I've had 3 dell laptops. I've had issues 2,3,5,8,11,12,13 but I've had very little to quibble about in overall build quality. (I've dropped a couple of the laptops a couple of times and no breakage). Every laptop is going to come with issues, but at least this one is cheap Here are my solutions to my problems so far.
2. Live with it. Wasn't totally broken just flakey. Not nice but not a deal breaker. 3. Live with it. Hate this one. 5. The laptop I had this problem with had a trackpoint and trackpad. An install of the correct drivers and disabling the trackpoint fixed this for me. Only had problems after 3 years. 8. Assume you don't have support for anything but a complete breakdown, or buy the additional support. Once you accept that this is how it works, your blood pressure goes down. 11. Don't install or uninstall then apply your preferred AV solution. 12. Don't install or uninstall. Try first if you feel like it. 13. Same as any other x86 running windows. Turn them off.
I can add one other thing...driver hell. I had to hack NVidia drivers to get the latest go5200fx working. (Current supported drivers are buggy and games don't work with them).
I've probably saved a few thousand over the last 6-7 years by going Dell. I'd love more competition and now laptops are finally getting cheaper at the bottom end I have some hope my next laptop might not be a Dell...I just have to wait for this trend to hit the midrange.
I hate Apple and feel I have been done wrong by them too often to buy anything from them. I definitely don't think it's the top end of the market, just the elitist end (and there is a difference). The most expensive computer I ever bought was an Apple IIe and I was left with no easy way to get hold of software when they pulled Apple software out of department stores in the 80s. I have thus far refused to even get an IPod.
If a law is on the books it can and will be enforced at some point, even if it's not now. If you're happy to be at the mercy of every police officer who's had 12 months of training at a police college you're braver and have more faith in the system than I.
I'm not terribly surprised. Just pleased to see some doctor's are awake and have left their arrogance behind.
Google basically saved my girlfriend's life. The doctors (including 2 specialists) had her on a medication that was causing seizures and kept uping the dosage because it was meant to be reducing them. I looked up the side effects of drugs she was on on google and found a few refrences including a NewZealand government site.
This medication was definitely causing her seizures which had increased in frequency to the point that they'd started to occur every couple of days (lots of fun when she's got a bad shoulder that tended to dislocate during the seizures).
Once we told the doctors we thought it was a particular drug and got them to agree to take her off the drugs the seizures decreased and went away within a couple of months. I pretty sure if things had continued that drug would have killed her.
I'm very wary of doctors these days and check up on everything to do with myself and my family before proceeding.
It's no longer a requirement that there be 3 signs, and they've started putting in these cameras without them. I've seen at least 2 that aren't sign posted, but I can't verify that they're operational yet.
Actually it's more like 99% of everything is crap in the sense that it's of little use or interest to an individual. I'm happy to dig through the crap though, if it means I don't have to trust someone else to hold my information for me once I receive it the first time.
I submitted and got rejected, and I thought if this wasn't a/. story nothing was.
My question is how long before this sort of defence gets used against evidence in the form of video surveilence in general? How long before a bank robber can argue that the bank's security camera footage isn't secure? Or is this simply a classic case of a judge that does not understand, and a roads and traffic authority too apathetic and sure of itself to provide what's needed for the correct judgement?
I have no love of the RTA. In NSW it's now 3 points off your license for going over the speed limit by a single kilometer/hour, and 6 points for the same if it's a long weekend or holiday period. So basically you can now lose your license for doing 1 kilometer over the limit twice over a 3 year period.
You should try spagetti bolognaise. A big steaming mess of tangles with no order to it whatsoever...a hodgepodge designed by nobody that's as messy to use as create:-)
Lawyers have such a tool. Doctors have such a tool.
Many lawyers have embraced such technology but my experience is that very few doctors practicing today do.
Yes, in a sense you can have access to any movie or TV episode you want to watch. Currently that information is out on the Internet. If your device is able to access that, download it, and decompress it in a reasonable manner, you'd be able to watch it anywhere you went. The storage medium is just not local to your device.
If it's not accessible when I need it what good is it that it's accessible in theory if a set of theoretical conditions are met.
But also consider this, information is always growing. So in order to have your stored data be up to date, it would need a constant uplink to some central database server to handle every change in information that happens every minute of every day
One minute you're saying its fine that it's out there and can be downloaded in the most inaccessible way, the next you're saying if it's not up to date to the minute it's useless. Access to scientific papers current until June 2 years ago are still better than having no access.
Why not just revert (Internet style) to data on demand?
So many reasons, but two main ones: 1) Bandwidth is NOT unlimited and is a much scarcer resource than storage. No point in having something out there if it takes 2 weeks to download.
2) Information accessible today but not under your control may not be accessible tomorrow.
This isn't some future revolution. It's reality now, and for the most part it works okay.
It's a reality today!? So does that mean when I'm on the way home on the train today I'll be able to watch any movie or any episode of any TV show I can name? Cool!!!
What will we do with infinite storage? Probably just hoard more data, I think. There's only a small amount of data that is actually usable to any one person, expanding storage capacity isn't going to change that.
And I suppose you're going to be able to tell me exactly what data you need for every day for the rest of your life? Even the stuff that hasn't actually been created yet? The point of having it all there is to be able to use whatever you want or need to suite the occassion.
My movie example is a little frivolous so try this. A lawyer may need to look up all case law in a particular area for example, but doesn't know what cases he'll have to look that up in a week or a month. Or what about the scientist or medical researcher that wants to look up all articles in a particular area of research?
By those standards, even a terabyte is tiny.
If you're failing to understand these basic ideas, it's no wonder you think we don't need more storage. You remind me of the infamous quote of Bill Gates' about no one needing more than 512Kb of RAM.
Please note that the OSS edition or SUSE Linux 10.0 do only contain open source software. Therefore some packages do miss in SUSE Linux 10.0 OSS distribution. This does include Java and all depending packages like OpenOffice.org.
Currently businesses follow standard business hours due to both regulation and standing convention. You have to change the hours in a way that is universally accepted. That's the key word here: Universally. Sell people on the benefits of not having this confusion and they'll be happy to go to work from 8am-4:30pm in the Summer and 9am-5:30pm in winter.
Imagine what a mess daylight savings would be if only some people decided they'd change their clocks.
How is having to update just to get Java and Open Office user friendly? I smell marketting BS *holds nose*
From: http://www.opensuse.org/index.php/Download Please note that the OSS edition or SUSE Linux 10.0 do only contain open source software. Therefore some packages do miss in SUSE Linux 10.0 OSS distribution. This does include Java and all depending packages like OpenOffice.org.
From the FAQ: The openSUSE project explicitly looks beyond the technical community to the broader non-technical community of computer users interested in Linux. The openSUSE project creates--through an open and transparent development process--a stabilized, polished Linux distribution (SUSE Linux) that delivers everything a user needs to get started with Linux. (SUSE Linux is consistently cited as the best-engineered Linux and the most usable Linux.) To fulfill its mission of bringing Linux to everyone, the openSUSE project makes SUSE Linux widely available to potential Linux users through a variety of channels, including a complete retail edition with end-user documentation. Only the openSUSE project refines its Linux distribution to the point where non-technical users can have a successful Linux experience.
I don't know where to begin on this one. I'm not advocating Piracy here.
I just had to get hold of the latest windows installer for a bank I'm working at. Windows Genuine Advantage doesn't work through their firewall. The copy is absolutely genuine.
Now that stupid part is running windows update automatically gets you the installer without WGA kicking in. BUT I need the installer redistributable not a single installer. So I had to go to a third party site, and virus check etc. instead of going to the Microsoft web site.
This like every other piece of anti-piracy technology I've seen tends to inconvenience legitimate users, while pirates etc. find a way around it.
Actually it's a great one for Microsoft. You see every time a story appears all over the press they fix another hole in their Windows Advantage software. In six months, they'll have something damn hard to beat. Those who have Windows that won't validate must thank you for posting this one/. editors. They must thank you a lot!
Aside from the few admins who just aren't doing their jobs, these kinds of things often run into bureaucracy. In many organizations, upgrades have to be thoroughly tested before release and there's standard schedules for patch cycles.
It's not bureaucracy at all.
A patch can have the following adverse qualities
1) Bring down your systems. (Not quite as bad as being hacked but nonetheless not something that most businesses want and some simply can't afford it)
2) Break individual applications. Custom applications are nasty because they take time and money to fix, and packages are nasty because you're at the mercy of the vendor to get a working fix.
3) Introduce new vulnerabilities
4) Be difficult to back out (sometimes impossible without a complete system restore)
Just slapping in a patch and hoping it'll work is just as irresponsible as not patching. Maintaining a balance so that fixes go in in a timely way but are tested so they don't break things is not an easy thing to do.
Not to belabor the point, but GET OFF YOUR SOAPBOX
Thank you for so elegantly demonstrating my point, and that is that you seem to have a problem with listening to other people's opinions...except perhaps Joel's:-)
Furthermore, it's likely that Lynn broke no law (save possible civil violations of contract and/or trade secret provisions), so any FBI investigation, if not over already, is moot.
Have you heard of the Patriot Act or are you living in a box? Anyone can be detained for any length of time without due process. I don't think an FBI investigation is moot.
How about the hobby programmers that went to school and trained as well? Someone who is both interested in computers, and in doing what it takes to get the job done.
Also, I don't know if its a good thing for programmers to "carry the project". How about getting the whole team to carry it. It's called team-work after all! (Those who "carry the project" tend to burn out quickly and have very little else in their lives).
I am not a programmer, but I work with programmers, request changes from them, and depend on their work. Insights that I gain from his website and his books have lead to more understanding on my part, and better results. That's good enough for me.
So are you saying that you don't have any expertise whatsoever in programming, so instead of relying on what your programmers are saying (or heaven forbid opening up a dialog with them!) you take the rantings of a self promoting programmer that's done little of consequence since the nineties.
Somehow you claim this has worked for you. Perhaps the ideas expoused by Joel are a good fit to where you're working. Perhaps you were even pointed to his blogs by the programmers. If this is the case, fantastic. Otherwise talk to your own programmers and engineers first. If you don't have the right lingo to talk to them, study the field more seriously instead of relying on such a narrow source (and a blog at that!)
As for fantasies about being the IT hero.. Each time you recover someone's data, roll back a mistake they made, or otherwise sort out a problem, you change a little bit of the world each time.
It's called doing a job. Every time a taxi driver takes someone where they want to go, they change the world a little too. Are they heros? Same for every other job.
A hero is someone that does something remarkable, at great personal risk and or cost.
Slashdot Mirror
I've had 3 dell laptops. I've had issues 2,3,5,8,11,12,13 but I've had very little to quibble about in overall build quality. (I've dropped a couple of the laptops a couple of times and no breakage). Every laptop is going to come with issues, but at least this one is cheap Here are my solutions to my problems so far.
2. Live with it. Wasn't totally broken just flakey. Not nice but not a deal breaker.
3. Live with it. Hate this one.
5. The laptop I had this problem with had a trackpoint and trackpad. An install of the correct drivers and disabling the trackpoint fixed this for me. Only had problems after 3 years.
8. Assume you don't have support for anything but a complete breakdown, or buy the additional support. Once you accept that this is how it works, your blood pressure goes down.
11. Don't install or uninstall then apply your preferred AV solution.
12. Don't install or uninstall. Try first if you feel like it.
13. Same as any other x86 running windows. Turn them off.
I can add one other thing...driver hell. I had to hack NVidia drivers to get the latest go5200fx working. (Current supported drivers are buggy and games don't work with them).
I've probably saved a few thousand over the last 6-7 years by going Dell. I'd love more competition and now laptops are finally getting cheaper at the bottom end I have some hope my next laptop might not be a Dell...I just have to wait for this trend to hit the midrange.
I hate Apple and feel I have been done wrong by them too often to buy anything from them. I definitely don't think it's the top end of the market, just the elitist end (and there is a difference). The most expensive computer I ever bought was an Apple IIe and I was left with no easy way to get hold of software when they pulled Apple software out of department stores in the 80s. I have thus far refused to even get an IPod.
If a law is on the books it can and will be enforced at some point, even if it's not now. If you're happy to be at the mercy of every police officer who's had 12 months of training at a police college you're braver and have more faith in the system than I.
I'm not terribly surprised. Just pleased to see some doctor's are awake and have left their arrogance behind.
Google basically saved my girlfriend's life. The doctors (including 2 specialists) had her on a medication that was causing seizures and kept uping the dosage because it was meant to be reducing them. I looked up the side effects of drugs she was on on google and found a few refrences including a NewZealand government site.
This medication was definitely causing her seizures which had increased in frequency to the point that they'd started to occur every couple of days (lots of fun when she's got a bad shoulder that tended to dislocate during the seizures).
Once we told the doctors we thought it was a particular drug and got them to agree to take her off the drugs the seizures decreased and went away within a couple of months. I pretty sure if things had continued that drug would have killed her.
I'm very wary of doctors these days and check up on everything to do with myself and my family before proceeding.
It's no longer a requirement that there be 3 signs, and they've started putting in these cameras without them. I've seen at least 2 that aren't sign posted, but I can't verify that they're operational yet.
Actually it's more like 99% of everything is crap in the sense that it's of little use or interest to an individual. I'm happy to dig through the crap though, if it means I don't have to trust someone else to hold my information for me once I receive it the first time.
I submitted and got rejected, and I thought if this wasn't a /. story nothing was.
My question is how long before this sort of defence gets used against evidence in the form of video surveilence in general? How long before a bank robber can argue that the bank's security camera footage isn't secure? Or is this simply a classic case of a judge that does not understand, and a roads and traffic authority too apathetic and sure of itself to provide what's needed for the correct judgement?
I have no love of the RTA. In NSW it's now 3 points off your license for going over the speed limit by a single kilometer/hour, and 6 points for the same if it's a long weekend or holiday period. So basically you can now lose your license for doing 1 kilometer over the limit twice over a 3 year period.
You should try spagetti bolognaise. A big steaming mess of tangles with no order to it whatsoever...a hodgepodge designed by nobody that's as messy to use as create :-)
Lawyers have such a tool. Doctors have such a tool.
Many lawyers have embraced such technology but my experience is that very few doctors practicing today do.
Yes, in a sense you can have access to any movie or TV episode you want to watch. Currently that information is out on the Internet. If your device is able to access that, download it, and decompress it in a reasonable manner, you'd be able to watch it anywhere you went. The storage medium is just not local to your device.
If it's not accessible when I need it what good is it that it's accessible in theory if a set of theoretical conditions are met.
But also consider this, information is always growing. So in order to have your stored data be up to date, it would need a constant uplink to some central database server to handle every change in information that happens every minute of every day
One minute you're saying its fine that it's out there and can be downloaded in the most inaccessible way, the next you're saying if it's not up to date to the minute it's useless. Access to scientific papers current until June 2 years ago are still better than having no access.
Why not just revert (Internet style) to data on demand?
So many reasons, but two main ones:
1) Bandwidth is NOT unlimited and is a much scarcer resource than storage. No point in having something out there if it takes 2 weeks to download.
2) Information accessible today but not under your control may not be accessible tomorrow.
This isn't some future revolution. It's reality now, and for the most part it works okay.
It's a reality today!? So does that mean when I'm on the way home on the train today I'll be able to watch any movie or any episode of any TV show I can name? Cool!!!
What will we do with infinite storage? Probably just hoard more data, I think. There's only a small amount of data that is actually usable to any one person, expanding storage capacity isn't going to change that.
And I suppose you're going to be able to tell me exactly what data you need for every day for the rest of your life? Even the stuff that hasn't actually been created yet? The point of having it all there is to be able to use whatever you want or need to suite the occassion.
My movie example is a little frivolous so try this. A lawyer may need to look up all case law in a particular area for example, but doesn't know what cases he'll have to look that up in a week or a month. Or what about the scientist or medical researcher that wants to look up all articles in a particular area of research?
By those standards, even a terabyte is tiny.
If you're failing to understand these basic ideas, it's no wonder you think we don't need more storage. You remind me of the infamous quote of Bill Gates' about no one needing more than 512Kb of RAM.
By the way read your own post.
Please note that the OSS edition or SUSE Linux 10.0 do only contain open source software. Therefore some packages do miss in SUSE Linux 10.0 OSS distribution. This does include Java and all depending packages like OpenOffice.org.
NOT the developer version, the open version.
SUSE Linux 9.3 is NOT openSUSE.
So yeah, go mod yourself down.
You can implement ANYTHING badly.
Currently businesses follow standard business hours due to both regulation and standing convention. You have to change the hours in a way that is universally accepted. That's the key word here: Universally. Sell people on the benefits of not having this confusion and they'll be happy to go to work from 8am-4:30pm in the Summer and 9am-5:30pm in winter.
Imagine what a mess daylight savings would be if only some people decided they'd change their clocks.
Geeze if you won the lotry when it was 1 million bucks you'd comaplin that it was 2 million last week
Nice analogy, and I would but...
Only if they were advertising this week's lotery as 2 million, when in fact it was 1 million.
Get back in your box.
Okay,
S L-10.0-OSS-beta1/inst-source-java/
How is having to update just to get Java and Open Office user friendly? I smell marketting BS *holds nose*
From:
http://www.opensuse.org/index.php/Download
Please note that the OSS edition or SUSE Linux 10.0 do only contain open source software. Therefore some packages do miss in SUSE Linux 10.0 OSS distribution. This does include Java and all depending packages like OpenOffice.org.
Java and OpenOffice.org packages can get installed afterwards by adding the following repository to the installation sources in YaST: ftp://ftp.opensuse.org/pub/opensuse/distribution/
From the FAQ:
The openSUSE project explicitly looks beyond the technical community to the broader non-technical community of computer users interested in Linux. The openSUSE project creates--through an open and transparent development process--a stabilized, polished Linux distribution (SUSE Linux) that delivers everything a user needs to get started with Linux. (SUSE Linux is consistently cited as the best-engineered Linux and the most usable Linux.) To fulfill its mission of bringing Linux to everyone, the openSUSE project makes SUSE Linux widely available to potential Linux users through a variety of channels, including a complete retail edition with end-user documentation. Only the openSUSE project refines its Linux distribution to the point where non-technical users can have a successful Linux experience.
I don't know where to begin on this one. I'm not advocating Piracy here.
I just had to get hold of the latest windows installer for a bank I'm working at. Windows Genuine Advantage doesn't work through their firewall. The copy is absolutely genuine.
Now that stupid part is running windows update automatically gets you the installer without WGA kicking in. BUT I need the installer redistributable not a single installer. So I had to go to a third party site, and virus check etc. instead of going to the Microsoft web site.
This like every other piece of anti-piracy technology I've seen tends to inconvenience legitimate users, while pirates etc. find a way around it.
Absolute bulk stupidity.
Actually it's a great one for Microsoft. You see every time a story appears all over the press they fix another hole in their Windows Advantage software. In six months, they'll have something damn hard to beat. Those who have Windows that won't validate must thank you for posting this one /. editors. They must thank you a lot!
while it's possible that it could just be PR to make us watch the left hand while the right is up to no, good
I also have it on good authority that it's possible the Earth is round.
Arggghhhh!
You'd get the same benefit leaving the @#$@ing clock alone and changing business hours.
Aside from the few admins who just aren't doing their jobs, these kinds of things often run into bureaucracy. In many organizations, upgrades have to be thoroughly tested before release and there's standard schedules for patch cycles.
It's not bureaucracy at all.
A patch can have the following adverse qualities
1) Bring down your systems. (Not quite as bad as being hacked but nonetheless not something that most businesses want and some simply can't afford it)
2) Break individual applications. Custom applications are nasty because they take time and money to fix, and packages are nasty because you're at the mercy of the vendor to get a working fix.
3) Introduce new vulnerabilities
4) Be difficult to back out (sometimes impossible without a complete system restore)
Just slapping in a patch and hoping it'll work is just as irresponsible as not patching. Maintaining a balance so that fixes go in in a timely way but are tested so they don't break things is not an easy thing to do.
Not to belabor the point, but GET OFF YOUR SOAPBOX
:-)
Thank you for so elegantly demonstrating my point, and that is that you seem to have a problem with listening to other people's opinions...except perhaps Joel's
Furthermore, it's likely that Lynn broke no law (save possible civil violations of contract and/or trade secret provisions), so any FBI investigation, if not over already, is moot.
Have you heard of the Patriot Act or are you living in a box? Anyone can be detained for any length of time without due process. I don't think an FBI investigation is moot.
"a frisky, healthy, normal, rambunctious puppy."
When asked what he thought of the Katie Homes clone, Tom Cruise ran around the Oprah Winfrey stage, pounded the floor and screamed "I'm in love".
How about the hobby programmers that went to school and trained as well? Someone who is both interested in computers, and in doing what it takes to get the job done.
Also, I don't know if its a good thing for programmers to "carry the project". How about getting the whole team to carry it. It's called team-work after all! (Those who "carry the project" tend to burn out quickly and have very little else in their lives).
I am not a programmer, but I work with programmers, request changes from them, and depend on their work. Insights that I gain from his website and his books have lead to more understanding on my part, and better results. That's good enough for me.
So are you saying that you don't have any expertise whatsoever in programming, so instead of relying on what your programmers are saying (or heaven forbid opening up a dialog with them!) you take the rantings of a self promoting programmer that's done little of consequence since the nineties.
Somehow you claim this has worked for you. Perhaps the ideas expoused by Joel are a good fit to where you're working. Perhaps you were even pointed to his blogs by the programmers. If this is the case, fantastic. Otherwise talk to your own programmers and engineers first. If you don't have the right lingo to talk to them, study the field more seriously instead of relying on such a narrow source (and a blog at that!)
Yesterday I was like drooling when I like saw this girl like. And I like couldn't get over it. Man I was like in heaven like.
How about we cut the teen speak?
As for fantasies about being the IT hero.. Each time you recover someone's data, roll back a mistake they made, or otherwise sort out a problem, you change a little bit of the world each time.
It's called doing a job. Every time a taxi driver takes someone where they want to go, they change the world a little too. Are they heros? Same for every other job.
A hero is someone that does something remarkable, at great personal risk and or cost.