The radio spectrum is a public asset. Shouldn't companies submit proposals for what to do with unused spectrum, and the FCC would then grant it based on the "highest and best use"?
[tinfoilhat] What burns me is that it seems the whole purpose of switching to DTV was an excuse to squeeze the remaining broadcast channels into a smaller space, so they could sell off the rights to the rest. Couldn't they have just reassigned the analog channels?
People who still watch over-the-air TV aren't exactly the ones asking for higher quality, or buying new sets to get it. [/tinfoilhat]
That said, wideley available WiMax service, or something like it, would be a great thing.
Sure, the new UI is better organized and much more n00b-friendly. But for people who want to customize anything it is a *disaster*.
A very simple example: I often use strikethrough in Excel, mostly for retaining outdated info in a list. Excel doesn't have strikethrough alongside bold/italic/underline. This is understandable, given that this probably isn't all that common.
As far back as I can remember, you could easily add/remove buttons from the standard toolbars. I would just add strikethrough right where it logically goes. In 2007? Can't be done. My only option is to put it on the ONE "Quick Access Toolbar", dangling by itself with other unrelated functions. Unless, of course, I want to make an entire new ribbon, with XML and C#, or perhaps one of the utilities that makes it for me. Then I have redundant areas of the ribbon.
Office 2007 is great for basic use, and still supports features needed for advanced development of Office-aware applications. However, it's left "power users" in the dust.
WTF?! Couldn't they find a way to hide some advanced features they *already had* such that they wouldn't scare the less sophisticated users?
> Michael Larabel, the editor of Phoronix, has outlined some strategies for > contacting ATI's customers (OEM/ODM/AIBs) to seek ATI Linux fglrx driver improvements.
I think Windows users would like to see some f@%gl$rx! driver improvements, too!
>At least they can't take books from us. You can read them aloud, lend them to friends
Sadly this may no longer be true. I received a book recently (a copyright-free classic, no less) that had a 'license' on the copyright/ISBN page. It said the book could not be rented, resold, or even *loaned* without permission.
Granted this may not be legal, let alone enforceable, but where does it end? Will remembering a plot without paying the publisher constitute infringement?
It's ironic that Borland's old "non-nonsense" software license said it was "like a book"; one copy could be transferred, loaned, or resold.
>If you replace them on a schedule, you're still not guaranteed 100% reliability because a drive can fail way before MTBF...
It is a common misperception that MTBF ratings mean anything about how long an individual device is supposed to last. It's only a measure across a large number of units in total power-on hours, and only within the expected "useful life."
For example, consider a hard drive that has an MTBF of 100,000 hours (11 years), and a 5-year intended useful life. If you have 1,000 of these drives, you can expect, on average, one to fail every 100 hours within the first five years. After that, all bets are off.
So not only does a 100,000 hour MTBF not mean you'll get 11 years, you're lucky (or, more precisely, not unlucky) if you get 5 years.
As many others have said, if you intend to keep it, back it up. Every drive is only guaranteed to work until it fails.
Unless they've changed it in the RTM version, the default action of the "Power" icon in Vista is to go into sleep mode. Unless the user jumps through several hoops to change this, or drills down to the real power off option, the machine will be sucking watts every minute of every day.
I'll be amazed if they can actually make it work reliably on known-good name-brand configurations. How many times have you seen a laptop with the cover half open because the user is (rightfully) afraid to close it?
This answer to making PCs "boot" faster is scandalous.
I call the 800 number. I explain that I upgraded. The girl with the hard to understand accent asks how many PCs is this copy of windows currently installed on. I say, "One," and she gives me the code.
And what happens the day they don't offer activations for this OS anymore? Not only is your copy of Windows useless, any other applications/games/etc you have that require that version are down the drain as well.
I routinely use hardware and software that's as much as 20 years old. Will anyone be answering the activation line 20 years from now? I sure doubt it.
The OS is not irrelevant. This is self-evident from the number of Anti-Microsoft zealots here that are forced to use Windows for one reason or another.
There are many important tasks that aren't even fast enough with *local* apps and data -- audio/video editing, games,etc. For many of these, there's no real advantage to putting them online -- you're just moving the box from your desk to a server room somewhere. Add in the spotty reliability, changing business plans, and privacy issues, and it's a non-starter.
A large percentage of my use would be far better served by a standalone Windows box than a GNU/Linux box connected to the 'net.
Fortunately, we don't really have to choose an OS based on connecting to the Internet. Well, unless it's Linux with an unsupported WiFi card...
It looked like their project was going to be a dead end with the new release, but I guess it's still a go. It's sad that Lucas wouldn't actually hire some folks to do the same thing.
I thought some companies were looking at running fiber through their gas lines. This makes a lot more sense than RF -- existing technology, higher speeds, works in plastic pipes, etc.
Plus, the employment opportunities for ferrets would be fantastic.
>a big popup comes up every couple fscking minutes alerting you that there's a WAP nearby
There's a checkbox in the settings dialog that turns this off. It *is* shameful, though, that it is on by default and pops up over and over, even if you're on a wired network...
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, Sultans of Swing was released in 1978.
Still, it would rock to have this, and some other (better) guitar work to play with.
"Sun will sell the software only in a binary version to ensure compatibility across different systems. "
Um, wouldn't a binary-only release be LESS compatible across different systems?
Unless they mean "compatible with Sun's profit agenda"...
The radio spectrum is a public asset. Shouldn't companies submit proposals for what to do with unused spectrum, and the FCC would then grant it based on the "highest and best use"?
[tinfoilhat]
What burns me is that it seems the whole purpose of switching to DTV was an excuse to squeeze the remaining broadcast channels into a smaller space, so they could sell off the rights to the rest. Couldn't they have just reassigned the analog channels?
People who still watch over-the-air TV aren't exactly the ones asking for higher quality, or buying new sets to get it.
[/tinfoilhat]
That said, wideley available WiMax service, or something like it, would be a great thing.
Sure, the new UI is better organized and much more n00b-friendly. But for people who want to customize anything it is a *disaster*.
A very simple example: I often use strikethrough in Excel, mostly for retaining outdated info in a list. Excel doesn't have strikethrough alongside bold/italic/underline. This is understandable, given that this probably isn't all that common.
As far back as I can remember, you could easily add/remove buttons from the standard toolbars. I would just add strikethrough right where it logically goes. In 2007? Can't be done. My only option is to put it on the ONE "Quick Access Toolbar", dangling by itself with other unrelated functions. Unless, of course, I want to make an entire new ribbon, with XML and C#, or perhaps one of the utilities that makes it for me. Then I have redundant areas of the ribbon.
Office 2007 is great for basic use, and still supports features needed for advanced development of Office-aware applications. However, it's left "power users" in the dust.
WTF?! Couldn't they find a way to hide some advanced features they *already had* such that they wouldn't scare the less sophisticated users?
Actually, this rant says it better than I can: http://www.qando.net/details.aspx?Entry=5709
I'll learn to live with it, but I won't learn to love it.
-bitrot42
>Isn't there a saying about someone burning you twice?
Burning once is enough for a working copy.
>How about using cheap mirrors to bounce off some extra light unto those expensive solar panels, and increase the output that way.
It's been tried; it doesn't work. The increased heat burns the panels.
Duh!
> Michael Larabel, the editor of Phoronix, has outlined some strategies for
> contacting ATI's customers (OEM/ODM/AIBs) to seek ATI Linux fglrx driver improvements.
I think Windows users would like to see some f@%gl$rx! driver improvements, too!
The page is in Japanese, but the videos speak for themselves:
d etailsID=236&contextID=2482
http://panasonic.jp/pc/appli/tough/
And this is for the *semi* rugged line!
More videos (fully rugged line):
http://panasonic.com.au/products/information.cfm?
>At least they can't take books from us. You can read them aloud, lend them to friends
Sadly this may no longer be true. I received a book recently (a copyright-free classic, no less) that had a 'license' on the copyright/ISBN page. It said the book could not be rented, resold, or even *loaned* without permission.
Granted this may not be legal, let alone enforceable, but where does it end? Will remembering a plot without paying the publisher constitute infringement?
It's ironic that Borland's old "non-nonsense" software license said it was "like a book"; one copy could be transferred, loaned, or resold.
>If you replace them on a schedule, you're still not guaranteed 100% reliability because a drive can fail way before MTBF...
It is a common misperception that MTBF ratings mean anything about how long an individual device is supposed to last. It's only a measure across a large number of units in total power-on hours, and only within the expected "useful life."
For example, consider a hard drive that has an MTBF of 100,000 hours (11 years), and a 5-year intended useful life. If you have 1,000 of these drives, you can expect, on average, one to fail every 100 hours within the first five years. After that, all bets are off.
So not only does a 100,000 hour MTBF not mean you'll get 11 years, you're lucky (or, more precisely, not unlucky) if you get 5 years.
As many others have said, if you intend to keep it, back it up. Every drive is only guaranteed to work until it fails.
IBM once described it this way:
http://web.archive.org/web/20001202154100/http://
Unless they've changed it in the RTM version, the default action of the "Power" icon in Vista is to go into sleep mode. Unless the user jumps through several hoops to change this, or drills down to the real power off option, the machine will be sucking watts every minute of every day.
I'll be amazed if they can actually make it work reliably on known-good name-brand configurations. How many times have you seen a laptop with the cover half open because the user is (rightfully) afraid to close it?
This answer to making PCs "boot" faster is scandalous.
And what happens the day they don't offer activations for this OS anymore? Not only is your copy of Windows useless, any other applications/games/etc you have that require that version are down the drain as well.
I routinely use hardware and software that's as much as 20 years old. Will anyone be answering the activation line 20 years from now? I sure doubt it.
The OS is not irrelevant. This is self-evident from the number of Anti-Microsoft zealots here that are forced to use Windows for one reason or another.
There are many important tasks that aren't even fast enough with *local* apps and data -- audio/video editing, games,etc. For many of these, there's no real advantage to putting them online -- you're just moving the box from your desk to a server room somewhere. Add in the spotty reliability, changing business plans, and privacy issues, and it's a non-starter.
A large percentage of my use would be far better served by a standalone Windows box than a GNU/Linux box connected to the 'net.
Fortunately, we don't really have to choose an OS based on connecting to the Internet. Well, unless it's Linux with an unsupported WiFi card...
AAC is not proprietary (though it is patented), but Apple's DRM'd iTunes AAC files are proprietary.
Is Microsoft Using RIAA Illegal Tactics...?
"If you want power, you're going to go somewhere else."
Tsk tsk -- thou forgest thy roots:
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=13553
There's still hope for a remastered version:
http://www.x0project.com/
It looked like their project was going to be a dead end with the new release, but I guess it's still a go. It's sad that Lucas wouldn't actually hire some folks to do the same thing.
I thought some companies were looking at running fiber through their gas lines. This makes a lot more sense than RF -- existing technology, higher speeds, works in plastic pipes, etc.
Plus, the employment opportunities for ferrets would be fantastic.
This may not be a new question, but I think the answer is becoming a more solid "yes" all the time.
I think Myst was the first game that had a profound emotional impact on me. Not much since, actually...
Sorta like the movie "Dave" in reverse...
>a big popup comes up every couple fscking minutes alerting you that there's a WAP nearby
There's a checkbox in the settings dialog that turns this off. It *is* shameful, though, that it is on by default and pops up over and over, even if you're on a wired network...
I was considering downloading Daphne as it is one of the few classic emulators I don't have.
a mes.htm#dragonsLair20
http://www.daphne-emu.com/
>However, if I only emulate the original copy would that be considered warez now that a new shiny version is back on retail shelves?
You can always buy the standard-def DVDs and convert them for use in Daphne:
http://www.digitalleisure.com/contents/DVDVideo_g
http://www.laserarchive.com/dvd2daph/
Legal content *and* authentic gameplay!
All this time it didn't support Router Information Protocol?
I'd change my name, too...
If it was not for IE, Outlook would have never reached its near universal penetration.
And has it ever! I'm certainly feeling penetrated.