Not to flame, but talk about one fugly website. I'm all for minimalism but it looks like some 3-year old barfed up html code.
Re:Let the PostgreSql vs MySQL Debate Commence
on
Sun Eyes PostgreSQL
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· Score: 1
I was referring to the GUI tools.
MySQL has some very polished UI tools, as to say the graphical interface is polished (I can't say it isn't buggy).
For newbiews and PHB's, seeing this is full of "ooohs" and "aaahs".
Let the PostgreSql vs MySQL Debate Commence
on
Sun Eyes PostgreSQL
·
· Score: 1
I have a feeling we'll see a couple of instances of MySQL vs PostgreSql flamewars starting in this story.
Personally, I think you just go with whatever floats your boat. I like how PostgreSQL is closer to the SQL standards Oracle uses, as it makes things easier for me where I work. However, MySQL is a goliath when you take in popularity, marketting, and even UI polish.
In any case... Let's get ready to rumblllllllllle.
iTunes has no subscription. Thats one staggering blow. I don't consider DRM music to ever be mine so it makes no sence trying to buy it, and certanly not for $0.99 a track. $4.99/month as yahoo has is much more reasonable.
Different people have different needs.
I listen to music, but not often. I use iTunes.
In a given year, I MIGHT buy like 10 songs. That's $10 a year. Even if I buy 20 songs it's still not bad.
Sure, if you listen to A LOT of music or you don't already have a hefty CD or mp3 collection, then subscription is a good way to go. Heck, even if you're going to buy an average of 5-6 songs a month it's better to go that way.
If the only option out there was subscription-based, then I wouldn't bother. I have enough monthly bills to worry about another small payment each month.
OS X is by far my OS of choice. Sure I use Windows and Linux for different things, but when it comes to ordinary stuff as well as some cross-platform development I love my Powerbook. It's more stable and secure than my windows box and more pleasant to use than my Linux box.
That being said, one day it will hit the fan. Someone will write a really bad virus or find a big exploit and keep it on the down-low until they release it on a large scale. It will hit us, it will hit us hard.
It will be like a family living in a gated community where there's no crime. Feeling safe they never bother will any security system or guard dog. Then one day they all wake up to find their 1st floor completely raided of all valuables. The initial shock to Mac users will be the same (all-be-it less devastating than seeing your tv and stereo gone) . After being safe for so long and not having to worry about it will hit us really hard.
I don't bother running Virex, nor do most people I know. But I know one of these days I'm gonna pay for it.
Many houses and apartments are not wired the way you think; all the outlets in one room may not be on the same breaker. Other rooms may have outlets on that breaker.
I can vouch for that. My house is only 3 or 4 decades old, and the wiring is all over the map. My bedroom, for example, has 2 outlets on 1 breaker and 2 on another. Keeping track of which breaker does which outlets is a real pain.
Heck, technically our house isn't up to code. It was shortly before they started demanding only 1 power box for the house placed in the garage; the reason being if there's a fire the firemen can quickly turn off the power before entering. I don't recall if this is a town/county/city/state requirement. We currently have 2 on opposite sides of the house, and someone told us if we ever sell we'd have to have an electrician set it up the right away.
I'd suggest to the original poster to just suck it up, buy 2 or 3 small consumer UPS's, and place one in each "computer room." Then, make sure the hubs/switches/routers are plugged into them as well as the PCs and monitors so if the power goes out you have have basic functionality plus a network.
Just because something is in the ToS doesn't mean that clause is enforcable, however.
True.
Firstly there are illegal acts
hack the Tivo and you become our slave
The outrageous ones
hack the Tivo even a little and we get your car
Some that most wouldn't consider kosher
sell your Tivo to a 3rd party and we bill you for the cost of a new unit.
However, saying "we reserve the right to change our service as we see fit and thus modify the unit's software accordingly" is completely acceptable. Even doing something as draconion as, say, deleting shows after they've been stored for more than 14 days regaurdless of user input is would be acceptable. If they feel that their service shouldn't allow for long-term archiving for some content, so be it. I doubt anywhere in the user contract they "guarantee all content is archivable as long as the user wishes" because that could come back to bite them in the butt later.
You're choosing to use their service and thus must abide by these legally acceptable terms. You could always stop using the service, as the Tivo is functional without it (all-be-it not as nice). But that's your choice to continue on.
From what I understand, they signed a usage agreement/contract, and if Tivo violates it, they just sue.
Silly, silly, lad
What do you think the EULA on 99% of the software says: a) We promise our software will not damage your system or data in a way. b) We in no way accept responsibility for damage done to your system or data. Install and use at your own risk.
The user agreements are to protect the company's interests, not the user's. The user agreements are to cover their butts, so if something happens they can say "But you accepted the service agreement that says it's alright." Heck, they probably do more to tie the hands of the users instead of the company.
I gaurantee you somewhere in Tivo's agreement (probably somewhere prominent) they say that they reserve the right to modify their services and update their software whenever and however they feel necessary. Almost all service-based products allow for this.
Where do you live where there is not the possibility of some kind of natural disaster?
I'll only go so far as to say tri-state-area. While disasters are possible no matter where you go, my specific place doesn't get hit with anything big or nearly often. Very mild, just the way I like it.
However, the temperature is mild enough that we don't worry about hurricanes often. Usually once a year it's just the tail-end of one which just results in heavy rain (far enough inland to not worry too much).
I live on a hill, so I don't worry about flooding (unless the water level somehow elevates 80 feet from the nearest river (which is a mile away), and we're towards the top of a hill so the chance of mudslide is quite rare (never had one in the history of the town).
We're high enough in elevation, and far enough from the ocean with small mountains between it and us to shield us from most tsunamis (though I will admit a MAJOR one would probably hit).
Our winters aren't that bad to warrant blizzards. Sure, once a year we get like 7 or 8 inches but the roads are cleared soon enough (that day or next) and I can work from home.
Haven't had an earthquake here in years (decades?), and it wasn't in this immediate area and very low (like 2.0).
Tornado? I've heard of one on the news landing in a town like 50 miles away but it was small and very little damage done. It's very very rare, but I'll admit it's possible.
So, while any of these things could happen, it's a long shot at best. We're not like portions of the country that get Tornados often, several hurricanes a year, mudslides, blizzards, or earthquakes. And when they happen, it's usually nothing.
The only obvious natural disasters I can see happening here is a large fire breaking out in town during a dry season or a plague of sorts.
I may not like guns, but if everyone else in the neigborhood has one then I want the biggest one I can get (or something like that).
I don't hunt and am not a gun fanatic, and my feelings on gun control are pretty lukewarm either way. But I could see myself buying a good ol' shotgun at some point if for no other reason than self protection.
As another posted mentioned, the whole Katrina fiasco goes to prove how vicious people can be. Rioting, murdering, assaulting a police station, raping... it was "nucking futs" out there.
Lord knows I wouldn't be one of the aggressors, but a guy's gotta protect himself.
Fortunately I live in a geographically stable region and in the suburbs. So god willing I never have to go through what they did.
So the most I'll ever probably get is a gas-powered generator
I remember an episode of "Due South." It was a silly show, but at least somewhat entertaining. Anyway, one of the guys made an interesting point.
They were in the room when a guy typed in his password, they could see the keyboard or anything. Anyway, the mounty said that each key sounds slightly different. Anyway, after playing with the keyboard a few minutes he was able to guess it within a few tries.
Granted, the show as as fictitious as they come: "Canadians have computers!?!?" But it made some sense and afterwords I started playing with my keyboard I too realized most of them sounded slightly different.
However, I don't have "the ear" for such things (ie, I can't tell what phone number was pressed by the tone." I wonder if someone with a good enough ear can use this too their advantage though. Perhaps someone blind who's trained his ears well enough.
There will be another Zelda game. But as he says, not in the same form as past Zelda games. You missed that part, I think.
No I didn't. DC tried different things with Superman that ultimately failed. Eventually they gave up and went with regular Superman. That's what I foresee with Zelda. They'll try a couple of new "formulas" but in the end they'll go back the "young green-suit wearing guy has a destiny involving using a magical sword to save a youngh princess."
As with Superman, they decided to do away with him. Then they brought back "alternatives." When that didn't fly, they went back to Superman "classic." Then again, it may have been their idea all along to bring him back.
But... They tried "upgrading" Superman around 1997. They changed him from his usual red-yellow-blue super strength hero to a blue energy being. He now controlled electricity and gravity, could phase shift, and travelled via lightning bolts. That's a far cry from "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a speeding locomotive..."
While he "hip" and modern, they quickly learned that people just wanted their good ol' Superman back. After a while, certain things become a part of culture, and changing them is met with hostility.
In other news, DC Comics has decided to kill Superman. In a grand move by DC, they will a world faced with real loss and grief as their greatest hero falls.
"This isn't a ploy." He will be dead and buried, never to return. Superman has been with DC comics for decades, and his death will be a major turning point.
**Skip a month or 2 later**
Superman is back! Which one is he? Cyborg, young clone, black guy in a power suit, or energy-throwing guy with big glasses?
**Skip another month or 2 later **
FACE! The real superman has revealed himself. He never died, but was in stasis! Now he's fighting against the Cyborg to save the Earth.
I don't doubt that in a few years time we'll see another real Zelda game.
Nintendo has announced they won't support HDTV resolutions with the Nintendo Revolution, but wierdly enough they have specifically announced that you will be able to plug the Revolution directly into "a computer monitor". I don't know what's up with that.
There's a difference between being able to output to a high res screen (monitor, hdtv, etc) and outputting HD content.
While the Gamecube was a nice piece of hardware, they didn't stretch it for raw power. They wanted asthetics and convenience. If they wanted it supoer fast, then the small space couldn't cool efficiently.
I mean, look at the XBpx. Technically it can handle HD content. There are even a small handful of games capable of running at 720P.
So, they probably meant that "we're not going to bother offer games in high resolutions. But, if you want, you can output to a nice screen." So expect their games to be running at 480i (or MAYBE 480p).
The physical state of the theaters is only part of my problem. Now's it's more of the general "feel" of the whole thing.
I remember going to the theaters, watching just a few previews (ie, not TV commercials), and watching movies in relative peace. It would be mostly quiet (except some couple in the back whispering or making out) until a funny scene in which case everyone laughs.
- Now cellhpones constantly going off. - People are more abnoxious. - We have to see TV commercials for Levis jeans and stuff.
And to top everything off, most movies are subpar. Sure, I liked Batman Begins and will definately see Serenity.
But, come on. "White Chicks, "Taxi (with Queen Latifah)," and other nonsense movies really depress me.
It depends on the game and the AI, as well as the people.
Personally, I hate playing online. You have team-killers and the like, but then you have the whole "quality" thing.
For example: I'd rather play Star Craft in skirmish mode against the AI than risk getting Zerg-rushed against some pre-teen jerk. Or better yet, joining a 2 vs 2 game, and have your teammate immediately log so it becomes a 2 vs 1 game.
Complain about the AI as much as you want, but I'll take mediocre AI over stupid people any day.
It reminds me of when some gas stations have some specials. I'm not talking 6-cents off, but every now and then you hear about some gas station selling their gas for a $1.00 a gallon or something as a publicity stunt.
The end result is cars and SUVs lining up for half-a-mile waiting for 30 minutes just to save *maybe* $10 USD on week's worth of gas.
I will admit, getting a laptop (particularly a Mac) for $50 USD is tempting and even I would probably sneak into line early. But to behave like barbarians over something like that is insane.
I'm all up for learning new things. Heck, I'm learning 2 things right now: 1 for work and 1 for home.
There is one problem though: if he works for a company, they may have very strict regulations about what he can/cannot use (for stuff at work).
For example, at my place we're pigeon-holed into using only a small set of languages and frameworks. They even recently cut back one or two.
The common reasoning is, if they don't put down controls, then developers go off and do their own thing, which is ok for the short-term. But then when someone else has to maintain it, they might not have the skillset.
So great, learn Ruby on your own! But his company might force him to use PHP and javascript.
as far as laptops for college? Unnecessary. I hated it when people were play solitaire in front of me while the prof was attempting to teach.
If you commute to school, a laptop can help out a lot. If you live on campus, it helps but not as much.
I was never was that big of a jerk to play a game during class, though once or twice I browsed in Internet wirelessly or did a project for another course. But those times were rare.
What came in handy for me was being able to get certain work done. Yes, we had PC labs scattered around but only a small handful of them had the tools I used to make my life easier (ie, something more than MS Word and a telnet connection). Also, you usually had to wait around for some jerk to finish checking their hotmail account and using the Java AOL IM to talk to their pals in the next building.
With a laptop I could just sit in the library or on the Green and work on whatever project I needed to, knowing I had all of my tools and data at my disposal.
If you live on campus, the benefit is not as great since you could always walk back to your room and use a desktop. But even then, on busy days or when doing a project with a group in the library a laptop can be pretty helpful.
Now that you can get a Celeron laptop for like 600 or 700 USD on sale from Dell, the expense isn't that high (plus you make sure the kid can't play too many games since his rig can't handle them).
It's better at this point to scrap the shuttle and use the Russian Soyuz program to re-supply the ISS, and move men up and down.
I thought one of the functions of the shuttle when doing a mission involving the ISS was to give the space station a "nudge" every now and then to help with it's orbit (which is always in slight decay). And that the Soyuz didn't have the "horsepower" once in orbit to do it.
But I heard this in coversation. I could be wrong.
Slashdot Mirror
Not to flame, but talk about one fugly website. I'm all for minimalism but it looks like some 3-year old barfed up html code.
I was referring to the GUI tools.
MySQL has some very polished UI tools, as to say the graphical interface is polished (I can't say it isn't buggy).
For newbiews and PHB's, seeing this is full of "ooohs" and "aaahs".
I have a feeling we'll see a couple of instances of MySQL vs PostgreSql flamewars starting in this story.
Personally, I think you just go with whatever floats your boat. I like how PostgreSQL is closer to the SQL standards Oracle uses, as it makes things easier for me where I work. However, MySQL is a goliath when you take in popularity, marketting, and even UI polish.
In any case... Let's get ready to rumblllllllllle.
Different people have different needs.
I listen to music, but not often. I use iTunes.
In a given year, I MIGHT buy like 10 songs. That's $10 a year. Even if I buy 20 songs it's still not bad.
Sure, if you listen to A LOT of music or you don't already have a hefty CD or mp3 collection, then subscription is a good way to go. Heck, even if you're going to buy an average of 5-6 songs a month it's better to go that way.
If the only option out there was subscription-based, then I wouldn't bother. I have enough monthly bills to worry about another small payment each month.
OS X is by far my OS of choice. Sure I use Windows and Linux for different things, but when it comes to ordinary stuff as well as some cross-platform development I love my Powerbook. It's more stable and secure than my windows box and more pleasant to use than my Linux box.
That being said, one day it will hit the fan. Someone will write a really bad virus or find a big exploit and keep it on the down-low until they release it on a large scale. It will hit us, it will hit us hard.
It will be like a family living in a gated community where there's no crime. Feeling safe they never bother will any security system or guard dog. Then one day they all wake up to find their 1st floor completely raided of all valuables. The initial shock to Mac users will be the same (all-be-it less devastating than seeing your tv and stereo gone) . After being safe for so long and not having to worry about it will hit us really hard.
I don't bother running Virex, nor do most people I know. But I know one of these days I'm gonna pay for it.
This just in. Hollywood legend George Lucas will NOT, I repeat NOT, be able to afford his new gold-plated shark tank this year.
I can vouch for that. My house is only 3 or 4 decades old, and the wiring is all over the map. My bedroom, for example, has 2 outlets on 1 breaker and 2 on another. Keeping track of which breaker does which outlets is a real pain.
Heck, technically our house isn't up to code. It was shortly before they started demanding only 1 power box for the house placed in the garage; the reason being if there's a fire the firemen can quickly turn off the power before entering. I don't recall if this is a town/county/city/state requirement. We currently have 2 on opposite sides of the house, and someone told us if we ever sell we'd have to have an electrician set it up the right away.
I'd suggest to the original poster to just suck it up, buy 2 or 3 small consumer UPS's, and place one in each "computer room." Then, make sure the hubs/switches/routers are plugged into them as well as the PCs and monitors so if the power goes out you have have basic functionality plus a network.
True.
Firstly there are illegal acts
hack the Tivo and you become our slave
The outrageous ones
hack the Tivo even a little and we get your car
Some that most wouldn't consider kosher
sell your Tivo to a 3rd party and we bill you for the cost of a new unit.
However, saying "we reserve the right to change our service as we see fit and thus modify the unit's software accordingly" is completely acceptable. Even doing something as draconion as, say, deleting shows after they've been stored for more than 14 days regaurdless of user input is would be acceptable. If they feel that their service shouldn't allow for long-term archiving for some content, so be it. I doubt anywhere in the user contract they "guarantee all content is archivable as long as the user wishes" because that could come back to bite them in the butt later.
You're choosing to use their service and thus must abide by these legally acceptable terms. You could always stop using the service, as the Tivo is functional without it (all-be-it not as nice). But that's your choice to continue on.
Silly, silly, lad
What do you think the EULA on 99% of the software says:
a) We promise our software will not damage your system or data in a way.
b) We in no way accept responsibility for damage done to your system or data. Install and use at your own risk.
The user agreements are to protect the company's interests, not the user's. The user agreements are to cover their butts, so if something happens they can say "But you accepted the service agreement that says it's alright." Heck, they probably do more to tie the hands of the users instead of the company.
I gaurantee you somewhere in Tivo's agreement (probably somewhere prominent) they say that they reserve the right to modify their services and update their software whenever and however they feel necessary. Almost all service-based products allow for this.
I'll only go so far as to say tri-state-area. While disasters are possible no matter where you go, my specific place doesn't get hit with anything big or nearly often. Very mild, just the way I like it.
However, the temperature is mild enough that we don't worry about hurricanes often. Usually once a year it's just the tail-end of one which just results in heavy rain (far enough inland to not worry too much).
I live on a hill, so I don't worry about flooding (unless the water level somehow elevates 80 feet from the nearest river (which is a mile away), and we're towards the top of a hill so the chance of mudslide is quite rare (never had one in the history of the town).
We're high enough in elevation, and far enough from the ocean with small mountains between it and us to shield us from most tsunamis (though I will admit a MAJOR one would probably hit).
Our winters aren't that bad to warrant blizzards. Sure, once a year we get like 7 or 8 inches but the roads are cleared soon enough (that day or next) and I can work from home.
Haven't had an earthquake here in years (decades?), and it wasn't in this immediate area and very low (like 2.0).
Tornado? I've heard of one on the news landing in a town like 50 miles away but it was small and very little damage done. It's very very rare, but I'll admit it's possible.
So, while any of these things could happen, it's a long shot at best. We're not like portions of the country that get Tornados often, several hurricanes a year, mudslides, blizzards, or earthquakes. And when they happen, it's usually nothing.
The only obvious natural disasters I can see happening here is a large fire breaking out in town during a dry season or a plague of sorts.
How does that old saying go?
I may not like guns, but if everyone else in the neigborhood has one then I want the biggest one I can get (or something like that).
I don't hunt and am not a gun fanatic, and my feelings on gun control are pretty lukewarm either way. But I could see myself buying a good ol' shotgun at some point if for no other reason than self protection.
As another posted mentioned, the whole Katrina fiasco goes to prove how vicious people can be. Rioting, murdering, assaulting a police station, raping... it was "nucking futs" out there.
Lord knows I wouldn't be one of the aggressors, but a guy's gotta protect himself.
Fortunately I live in a geographically stable region and in the suburbs. So god willing I never have to go through what they did.
So the most I'll ever probably get is a gas-powered generator
I realize, no Canadian bashing coming from here.
I'm just laughing because I'm remembering an episode.
The mounty is sitting in a police department and says something along the lines of "A virus took down our government's PC's" or something like that.
Everyone around him stopped and his chief said something like "Canadians have computeres!?!?" (and they weren't kidding).
Watching that scene was one of the few moments in my life where I actually spit out my drink.
Meant to say "they couldn't see the keyboard or anything."
I remember an episode of "Due South." It was a silly show, but at least somewhat entertaining. Anyway, one of the guys made an interesting point.
They were in the room when a guy typed in his password, they could see the keyboard or anything. Anyway, the mounty said that each key sounds slightly different. Anyway, after playing with the keyboard a few minutes he was able to guess it within a few tries.
Granted, the show as as fictitious as they come: "Canadians have computers!?!?" But it made some sense and afterwords I started playing with my keyboard I too realized most of them sounded slightly different.
However, I don't have "the ear" for such things (ie, I can't tell what phone number was pressed by the tone." I wonder if someone with a good enough ear can use this too their advantage though. Perhaps someone blind who's trained his ears well enough.
Then again, it's probably just a load.
No I didn't. DC tried different things with Superman that ultimately failed. Eventually they gave up and went with regular Superman. That's what I foresee with Zelda. They'll try a couple of new "formulas" but in the end they'll go back the "young green-suit wearing guy has a destiny involving using a magical sword to save a youngh princess."
As with Superman, they decided to do away with him. Then they brought back "alternatives." When that didn't fly, they went back to Superman "classic." Then again, it may have been their idea all along to bring him back.
But...
They tried "upgrading" Superman around 1997. They changed him from his usual red-yellow-blue super strength hero to a blue energy being. He now controlled electricity and gravity, could phase shift, and travelled via lightning bolts. That's a far cry from "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a speeding locomotive..."
While he "hip" and modern, they quickly learned that people just wanted their good ol' Superman back. After a while, certain things become a part of culture, and changing them is met with hostility.
In other news, DC Comics has decided to kill Superman. In a grand move by DC, they will a world faced with real loss and grief as their greatest hero falls.
"This isn't a ploy." He will be dead and buried, never to return. Superman has been with DC comics for decades, and his death will be a major turning point.
**Skip a month or 2 later**
Superman is back! Which one is he? Cyborg, young clone, black guy in a power suit, or energy-throwing guy with big glasses?
**Skip another month or 2 later **
FACE! The real superman has revealed himself. He never died, but was in stasis! Now he's fighting against the Cyborg to save the Earth.
I don't doubt that in a few years time we'll see another real Zelda game.
There's a difference between being able to output to a high res screen (monitor, hdtv, etc) and outputting HD content.
While the Gamecube was a nice piece of hardware, they didn't stretch it for raw power. They wanted asthetics and convenience. If they wanted it supoer fast, then the small space couldn't cool efficiently.
I mean, look at the XBpx. Technically it can handle HD content. There are even a small handful of games capable of running at 720P.
So, they probably meant that "we're not going to bother offer games in high resolutions. But, if you want, you can output to a nice screen." So expect their games to be running at 480i (or MAYBE 480p).
But I could be wrong.
The physical state of the theaters is only part of my problem. Now's it's more of the general "feel" of the whole thing.
I remember going to the theaters, watching just a few previews (ie, not TV commercials), and watching movies in relative peace. It would be mostly quiet (except some couple in the back whispering or making out) until a funny scene in which case everyone laughs.
- Now cellhpones constantly going off.
- People are more abnoxious.
- We have to see TV commercials for Levis jeans and stuff.
And to top everything off, most movies are subpar. Sure, I liked Batman Begins and will definately see Serenity.
But, come on. "White Chicks, "Taxi (with Queen Latifah)," and other nonsense movies really depress me.
It depends on the game and the AI, as well as the people.
Personally, I hate playing online. You have team-killers and the like, but then you have the whole "quality" thing.
For example: I'd rather play Star Craft in skirmish mode against the AI than risk getting Zerg-rushed against some pre-teen jerk. Or better yet, joining a 2 vs 2 game, and have your teammate immediately log so it becomes a 2 vs 1 game.
Complain about the AI as much as you want, but I'll take mediocre AI over stupid people any day.
I'm joining in a little late, I know.
It reminds me of when some gas stations have some specials. I'm not talking 6-cents off, but every now and then you hear about some gas station selling their gas for a $1.00 a gallon or something as a publicity stunt.
The end result is cars and SUVs lining up for half-a-mile waiting for 30 minutes just to save *maybe* $10 USD on week's worth of gas.
I will admit, getting a laptop (particularly a Mac) for $50 USD is tempting and even I would probably sneak into line early. But to behave like barbarians over something like that is insane.
I'm all up for learning new things. Heck, I'm learning 2 things right now: 1 for work and 1 for home.
There is one problem though: if he works for a company, they may have very strict regulations about what he can/cannot use (for stuff at work).
For example, at my place we're pigeon-holed into using only a small set of languages and frameworks. They even recently cut back one or two.
The common reasoning is, if they don't put down controls, then developers go off and do their own thing, which is ok for the short-term. But then when someone else has to maintain it, they might not have the skillset.
So great, learn Ruby on your own! But his company might force him to use PHP and javascript.
If you commute to school, a laptop can help out a lot. If you live on campus, it helps but not as much.
I was never was that big of a jerk to play a game during class, though once or twice I browsed in Internet wirelessly or did a project for another course. But those times were rare.
What came in handy for me was being able to get certain work done. Yes, we had PC labs scattered around but only a small handful of them had the tools I used to make my life easier (ie, something more than MS Word and a telnet connection). Also, you usually had to wait around for some jerk to finish checking their hotmail account and using the Java AOL IM to talk to their pals in the next building.
With a laptop I could just sit in the library or on the Green and work on whatever project I needed to, knowing I had all of my tools and data at my disposal.
If you live on campus, the benefit is not as great since you could always walk back to your room and use a desktop. But even then, on busy days or when doing a project with a group in the library a laptop can be pretty helpful.
Now that you can get a Celeron laptop for like 600 or 700 USD on sale from Dell, the expense isn't that high (plus you make sure the kid can't play too many games since his rig can't handle them).
I thought one of the functions of the shuttle when doing a mission involving the ISS was to give the space station a "nudge" every now and then to help with it's orbit (which is always in slight decay). And that the Soyuz didn't have the "horsepower" once in orbit to do it.
But I heard this in coversation. I could be wrong.
Well, in the movie, that in-the-nose thing wasn't in everybody, just him. They tagged him so they'd always know where he was.
A better example would be Demolition Man.