I don't mean to be a troll, but the guy had a point. You AREN'T liked in most of the world. I thought South Park summed it up best.
Boy in Blue Vest: And you believe it? It is not just the Taliban that hates America. Over a third of the world hates America! Stan: But why? Why does a third of the world hate us? Boy in Blue Vest: Because, you don't realize that a third of the world hates you!!! "
Also Eddie Izzard "Do you KNOW there are other countries?"
America is a strong nation. The strongest in many ways, specifically as a military power and as a market. But it's NOT the only country. Many Americans seem to think that their way is the only way.
The reason I make this comment here is to point something out that's always bothered me about Americans. A Constitutionally Appointed First (I think) Amendment Freedom Of Speech is NOT the only "Freedom of Speech". Here in Australia I can also say what I want, and not get thrown in jail. Why is my freedom of speech less than your freedom of speech? And yes, I HAVE argued with americans on this issue who claimed that I don't actually have freedom of speech.
Citizens of America seem to sometimes think their country can do no wrong. Is this ignorance, or arrogance? Don't let your vaunted Freedom of Speech impare your freedom to listen, and your freedom of thought.
People have fought and died for your right to question your government. So use it.
As another web designer, I feel I should make a point. First of all, I don't know what mask thingy compression stuff is. Except what the earlier post told me. I don't use Photoshop CS, I still use 7, and it does fine for me. I have to say, though, $2-$3 is NOT all that much money. But bear one thing in mind. That's PER IMAGE. If you have 10 images like that, that's $20 - $30 a day, which is starting to add up.
Better compression is ALWAYS good. If you run a site that uses a lot of images (Gallery, porn site, whatever) then the cost saving in better compression could be HUGE, and if it doesn't take any longer (or much longer) to do, then it's basically free money.
Also, on the 1 second thing... yeah, one second is not long, but once again, that's one second PER IMAGE. It all adds up.
Oh, and just so I get to put forth my opinion. The release of any new software like Gimp is always good. I'm a Photoshop guy and have neither reason nor inclination to change, but Gimp provides particularly programmers, and low end designers a free way to achieve the simple tasks they require. Its not worth a $600 photoshop license to make buttons. Sure, it's not Photoshop, but it doesn't have to be.
I've seen it done. I once saw a spammer send an email to the list with the entire list in the header, manually. Not only was the list in excess of 10 meg, but he sent his expensive mailing list out to the world.
I'm going to get myself flamed here, or possibly killed. But isn't this going too far?
I know some spammers personally. Do I approve of what they do? Not really. Do I think it's that big a deal? Not really.
I view spammers in the same way as I view people who put junk mail in the mailbox. I don't understand why people consider spam such a huge deal. I run several websites, and therefore I get a LOT of mail, and consequently a lot of spam. Does it take up much of my time? No. Do I lose a lot of productivity? No.
What is spam is obvious. It's like when you go to your mailbox (snailmail, obviously). You look and you see some letters, some bills, some glossy catalogues, and some junk. You ditch what you don't want (keep the bills... trust me, it's better that way) and read the rest.
Don't get me wrong. Most of the spam I get is rubbish. Apparently I'm a lonely, sex starved moron who needs to lose weight and has a tiny penis. Of course this isn't true. I'm not fat.
I personally think that spammers should moderate themselves. Not for "ethical" reasons. (Ethics in ANY business is expecting too much.) But for practical and financial reasons. Here are my suggested guidelines.
1)If selling adult services of any kind assume that they may be sent to minors inadvertantly. Consequently, adult material should NOT be explicit, either in picture or in word.
2)Opt-out should be easy and effective. A link should be provided on the email, and it should WORK.
3)Consider the aesthetic appeal of what you are sending. Hire a professional to provide a nice layout, which will improve clickthroughs and improve your company's profile. People prefer to recieve something that looks like a nice newsletter than a slab of text and links.
4)Do not send multiple emails to the one person. Clearly this is not going to work.
5)Do not obfuscate your return email address, or subjects in any way to prevent programs from blocking your email. If people block you, they are NOT a customer.
I know I'll probably get flamed for seeming POSITIVE on spam, but to me, it's not going to go away. These simple rules would make it easier to live with.
On a final note:
To suggest that maiming ANYONE for ANY reason is appropriate is appalling. To advocate a violent death to people whose actions cause no REAL harm, beyond minor irritation, is dispicable. "In the western US, many of us carry guns.It's time to use them." You have no idea how glad the rest of the world is that you're there, not here.
There are new drives that have been produced, by toshiba, I believe. These are in the 2-4 gig range, and are substantially smaller than existing hardware, as they have a simplified mechanism which is soldered more or less directly onto the board. My understanding (and this is limited) is that these drives are substantially cheaper (maybe not in price per meg/gig, but in outright price), and are specifically targetted at PDA devices, digital music players, mobile phones, etc.
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/12/16/tos hi ba.tinydisk.ap/index.html
This could well be what is being used. If that IS the case, then they could be substantially smaller, and in fact would probably provide a nice balance of form factor vs capacity. I think the iPod (or any of it's competitors) are still slightly too big. Personally I'm waiting for that next step.
Actually, I think this comment is more valid than initially presumed.
No one actually SAYS it's a using 128kbps. A lot of companies will use a lower bandwidth as "standard" for a better quality codec, such as WMA, AAC, etc. This means that if they are taking 96kbps as a "CD quality", or equivalent to 128kbps MP3, then yes, more of them WILL fit. Not, of course, due to the actual amount of data, but because of the better compression for equivalent music.
That being said, anyone who thinks a 128kbps MP3 is "CD Quality" needs better headphones.
The motorcylist might hit the ground at... for argument 40 miles an hour. (for you americans who don't understand metric)
Someone in a car, however, would have THEIR head hit at maybe 30 miles an hour into their steering wheel.
The big differences? One is hitting on a sideways angle, and bouncing. The other is impacting straight into the face. The other big difference? Only one of them is wearing a helmet.
My head hitting the pavement doesn't scare me. Morons on roundabouts crushing my legs is what scares me.
And how many CAR drivers forget to take off the turn signal when they decide not to turn? Or more likely, simply fail to ever put it on.
I used to have a habit of this as a learner rider and was taught to check the indicator whenever I change up gears. As you most often change down gears before a corner, it works out surprisingly well.
Riders don't need a HUD. They need better training to get rid of bad habits.
Re:Government gets in on the act too
on
Stealth Inflation
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· Score: 1
As a fellow australian I feel the same. Australians pay some of the (THE?) highest taxes in the world. But I don't think we're all that stupid to re-elect them. The only other option is another politician.:|
Um. This is stupid. If anything it's the other way around. If 60% of electronics goes to the US (for arguments sake.. that number has no basis in fact as far as I know) then it should be the US, just as much as Japan that should be concerned about the end products.
As the largest consumer nation on earth (whether food, manufactured goods, electricity, fossil fuels, whatever) the US needs to look at it's disposal of used goods harder and sooner than anyone else. You can only "fill" so much land.
The only reason Japan has had to do this so quickly is they don't exactly have the land to mess around in.
I agree completely. The "developed" world has a tendancy to sit and criticise the actions of the third world, specifically as they make the mistakes that we made getting here (like raping our natural resources in the name of "progress").
Yeah, sure WE did that, but look what it's done to our country. What extravant wealth (at least by perception and contrast), a reasonable health system, infant mortality rates that are at least a fair chance, and a high standard of living? Yeah, gee, better not go THERE.
I would also have to say that I think it isn't just THIRD WORLD countries. I believe that the US should not be in the position to declare who can and who cannot have nuclear weapons. I specifically think that NO COUNTRY IN THE WORLD HAS THE RIGHT TO NUCLEAR WEAPONS. No good can come of them. I see no morally defensible rationale for turning a country and everything downwind from it into smoking half-life.
More specific to your comments: Recognise that science and politics are inseparable. Agreed in theory, but how? Do we make science answerable to politics? Or politics answer to science? I think the problem now is that science is TOO linked to politics. The highest levels of science are MILITARY research. They are science with an agenda. And not a very nice one.
Agree to share all information relating to the design of any weapon which may endanger humanity (like hypersonic bombers). I like this one. Except wouldn't that just escalate an arms race?
If at all possible refuse to work on research areas which would endanger humanity That would be tricky. There are always people willing to work for the money. And there's a lot of money. It's also difficult to define. People argue that the US nuclear arsenal protects humanity by providing a deterrent. It's all in how you look at it.
Freely share all information relating to products which are being used for unfair commercial gain. (The current situation with AIDS drugs which most African countries cannot afford is a good example of this). Agreed, except for one thing. Where's the money in that?
Basically I have to say, the problem with the world, today, the problem with EVERYTHING is money. As the bible says... somewhere... Bob 4:20 "Love of money is the root of all evil." If you see something that seems evil... trace the money. Someone is making a lot of money somewhere. The more evil the more money. And weapons companies, who get these huge development contracts make vast sums of money.
I don't know if I'm the only one who is disturbed by the fact that the cost of launching this particular project would be enough to feed and cloth the poor. All of them. Everywhere.
Probably more like the cost of launching just one of these things into orbit.
In any case, yeah, I agree, you're living in a utopian fantasy, but at least while there's some of us who care, maybe there's hope?
Re:XP catch-up release (flamesuit on...)
on
Jaguar is Over
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· Score: 1
I would agree with this.
For all people say that Apple is "innovative", I wouldn't agree. I think that what they're best at is taking existing ideas, styles, products, etc, and re-packaging them far better than anyone else has done.
Is that innovation? No. But it still makes for good products.
Re:XP catch-up release (flamesuit on...)
on
Jaguar is Over
·
· Score: 1
I'm inclined to agree to some extent...
Not much here really impressed me as nearly as "innovative" as implied, considering much of it is already available on XP.
I don't think it's unreasonable to say much of this is Catch Up territory. I don't doubt in some ways it will catch up, and in some ways it will leapfrog over. That's pretty much a given. Anyone who thinks Apple and MS don't watch each other's GUI and functionality developments very closely is highly naive.
I think we'll see versions of Windows and MacOS running quite neck and neck for some time, matching, improving, etc. Take a look at Longhorn, for example, and I think that many of the innovations in that will be "coincidentally" matched by Apple products closer to time. Of course, the Apple faithful will claim MS stole the idea by sneaking back through time itself...
Anyway, it's all good. I'm a PC guy myself, but I'm always pleased to see our toys evolve...
I read some of les miserable.. I got most of the way through and then my head exploded.
Hugo, why do we need an entire chapter on "Argot" (french slang) to explain that "ABC Club" is pronounced "abace" which means "the abased, or despised"? Seriously?
Personally I have chosen the great satan. I use Windows Media Player for all my music needs. WMP9 has some excellent features, and the OS integration with XP is good. Not as good as it should be, but still good.
Music Match? Oh, come to think about it I HAVEN'T used that one. I was thinking of Real Jukebox. Which when it first came out was pretty good. (Back in the days when MP3 was the only format and Diamond Rio was the only portable.)
I don't know much about AAC, though by all reports it's among the better ones.
One thing I know for sure. The difference between 128kbps MP3 and CD is vast. I also know that while a 128mp3 is less than perfect (not good enough), a 128kbps WMA file is actually excellent. As I've heard that AAC is slightly better than WMA, particularly on the treble end, it should be adequate.
actually, I kind of like fast switching. I'm a graphic designer, and for a while had two logins, "work" and "play". I would have Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Outlook, etc, all still running in "work", with no problems for my gaming joys in "play"
The "Smart Display" is intended to be a "take for a walk and use seperately" MONITOR for an existing computer. So you finish up your work, take the monitor over to the couch and surf the net while you watch TV.
The "Tablet PC" is a complete computer, basically a laptop that you can write on the screen. Unfortunately the specs on current Tablet PCs are appalling, but I don't think microsoft's spec actually says "please use 4 year old hardware" so I'll blame the vendors themselves there.
The two technologies look similar on the surface, but are not remotely comparable.
Personally I like the smart display concept for use as a second monitor. I'm a graphic designer and programmer, so it's not even close to good enough for a primary monitor, but still, kinda cool.
And as for the "why would you want a windows PC" this is a dumb question. Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Homesite, Debabelizer, Flash, and yes, games. Don't bother saying that those programs are available for Apple, because I don't care. And the first person that mentions the words "The Gimp" or "open source alternatives" gets a personal visit. Oh, and not all games are on PS2 or Gamecube. Not even many. Once again, you're comparing things that are not even remotely similar.
As for reviews of Tablet PCs, the overall concept is covered well on http://www.winsupersite.com. My personal impression is "Nice concept. Well implimented. Crappy hardware so far." I haven't found any specific reviews, just going by manufacturers specs.
Finally, linux tablet. I see no reason it's not doable. The tricky bit would be actually reading the tablet (drawing) data. I know jack about that sort of thing. I couldn't see it happening, for much the same reason I don't have a Tablet PC myself. There's just no real need.
This is ridiculous. People who spam are set up for slashdot style bandwidth. That's what they're looking for. Send them the traffic and you just give them what they want. Of course, slashdot people wouldn't BUY stuff from them, so the bandwidth costs for rewards would be shit, but you wouldn't be slashdotting them to death.
This is a silly argument. They both have advantages and disadvantages. Consoles provide a static specification, PCs provide the latest and most diverse hardware.
That static point is an advantage because it's easy to program for, but gets real old real fast. The PC system means stuff stays current but a wider range of hardware to be supported.
Most of your arguments are bunk, but I can't be bothered going through them in point form, because there's a rather nice girl currently persuading me that there's more interesting things to... discuss.
How is this surprising? That one on one training works better than mass class training?
Also lets not just assume the teachers of the home schooled child are necessarily a lay person. Many are unusually intelligent. Hence the decision.
My child (and yes, I have one) will not be taught at school much at school, except the important things I cannot teach.
Like how to get along with other kids. How to pull girls hair. When to accept, and when to challenge. How to be your own person.
These lessons are valuable. I would certainly expect my child to be able to read long before he hits school. Not by forcing him to learn, or by "teaching" him. But by reading with him. Watching Discovery channel with him. Talking about things, answering his questions. That's one of the major roles a parent plays, I feel.
Teaching should not be the job of schools. It should be the job of parents, especially early on.
Actually, this is a very good point... I have an obsessive 2 year old myself, who's favourite movie is tarzan. Thankfully the Australian Tarzan you CAN skip the previews, but only one at a time. Then in the menu because it's burned funny I have to go in and turn the damned subtitles off.
Menus are bad in kids movies. I wish you could just put it in and it goes.. not even press play. Hell, my son could do THAT himself.
Just as a note of interest, my son recently got confused when shown a video case. He kept asking "DVD?" but knew it wasn't quite shaped right.
Slashdot Mirror
America is a strong nation. The strongest in many ways, specifically as a military power and as a market. But it's NOT the only country. Many Americans seem to think that their way is the only way.
The reason I make this comment here is to point something out that's always bothered me about Americans. A Constitutionally Appointed First (I think) Amendment Freedom Of Speech is NOT the only "Freedom of Speech". Here in Australia I can also say what I want, and not get thrown in jail. Why is my freedom of speech less than your freedom of speech? And yes, I HAVE argued with americans on this issue who claimed that I don't actually have freedom of speech.
Citizens of America seem to sometimes think their country can do no wrong. Is this ignorance, or arrogance? Don't let your vaunted Freedom of Speech impare your freedom to listen, and your freedom of thought.
People have fought and died for your right to question your government. So use it.
As another web designer, I feel I should make a point. First of all, I don't know what mask thingy compression stuff is. Except what the earlier post told me. I don't use Photoshop CS, I still use 7, and it does fine for me. I have to say, though, $2-$3 is NOT all that much money. But bear one thing in mind. That's PER IMAGE. If you have 10 images like that, that's $20 - $30 a day, which is starting to add up.
Better compression is ALWAYS good. If you run a site that uses a lot of images (Gallery, porn site, whatever) then the cost saving in better compression could be HUGE, and if it doesn't take any longer (or much longer) to do, then it's basically free money.
Also, on the 1 second thing... yeah, one second is not long, but once again, that's one second PER IMAGE. It all adds up.
Oh, and just so I get to put forth my opinion. The release of any new software like Gimp is always good. I'm a Photoshop guy and have neither reason nor inclination to change, but Gimp provides particularly programmers, and low end designers a free way to achieve the simple tasks they require. Its not worth a $600 photoshop license to make buttons. Sure, it's not Photoshop, but it doesn't have to be.
I've seen it done. I once saw a spammer send an email to the list with the entire list in the header, manually. Not only was the list in excess of 10 meg, but he sent his expensive mailing list out to the world.
I'm going to get myself flamed here, or possibly killed. But isn't this going too far?
I know some spammers personally. Do I approve of what they do? Not really. Do I think it's that big a deal? Not really.
I view spammers in the same way as I view people who put junk mail in the mailbox. I don't understand why people consider spam such a huge deal. I run several websites, and therefore I get a LOT of mail, and consequently a lot of spam. Does it take up much of my time? No. Do I lose a lot of productivity? No.
What is spam is obvious. It's like when you go to your mailbox (snailmail, obviously). You look and you see some letters, some bills, some glossy catalogues, and some junk. You ditch what you don't want (keep the bills... trust me, it's better that way) and read the rest.
Don't get me wrong. Most of the spam I get is rubbish. Apparently I'm a lonely, sex starved moron who needs to lose weight and has a tiny penis. Of course this isn't true. I'm not fat.
I personally think that spammers should moderate themselves. Not for "ethical" reasons. (Ethics in ANY business is expecting too much.) But for practical and financial reasons. Here are my suggested guidelines.
1)If selling adult services of any kind assume that they may be sent to minors inadvertantly. Consequently, adult material should NOT be explicit, either in picture or in word.
2)Opt-out should be easy and effective. A link should be provided on the email, and it should WORK.
3)Consider the aesthetic appeal of what you are sending. Hire a professional to provide a nice layout, which will improve clickthroughs and improve your company's profile. People prefer to recieve something that looks like a nice newsletter than a slab of text and links.
4)Do not send multiple emails to the one person. Clearly this is not going to work.
5)Do not obfuscate your return email address, or subjects in any way to prevent programs from blocking your email. If people block you, they are NOT a customer.
I know I'll probably get flamed for seeming POSITIVE on spam, but to me, it's not going to go away. These simple rules would make it easier to live with.
On a final note:
To suggest that maiming ANYONE for ANY reason is appropriate is appalling. To advocate a violent death to people whose actions cause no REAL harm, beyond minor irritation, is dispicable. "In the western US, many of us carry guns.It's time to use them." You have no idea how glad the rest of the world is that you're there, not here.
There are new drives that have been produced, by toshiba, I believe. These are in the 2-4 gig range, and are substantially smaller than existing hardware, as they have a simplified mechanism which is soldered more or less directly onto the board. My understanding (and this is limited) is that these drives are substantially cheaper (maybe not in price per meg/gig, but in outright price), and are specifically targetted at PDA devices, digital music players, mobile phones, etc.
s hi ba.tinydisk.ap/index.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/12/16/to
This could well be what is being used. If that IS the case, then they could be substantially smaller, and in fact would probably provide a nice balance of form factor vs capacity. I think the iPod (or any of it's competitors) are still slightly too big. Personally I'm waiting for that next step.
Actually, I think this comment is more valid than initially presumed.
No one actually SAYS it's a using 128kbps. A lot of companies will use a lower bandwidth as "standard" for a better quality codec, such as WMA, AAC, etc. This means that if they are taking 96kbps as a "CD quality", or equivalent to 128kbps MP3, then yes, more of them WILL fit. Not, of course, due to the actual amount of data, but because of the better compression for equivalent music.
That being said, anyone who thinks a 128kbps MP3 is "CD Quality" needs better headphones.
Agreed.
Let's take two accidents at 60 miles an hour.
The motorcylist might hit the ground at... for argument 40 miles an hour. (for you americans who don't understand metric)
Someone in a car, however, would have THEIR head hit at maybe 30 miles an hour into their steering wheel.
The big differences? One is hitting on a sideways angle, and bouncing. The other is impacting straight into the face. The other big difference? Only one of them is wearing a helmet.
My head hitting the pavement doesn't scare me. Morons on roundabouts crushing my legs is what scares me.
And how many CAR drivers forget to take off the turn signal when they decide not to turn? Or more likely, simply fail to ever put it on.
I used to have a habit of this as a learner rider and was taught to check the indicator whenever I change up gears. As you most often change down gears before a corner, it works out surprisingly well.
Riders don't need a HUD. They need better training to get rid of bad habits.
As a fellow australian I feel the same. Australians pay some of the (THE?) highest taxes in the world. But I don't think we're all that stupid to re-elect them. The only other option is another politician. :|
Um. This is stupid. If anything it's the other way around. If 60% of electronics goes to the US (for arguments sake.. that number has no basis in fact as far as I know) then it should be the US, just as much as Japan that should be concerned about the end products.
As the largest consumer nation on earth (whether food, manufactured goods, electricity, fossil fuels, whatever) the US needs to look at it's disposal of used goods harder and sooner than anyone else. You can only "fill" so much land.
The only reason Japan has had to do this so quickly is they don't exactly have the land to mess around in.
I agree completely. The "developed" world has a tendancy to sit and criticise the actions of the third world, specifically as they make the mistakes that we made getting here (like raping our natural resources in the name of "progress").
Yeah, sure WE did that, but look what it's done to our country. What extravant wealth (at least by perception and contrast), a reasonable health system, infant mortality rates that are at least a fair chance, and a high standard of living? Yeah, gee, better not go THERE.
I would also have to say that I think it isn't just THIRD WORLD countries. I believe that the US should not be in the position to declare who can and who cannot have nuclear weapons. I specifically think that NO COUNTRY IN THE WORLD HAS THE RIGHT TO NUCLEAR WEAPONS. No good can come of them. I see no morally defensible rationale for turning a country and everything downwind from it into smoking half-life.
More specific to your comments:
Recognise that science and politics are inseparable.
Agreed in theory, but how? Do we make science answerable to politics? Or politics answer to science? I think the problem now is that science is TOO linked to politics. The highest levels of science are MILITARY research. They are science with an agenda. And not a very nice one.
Agree to share all information relating to the design of any weapon which may endanger humanity (like hypersonic bombers).
I like this one. Except wouldn't that just escalate an arms race?
If at all possible refuse to work on research areas which would endanger humanity
That would be tricky. There are always people willing to work for the money. And there's a lot of money. It's also difficult to define. People argue that the US nuclear arsenal protects humanity by providing a deterrent. It's all in how you look at it.
Freely share all information relating to products which are being used for unfair commercial gain. (The current situation with AIDS drugs which most African countries cannot afford is a good example of this).
Agreed, except for one thing. Where's the money in that?
Basically I have to say, the problem with the world, today, the problem with EVERYTHING is money. As the bible says... somewhere... Bob 4:20 "Love of money is the root of all evil." If you see something that seems evil... trace the money. Someone is making a lot of money somewhere. The more evil the more money. And weapons companies, who get these huge development contracts make vast sums of money.
I don't know if I'm the only one who is disturbed by the fact that the cost of launching this particular project would be enough to feed and cloth the poor. All of them. Everywhere.
Probably more like the cost of launching just one of these things into orbit.
In any case, yeah, I agree, you're living in a utopian fantasy, but at least while there's some of us who care, maybe there's hope?
I would agree with this.
For all people say that Apple is "innovative", I wouldn't agree. I think that what they're best at is taking existing ideas, styles, products, etc, and re-packaging them far better than anyone else has done.
Is that innovation? No. But it still makes for good products.
I'm inclined to agree to some extent...
Not much here really impressed me as nearly as "innovative" as implied, considering much of it is already available on XP.
I don't think it's unreasonable to say much of this is Catch Up territory. I don't doubt in some ways it will catch up, and in some ways it will leapfrog over. That's pretty much a given. Anyone who thinks Apple and MS don't watch each other's GUI and functionality developments very closely is highly naive.
I think we'll see versions of Windows and MacOS running quite neck and neck for some time, matching, improving, etc. Take a look at Longhorn, for example, and I think that many of the innovations in that will be "coincidentally" matched by Apple products closer to time. Of course, the Apple faithful will claim MS stole the idea by sneaking back through time itself...
Anyway, it's all good. I'm a PC guy myself, but I'm always pleased to see our toys evolve...
Matt
True, but we all got the idea.
Puns have to be neither accurate nor... well... good.
Personally I would have thought two was enough. Not three. But still.
I read some of les miserable.. I got most of the way through and then my head exploded.
Hugo, why do we need an entire chapter on "Argot" (french slang) to explain that "ABC Club" is pronounced "abace" which means "the abased, or despised"? Seriously?
It was a lot of effort. Too MUCH effort.
Personally I have chosen the great satan. I use Windows Media Player for all my music needs. WMP9 has some excellent features, and the OS integration with XP is good. Not as good as it should be, but still good.
Music Match? Oh, come to think about it I HAVEN'T used that one. I was thinking of Real Jukebox. Which when it first came out was pretty good. (Back in the days when MP3 was the only format and Diamond Rio was the only portable.)
I don't know much about AAC, though by all reports it's among the better ones.
One thing I know for sure. The difference between 128kbps MP3 and CD is vast. I also know that while a 128mp3 is less than perfect (not good enough), a 128kbps WMA file is actually excellent. As I've heard that AAC is slightly better than WMA, particularly on the treble end, it should be adequate.
actually, I kind of like fast switching. I'm a graphic designer, and for a while had two logins, "work" and "play". I would have Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Outlook, etc, all still running in "work", with no problems for my gaming joys in "play"
just a quick reply to part of this..
The "Smart Display" is intended to be a "take for a walk and use seperately" MONITOR for an existing computer. So you finish up your work, take the monitor over to the couch and surf the net while you watch TV.
The "Tablet PC" is a complete computer, basically a laptop that you can write on the screen. Unfortunately the specs on current Tablet PCs are appalling, but I don't think microsoft's spec actually says "please use 4 year old hardware" so I'll blame the vendors themselves there.
The two technologies look similar on the surface, but are not remotely comparable.
Personally I like the smart display concept for use as a second monitor. I'm a graphic designer and programmer, so it's not even close to good enough for a primary monitor, but still, kinda cool.
And as for the "why would you want a windows PC" this is a dumb question. Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Homesite, Debabelizer, Flash, and yes, games. Don't bother saying that those programs are available for Apple, because I don't care. And the first person that mentions the words "The Gimp" or "open source alternatives" gets a personal visit. Oh, and not all games are on PS2 or Gamecube. Not even many. Once again, you're comparing things that are not even remotely similar.
As for reviews of Tablet PCs, the overall concept is covered well on http://www.winsupersite.com. My personal impression is "Nice concept. Well implimented. Crappy hardware so far." I haven't found any specific reviews, just going by manufacturers specs.
Finally, linux tablet. I see no reason it's not doable. The tricky bit would be actually reading the tablet (drawing) data. I know jack about that sort of thing. I couldn't see it happening, for much the same reason I don't have a Tablet PC myself. There's just no real need.
Matt
This is ridiculous. People who spam are set up for slashdot style bandwidth. That's what they're looking for. Send them the traffic and you just give them what they want. Of course, slashdot people wouldn't BUY stuff from them, so the bandwidth costs for rewards would be shit, but you wouldn't be slashdotting them to death.
Maybe a little off topic, but as a windows user I use MySQL-Front. Sadly I think the project is dead now. Sigh.
It's not without flaws, but in a windows environment it's a hell of a lot easier to work with than the alternatives. (Whatever the alternatives are!)
This is a silly argument. They both have advantages and disadvantages. Consoles provide a static specification, PCs provide the latest and most diverse hardware.
That static point is an advantage because it's easy to program for, but gets real old real fast. The PC system means stuff stays current but a wider range of hardware to be supported.
Most of your arguments are bunk, but I can't be bothered going through them in point form, because there's a rather nice girl currently persuading me that there's more interesting things to... discuss.
How is this surprising? That one on one training works better than mass class training?
Also lets not just assume the teachers of the home schooled child are necessarily a lay person. Many are unusually intelligent. Hence the decision.
My child (and yes, I have one) will not be taught at school much at school, except the important things I cannot teach.
Like how to get along with other kids. How to pull girls hair. When to accept, and when to challenge. How to be your own person.
These lessons are valuable. I would certainly expect my child to be able to read long before he hits school. Not by forcing him to learn, or by "teaching" him. But by reading with him. Watching Discovery channel with him. Talking about things, answering his questions. That's one of the major roles a parent plays, I feel.
Teaching should not be the job of schools. It should be the job of parents, especially early on.
See, if you look at it, not just AT it, but THROUGH it, it forms like a big 3D castle... OoooOOooh! Pretty.
Actually, this is a very good point... I have an obsessive 2 year old myself, who's favourite movie is tarzan. Thankfully the Australian Tarzan you CAN skip the previews, but only one at a time. Then in the menu because it's burned funny I have to go in and turn the damned subtitles off.
Menus are bad in kids movies. I wish you could just put it in and it goes.. not even press play. Hell, my son could do THAT himself.
Just as a note of interest, my son recently got confused when shown a video case. He kept asking "DVD?" but knew it wasn't quite shaped right.