card.
Don't worry, Nintendo is doomed. They will soon be collapse under the weight of their constant failures
Here's a list of their failures clustered at the top of the "best selling console" list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_consoles
Which keys are different shapes and is that manufacturer specific? I ask because I too might have to learn the German layout soon.
Don't even bother with the cover, just re-map the layout. I type Greek sometimes. I've go keyboard layout changes bound to a short-cut combo and away I go. You learn the layout pretty quickly that way and it's totally free. I don't think the German layout has extra keys, so no new keyboard needed.
MS hasn't supported XP in years, unless you buy a support contract.
They were releasing security updates, though. Still are, aren't they? The point of the previous user's post is that Apple aren't doing even that for an OS that's much newer.