Yes, but why do I have to search for it? The author of the article collected all of the information, so why couldn't he/she provide the link?
This one isn't that bad, but there are plenty of articles that spew "facts" that are totally unattributed. I feel we should have accountability in our media.
The annual National Geographic Survey had thrown up the sad fact that only 23 out of 56 young Americans knew the whereabouts of the Pacific Ocean.
Is it too much to ask that we get a link to the survey or article that spews this fact? This is the internet; we have the technology. I'd like to see that survey (which the author of the article obviously knew the location of, right?) first hand...
I can't speak for Car and Driver, but I know PC World's ratings of Dell computers and service plummeted when Dell stopped buying so much advertising. In one case, I saw them compare two machines (a Dell and another brand) head-to-head and still appoint Dell the winner despite the fact that the second brand was better in nearly every aspect - by the facts in their own article.
PC World hasn't "washed out". Instead, they found a model that makes money. However, those who don't know about PC World's bias may fall for it.
I'm not a fan of Consumer Reports, but I have to admit they have the right idea (no advertisements from anyone) when it comes to rating things. Of course they still could be biased, but it seems like they've done what they can to remove as much bias as possible. The downside to this is that if they are biased, there's no easy way to tell like there is in PC World.
Maybe we should invent a magazine-rating system: if Brand X is on top, count the number of ads in the magazine by Brand X relative to other brands and reduce their rating appropriately.
Wow, interesting. My favorite line in the article:
Industry experts say it is the purity of the Olympic name that makes it so attractive a target.
It won't be if the sponsors keep that up! Actually, we're probably already past that point.
Of course, any sporting event is clogged with advertisements these days, and it can be a real turn off. I was at an AHL (minor league, essentially) ice hockey game a year or two ago, and there were advertisements everywhere. Even the power plays, which have been a part of hockey for a long time were now "sponsored". The worst part though was when they brought the little kids out to play during one of the breaks: the referee, a girl that was about 8 years old, even had an advertisement on the back of her jersey. No opportunity to advertise was missed.
FWIW, my 1986 Escorts (I had two) ran very reliably for years...
However, the Cougar was built to be a cheap sports car. To get all the features it has, Ford had to cut corners somewhere: quality. As someone once put it, "Hyundai owners don't complain about the quality of their cars" - because they're among the cheapest cars in the US. To offer the same number of features with Toyota quality, Ford probably would've had to sell the Cougar at $25,000 or more, which means a lot of us (including me) wouldn't have been able to afford them.
Enjoy the new Cougar while it lasts - they stopped making them after the 2002 model year.:( Used ones are available cheap, though.
I hate Consumer Reports - if we went by everything they recommended, we'd all be driving Toyota Camrys, using the same stereo, listening to the same music, going to the same places on vacation, using the same computers, playing the same games, living in the same area, etc.
First, maybe they aren't buying a Toyota or Honda because they just sell hybrid cars, as opposed to SUVs.
Now, for my personal experience: I bought a 1999 Mercury Cougar new in June, 1999. I've had a number of problems with it. I paid about $17,000 for it, new. The comparable Toyota vehicle is the Celica, which - for the most comparable performance - retails for about $23,000. I haven't put anywhere near $6,000 in repairs to my car (not even counting interest on the loan), so I've still saved money. And my Cougar offered quite a few convenience features that weren't even available on the Celica.
What always gets me about that scene is that he hasn't typed once in the last five years that we've seen but can still type faster than most people I know.
And they still use Qwerty - or at least that shop happened to be using the same layout Scotty was familiar with!
There are other problems with that scene, too, such as the fact that he was so familiar with the software running on that Mac that he didn't even need to see it, but that's a topic for another/. discussion.:)
I installed Windows XP on my desktop a couple weeks ago. Did you know even the installer has a BSOD?
Yep, I found it when the installer insisted on writing a critical file to a cross-linked cluster on my FAT32 partition...despite the fact that I wanted to kill that partition entirely and make it NTFS.
Took me hours to get it working: I had to reformat the drive using FAT32 so Windows could again format it to NTFS. (Of course, it took me a couple tries to figure that out - I tried just deleting the partition without formatting and a couple other things, but it didn't work - apparently, the installer must have a FAT32 partition, even if it's going to format it!). I was thinking about writing a review of Windows starting with the install headaches, just like the Linux reviewers do. I also want to be sure to include that I cut myself on the package...no Linux distribution has ever drawn blood from me!
ANYWAY... now that I have it working, it does work very quickly and reliably. (Sorry for the off-topic rant.)
I used that article (to get started; I had to look up some stuff on other sites) last weekend to convert my site's home page to use CSS instead of just HTML. The new page is at http://roller-skate.org/new, while the old is at http://roller-skate.org. I'm still working out some issues, but I can't recommend that article enough if you're just starting out with CSS and trying to understand how to set up everything.
They should automatically disable if the door is unlocked using the key. I think they're all wired that way because of the possibility of your key fob's batteries running down. What kind of factory alarms don't disable this way?
Also, at least on my cars and others I know, starting the car will cancel the alarm, too.
When I first got into modems, we didn't have a phone jack in the computer room, so after school I'd string a line from the phone in my parents' bedroom to the computer in the next room. One day, I disconnected the handset cord entirely for some reason and put it on the bed. It's a brown, coiled wire, and of course I forgot to put it back in when I finished with the modem.
Well, my mom came home that evening and went up to the bedroom. A moment later, she started screaming like she was being attacked. I rushed to check on her. She was standing at the door and told me there was a snake on her bed. I couldn't identify the cord from across the room, but I knew it looked familiar. I walked over to it (tentatively - it really did look like a snake), and finally realized what it was as I got close. She nearly flipped when I reached over to pick it up.
She was so frightened that she didn't even get angry at me!
I pulled out or inserted (I forget which) an ISA card once while the machine was running. Didn't hurt it, though, surprisingly.
Another time, I was helping a friend over the phone work on his computer. It had some bizarre errors, and we thought the problem might be some bad memory chips. So, I asked him to pull out two of the memory cards. He did that, and I told him to turn the computer back on. He said, "It's rebooting now." Here's how the conversation went:
Me: "Did you just pull that memory out with the computer on?" Him: "Yes...should I not have done that?" Me: "Don't do that again." -- as mildly as I could.
He wanted me to pay me to fix the machine, but I turned down the job, because I wasn't confident I could get it working. The things going on made me think he had a motherboard problem or some other major issue.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, me either. Different employees at different stores, though.
--RJ
I doubt it - why would the Bush administration want BAD news about this system in the news?
--RJ
Yes, but why do I have to search for it? The author of the article collected all of the information, so why couldn't he/she provide the link?
This one isn't that bad, but there are plenty of articles that spew "facts" that are totally unattributed. I feel we should have accountability in our media.
--RJ
The annual National Geographic Survey had thrown up the sad fact that only 23 out of 56 young Americans knew the whereabouts of the Pacific Ocean.
Is it too much to ask that we get a link to the survey or article that spews this fact? This is the internet; we have the technology. I'd like to see that survey (which the author of the article obviously knew the location of, right?) first hand...
--RJ
I can't speak for Car and Driver, but I know PC World's ratings of Dell computers and service plummeted when Dell stopped buying so much advertising. In one case, I saw them compare two machines (a Dell and another brand) head-to-head and still appoint Dell the winner despite the fact that the second brand was better in nearly every aspect - by the facts in their own article.
PC World hasn't "washed out". Instead, they found a model that makes money. However, those who don't know about PC World's bias may fall for it.
I'm not a fan of Consumer Reports, but I have to admit they have the right idea (no advertisements from anyone) when it comes to rating things. Of course they still could be biased, but it seems like they've done what they can to remove as much bias as possible. The downside to this is that if they are biased, there's no easy way to tell like there is in PC World.
Maybe we should invent a magazine-rating system: if Brand X is on top, count the number of ads in the magazine by Brand X relative to other brands and reduce their rating appropriately.
--RJ
Wow, interesting. My favorite line in the article:
It won't be if the sponsors keep that up! Actually, we're probably already past that point.
Of course, any sporting event is clogged with advertisements these days, and it can be a real turn off. I was at an AHL (minor league, essentially) ice hockey game a year or two ago, and there were advertisements everywhere. Even the power plays, which have been a part of hockey for a long time were now "sponsored". The worst part though was when they brought the little kids out to play during one of the breaks: the referee, a girl that was about 8 years old, even had an advertisement on the back of her jersey. No opportunity to advertise was missed.
Off-topic, but interesting and sad.
--RJ
I thought it was pretty good. A little formulaic, but pretty good.
--RJ
FWIW, my 1986 Escorts (I had two) ran very reliably for years...
:( Used ones are available cheap, though.
However, the Cougar was built to be a cheap sports car. To get all the features it has, Ford had to cut corners somewhere: quality. As someone once put it, "Hyundai owners don't complain about the quality of their cars" - because they're among the cheapest cars in the US. To offer the same number of features with Toyota quality, Ford probably would've had to sell the Cougar at $25,000 or more, which means a lot of us (including me) wouldn't have been able to afford them.
Enjoy the new Cougar while it lasts - they stopped making them after the 2002 model year.
--RJ
I hate Consumer Reports - if we went by everything they recommended, we'd all be driving Toyota Camrys, using the same stereo, listening to the same music, going to the same places on vacation, using the same computers, playing the same games, living in the same area, etc.
Variety is the spice of life.
--RJ
Yeah, the Cougar's resale value is in the trash. Part of that is because Ford cancelled the model after only 4 years.
:)
However, I'd always intended to keep the car for 10 years, so resale meant nothing to me.
--RJ
Or, as a friend of mine put it, "Try explaining to your kids why you aren't going to Disney World this year."
--RJ
Why is it that I can't select anything other than "Agree" for that quiz?
(Of course, the questions are worded in such a way that it's difficult to disagree with them, but that's a separate issue.)
--RJ
First, maybe they aren't buying a Toyota or Honda because they just sell hybrid cars, as opposed to SUVs.
Now, for my personal experience: I bought a 1999 Mercury Cougar new in June, 1999. I've had a number of problems with it. I paid about $17,000 for it, new. The comparable Toyota vehicle is the Celica, which - for the most comparable performance - retails for about $23,000. I haven't put anywhere near $6,000 in repairs to my car (not even counting interest on the loan), so I've still saved money. And my Cougar offered quite a few convenience features that weren't even available on the Celica.
--RJ
So, the Mac UI is a bunch of unlabeled switches and random blinking lights? ;)
--RJ
What always gets me about that scene is that he hasn't typed once in the last five years that we've seen but can still type faster than most people I know.
/. discussion. :)
And they still use Qwerty - or at least that shop happened to be using the same layout Scotty was familiar with!
There are other problems with that scene, too, such as the fact that he was so familiar with the software running on that Mac that he didn't even need to see it, but that's a topic for another
--RJ
I installed Windows XP on my desktop a couple weeks ago. Did you know even the installer has a BSOD?
Yep, I found it when the installer insisted on writing a critical file to a cross-linked cluster on my FAT32 partition...despite the fact that I wanted to kill that partition entirely and make it NTFS.
Took me hours to get it working: I had to reformat the drive using FAT32 so Windows could again format it to NTFS. (Of course, it took me a couple tries to figure that out - I tried just deleting the partition without formatting and a couple other things, but it didn't work - apparently, the installer must have a FAT32 partition, even if it's going to format it!). I was thinking about writing a review of Windows starting with the install headaches, just like the Linux reviewers do. I also want to be sure to include that I cut myself on the package...no Linux distribution has ever drawn blood from me!
ANYWAY... now that I have it working, it does work very quickly and reliably. (Sorry for the off-topic rant.)
--RJ
Which memo? I read the summaries but I don't see where they say they're invalid, just that they don't apply in that case.
Thanks.
--RJ
I used that article (to get started; I had to look up some stuff on other sites) last weekend to convert my site's home page to use CSS instead of just HTML. The new page is at http://roller-skate.org/new, while the old is at http://roller-skate.org. I'm still working out some issues, but I can't recommend that article enough if you're just starting out with CSS and trying to understand how to set up everything.
--RJ
Not voting for the Patriot act, for one...
--RJ
Let's start a new political party, one that does what's right for the country instead of what's right for the party.
/bitter
Wait, that won't work. Unfortunately.
--RJ
I bought a copy of Windows XP Home last week. Sorry!
--RJ
"Choosey Moms Choose GIF"
That was a great site - too bad they never updated it...
--RJ
They should automatically disable if the door is unlocked using the key. I think they're all wired that way because of the possibility of your key fob's batteries running down. What kind of factory alarms don't disable this way?
Also, at least on my cars and others I know, starting the car will cancel the alarm, too.
--RJ
When I first got into modems, we didn't have a phone jack in the computer room, so after school I'd string a line from the phone in my parents' bedroom to the computer in the next room. One day, I disconnected the handset cord entirely for some reason and put it on the bed. It's a brown, coiled wire, and of course I forgot to put it back in when I finished with the modem.
Well, my mom came home that evening and went up to the bedroom. A moment later, she started screaming like she was being attacked. I rushed to check on her. She was standing at the door and told me there was a snake on her bed. I couldn't identify the cord from across the room, but I knew it looked familiar. I walked over to it (tentatively - it really did look like a snake), and finally realized what it was as I got close. She nearly flipped when I reached over to pick it up.
She was so frightened that she didn't even get angry at me!
--RJ
I pulled out or inserted (I forget which) an ISA card once while the machine was running. Didn't hurt it, though, surprisingly.
Another time, I was helping a friend over the phone work on his computer. It had some bizarre errors, and we thought the problem might be some bad memory chips. So, I asked him to pull out two of the memory cards. He did that, and I told him to turn the computer back on. He said, "It's rebooting now." Here's how the conversation went:
Me: "Did you just pull that memory out with the computer on?"
Him: "Yes...should I not have done that?"
Me: "Don't do that again." -- as mildly as I could.
He wanted me to pay me to fix the machine, but I turned down the job, because I wasn't confident I could get it working. The things going on made me think he had a motherboard problem or some other major issue.
--RJ