I refuse to allow Microsoft, a company which has been found to have shaky (at best) security practices, to protect my private information on their service. I refuse to allow Microsoft to control my computer with their draconian authentication scheme, which is just a ruse to bolster arbitrary numbers on their annual report. I refuse to purchase any products or services of the Microsoft Corporation.
I have decided to start boycotting the Microsoft. Please also start, if you care about your rights as a citizen of the 21st century.
I just got my Zaurus in the mail on Thursday, and I have to say that it was worth it. The demo unit is a bit unrefined, but at least it doesn't crash nearly as often as my old Windows CE 2.0 device (a clunky old Jornada). Audio playback is OK, but I just really love how it runs Linux. Not having to pay the Palm or Microsoft tax is quite liberating, I must say.
Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to the conference due to some work obligations. However, I'm already in the process of coding some (GPL, naturally) applications for the Zaurus, including a web browser, a small game where you have to clobber Bill Gates (think xbill, but for Qt), and a text editor.
Apple provides those computers for free as part of their product placement agreement. Reminds me of a recent "Nick Burns, Your Company's Computer Guy" sketch on Saturday Night Live where the sarcastic Nick Burns supports an office full of iMacs (and an iPod). Despite all the nasty BOFH-like comments he makes about the users, not a bad word is said about any of the fruity-colored office machines.
How do inexperienced people like you acquire such high karma? You can't spell, your grammar is flawed, and you have little sense of how things work in the real world.
I managed to snag the 1.0 release this morning just before the Slashdot effect brought the server to its knees. I have to admit that although I've been a KDE fan before, Evolution is pretty slick. Its file browser is like nothing I've ever seen before, a true marvel of the power of open-source. Its mail client, unlike Microsoft Outlook, is very easy to use and secure. It is a true marvel of the power of open-source.
I believe that this is the most significant release yet. Evolution 1.0 will do for open-source what the Segway has already done for the field of personal transportation.
Good Morning *America*, Mr. Sims
on
This is IT?
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· Score: 0, Flamebait
Dear Mr. Sims:
The name of the morning news program on which the Segway debuted is Good Morning America, not "Good Morning Consumers." I know that you try to bring a sense of irony with your silly Communist ramblings, but get off your goddamn high horse and write something objective for a change.
If you hate promoting (or, as you call it, "advertising") new products to prospective buyers, then stop publishing stories like this one.
How much did Dean Kamen pay you, Michael? Huh? Sell-out? Patsy? Speak up for yourself!
A friend of mine just got a Keyspan USB Remote for his Mac OS X system. It's pretty neat: he remapped the buttons to switch between apps, cycle through his playlists, mute the volume, etc. No word about Linux support: the web page only specifies Windows and Mac OS software support.
MEMORANDUM
To: All ZapMedia Employees
From: CEO, ZapMedia, Inc.
Date: November 9, 2001
Re: Picass0 does not like our product
Dear employees of ZapMedia,
Over the last few years, we have yearned to make a product that allows home users to easily play a wide range of media. Today we have released our ZapStation flagship product. However, there is a critical flaw in our design. A user on the popular Internet forum "Slash-Dot" known only as "Picass0" does not like the product.
We plan on launching a full-scale investigation into the dissatisfaction. The ZapStation 2000, our successor product, will likely be a full-tower case with seventeen drive bays and an eighty-gigabyte hard drive with Linux preloaded. We will also offer users the choice of twenty different operating systems (FreeBSD, Windows, and eighteen distributions of Linux) to appease all Slash-Dot users. We will also be forced to lower the cost of our hard-ware to $149.99, and include free shipping.
In unrelated news, I have noticed an overweight, pot-smoking, foul-smelling person in the parking lot shouting "Free software!" and poorly singing a song which sounds like "Sadi Moma." Security has been notified.
I remember seeing an ad in my old Genesis gaming rags about an exercise bike that would allow you to control games. A Google search turned up the ExerGame, a bike with such an interface. The web page hasn't been updated in years, and doesn't offer too much info, though.
As a loyal television viewer, I feel that it is my right to enjoy television the way I see fit. Seeing a small logo superimposed over my favorite television shows deprives me of my right. With all of the talk being made on web-sites like The Slashing Dot about content control, I wonder: when do we, the viewers, get to control the content ourselves?
I consider myself to be probably the smartest user on the American Internet today. For example, are you aware that many web pages use "banner advertising" or "popped up advertisements"? It's true, whether or not you realize it. However, I have downloaded a piece of soft-ware known as the Junking Buster which defeats those advertisements. Now I can surf the web seeing only content which is relevant, such as these comments. Now, what about television (or "TV")? I have purchased a device which allows me to watch T-V shows not at the times set by the closed-minded networks, but at my own leisure. It cost me over $400, but I consider it to be far superior to watching T-V with advertisements.
Watching T-V programs with the help of my Delayed Recording Device (or "DRD") has helped greatly, and is a means of content control. However, although my DRD has over seventy features on its remote-control (hereinafter "remocon") I do not see any option to remove the logos. Because I am releasing the soft-ware for my DRD and T-V into the public domain, I expect that one of you "hackers" (hereinafter "crackers") will enable me to remove the logo from my programs.
I have been as tolerant as possible of the actions of Apple Computer Incorporated (hereinafter "Apple"). In particular, I am disappointed with their decision not to make their Internet To User Network Experience System (hereinafter "ITUNES") available under the terms of the GNU General Public License (hereinafer "GPL"). As a result, I have decided to use alternative music soft wares, such as Windows Amp (hereinafter "Win-Amp"), the X Multimedia System (hereinafter "X. M. M. S."), and the command-line utility Motion Picture Entertainment Group 123 (hereinafter "mpg123").
I would strongly encourage all readers of this web site, the Slashing Dot, to boycott ITUNES. Please refrain from downloading it, and encourage others from doing the same. I would also recommend that you boycott all of Apple's hard-ware and soft wares.
If we keep a strong will, we will succeed. Thank you.
Re:Rumors of passing on are vastly overrated
on
MS DOS: A Eulogy
·
· Score: 1
My PC (or "Personal Computer") already does all of the functions of this contraption, and I enjoy using it with a full-sized keyboard and mouse. Plus, I run Linux, America's most popular operating system, which allows me to write my own software. Try writing your own software in Windows!
Who ships computers that can have 802.11b for on $99? Apple.
Many 802.11b (pronounced "eight oh two dot eleven bee") cards can be purchased for less than $99. However, Apple users frown upon them, because they have protruding antennae that hurt their bums.
What company allows networking over firewire? Apple.
I would like you to know that I use Windows XP (short for "experience") on my lap-top. In the Network Connections folder, there is an option for "1394 Net Connection." To an Apple user, this means "networking over firewire."
What company's keyboards have USB hubs built in? Apple.
Who ships consistantly ships the most enviromentally friendly machines? Apple.
My Compaq Presario gets consistently gets more than 30 miles per gallon on regular fuel, not like the premium 93-octane that you have to put in your iBook (short for "Internet Book").
Who invented the first computer? Apple. Who invented the mouse? Apple. Who created the idea of "software"? Apple. Who created the very first printer? Apple. And the list goes on.:p
For what it's worth, only the MagicGate Memory Sticks have DRM, and can be used to hold "secure" ATRAC music files. Standard Memory Sticks have no such protection, and can be used to store any file including MP3 music. In fact, the Sony Clie audio player can play both MP3 and ATRAC format music.
Also, now that companies such as Lexar make Memory Sticks, you can get them for $1.00/MB or less. That's roughly the same price as CompactFlash.
You need to meet more people who have a Sony fetish. I'm on a college campus with many folks who love everything Sony, and I have seen a few Clies in use already. The low-cost monochrome models seem to be more popular than the high-res color ones, but the Sony name alone is a nice selling point.
Also, unlike Palm and Handspring, Sony can diversify itself. Even though the Clie is not the #1 handheld, Sony still has many other high-margin products to make up the difference.
While it's true that blank cassettes cost the same as blank MDs, and the MDs provide better quality in a smallest package, answer me this: where can I get an MD recorder for $30 brand-new?
The day cassettes die for recording is the day when MD recording equipment is cheap enough. CD players cost $30-40 brand-new for inexpensive models, so they have long since passed cassettes for playback. $200 for an MD recorder is simply too much for the vast majority of (non-gadget-freak) Americans.
I've only seen a power outlet on an airplane seat once, and I fly a few times a year. I believe it was on a very recent Airbus jet. Of course, it doesn't help that I always fly coach; most of the time, power outlets are reserved for the beautiful people in First Class or Business Class.
There was more than enough demand for those power outlets on airplanes, though; in the mid-90's, many airlines were complaining that passengers would camp out in the bathrooms using the shaver outlets for power! As any Slashdotter can tell you, a working computer is much more important than the appearance of hair on one's face.
I imagine that power outlets are cropping up chiefly on long-distance flights, especially trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific flights. My laptop easily makes it from Pittsburgh to New York, a one-hour flight, with no recharge necessary.:)
Don't forget that the Inspiron 2100 lasts only about 2 hours of average use with a standard battery. (The figure is closer to three hours if you turn the clock speed down to 500MHz from 700MHz.) If you want to watch a DVD, I imagine that the battery life would decline fairly rapidly due to the constant spinning of the drive. Apple claims five hours of battery life for the new iBooks with average use, and I can say that I've used one (an older-style iBook, that is) with an Airport card for about 4 1/2 hours of casual use before it started whining about a low battery. Disabling Airport probably would have added that extra half-hour.
I was actually looking at both the new iBook and the Inspiron 2100, but battery life is really the more important factor for me. YMMV.
Slashdot Mirror
I refuse to allow Microsoft, a company which has been found to have shaky (at best) security practices, to protect my private information on their service. I refuse to allow Microsoft to control my computer with their draconian authentication scheme, which is just a ruse to bolster arbitrary numbers on their annual report. I refuse to purchase any products or services of the Microsoft Corporation.
I have decided to start boycotting the Microsoft. Please also start, if you care about your rights as a citizen of the 21st century.
I just got my Zaurus in the mail on Thursday, and I have to say that it was worth it. The demo unit is a bit unrefined, but at least it doesn't crash nearly as often as my old Windows CE 2.0 device (a clunky old Jornada). Audio playback is OK, but I just really love how it runs Linux. Not having to pay the Palm or Microsoft tax is quite liberating, I must say.
Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to the conference due to some work obligations. However, I'm already in the process of coding some (GPL, naturally) applications for the Zaurus, including a web browser, a small game where you have to clobber Bill Gates (think xbill, but for Qt), and a text editor.
/me loves his new toy.
Yes. MusicMatch Jukebox. It's ugly nagware, but it works.
Apple provides those computers for free as part of their product placement agreement. Reminds me of a recent "Nick Burns, Your Company's Computer Guy" sketch on Saturday Night Live where the sarcastic Nick Burns supports an office full of iMacs (and an iPod). Despite all the nasty BOFH-like comments he makes about the users, not a bad word is said about any of the fruity-colored office machines.
How do inexperienced people like you acquire such high karma? You can't spell, your grammar is flawed, and you have little sense of how things work in the real world.
You must be new here.
I managed to snag the 1.0 release this morning just before the Slashdot effect brought the server to its knees. I have to admit that although I've been a KDE fan before, Evolution is pretty slick. Its file browser is like nothing I've ever seen before, a true marvel of the power of open-source. Its mail client, unlike Microsoft Outlook, is very easy to use and secure. It is a true marvel of the power of open-source.
I believe that this is the most significant release yet. Evolution 1.0 will do for open-source what the Segway has already done for the field of personal transportation.
Dear Mr. Sims:
The name of the morning news program on which the Segway debuted is Good Morning America, not "Good Morning Consumers." I know that you try to bring a sense of irony with your silly Communist ramblings, but get off your goddamn high horse and write something objective for a change.
If you hate promoting (or, as you call it, "advertising") new products to prospective buyers, then stop publishing stories like this one.
How much did Dean Kamen pay you, Michael? Huh? Sell-out? Patsy? Speak up for yourself!
- national.museum.of.women.in.the.arts.art.museum
- nationalmuseumofwomeninthearts.art.museum
- theclevelandmuseumofarts.art.museum (museum o farts?)
- ici.exhibitions.nyc.contemporary.art.museum
- (my favorite) fundacio.pilar.i.joan.miro.mallorca.art.museum
All are registered, but none are used. Thank you, InterNIC.A friend of mine just got a Keyspan USB Remote for his Mac OS X system. It's pretty neat: he remapped the buttons to switch between apps, cycle through his playlists, mute the volume, etc. No word about Linux support: the web page only specifies Windows and Mac OS software support.
MEMORANDUM
To: All ZapMedia Employees
From: CEO, ZapMedia, Inc.
Date: November 9, 2001
Re: Picass0 does not like our product
Dear employees of ZapMedia,
Over the last few years, we have yearned to make a product that allows home users to easily play a wide range of media. Today we have released our ZapStation flagship product. However, there is a critical flaw in our design. A user on the popular Internet forum "Slash-Dot" known only as "Picass0" does not like the product.
We plan on launching a full-scale investigation into the dissatisfaction. The ZapStation 2000, our successor product, will likely be a full-tower case with seventeen drive bays and an eighty-gigabyte hard drive with Linux preloaded. We will also offer users the choice of twenty different operating systems (FreeBSD, Windows, and eighteen distributions of Linux) to appease all Slash-Dot users. We will also be forced to lower the cost of our hard-ware to $149.99, and include free shipping.
In unrelated news, I have noticed an overweight, pot-smoking, foul-smelling person in the parking lot shouting "Free software!" and poorly singing a song which sounds like "Sadi Moma." Security has been notified.
Sincerely,
Your CEO
I remember seeing an ad in my old Genesis gaming rags about an exercise bike that would allow you to control games. A Google search turned up the ExerGame, a bike with such an interface. The web page hasn't been updated in years, and doesn't offer too much info, though.
All you had to do was ask. Sound Blaster Acting Intelligent Text-to-Speech Operator.
Ha-ha...nobody responded to your uncreative and stupid troll...
You just did.
What's more pathetic, responding to a troll, or spending time crafting a troll that nobody reads?
You, sir, are a pathetic.
As a loyal television viewer, I feel that it is my right to enjoy television the way I see fit. Seeing a small logo superimposed over my favorite television shows deprives me of my right. With all of the talk being made on web-sites like The Slashing Dot about content control, I wonder: when do we, the viewers, get to control the content ourselves?
I consider myself to be probably the smartest user on the American Internet today. For example, are you aware that many web pages use "banner advertising" or "popped up advertisements"? It's true, whether or not you realize it. However, I have downloaded a piece of soft-ware known as the Junking Buster which defeats those advertisements. Now I can surf the web seeing only content which is relevant, such as these comments. Now, what about television (or "TV")? I have purchased a device which allows me to watch T-V shows not at the times set by the closed-minded networks, but at my own leisure. It cost me over $400, but I consider it to be far superior to watching T-V with advertisements.
Watching T-V programs with the help of my Delayed Recording Device (or "DRD") has helped greatly, and is a means of content control. However, although my DRD has over seventy features on its remote-control (hereinafter "remocon") I do not see any option to remove the logos. Because I am releasing the soft-ware for my DRD and T-V into the public domain, I expect that one of you "hackers" (hereinafter "crackers") will enable me to remove the logo from my programs.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Dear Readers of the Slashing Dot,
I have been as tolerant as possible of the actions of Apple Computer Incorporated (hereinafter "Apple"). In particular, I am disappointed with their decision not to make their Internet To User Network Experience System (hereinafter "ITUNES") available under the terms of the GNU General Public License (hereinafer "GPL"). As a result, I have decided to use alternative music soft wares, such as Windows Amp (hereinafter "Win-Amp"), the X Multimedia System (hereinafter "X. M. M. S."), and the command-line utility Motion Picture Entertainment Group 123 (hereinafter "mpg123").
I would strongly encourage all readers of this web site, the Slashing Dot, to boycott ITUNES. Please refrain from downloading it, and encourage others from doing the same. I would also recommend that you boycott all of Apple's hard-ware and soft wares.
If we keep a strong will, we will succeed. Thank you.
I use Windows XP.
I have Scorched Earth.
It works.
My PC (or "Personal Computer") already does all of the functions of this contraption, and I enjoy using it with a full-sized keyboard and mouse. Plus, I run Linux, America's most popular operating system, which allows me to write my own software. Try writing your own software in Windows!
Just remember: if it's not Linux, don't buy it.
Who ships with Gigabit ethernet standard on all towers? Apple.
:p
And Compaq, and IBM, and Dell...
Who ships gigabit ethernet on all highend Laptops? Apple.
And Compaq, and IBM, and Dell...
Who ships computers that can have 802.11b for on $99? Apple.
Many 802.11b (pronounced "eight oh two dot eleven bee") cards can be purchased for less than $99. However, Apple users frown upon them, because they have protruding antennae that hurt their bums.
What company allows networking over firewire? Apple.
I would like you to know that I use Windows XP (short for "experience") on my lap-top. In the Network Connections folder, there is an option for "1394 Net Connection." To an Apple user, this means "networking over firewire."
What company's keyboards have USB hubs built in? Apple.
And Microsoft, and Compaq, and IBM, and Dell...
Who ships consistantly ships the most enviromentally friendly machines? Apple.
My Compaq Presario gets consistently gets more than 30 miles per gallon on regular fuel, not like the premium 93-octane that you have to put in your iBook (short for "Internet Book").
Who invented the first computer? Apple. Who invented the mouse? Apple. Who created the idea of "software"? Apple. Who created the very first printer? Apple. And the list goes on.
Touche.
Compaq laptops have Firewire built in, although it's only 4-pin. My Presario 1720US has one Firewire and two USB ports.
For what it's worth, only the MagicGate Memory Sticks have DRM, and can be used to hold "secure" ATRAC music files. Standard Memory Sticks have no such protection, and can be used to store any file including MP3 music. In fact, the Sony Clie audio player can play both MP3 and ATRAC format music.
Also, now that companies such as Lexar make Memory Sticks, you can get them for $1.00/MB or less. That's roughly the same price as CompactFlash.
You need to meet more people who have a Sony fetish. I'm on a college campus with many folks who love everything Sony, and I have seen a few Clies in use already. The low-cost monochrome models seem to be more popular than the high-res color ones, but the Sony name alone is a nice selling point.
Also, unlike Palm and Handspring, Sony can diversify itself. Even though the Clie is not the #1 handheld, Sony still has many other high-margin products to make up the difference.
While it's true that blank cassettes cost the same as blank MDs, and the MDs provide better quality in a smallest package, answer me this: where can I get an MD recorder for $30 brand-new?
The day cassettes die for recording is the day when MD recording equipment is cheap enough. CD players cost $30-40 brand-new for inexpensive models, so they have long since passed cassettes for playback. $200 for an MD recorder is simply too much for the vast majority of (non-gadget-freak) Americans.
I've only seen a power outlet on an airplane seat once, and I fly a few times a year. I believe it was on a very recent Airbus jet. Of course, it doesn't help that I always fly coach; most of the time, power outlets are reserved for the beautiful people in First Class or Business Class.
:)
There was more than enough demand for those power outlets on airplanes, though; in the mid-90's, many airlines were complaining that passengers would camp out in the bathrooms using the shaver outlets for power! As any Slashdotter can tell you, a working computer is much more important than the appearance of hair on one's face.
I imagine that power outlets are cropping up chiefly on long-distance flights, especially trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific flights. My laptop easily makes it from Pittsburgh to New York, a one-hour flight, with no recharge necessary.
FWIW, Carnegie Mellon cancelled all classes at 10:45 AM on the morning of September 11. Classes resumed the following morning.
Don't forget that the Inspiron 2100 lasts only about 2 hours of average use with a standard battery. (The figure is closer to three hours if you turn the clock speed down to 500MHz from 700MHz.) If you want to watch a DVD, I imagine that the battery life would decline fairly rapidly due to the constant spinning of the drive. Apple claims five hours of battery life for the new iBooks with average use, and I can say that I've used one (an older-style iBook, that is) with an Airport card for about 4 1/2 hours of casual use before it started whining about a low battery. Disabling Airport probably would have added that extra half-hour.
I was actually looking at both the new iBook and the Inspiron 2100, but battery life is really the more important factor for me. YMMV.