Try the One Plus One -- its the best phone you can buy. No contract, great price, almost 2 days of battery life, great camera, and very stable -- I reboot once a month or so. No complaints.
Seriously -- you should look into the Sony a55 camera. It produces AMAZING images with little to no knowledge. If you want to learn, there are a plethora of used Minolta lenses that work well with the camera. This camera is great for beginners to experts alike. Don't waste your time and money with anything less. Many of the mirrorless cameras cost almost as much, aren't as easy to use and provide MUCH less room to grow.
After watching the live song and dance associated with the device, I ask myself, "Why in the world do I need this?" There is nothing compelling to the ipad. I think this will fail as most tablets have failed before.
I would really like to use an alternate browser on my iphone. I am wondering if the market share for the iphone is reaching the 90% saturation of smart phones where Apple can be sued for non-competitive practices.
Let's compare this program to the program of handing out tax rebates by the previous administration. This program has several goals:
1. Stimulate spending (I don't necessarily like this, but I think at this point in time, it may be helpful.)
2. Promote fuel efficiency.
The tax rebate program handed out $300 to pretty much everyone, sometimes more. I lived in Canada at the time of the rebate programs, but still paid lots of taxes to the US, so I qualified. At the time, I was a Post Doctoral Fellow, and had some student loans from 18 years of college. I used the rebates to pay down these loans. I have no clue how this rebate spending stimulated the economy. I am positive that I am not the only one who spent the rebate money in this way.
It would be interesting to see which program in the long term has the better outcome. My guess is on a program which supports heavy industry as well as on fuel efficiency, rather than paying for books from 10 years earlier.
This is a total load of crap. There is no difference between the iphone and any other smartphone as far as this capability is concerned. Why would a malicious person buy a $500 phone (and provide a credit card number) to do the same thing on one you can buy anonymously on ebay or any pawn shop for $20?
3 Cards in SLI does not mean 6 screens. It does mean 1 screen that runs games really fast (or so Nvidia wants us to think). For a gamer, I think faster FPS is better than more screens (which very very few games support).
I am living in New York City, and I have not been able to get Verizon to give me any indication as to when FIOS will be available in my neighborhood. They are pretty much clueless and offer me DSL instead every time I call. I am not sure Verizon in addition to the cable companies is capable of offering 20/20 service. As far as I am concerned, FIOS is not an actual product, it is just something that exists in adds which I see on TV.
Using Skype Pro with Skype Out, I have paid around $70 USD for unlimited long distance service in the US and Canada for the WHOLE YEAR. I also purchased a Linksys CIT400 phone which makes using Skype without a computer completely idiot proof. I paid $100 for the phone. That means for $14 per month for the first year (and less than $5 per month every year after that) I can use the phone as much as I want, barring 911 calls (I will use my cell for this if the occasion arises). On a side note -- I got my grandmother, who is 86 years old, using the CIT400 to call her 90 year old sister for free with no problems. She doesn't even know (or care) that she is using VOIP. I think ebay needs to hire some people who actually understand the technology and what can be done with it to market Skype. Skype works and it works well. I will continue to pay for Skype Pro and Skype Out because I feel that they are perfect compliments to my cell phone. If they can not figure out how to make money on it, they should hire me and put me in charge of marketing the product. I am sure I can do a better job than they are.
I actually posted this in the hopes of making someone laugh. The post was made in a completely joking manner. I do feel it is funny that it is modded as insightful, but oh well. Anyway, in regards to some of your comments:
My system is an AthlonFX-60, 4 Gigs of PC4200, Geforce 8800GTS, Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum Pro, Asus A8N-SLI Premium, and the boot drive is a WD Raptor 74Gig. I had the newest drivers for all these items listed above, barring the hard drive.
Vista ran ok on it. I could play Doom3 at the same 1280X1024 resolution with >100fps at all times. I didnt test other games, other than Quake 3 which also ran at 120fps. Both of these games performed at the same level as under XP, which I have on another Raptor 74Gig.
My main issue with Vista is that a larger than reported number of programs I use have incompatibility issues. Not major issues, mind you, but issues when compounded on programs with other small issues that made me annoyed.
The other thing, is that even with a fresh install, with only the single hard drive, and the other hardware I described above (with the newest drivers), I still experienced random lockups.
The minor incompatibilities compounded with the lockups are what prompted me to make the comment. It is the lockups and the programs not working properly when compared to the performance under XP SP2 that made me think of the operating system being malware.
To reiterate, I made the comment in fun, hoping to make someone laugh. I agree that its not quite insightful, but to say that Vista is indeed ready for mass consumption is just not right. Vista needs alot of work. I can see what Microsoft was going for, but the early release of an unfinished product is clearly the result of pressure from shareholders, and I am sure the actual developers would have rather waited another year to get it right, rather than be compared to Windows ME.
I have yet to be convinced that Vista itself isn't actually malware. Here is my reasoning:
1. Usually malware comes bundled with something that I am interested in actually using. I was kind of interested in trying the aero interface of Vista, so I installed it. After doing that I noticed weird things with my computer (lockups, hard drives failing to read and write) -- a sure sign of malware.
2. After installing Vista, my system tends to be slower. This is a clear indication of malware being on my system.
2. Strange windows keep popping up telling me messages I am not interested in. This tends to happen also when malware is installed on a computer.
There are several other issues, but these are the main ones. I looked at some websites describing malware, and according to security experts, these are key factors indicating that its highly likely I have some malware on my computer. I think I will have to get rid of Vista becasue not only will it eventually allow for malware to run inside of it, in fact, it IS malware!!!
This must include people that dont have computers. I think if there way to really determine the actual numbers, they might see that among people that have computers, 99% of them download something illegally, whether it be music, games, or movies. There is NO way 14% is a real number.
If the computers need upgraded, they will have vista anyway. So, how is this different from buying any new computer in a hardware upgrade cycle, you can not add on the extra cost of the OS, as its already there. If the hardware doesnt need upgraded, then the cost of the OS will not be that high when bought in volume license anyway. The other thing is, what kind of freaking computers are these people using that cost $5000!!!!! Are they getting 30 inch screens and Quad-SLI? This is NOT a requirement for vista. My guess is any old $500 Dell will run vista in a few months.
I am using shaw for phone in canada over Cable, and I have to say it is way more convienent that the same offering from Telus. The value that shaw offers is unsurpassed in that it includes unlimited long distance in North America within the monthly fee. My monthly bill for this service is around $50 CAD each month. I am from the US so, my long distance bills with Telus used to be quite high, even using call arounds and different calling plans. I am officially a believer. Sound quality is great. Never a dropped call, ever, not even using 3 way.
4TB of media. Video, Music, Photos, etc. Anyone who has 4TB of music doesnt really appreciate music. Now, I too share the music and video from the server in my house to the amp via TOS link in the living room (direct connection) and a CAT5 cable runs to the bedroom to connect the XBOX (with xbox media center) for music in the bedroom (just a direct connection to a cheap TV). Why would anyone listen to music on a handheld in their house? I do not know, and I agree with you, but I am not sure what you were getting at.
Have you actually tried orb? Dont be so skeptical. I have 1mbps uploads from my home cable line. If you think you need more bandwidth for music you are crazy (for mp3 I find 256kbps is fine), but for video I was skeptical at first too. What orb does, is reencode the video on the fly to have a data rate within the limit of your upload speed. The unlimited service from Verizon (50$ per month) is rated at broadband speed (I do not actually know the real numbers) and has plenty of bandwidth to watch video via orb not to mention listening to music.
I am not sure what your points are to me. I do not by any means feel that the average ipod user is going to set this kind of system up, but when it comes down to it, it was no harder to do than using itunes.
I received an ipod as a christmas gift last year. Although it is a nice music player and seems to function as advertised, I was never really that impressed as I already have a pocketpc with a 4gig mem card. I find the larger touch screen to be far superior to the ipod and its totally inaccurate touch wheel.
Now, knowing what I can do with the pocketpc, I recently decided to get a pocketpc cell phone. I am streaming media from orb to my phone. After trying this for a while, I have to say that there is no way I would ever use an ipod again. Why don't more people know about this? Essentially I have access to my 4TB media server from my pocektpc. I can use skype over net too to offset my cell bills too. The sound quality is the same as it uses the same audio as the phone.
I just dont understand why when sometihng like this exists, why people are still using things like an ipod. Then again, I like tweaking things and have fun playing with electronic gadgets, not just showing everyone what I spent my money on.
Good point. I have no problem with them not including the cable, as most people wont use it right away. Cheap cables can be found on ebay anyway. But, if sony continues to require the sony brand by simply making the connectors non standard, this is total BS. But its been done before I believe the SNES was the first system to do this. So why would we expect anything different.
After standing in line at the local omniplex theatre the other day for 45 minutes to get popcorn and another 20 minutes before that for tickets, I have officially sworn off going to the movies.
From now on, I'll take my dates out to dinner, theatre, or the symphony. These events are on par with the price of movies popcorn and drinks now anyway.
Ill watch movies on DVD or on pay per view on the HD satellite. I dont have to show up 2 hours early just to get a decent seat.
The worst thing about the theatre was that there were 2 more concession stands not even being used. How much would it cost to pay 2 more people to server popcorn for 4 hours? Sheesh!!
check http://www.bodpod.com/ This is a device for measuring body composition. It has been around since before the rio pmp500 as far as I know. Very weird argument on Apple's part.
Slashdot Mirror
Try the One Plus One -- its the best phone you can buy. No contract, great price, almost 2 days of battery life, great camera, and very stable -- I reboot once a month or so. No complaints.
Seriously -- you should look into the Sony a55 camera. It produces AMAZING images with little to no knowledge. If you want to learn, there are a plethora of used Minolta lenses that work well with the camera. This camera is great for beginners to experts alike. Don't waste your time and money with anything less. Many of the mirrorless cameras cost almost as much, aren't as easy to use and provide MUCH less room to grow.
Rather than pay current employees more per hour or per year, maybe Google should have hired more quality raters to help filter the results.
If MS won't support a 10 year old system anymore, I don't stand much of a chance getting my first gen root-kitted iPhone patched then.
After watching the live song and dance associated with the device, I ask myself, "Why in the world do I need this?" There is nothing compelling to the ipad. I think this will fail as most tablets have failed before.
I would really like to use an alternate browser on my iphone. I am wondering if the market share for the iphone is reaching the 90% saturation of smart phones where Apple can be sued for non-competitive practices.
Let's compare this program to the program of handing out tax rebates by the previous administration. This program has several goals: 1. Stimulate spending (I don't necessarily like this, but I think at this point in time, it may be helpful.) 2. Promote fuel efficiency. The tax rebate program handed out $300 to pretty much everyone, sometimes more. I lived in Canada at the time of the rebate programs, but still paid lots of taxes to the US, so I qualified. At the time, I was a Post Doctoral Fellow, and had some student loans from 18 years of college. I used the rebates to pay down these loans. I have no clue how this rebate spending stimulated the economy. I am positive that I am not the only one who spent the rebate money in this way. It would be interesting to see which program in the long term has the better outcome. My guess is on a program which supports heavy industry as well as on fuel efficiency, rather than paying for books from 10 years earlier.
This is a total load of crap. There is no difference between the iphone and any other smartphone as far as this capability is concerned. Why would a malicious person buy a $500 phone (and provide a credit card number) to do the same thing on one you can buy anonymously on ebay or any pawn shop for $20?
Has this guy really tried Windows 7? This guy sounds just like he refused to upgrade from Windows 98 SE to XP. The operating system IS better.
3 Cards in SLI does not mean 6 screens. It does mean 1 screen that runs games really fast (or so Nvidia wants us to think). For a gamer, I think faster FPS is better than more screens (which very very few games support).
I am living in New York City, and I have not been able to get Verizon to give me any indication as to when FIOS will be available in my neighborhood. They are pretty much clueless and offer me DSL instead every time I call. I am not sure Verizon in addition to the cable companies is capable of offering 20/20 service. As far as I am concerned, FIOS is not an actual product, it is just something that exists in adds which I see on TV.
Using Skype Pro with Skype Out, I have paid around $70 USD for unlimited long distance service in the US and Canada for the WHOLE YEAR. I also purchased a Linksys CIT400 phone which makes using Skype without a computer completely idiot proof. I paid $100 for the phone. That means for $14 per month for the first year (and less than $5 per month every year after that) I can use the phone as much as I want, barring 911 calls (I will use my cell for this if the occasion arises). On a side note -- I got my grandmother, who is 86 years old, using the CIT400 to call her 90 year old sister for free with no problems. She doesn't even know (or care) that she is using VOIP. I think ebay needs to hire some people who actually understand the technology and what can be done with it to market Skype. Skype works and it works well. I will continue to pay for Skype Pro and Skype Out because I feel that they are perfect compliments to my cell phone. If they can not figure out how to make money on it, they should hire me and put me in charge of marketing the product. I am sure I can do a better job than they are.
I actually posted this in the hopes of making someone laugh. The post was made in a completely joking manner. I do feel it is funny that it is modded as insightful, but oh well. Anyway, in regards to some of your comments:
My system is an AthlonFX-60, 4 Gigs of PC4200, Geforce 8800GTS, Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum Pro, Asus A8N-SLI Premium, and the boot drive is a WD Raptor 74Gig. I had the newest drivers for all these items listed above, barring the hard drive.
Vista ran ok on it. I could play Doom3 at the same 1280X1024 resolution with >100fps at all times. I didnt test other games, other than Quake 3 which also ran at 120fps. Both of these games performed at the same level as under XP, which I have on another Raptor 74Gig.
My main issue with Vista is that a larger than reported number of programs I use have incompatibility issues. Not major issues, mind you, but issues when compounded on programs with other small issues that made me annoyed.
The other thing, is that even with a fresh install, with only the single hard drive, and the other hardware I described above (with the newest drivers), I still experienced random lockups.
The minor incompatibilities compounded with the lockups are what prompted me to make the comment. It is the lockups and the programs not working properly when compared to the performance under XP SP2 that made me think of the operating system being malware.
To reiterate, I made the comment in fun, hoping to make someone laugh. I agree that its not quite insightful, but to say that Vista is indeed ready for mass consumption is just not right. Vista needs alot of work. I can see what Microsoft was going for, but the early release of an unfinished product is clearly the result of pressure from shareholders, and I am sure the actual developers would have rather waited another year to get it right, rather than be compared to Windows ME.
I have yet to be convinced that Vista itself isn't actually malware. Here is my reasoning:
1. Usually malware comes bundled with something that I am interested in actually using. I was kind of interested in trying the aero interface of Vista, so I installed it. After doing that I noticed weird things with my computer (lockups, hard drives failing to read and write) -- a sure sign of malware.
2. After installing Vista, my system tends to be slower. This is a clear indication of malware being on my system.
2. Strange windows keep popping up telling me messages I am not interested in. This tends to happen also when malware is installed on a computer.
There are several other issues, but these are the main ones. I looked at some websites describing malware, and according to security experts, these are key factors indicating that its highly likely I have some malware on my computer. I think I will have to get rid of Vista becasue not only will it eventually allow for malware to run inside of it, in fact, it IS malware!!!
It is the quality of the videos on itunes. They are awful.
Since when do OEM products have no warranty? Check the item descriptions.
The WGA on this version of IE is just retarted. How do you patch computers that are not and can not connect to the internet?
This must include people that dont have computers. I think if there way to really determine the actual numbers, they might see that among people that have computers, 99% of them download something illegally, whether it be music, games, or movies. There is NO way 14% is a real number.
If the computers need upgraded, they will have vista anyway. So, how is this different from buying any new computer in a hardware upgrade cycle, you can not add on the extra cost of the OS, as its already there. If the hardware doesnt need upgraded, then the cost of the OS will not be that high when bought in volume license anyway. The other thing is, what kind of freaking computers are these people using that cost $5000!!!!! Are they getting 30 inch screens and Quad-SLI? This is NOT a requirement for vista. My guess is any old $500 Dell will run vista in a few months.
I am using shaw for phone in canada over Cable, and I have to say it is way more convienent that the same offering from Telus. The value that shaw offers is unsurpassed in that it includes unlimited long distance in North America within the monthly fee. My monthly bill for this service is around $50 CAD each month. I am from the US so, my long distance bills with Telus used to be quite high, even using call arounds and different calling plans. I am officially a believer. Sound quality is great. Never a dropped call, ever, not even using 3 way.
4TB of media. Video, Music, Photos, etc. Anyone who has 4TB of music doesnt really appreciate music. Now, I too share the music and video from the server in my house to the amp via TOS link in the living room (direct connection) and a CAT5 cable runs to the bedroom to connect the XBOX (with xbox media center) for music in the bedroom (just a direct connection to a cheap TV). Why would anyone listen to music on a handheld in their house? I do not know, and I agree with you, but I am not sure what you were getting at.
Have you actually tried orb? Dont be so skeptical. I have 1mbps uploads from my home cable line. If you think you need more bandwidth for music you are crazy (for mp3 I find 256kbps is fine), but for video I was skeptical at first too. What orb does, is reencode the video on the fly to have a data rate within the limit of your upload speed. The unlimited service from Verizon (50$ per month) is rated at broadband speed (I do not actually know the real numbers) and has plenty of bandwidth to watch video via orb not to mention listening to music.
I am not sure what your points are to me. I do not by any means feel that the average ipod user is going to set this kind of system up, but when it comes down to it, it was no harder to do than using itunes.
I received an ipod as a christmas gift last year. Although it is a nice music player and seems to function as advertised, I was never really that impressed as I already have a pocketpc with a 4gig mem card. I find the larger touch screen to be far superior to the ipod and its totally inaccurate touch wheel.
Now, knowing what I can do with the pocketpc, I recently decided to get a pocketpc cell phone. I am streaming media from orb to my phone. After trying this for a while, I have to say that there is no way I would ever use an ipod again. Why don't more people know about this? Essentially I have access to my 4TB media server from my pocektpc. I can use skype over net too to offset my cell bills too. The sound quality is the same as it uses the same audio as the phone.
I just dont understand why when sometihng like this exists, why people are still using things like an ipod. Then again, I like tweaking things and have fun playing with electronic gadgets, not just showing everyone what I spent my money on.
Good point. I have no problem with them not including the cable, as most people wont use it right away. Cheap cables can be found on ebay anyway. But, if sony continues to require the sony brand by simply making the connectors non standard, this is total BS. But its been done before I believe the SNES was the first system to do this. So why would we expect anything different.
After standing in line at the local omniplex theatre the other day for 45 minutes to get popcorn and another 20 minutes before that for tickets, I have officially sworn off going to the movies.
From now on, I'll take my dates out to dinner, theatre, or the symphony. These events are on par with the price of movies popcorn and drinks now anyway.
Ill watch movies on DVD or on pay per view on the HD satellite. I dont have to show up 2 hours early just to get a decent seat.
The worst thing about the theatre was that there were 2 more concession stands not even being used. How much would it cost to pay 2 more people to server popcorn for 4 hours? Sheesh!!
check http://www.bodpod.com/ This is a device for measuring body composition. It has been around since before the rio pmp500 as far as I know. Very weird argument on Apple's part.