I just dropped $5k AU on a VAIO VGN-A49GP about 2 months ago. I bought it for the spectacular display (17" 1920x1200), but I am a little disappointed with it feeling a little flimsy after not much use.
I looked at that machine, and disliked the speaker quality (and no, using headphones is not the answer) - and the touchpad, of course. I've looked at Sony eveytime they have a new notebook come out, but have always decided to take a pass. My minimal criteria seems to have become that (at least one of the) feature(s) that a Thinkpad has - the "nipple" pointing device (What can I say?). Additionally, the Thinklight is damn useful, when it's needed. And FWIW, I despise touchpads. Thinkpads with nipples and touchpads can at least have the pads turned off, but its mere existence occupies critical palm rest space, and if enabled, results in pointer movement when you least want it, or slight, but eventually tiring, contortion in how one's hands are held.
In short, what is needed is (the old) Thinkpad features and quailty, but with Sony style and widescreen and weight reduction efforts. I'd buy four today.
When I pay $300-$500 a night to stay at the Sheraton in Brussels, I'm pretty sure they aren't just a front for a credit card fraud ring.
You, and others that can afford to stay there, are the perfect people to collect private data from. Credit card numbers, passwords to corporate accounts, banking information, whatever. The person doing the collecting doesn't have to tell Sheraton he's doing he, does he? He just has to impose his malware into the system you're going to be using while fat, dumb, and happy (it's an expression - don't take it personally). Somebody, somewhere, will be happy to collect and somebody else, somewhere, will be happy to buy that data, and somebody, somewhere, will be happy to put that data to use in subtle and Step 3 (profit!) manners, all facilitated at the whatever the cracker equivalent of ebay is.
Security is not just your pendrive - it's also your OS and your hardware, and your data connection and whatever man-in-the-middle setups may have been quietly arranged. Unless you know it's safe - and a little misdirection can mislead even the otherwise competent - treat it like it's compromised.
Creating something like a simple web-based word processor is certainly within the realm of possibility. Unfortunately, the implementation ends up being a Rube Goldberg machine of clunky technologies duct-taped together into a horribly convoluted, difficult to maintain, spaghetti-code mess.
Currently, the US is not a threat to the internet.. And when we are through, it never will be.
Snicker... nice throwback:)
As for the UN/EU "controlling" the top-level DNS, the questions might be: is this the camel's nose - what part of "control" of the internet would be handed off to the EU/US in the future - and from the US perspective would this be to the US's benefit; who would be trusted to do the least harm to the least number of people; and who is most likely to do some good in advancing the Internet.
Most people couldn't imagine a more complex, inefficient and wasteful bureacracy than the UN - but then along came Brussels and their 852 page EU Constitution. I can only imagine the delight that the UN would gain in obtaining an ability to levy taxes (want your domain renewed? pay up - sorry, the price for you is far greater than the price for our friends, that is, those who live and breathe the way-of-the-UN), or in the EU implementing some sort of rule about subsidizing Airbus with domain renewals - never mind the resulting 852 page domain renewal form that would result.
The DNS system we have now works fine, warts and all. When a technologically better system comes along, it will get deployed - the EU/UN could implement their own controlled DNS servers now, but that would be for purely political reasons and would add no technical benifits - otherwise there is nothing stopping them from adding their own servers and mandating that their members (non-US UN members, and EU member states) use it - either they would comply, and lose access to the rather valuable US portion of the web, or their member states would ignore them - and we certainly can't have that.
Regardless of your interpretation of resolution 1441, it is now clear that Iraq was not a threat.
And now, it never will be.
As a side benefit, the people of Iraq have a chance at self-rule, with many inevitable hurdles to clear - but don't let bringing democracy to 25 million people, removing a murderous tyrant from power, or establishing a beachhead of democracy in the center of the Arab world affect your belief that continued power by the gentle, peace-loving Saddamites would have been the better answer for both the (fractured) Iraqi people and the rest of the world.
American should really wake up to the idea that countries like China and Saudi Arabi have you by the balls. They only need to squeeze and you be on your knees.
Then they had better squeeze really, really hard, as those big balls come with a lot of other big capability.
Our military is spread so thin right now that we can't even mount an effective rescue operation in our own goddamn country, much less go to war with the entirety of Europe!
Yeah - go figure - the military is off doing military stuff, but the first responders of local government of Lousiana and New Orleans can be incompetent all day long without remark from you.
the UN would probably be very thankful for the US dropping out... then you'll have to pay for your own messes when you invade sovereign nations under false pretences
The US always has paid for its own messes... and eventually, for everyone else's.
Slashdot Mirror
I looked at that machine, and disliked the speaker quality (and no, using headphones is not the answer) - and the touchpad, of course. I've looked at Sony eveytime they have a new notebook come out, but have always decided to take a pass. My minimal criteria seems to have become that (at least one of the) feature(s) that a Thinkpad has - the "nipple" pointing device (What can I say?). Additionally, the Thinklight is damn useful, when it's needed. And FWIW, I despise touchpads. Thinkpads with nipples and touchpads can at least have the pads turned off, but its mere existence occupies critical palm rest space, and if enabled, results in pointer movement when you least want it, or slight, but eventually tiring, contortion in how one's hands are held.
In short, what is needed is (the old) Thinkpad features and quailty, but with Sony style and widescreen and weight reduction efforts. I'd buy four today.
If you'll read the fine privacy policy, you'll get a hint.
It would take a dozen good programmers, oh, about a week to set up an auction site. But do you think it'd take the "market" away from Ebay? Nope.
First to market, with name recognition, etc. will be what makes or breaks this effort.
Never underestimate the bandwidth of a Fedex truck full of Blu-Rays.
"Minimal common sense" tells me that it's quite likely to be at least as reliable as our current space shuttle fleet.
How can you estimate that curing cancer could be done for $200 billion, much less "ending world hunger"?
So Arthur C. Clarke lacks common sense?
Uh oh - when did the sun go out?
You, and others that can afford to stay there, are the perfect people to collect private data from. Credit card numbers, passwords to corporate accounts, banking information, whatever. The person doing the collecting doesn't have to tell Sheraton he's doing he, does he? He just has to impose his malware into the system you're going to be using while fat, dumb, and happy (it's an expression - don't take it personally). Somebody, somewhere, will be happy to collect and somebody else, somewhere, will be happy to buy that data, and somebody, somewhere, will be happy to put that data to use in subtle and Step 3 (profit!) manners, all facilitated at the whatever the cracker equivalent of ebay is.
Security is not just your pendrive - it's also your OS and your hardware, and your data connection and whatever man-in-the-middle setups may have been quietly arranged. Unless you know it's safe - and a little misdirection can mislead even the otherwise competent - treat it like it's compromised.
No, no ... we're not talking about MS Office.
Well, it sounds like it wouldn't hold still while he read poetry to it ...
So, your concern for everyone else's well-being trumps his concern for his taxes?
Amen.
Snicker ... nice throwback :)
As for the UN/EU "controlling" the top-level DNS, the questions might be: is this the camel's nose - what part of "control" of the internet would be handed off to the EU/US in the future - and from the US perspective would this be to the US's benefit; who would be trusted to do the least harm to the least number of people; and who is most likely to do some good in advancing the Internet.
Most people couldn't imagine a more complex, inefficient and wasteful bureacracy than the UN - but then along came Brussels and their 852 page EU Constitution. I can only imagine the delight that the UN would gain in obtaining an ability to levy taxes (want your domain renewed? pay up - sorry, the price for you is far greater than the price for our friends, that is, those who live and breathe the way-of-the-UN), or in the EU implementing some sort of rule about subsidizing Airbus with domain renewals - never mind the resulting 852 page domain renewal form that would result.
The DNS system we have now works fine, warts and all. When a technologically better system comes along, it will get deployed - the EU/UN could implement their own controlled DNS servers now, but that would be for purely political reasons and would add no technical benifits - otherwise there is nothing stopping them from adding their own servers and mandating that their members (non-US UN members, and EU member states) use it - either they would comply, and lose access to the rather valuable US portion of the web, or their member states would ignore them - and we certainly can't have that.
And now, it never will be.
As a side benefit, the people of Iraq have a chance at self-rule, with many inevitable hurdles to clear - but don't let bringing democracy to 25 million people, removing a murderous tyrant from power, or establishing a beachhead of democracy in the center of the Arab world affect your belief that continued power by the gentle, peace-loving Saddamites would have been the better answer for both the (fractured) Iraqi people and the rest of the world.
Then they had better squeeze really, really hard, as those big balls come with a lot of other big capability.
Yeah - go figure - the military is off doing military stuff, but the first responders of local government of Lousiana and New Orleans can be incompetent all day long without remark from you.
The US always has paid for its own messes ... and eventually, for everyone else's.
Your ideas intrigue me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Well - your posting oughta be modded insightful - the flamebait is simply evidence of the correctness.
There are many smart people who believe he's been working far better than the alternative would have been.
Shareholders are who they are earning money for ...
There's a strong correlation between the two ...
They lost me as a subscriber when they started being political in their writings and selections.
Only once.