My experience with SpeakEasy was extremely negative. Prior to getting Comcast, I went through 3 DSL providers (Bell Atlantic, now Verizon, SpeakEasy and EarthLink) and none were to my liking.
SpeakEasy was the worst, in terms of their draconian contract. I ordered the service and it took a month to get the modem. I paid the setup fee, set it up, and decided it wasn't for me. They said that I "went over the 30 day limit" from when I first called for the service, and that I would have to pay a $200 fee for bucking the contract. I said "where did I sign a contract like that?!?" and they said the email they sent out on day one, which I only lightly perused, was a binding contract. The information was near the end. The day of my contract? Day 31.
Now, granted, there are many parts of "let the buyer beware" in this story. And I assume most people would have been like "well, you should have read that email better" but come on. We all know that things can be finagled in the tech industry, and giving me a penalty for calling a day late was a bit extreme. Thus, I never spoke to them again. Comcast was my eventual choice.
"This is probably the best Linux laptop one can buy right now"
Wow, this guy has taken the "CmdrTaco School of Loaded Statements".:) There's an adage in the computer game reviewing industry that is summed up nicely in a writer's guideline I received recently: "Do not spend two-thirds of an article picking a game apart and then, in the final paragraph, say 'But it's fun. Four stars.'" A majority of his "thoughts on the iBook2 page" revolves around various parts of the laptop not working in Linux, the (trivial) problems of dealing with a 1-button mouse in X, and the benefits of playing DVD's -- in MacOS 9.
"Even without every piece of hardware being completely functional, this is one of the best laptops for linux use that I have ever seen or used."
Right. Well, my two cents. I purchased an Inspiron 4000 from Dell, installed RedHat 7.1, and EVERYTHING worked right out of the box. Sound card, networking, everything. Didn't even have to go through the command line setups. And getting DVD playback in Linux was easy after downloading a program to do so. And I've got more than one mouse button.:) That's a great Linux laptop, in my mind.
Speaking from experience, Comcast's was trivally easy to set up and maintain. I don't know how good their tech support is (never had to call them), but the connection speeds are pretty reliable. I'll be downloading anywhere between 150 KBytes/sec during the day to 300 KBytes/sec at night, sometimes higher or lower depending on the server.
They're cheap, too. We're only paying $32.99 a month and the cable modem was free. No installation fee, either.
I'm going to assume it's a bad translation ("Our news is a selection from Chinese, Japanese and Korean publications and we can change the selection to suit your needs.").
That said, this may have bigger implications if the ban is against higher-end computers (P4's, Athlons, G3's) but I've never heard of such a thing. Does anyone know if there are export restrictions/tarrifs against China/Taiwan for strong computers (I guess similar to the restrictions in place for encryption?)
One other reason why your boss and "boss's boss" may get upset is that after you leave, how many programmers who know Ruby will be able to come in and step-up in your place?
I don't know how many times I've heard a fellow techhead complain "Yeah, I went to work for these guys. But they have a proprietary system that they have to teach to people. It took weeks to understand." In this world, "proprietary" means "rarely used and I've barely seen it before". That's why you see ads in the paper for jobs requiring Perl and C++ and less requiring Ada programmers.
Give Ruby time, a strong open source (or not) base, and people using it to create prefabricated programs not requiring little reprogramming, and it will get the audience it deserves.
Unfortunately, one factor you're forgetting is that we're all one of those "stupid people" from time to time. I forget to wear my seatbelt on occasion. Or I'll leave a piece of soap in the bathtub to slip on.
You're like one of my friends who says she "hates everyone" and "everyone is stupid". Well guess what: everyone is stupid to everyone else. We're all stupid in general. That's just human nature.
There's a great scene in Apollo 13 where a group at mission control frantically works with slide rules to calculate information before a computer on the ship is shut off. Going down the row seeing them raise their thumbs and say "checks out, flight" is one of the better scenes in the movie.
"Otherwise, except for a bit of trouble with ppp, I don't see that windows has any advantage except being pre-installed."
I don't know. This XP interface is pretty good. There are definitely some things that KDE can borrow (like grouping like documents in the taskbar under a single program, and having animation to show which child window is "owned" by which parent window on the taskbar itself). I really like KDE2, especially with the Mac OS X theme, but there's still stuff they can borrow. Interface is everything to a new user.
Unfortunately, it seems like Microsoft is getting into the "car" industry as well (Tablet PC and other ventures). You should see the icon for "My Computer" in the new Windows. They barely show the computer anymore, and instead focus on a huge, flat screen.
Except for the second one, you're still using the "old style" subscriptions Microsoft was thinking about using. As far as I know, most corporations will get volume licensing that doesn't "expire" after a certain amount of time, but they will be "encouraged" to upgrade (probably with the same discount system Microsoft is considering now).
Not entirely better, but at least the software doesn't quit on you completely.
Clever. Except that I installed the second on my laptop *this morning* and I've been running XP as a beta tester on my main machine for *months*. I'm not a Microsoft fan, but hey: the insults at least have to be comprehendible.
Actually, the $10 is just for two time-expiring "release candidates" (it looks about ready to ship, actually). They both will expire in 180 days. The actual OS will probably cost closer to $90.
But I'm not too worried because:
a) By that time I will have either moved on to Windows XP or back down to Windows 2000. My Linux side of the box is still quite functional.
b) I normally upgrade my distro relatively frequently on the Linux side, and 6 months just about covers it. It's like purchasing a beta of RedHat or something.
*After a minute on hold*
Me - "Hi, I downloaded the Windows XP beta, but I installed it on another machine. I didn't realize you could only install it on one. Can I pay for a second CD key?"
Operator - "You installed it on more than one machine?"
Me - "Yes."
Operator - "OK, hold on."
*Another minute on hold*
Operator - "Are you just using it for testing purposes?"
Me - "Yes. Like I said, I'd be willing to pay for an extra key."
Operator - "No need. My supervisor says I can override it."
Me *surpised* "Really? Uh, cool."
Operator - "What's your installation ID?" [this is the hardware hash they display on the screen]
Me - "1098.."
Operator - "Ok, here's your new code. Ready? 2037..."
Me - "OK".
Operator - "Then click "next"."
Me - "OK. It says thank you registering your copy of Windows XP. Very nice."
Operator - "Will there be anything else, sir?"
Me - "No. Thank you very much. That was surprisingly easy. Goodbye." *click*
MY THOUGHTS - Yes, the registration process sucks, but as I learned this morning, not every member of Microsoft is an asshole (at least the guy I spoke to). I didn't have to "pay" for an extra license (to test their beta, I know, but it's a pretty good OS. Hasn't crashed on my yet), and the total process took a little less than 3 minutes. Plus, as could be seen here, the operators can easily be swayed in certain instances (note, I don't think it's going to be so easy when the "actual" XP comes out).
Still, I'm pretty happy with the OS and service. Solid. $10 is not too bad considering I normally pay $9.95 - $14.95 to Cheap bytes for the latest RedHat distro.
"Apple would have cannibalized their (more profitable) iMac sales, but they wouldn't have been able to keep the Cubes on the shelves."
Actually, would they? I spent a scant 4 months working for a CompUSA a few years ago in college, and I learned a few things about selling computers...
"Yeah, the iMac is pretty cute. But check this out: for about the same price you can get this pretier machine, more powerful, and for an extra $500 bucks you can get a flat-screen monitor."
I agree that the price it was was too expensive (Apple: should have shipped a few with G3's), but if the price dropped low enough, I'm sure I could sell a few using the way I just described.
"And how much do you want to wager that you'll have to rebuild it when trying to revert back to W2k destroys your registry and half your apps?"
Don't really care too much. I reformat this thing every couple of months anyway: both Linux and Windows sides (I like a clean system).
"Of course, I wouldn't be the least surprised when the regression buggers up your boot record."
Yeah, it eats the MBR, but that's no different than every other NT release to date (including those when Linux was not a factor). I don't really care about that either, because I always boot my Linux side using a floppy.
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SpeakEasy was the worst, in terms of their draconian contract. I ordered the service and it took a month to get the modem. I paid the setup fee, set it up, and decided it wasn't for me. They said that I "went over the 30 day limit" from when I first called for the service, and that I would have to pay a $200 fee for bucking the contract. I said "where did I sign a contract like that?!?" and they said the email they sent out on day one, which I only lightly perused, was a binding contract. The information was near the end. The day of my contract? Day 31.
Now, granted, there are many parts of "let the buyer beware" in this story. And I assume most people would have been like "well, you should have read that email better" but come on. We all know that things can be finagled in the tech industry, and giving me a penalty for calling a day late was a bit extreme. Thus, I never spoke to them again. Comcast was my eventual choice.
Wow, this guy has taken the "CmdrTaco School of Loaded Statements". :) There's an adage in the computer game reviewing industry that is summed up nicely in a writer's guideline I received recently: "Do not spend two-thirds of an article picking a game apart and then, in the final paragraph, say 'But it's fun. Four stars.'" A majority of his "thoughts on the iBook2 page" revolves around various parts of the laptop not working in Linux, the (trivial) problems of dealing with a 1-button mouse in X, and the benefits of playing DVD's -- in MacOS 9.
"Even without every piece of hardware being completely functional, this is one of the best laptops for linux use that I have ever seen or used."
Right. Well, my two cents. I purchased an Inspiron 4000 from Dell, installed RedHat 7.1, and EVERYTHING worked right out of the box. Sound card, networking, everything. Didn't even have to go through the command line setups. And getting DVD playback in Linux was easy after downloading a program to do so. And I've got more than one mouse button. :) That's a great Linux laptop, in my mind.
They're cheap, too. We're only paying $32.99 a month and the cable modem was free. No installation fee, either.
That said, this may have bigger implications if the ban is against higher-end computers (P4's, Athlons, G3's) but I've never heard of such a thing. Does anyone know if there are export restrictions/tarrifs against China/Taiwan for strong computers (I guess similar to the restrictions in place for encryption?)
I don't know how many times I've heard a fellow techhead complain "Yeah, I went to work for these guys. But they have a proprietary system that they have to teach to people. It took weeks to understand." In this world, "proprietary" means "rarely used and I've barely seen it before". That's why you see ads in the paper for jobs requiring Perl and C++ and less requiring Ada programmers.
Give Ruby time, a strong open source (or not) base, and people using it to create prefabricated programs not requiring little reprogramming, and it will get the audience it deserves.
I have windows and it still didn't do anything. Was it supposed to?
You're like one of my friends who says she "hates everyone" and "everyone is stupid". Well guess what: everyone is stupid to everyone else. We're all stupid in general. That's just human nature.
There's a great scene in Apollo 13 where a group at mission control frantically works with slide rules to calculate information before a computer on the ship is shut off. Going down the row seeing them raise their thumbs and say "checks out, flight" is one of the better scenes in the movie.
Windows XP has a firewall that drops most packets (I'm assuming). I'm typing this on it.
I don't know. This XP interface is pretty good. There are definitely some things that KDE can borrow (like grouping like documents in the taskbar under a single program, and having animation to show which child window is "owned" by which parent window on the taskbar itself). I really like KDE2, especially with the Mac OS X theme, but there's still stuff they can borrow. Interface is everything to a new user.
Actually, I think you can do without the line numbers in Quick Basic. :)
Unfortunately, it seems like Microsoft is getting into the "car" industry as well (Tablet PC and other ventures). You should see the icon for "My Computer" in the new Windows. They barely show the computer anymore, and instead focus on a huge, flat screen.
Not entirely better, but at least the software doesn't quit on you completely.
It's from Douglas Adams, but its style is quite like Larry Niven (Ringworld). Still good stuff, though.
I turned off the firewall on the router. I'm now only running the firewall built into XP. I hope to post the logs soon. :)
I'm amazed that there's still a major retailer that you can walk into and actually buy individual transistors.
I actually thought they'd charge for the extra license. They could have made an extra 10 bucks off me.
Clever. Except that I installed the second on my laptop *this morning* and I've been running XP as a beta tester on my main machine for *months*. I'm not a Microsoft fan, but hey: the insults at least have to be comprehendible.
It should probably timeout. Got a firewall running on the router as well.
Actually, I normally get the full CD set (http://cart.cheapbytes.com/cgi-bin/cart/007001068 0?nK9yJr3Y;;37). My mistake. It's 12.99 sans shipping.
But I'm not too worried because:
a) By that time I will have either moved on to Windows XP or back down to Windows 2000. My Linux side of the box is still quite functional.
b) I normally upgrade my distro relatively frequently on the Linux side, and 6 months just about covers it. It's like purchasing a beta of RedHat or something.
Me - "Hi, I downloaded the Windows XP beta, but I installed it on another machine. I didn't realize you could only install it on one. Can I pay for a second CD key?"
Operator - "You installed it on more than one machine?"
Me - "Yes."
Operator - "OK, hold on."
*Another minute on hold*
Operator - "Are you just using it for testing purposes?"
Me - "Yes. Like I said, I'd be willing to pay for an extra key."
Operator - "No need. My supervisor says I can override it."
Me *surpised* "Really? Uh, cool."
Operator - "What's your installation ID?" [this is the hardware hash they display on the screen]
Me - "1098.."
Operator - "Ok, here's your new code. Ready? 2037..."
Me - "OK".
Operator - "Then click "next"."
Me - "OK. It says thank you registering your copy of Windows XP. Very nice."
Operator - "Will there be anything else, sir?"
Me - "No. Thank you very much. That was surprisingly easy. Goodbye." *click*
MY THOUGHTS - Yes, the registration process sucks, but as I learned this morning, not every member of Microsoft is an asshole (at least the guy I spoke to). I didn't have to "pay" for an extra license (to test their beta, I know, but it's a pretty good OS. Hasn't crashed on my yet), and the total process took a little less than 3 minutes. Plus, as could be seen here, the operators can easily be swayed in certain instances (note, I don't think it's going to be so easy when the "actual" XP comes out).
Still, I'm pretty happy with the OS and service. Solid. $10 is not too bad considering I normally pay $9.95 - $14.95 to Cheap bytes for the latest RedHat distro.
Uh, I'm saying they should have shipped the cube with G3's. They'd save on hardware costs.
Actually, would they? I spent a scant 4 months working for a CompUSA a few years ago in college, and I learned a few things about selling computers...
"Yeah, the iMac is pretty cute. But check this out: for about the same price you can get this pretier machine, more powerful, and for an extra $500 bucks you can get a flat-screen monitor."
I agree that the price it was was too expensive (Apple: should have shipped a few with G3's), but if the price dropped low enough, I'm sure I could sell a few using the way I just described.
Don't really care too much. I reformat this thing every couple of months anyway: both Linux and Windows sides (I like a clean system).
"Of course, I wouldn't be the least surprised when the regression buggers up your boot record."
Yeah, it eats the MBR, but that's no different than every other NT release to date (including those when Linux was not a factor). I don't really care about that either, because I always boot my Linux side using a floppy.