Yeah, Ricochet has had my curiousity for a while now. Agreed that their biggest issue is probably promotion....I've seen a few of their commercials on some cable channels, but they were quirky ones that didn't tell you a whole lot about the service, other than that it was a portable connection that could be used on a laptop. Compare that to the bombardment of advertising for DSL services and cable access.
I thought one line in the article was pretty funny (regarding Omnisky):
"Much of the good news stems from the company cutting corners..."
Hmm...cutting corners usually doesn't have a positive connotation...
A guy I knew in college played this game with a friend of his who lived across the country. They would find strange objects to send to each other, write the address and message on the object, and mail it.
Some of the things they sent:
*A (plastic) jar of peanut butter (with a piece of chocolate inside...they had a thing for old Reese's commercials).
It doesn't matter if the UPS guy knows you or not. Anymore, they just drop the box at the door, ring the bell, and run back to the truck, whether a signature is required or not. Used to be they'd leave things with the neighbor.
FedEx is starting to get used by a lot more companies. Their prices are competitive and the packaging is unmolested. A box we got from UPS the other day had a big gashed/crushed spot in it. The UPS guy said we should tell the sender to pack their things better. Uh....
Let's also look at the labor situation. UPS is completely unionized, at FedEx, only the pilots are.
An office of only 30-40 users, and there is clueless management dictating the specific technologies to be used? Scary. Was it also a management decision to only set up a PDC with no BDCs? That's a scenario that's asking for trouble. If your PDC burps, your user authentication and access is toast. With a BDC available, you just promote it to PDC and things work fine.
If you've already got a NT4 network running, why not go with Exchange 5.5? It's reasonably stable (for Exchange). Or look at HP OpenMail, which provides all the functionality of Exchange, but which can run on a number of platforms.
The original poster simply said "pollution", not carbon dioxide. The ever-increasing fuel economy of our cars equates to less CO2 being spewed from each tailpipe. Yes, the total number of miles we drive continues to increase every year, but then so does the number of uncontrolled vehicles in developing countries.
Further, an analysis of the government data indicates that if all gasoline burning vehicles were removed from the U.S., total man-made CO2 emissions would drop by 4 percent, and total C02 emissions (man-made and natural) would drop by 18/100 of 1 percent.
Interesting that you should mention this. If atmospheric CO2 levels do lead to increased global temperatures, leading to increased sea levels, nature has a way of balancing this out.
The increased temps result in more 'tropical' areas, and the increased sea levels create many shallow seas. These are the conditions under which small carbonate-producing creatures thrive. As these creatures grow and die, they create carbonate rock - limestone. Supporters of the greenhouse hype conlcude that as more carbon is removed from the atmosphere, temperatures decrease, sea levels fall, etc.
While we understand the genesis of carbonate rock very well, we do not understand the complexities of our atmosphere. Those who are pushing the global warming agenda are trying to use this as support for their cause.
Not to mention that changing to new processes and products can have unintended consequences. Think of all the great things we've come up with that we later discovered had some lasting negative effect on us.
Thanks for the links. My Visa popped up with the same charge as described on fatwallet. I called Citibank, and they went so far as to close the account and issue a new card, which is something I've never seen done for a simple disputed charge.
I assumed that perhaps this was simply because the charge was from Russia, which is probably on a hot list of countries for CC fraud. This may well be the reason, but I can't help but wonder if they've gotten a rash of this particular charge and know something they aren't telling us yet. But, if that was the case, I would think their fraud detection systems would kick in, so maybe there haven't been enough of these to trigger it.
And, you'll start getting AOL CD's with every issue of Time...:)
And, you know how MSNBC always has their little financial relationship disclaimer in every story they run about M$? Imagine how ugly this could get in every Time or CNN story that mentions AOL.
I suppose we'll also see lots of "exclusive" content on AOL from bands on Time-Warner labels.
And convenient mentions of AOL in Time-Warner movies and TV shows....
As this post indicates, these things have been listed in industrial computer catalogs for years. Maybe we should all start submitting the contents of these catalogs for stories....
Hmmm...I never said I was in the middle of nowhere. Just in an area of 30+ year old development, so the phone lines suck.
The 'problems' I refer to with cable modems are the peer nature of it, so that when all your neighbors hop online, your bandwidth suffers. Further, there are all the usually sneaky restrictions they keep throwing in on cable modem service. Read the gripe line on InfoWorld.
I don't consider having an objection to paying a monopolistic company money to be weird. And I wasn't bitching about not having access to broadband. Only stating that even if you live in a populated area, your choices are limited, and Ricochet provides another choice.
The inclusion of the Lowrance GlobalMap 100 caught my eye, since I was involved in the development stage of the product. Curious, I looked at the original/. article. There were several mentions of GPS, but none that specifically mentioned any Lowrance products. So did the Wired folks decide that GPS sounded good, and then looked at their stack of press releases for one to include?
The unit itself is good, and has a nice EL backlight. And while including the maps on a CD for transfer to the unit was a great advantage in 1998 when it was introduced, I doubt that much development of the PC software has happened since then. The PC software was mediocre at best, and the layout/display of roads leaves a lot to be desired.
I can get DSL at my house, but since I'm on the fringes distance-wise, it'd be slow. And I don't want to give any more money than I have to so SBC.
I can get a cable modem, but we're familiar with the problems that presents. And I don't want to give money to AT&T.
Services like Ricochet provide ISDN speeds for under $100 a month. The portability is great if you have a laptop and travel. And if you move frequently, you don't have to wait around for a new install and pay the setup charges...just take your modem with you and you're set.
Well, a lot has to do with whether or not the non-profit is swimming in cash, and where their priorities lie. Most non-profits can get semi-decent hardware donated. But this frequently doesn't include any software licenses, so if they want to be legal and run Windows, they have to pony up the cash. And the creep of new applications puts the pressure on to upgrade applications, which sometimes means a new version of the OS, plus better hardware.
Some non-profits have a very healthy cash flow, and are able to take advantage of technology, and spend money accordingly. Others recognize the potential benefits of technology, but don't have the cash to put it in place. As an example, animal shelters can make great use of computers, but if the available money can either go to computers, or to pay someone to shovel the shit out of the pens, well....the shit shoveling has to be done, the other stuff can be done the old-fashioned way.
Keep in mind that many non-profit jobs are low paying, and you don't always get the most computer literate people. Turnover is frequently high as well. This leads to a training nightmare, along with system problems caused by clueless users, and supposed problems that are really just the user making a mistake.
In fact, the ease of shared calendars/public folders is the only real reason to think about Exchange. Contrary to what others may say, Exchange can play nicely with other mail programs, as it supports POP and IMAP with no trouble. If the powers that be have no interest in shared calendars and such, they can chug along with Outlook on their desktop just fine and you can keep your working servers up and handling the mail.
Another thing to look at is HP's OpenMail. To an Outlook client, it's just like talking to an Exchange server.
Also, depending on where your company is and the traffic situation there, it's considered a good thing to allow your workers to not be adding to the morning and evening gridlock. In areas which may be trying to stay off the EPA's dirty air list, there may even be financial incentives for the employer to do this.
A couple of months ago they were running those radio ads here, and sending out letters. They apparently work, since no matter how hard we argued that they weren't going to knock the door down, the head honcho wanted us to have a complete inventory. The results were no shock: we were compliant for all our software, so the BSA's scare tactics didn't garner their members any additional sales from us....
Indeed. I had the odd fortune of getting to use an Aeron at my old job, while sitting at a 25 year old table. So while I was nice and comfy from the chair, the edge of the table was digging a rut in my arms while I typed.
The things are hellaciously adjustable, but not so much that you can never find a comfortable setting. The armrest height is adjustable, and you can swing the arms in or out to suit what you're doing. (Or if you just want to pretend you're on the bridge of the Enterprise.)
You can limit how far the chair leans back, and it can also lean forward, like when you want to look at something really close on the monitor. When doing this, the chair articulates such that your back is always supported.
The seat and back of the chair are a funky elastic mesh. It allows air to circulate nicely, which keeps you from overheating, although doesn't do much to filter out farts. The mesh gives a little, but not too much.
As has been mentioned already, these things ain't cheap. If your employer is willing to cough up the coin for one, go for it. If I had the spare change lying around, I'd buy one myself and bring it to work.
Re:A remark from Don Knuth on the subject..
on
"e-mail" vs "email"
·
· Score: 1
You're not alone. I hate seeing/hearing "an e(-)mail".
Slashdot Mirror
Read between the lines. He's talking about the threat Open Source poses to the American Way, and communicating better with lawmakers.
No elected official is going to do support anything that's against the American Way...
Yeah, Ricochet has had my curiousity for a while now. Agreed that their biggest issue is probably promotion....I've seen a few of their commercials on some cable channels, but they were quirky ones that didn't tell you a whole lot about the service, other than that it was a portable connection that could be used on a laptop. Compare that to the bombardment of advertising for DSL services and cable access.
I thought one line in the article was pretty funny (regarding Omnisky):
"Much of the good news stems from the company cutting corners..."
Hmm...cutting corners usually doesn't have a positive connotation...
A guy I knew in college played this game with a friend of his who lived across the country. They would find strange objects to send to each other, write the address and message on the object, and mail it.
Some of the things they sent:
*A (plastic) jar of peanut butter (with a piece of chocolate inside...they had a thing for old Reese's commercials).
*A toilet seat.
*One side of those plastic "wet floor" signs.
It doesn't matter if the UPS guy knows you or not. Anymore, they just drop the box at the door, ring the bell, and run back to the truck, whether a signature is required or not. Used to be they'd leave things with the neighbor.
FedEx is starting to get used by a lot more companies. Their prices are competitive and the packaging is unmolested. A box we got from UPS the other day had a big gashed/crushed spot in it. The UPS guy said we should tell the sender to pack their things better. Uh....
Let's also look at the labor situation. UPS is completely unionized, at FedEx, only the pilots are.
An office of only 30-40 users, and there is clueless management dictating the specific technologies to be used? Scary. Was it also a management decision to only set up a PDC with no BDCs? That's a scenario that's asking for trouble. If your PDC burps, your user authentication and access is toast. With a BDC available, you just promote it to PDC and things work fine.
If you've already got a NT4 network running, why not go with Exchange 5.5? It's reasonably stable (for Exchange). Or look at HP OpenMail, which provides all the functionality of Exchange, but which can run on a number of platforms.
Their free version is unfortunately now limited to a 1 year period (which is still pretty nice as far as evals go).
The RealSystem Server Plus is now $1995.
The original poster simply said "pollution", not carbon dioxide. The ever-increasing fuel economy of our cars equates to less CO2 being spewed from each tailpipe. Yes, the total number of miles we drive continues to increase every year, but then so does the number of uncontrolled vehicles in developing countries.
Further, an analysis of the government data indicates that if all gasoline burning vehicles were removed from the U.S., total man-made CO2 emissions would drop by 4 percent, and total C02 emissions (man-made and natural) would drop by 18/100 of 1 percent.
Interesting that you should mention this. If atmospheric CO2 levels do lead to increased global temperatures, leading to increased sea levels, nature has a way of balancing this out.
The increased temps result in more 'tropical' areas, and the increased sea levels create many shallow seas. These are the conditions under which small carbonate-producing creatures thrive. As these creatures grow and die, they create carbonate rock - limestone. Supporters of the greenhouse hype conlcude that as more carbon is removed from the atmosphere, temperatures decrease, sea levels fall, etc.
While we understand the genesis of carbonate rock very well, we do not understand the complexities of our atmosphere. Those who are pushing the global warming agenda are trying to use this as support for their cause.
Not to mention that changing to new processes and products can have unintended consequences. Think of all the great things we've come up with that we later discovered had some lasting negative effect on us.
While China or India may not have as many cars/motorbikes as the US, the ones they do have have no emission controls whatsoever.
Also, can you provide a reference that quantifies cars as causing "most pollution in America"?
They're there, they just don't jump out on that image. If you see one in person, you'll see the insignia.
Thanks for the links. My Visa popped up with the same charge as described on fatwallet. I called Citibank, and they went so far as to close the account and issue a new card, which is something I've never seen done for a simple disputed charge.
I assumed that perhaps this was simply because the charge was from Russia, which is probably on a hot list of countries for CC fraud. This may well be the reason, but I can't help but wonder if they've gotten a rash of this particular charge and know something they aren't telling us yet. But, if that was the case, I would think their fraud detection systems would kick in, so maybe there haven't been enough of these to trigger it.
damn...that's the same thought I had...
And, you'll start getting AOL CD's with every issue of Time... :)
And, you know how MSNBC always has their little financial relationship disclaimer in every story they run about M$? Imagine how ugly this could get in every Time or CNN story that mentions AOL.
I suppose we'll also see lots of "exclusive" content on AOL from bands on Time-Warner labels.
And convenient mentions of AOL in Time-Warner movies and TV shows....
As this post indicates, these things have been listed in industrial computer catalogs for years. Maybe we should all start submitting the contents of these catalogs for stories....
Hmmm...I never said I was in the middle of nowhere. Just in an area of 30+ year old development, so the phone lines suck.
The 'problems' I refer to with cable modems are the peer nature of it, so that when all your neighbors hop online, your bandwidth suffers. Further, there are all the usually sneaky restrictions they keep throwing in on cable modem service. Read the gripe line on InfoWorld.
I don't consider having an objection to paying a monopolistic company money to be weird. And I wasn't bitching about not having access to broadband. Only stating that even if you live in a populated area, your choices are limited, and Ricochet provides another choice.
The inclusion of the Lowrance GlobalMap 100 caught my eye, since I was involved in the development stage of the product. Curious, I looked at the original /. article. There were several mentions of GPS, but none that specifically mentioned any Lowrance products. So did the Wired folks decide that GPS sounded good, and then looked at their stack of press releases for one to include?
The unit itself is good, and has a nice EL backlight. And while including the maps on a CD for transfer to the unit was a great advantage in 1998 when it was introduced, I doubt that much development of the PC software has happened since then. The PC software was mediocre at best, and the layout/display of roads leaves a lot to be desired.
I can get DSL at my house, but since I'm on the fringes distance-wise, it'd be slow. And I don't want to give any more money than I have to so SBC.
I can get a cable modem, but we're familiar with the problems that presents. And I don't want to give money to AT&T.
Services like Ricochet provide ISDN speeds for under $100 a month. The portability is great if you have a laptop and travel. And if you move frequently, you don't have to wait around for a new install and pay the setup charges...just take your modem with you and you're set.
Network Computing has a good review of Ricochet.
Well, a lot has to do with whether or not the non-profit is swimming in cash, and where their priorities lie. Most non-profits can get semi-decent hardware donated. But this frequently doesn't include any software licenses, so if they want to be legal and run Windows, they have to pony up the cash. And the creep of new applications puts the pressure on to upgrade applications, which sometimes means a new version of the OS, plus better hardware.
Some non-profits have a very healthy cash flow, and are able to take advantage of technology, and spend money accordingly. Others recognize the potential benefits of technology, but don't have the cash to put it in place. As an example, animal shelters can make great use of computers, but if the available money can either go to computers, or to pay someone to shovel the shit out of the pens, well....the shit shoveling has to be done, the other stuff can be done the old-fashioned way.
Keep in mind that many non-profit jobs are low paying, and you don't always get the most computer literate people. Turnover is frequently high as well. This leads to a training nightmare, along with system problems caused by clueless users, and supposed problems that are really just the user making a mistake.
In fact, the ease of shared calendars/public folders is the only real reason to think about Exchange. Contrary to what others may say, Exchange can play nicely with other mail programs, as it supports POP and IMAP with no trouble. If the powers that be have no interest in shared calendars and such, they can chug along with Outlook on their desktop just fine and you can keep your working servers up and handling the mail.
Another thing to look at is HP's OpenMail. To an Outlook client, it's just like talking to an Exchange server.
Also, depending on where your company is and the traffic situation there, it's considered a good thing to allow your workers to not be adding to the morning and evening gridlock. In areas which may be trying to stay off the EPA's dirty air list, there may even be financial incentives for the employer to do this.
Hey, what was the censored headline?
I was thinking it could have been:
"Buy a Virgin for $50"
A couple of months ago they were running those radio ads here, and sending out letters. They apparently work, since no matter how hard we argued that they weren't going to knock the door down, the head honcho wanted us to have a complete inventory. The results were no shock: we were compliant for all our software, so the BSA's scare tactics didn't garner their members any additional sales from us....
Indeed. I had the odd fortune of getting to use an Aeron at my old job, while sitting at a 25 year old table. So while I was nice and comfy from the chair, the edge of the table was digging a rut in my arms while I typed.
The things are hellaciously adjustable, but not so much that you can never find a comfortable setting. The armrest height is adjustable, and you can swing the arms in or out to suit what you're doing. (Or if you just want to pretend you're on the bridge of the Enterprise.)
You can limit how far the chair leans back, and it can also lean forward, like when you want to look at something really close on the monitor. When doing this, the chair articulates such that your back is always supported.
The seat and back of the chair are a funky elastic mesh. It allows air to circulate nicely, which keeps you from overheating, although doesn't do much to filter out farts. The mesh gives a little, but not too much.
As has been mentioned already, these things ain't cheap. If your employer is willing to cough up the coin for one, go for it. If I had the spare change lying around, I'd buy one myself and bring it to work.
You're not alone. I hate seeing/hearing "an e(-)mail".