Actually, to be fair, the majority do not offer any facility to close accounts which the user doesn't need any more. Or if they do, the link is buried somewhere so obscure it might as well not exist.
Years ago, I used to try to keep things tidy like this. Now I just maintain a much smaller number of email accounts, so it's easier not to let grace periods expire,
No mail for me either - I haven't logged into my lycos account for at least, let's see, 3,650 days. Perhaps I should complain and demand my spam back...
Seriously, I thought most free email services had a policy of this sort, though most (AFAIK) operate on a 3-month cycle, and many (such as Yahoo) offer the facility to retrieve mail if the account is dormant for some time after the expiry date.
I'll be having my sea-side air (freshener?) thank you!
You didn't have to wait. It has been known that dimethyl sulfide is the main component of the smell for many years. I distinctly remember it being mentioned when I was in high school, and that was in the '70s.
Probably a good idea, though. And while we're at it, since Microsoft recommends rebooting (again, sigh), perhaps it is wise to do so with an installation CD of [linux distro of choice] in the drive. Seriously, who wants Vista? More trouble than it's worth.
And Jesus we dressed funny. No, that half decade is an era best left bygone alrighty.
Hell, I had some great flared jeans back in the early '70s. I saw an identical pair on this really cute chick a few days ago. I was so tempted to go up to her and demand my pants back. She wouldn't have believed they ever fitted me, though...:-D
no calculator in the world will help you do well in even the most basic of first-year calculus classes
Up to a point, you're right. No amount of expertise at pushing buttons is a substitute for drilling away at exercises, which is really the only way of getting the hang of calculus. And once you really understand it, pencil and paper is actually quicker for anything you are likely to come across in first-year calculus.
However, graphing calculators are a great way to check your work, and also for exploring complex functions.
I am in university and I use a Ti-89 daily, but for tests I am only allowed to use a Ti-83 or equivalent. No Ti-89 or Ti-84 in any Calculus courses.
I guess that really reflects on how assiduous your lecturers are at designing tests that evaluate how much you understand. Or maybe they are recycling exam papers.
Most universities here in Australia have a policy of allowing any calculator that doesn't have a QWERTY keyboard, and that doesn't beep or sqwawk.
However, the student is expected to show how he or she arrived at a solution, and he doesn't get much (or sometimes anything) in the way of marks for an "answer" with no working.
My TI-89 is also from around that time (probably circa 1999/2000), and has never had any problems. Could it be that newer models aren't as reliable?
Maybe, but mine is a Hardware version 2 model bought (I think) in 2002. It works fine, despite having been drenched with a hose at my workplace on a couple of occasions.
Absolutely the best calculator made for serious engineering/math/science studies.
I would agree, except for the fact that mine kept locking up at inopportune moments (like during exams when I was an undergrad), forcing me to to complete system resets and lose all my data and programs. Plus it is quite slow. However, I loved RPN, I loved the positive action of the keypad, and I loved having that big fat "ENTER" key right where it was under the index finger. (Don't understand *what* possessed HP to dump that idea in later models...)
However, I now use a TI-89, which despite its defects, is a lot faster, and has lots of features the HP48 doesn't (such as proper symbolic Calculus, for those too lazy to do it on paper).
Actually, given the small amount that most new users manage to retain from those quickie orientation sessions, that might not be such a bad policy.
Better would be a quick session to show users how to logon, and present them with a simple printed booklet to cover details. This has the double advantage of being much easier to maintain than a Flash presentation, as well as usually being easier to process mentally.
I know there are many who might throw up their hands in horror when I say this, but for all that Flash presentations might be very good for impressing nerds, they are not necessarily a good medium for conveying instructions.
(a) Microsoft doesn't actually have any proof that the user's copy is non-genuine, (b) Anecdotal and personal experience indicate that WGA and other Microsoft products are riddled with bugs, and (c) Microsoft's inability to admit their mistakes, or attempt to rectify same,
it might be fairer to claim that 20% of windows installs are broken. Of course, this estimate has the added charm of being very conservative.;-)
If I use Word and it screws up an important client document, that's one thing; if I use OpenOffice and it does it, I'm going to get shit for using it instead of Word. It's as simple as that.
Given that OpenOffice has a nice convenient widget to "Save as PDF" up in plain view on the toolbar, you would deserve every last milligram of excrement flung at you if you didn't use that feature on an important document.
TFA refers to its own source as the New Scientist. A quick search there reveals the article in question is dated February 2005. So I guess this should probably come under "oldnews", but in any case the NSA had had plenty of time to play with it.
What concerns me is that in the last two years I've heard no news about a replacement for SHA-1. Maybe every's hoping that if they ignore the problem, it'll go away.
Then you know exactly how it's going to look to your potential employer.
You've hit on a jangly nerve which is typically overlooked by Microsoft fanboys and shills. You can NEVER count on a Word doc showing up the way it's supposed to on someone else's computer, even when running the same version of the program. It isn't even that uncommon for the file not to open up at all.
So: If the formatting is important, you should make sure it's there (i.e. use pdf or maybe ps). If it's not important, you can use any text or html editor. Either way, it is unnecessary to use Word.
I can pretty much echo this sentiment. I have used Linux on my desktop machines for years, but I have done a lot of setups and troubleshooting on both Macs and Wintel boxes. Macs are pretty intuitive to set up; the only hitch was integrating them into an NFS network - I personally find all that NIS stuff unnecessary and clumsy. But some of my worst nightmares have been in troubleshooting Dell OEM installs of XP.
Now, I have been assured that it is possible to get XP to act consistently and stably with regard to both applications and hardware, but I have yet to see such an instance. And Dell, I believe, have managed to cultivate instability on their OEM installs to a fine art.
Or maybe I am just facing in the wrong direction while intoning "There is but one god, and his name is Allah, and Mohammed is His prophet" while rebooting the machine 6.02x10^23 times...
On that basis, there simply aren't enough fish to satisfy the Icelandic medical industry and the demand for fresh cod.
This is true. However, if (and as far as I'm concerned, that's a very big "if") the enzyme checks out as the hype suggests, it might be a comparatively small step to synthesise it in a tank. I haven't checked any of the databases (http://ca.expasy.org is one I use a lot) to look for sequences, but it is no longer beyond the bounds of possibility to sequence the cod genome sufficiently to isolate the code for the enzyme. From there, a simple cut&paste into a bacterial or convenient fungal chromosome might fit the bill. However, all bets are off if the enzyme needs any post-translational modification or chaperoning to fold it the right way.
Oh. Ah. Hmmm. Doesn't that mean you lose all three of the best advantages of Fortran? (Speed, speed and speed.) Sure, that might give the programmer access to a nice set of tools, but native Fortran libraries would be preferable.
I'm probably being a curmudgeon (again) but I catch a whiff of Sun maximising their investment in Java in the sciences arena. But then, I still use some libraries I wrote 30 years ago in Fortran 4, and they still work fine. If Sun cripples Fortran in this implementation, Fortress will deserve the oblivion to which that godawful RATFOR has rightly been consigned.
If Microsoft had convinced the music companies to drop the DRM then Zune would have real potential to grow by word of mouth once people found out how much more it could do than an iPod.
Hmm. That's nice, but it doesn't take into account an anecdotally large number of people (like myself) who rip their own CDs to fill their iPods or mp3 player of choice. I have yet to see any convincing statistics indicating that that iTunes is in any way the most major access point for music.
Which is why it is believed that this initiative might help.
Nonsense. Nobody believes this, including those most actively trying to implement the scheme.
The chappies who flew those planes into the World Trade Centre had undergone pilot training in the US, and no amount of ID would have prevented that. Similarly, I might have a legitimate plastic card identifying me as Ferdinand Elkbottom-Beastmajor, but that isn't going to tell anyone that it is my intention to blow up the Pentagon.
In any case, one of the OP's issues was that his phone was crapping out. Buying a pre-paid phone is often a good way to buy a handset, if you don't need much in the way of features.. Just throw away the SIM card that comes with it and use a plan that fits your needs.
"Xandros Professional 4 lists for $99, versus anticipated Windows Vista pricing of $199"
Maybe, but I hope I don't have to remind you that there are scores of distributions for which you don't have to pay a red cent.
However, this misses the point. A grandparent poster drew the inference that if the interface was that similar, he might just as well stick with Windows. However, the reverse also applies.
Unless one happens to have shares in Microsoft, or some other reason to support their bloated, insecure bugware, it makes at least as much sense to adopt an alternative. The tired old saw that "my computer came with Windows anyway" is insufficiently incisive reasoning to cut anything. If you insist that you don't want Windows when you buy the machine, you don't have to have it. You might have to argue a bit, but I have successfully done so on a number of occasions, back in the days when I didn't build my own computers.
I just carry around disc#1 of the current Slackware set, which I use to boot from.
SLAX
Yes, yes I know, but my point was that it is yet another CD, and presumably another unnecessary contribution to landfill eventually, whereas I have the Slackware install disk anyway (I don't bother with the others in the set). And as I say, with chroot and a bit of know-how, you don't really need the liveCD.
Slashdot Mirror
users never bother to remove old accounts
Actually, to be fair, the majority do not offer any facility to close accounts which the user doesn't need any more. Or if they do, the link is buried somewhere so obscure it might as well not exist.
Years ago, I used to try to keep things tidy like this. Now I just maintain a much smaller number of email accounts, so it's easier not to let grace periods expire,
No mail for me either - I haven't logged into my lycos account for at least, let's see, 3,650 days. Perhaps I should complain and demand my spam back... Seriously, I thought most free email services had a policy of this sort, though most (AFAIK) operate on a 3-month cycle, and many (such as Yahoo) offer the facility to retrieve mail if the account is dormant for some time after the expiry date.
I'll be having my sea-side air (freshener?) thank you!
You didn't have to wait. It has been known that dimethyl sulfide is the main component of the smell for many years. I distinctly remember it being mentioned when I was in high school, and that was in the '70s.
"Format C, Colin"
Probably a good idea, though. And while we're at it, since Microsoft recommends rebooting (again, sigh), perhaps it is wise to do so with an installation CD of [linux distro of choice] in the drive. Seriously, who wants Vista? More trouble than it's worth.
rude != flamebait
Actually, it probably does. If you want to start a fight with someone, one of the best ways is to be rude to him.
QED.
And Jesus we dressed funny. No, that half decade is an era best left bygone alrighty.
:-D
Hell, I had some great flared jeans back in the early '70s. I saw an identical pair on this really cute chick a few days ago. I was so tempted to go up to her and demand my pants back. She wouldn't have believed they ever fitted me, though...
Fair enough, but I've still got a 5 year old G4 sitting in a corner at home. It runs Linux just fine... ;-)
no calculator in the world will help you do well in even the most basic of first-year calculus classes
Up to a point, you're right. No amount of expertise at pushing buttons is a substitute for drilling away at exercises, which is really the only way of getting the hang of calculus. And once you really understand it, pencil and paper is actually quicker for anything you are likely to come across in first-year calculus.
However, graphing calculators are a great way to check your work, and also for exploring complex functions.
I am in university and I use a Ti-89 daily, but for tests I am only allowed to use a Ti-83 or equivalent. No Ti-89 or Ti-84 in any Calculus courses.
I guess that really reflects on how assiduous your lecturers are at designing tests that evaluate how much you understand. Or maybe they are recycling exam papers.
Most universities here in Australia have a policy of allowing any calculator that doesn't have a QWERTY keyboard, and that doesn't beep or sqwawk.
However, the student is expected to show how he or she arrived at a solution, and he doesn't get much (or sometimes anything) in the way of marks for an "answer" with no working.
My TI-89 is also from around that time (probably circa 1999/2000), and has never had any problems. Could it be that newer models aren't as reliable?
Maybe, but mine is a Hardware version 2 model bought (I think) in 2002. It works fine, despite having been drenched with a hose at my workplace on a couple of occasions.
Absolutely the best calculator made for serious engineering/math/science studies.
I would agree, except for the fact that mine kept locking up at inopportune moments (like during exams when I was an undergrad), forcing me to to complete system resets and lose all my data and programs. Plus it is quite slow. However, I loved RPN, I loved the positive action of the keypad, and I loved having that big fat "ENTER" key right where it was under the index finger. (Don't understand *what* possessed HP to dump that idea in later models...)
However, I now use a TI-89, which despite its defects, is a lot faster, and has lots of features the HP48 doesn't (such as proper symbolic Calculus, for those too lazy to do it on paper).
Actually, given the small amount that most new users manage to retain from those quickie orientation sessions, that might not be such a bad policy.
Better would be a quick session to show users how to logon, and present them with a simple printed booklet to cover details. This has the double advantage of being much easier to maintain than a Flash presentation, as well as usually being easier to process mentally.
I know there are many who might throw up their hands in horror when I say this, but for all that Flash presentations might be very good for impressing nerds, they are not necessarily a good medium for conveying instructions.
OK. So, given that:
;-)
(a) Microsoft doesn't actually have any proof that the user's copy is non-genuine,
(b) Anecdotal and personal experience indicate that WGA and other Microsoft products are riddled with bugs, and
(c) Microsoft's inability to admit their mistakes, or attempt to rectify same,
it might be fairer to claim that 20% of windows installs are broken. Of course, this estimate has the added charm of being very conservative.
If I use Word and it screws up an important client document, that's one thing; if I use OpenOffice and it does it, I'm going to get shit for using it instead of Word. It's as simple as that.
Given that OpenOffice has a nice convenient widget to "Save as PDF" up in plain view on the toolbar, you would deserve every last milligram of excrement flung at you if you didn't use that feature on an important document.
Indeed. How hard is it to generate two files of any kind which digest to the same md5 hash? Just curious...
TFA refers to its own source as the New Scientist. A quick search there reveals the article in question is dated February 2005. So I guess this should probably come under "oldnews", but in any case the NSA had had plenty of time to play with it.
What concerns me is that in the last two years I've heard no news about a replacement for SHA-1. Maybe every's hoping that if they ignore the problem, it'll go away.
Then you know exactly how it's going to look to your potential employer.
You've hit on a jangly nerve which is typically overlooked by Microsoft fanboys and shills. You can NEVER count on a Word doc showing up the way it's supposed to on someone else's computer, even when running the same version of the program. It isn't even that uncommon for the file not to open up at all.
So: If the formatting is important, you should make sure it's there (i.e. use pdf or maybe ps). If it's not important, you can use any text or html editor. Either way, it is unnecessary to use Word.
I can pretty much echo this sentiment. I have used Linux on my desktop machines for years, but I have done a lot of setups and troubleshooting on both Macs and Wintel boxes. Macs are pretty intuitive to set up; the only hitch was integrating them into an NFS network - I personally find all that NIS stuff unnecessary and clumsy. But some of my worst nightmares have been in troubleshooting Dell OEM installs of XP.
Now, I have been assured that it is possible to get XP to act consistently and stably with regard to both applications and hardware, but I have yet to see such an instance. And Dell, I believe, have managed to cultivate instability on their OEM installs to a fine art.
Or maybe I am just facing in the wrong direction while intoning "There is but one god, and his name is Allah, and Mohammed is His prophet" while rebooting the machine 6.02x10^23 times...
On that basis, there simply aren't enough fish to satisfy the Icelandic medical industry and the demand for fresh cod.
This is true. However, if (and as far as I'm concerned, that's a very big "if") the enzyme checks out as the hype suggests, it might be a comparatively small step to synthesise it in a tank. I haven't checked any of the databases (http://ca.expasy.org is one I use a lot) to look for sequences, but it is no longer beyond the bounds of possibility to sequence the cod genome sufficiently to isolate the code for the enzyme. From there, a simple cut&paste into a bacterial or convenient fungal chromosome might fit the bill. However, all bets are off if the enzyme needs any post-translational modification or chaperoning to fold it the right way.
Fortress is hosted within a JVM.
Oh. Ah. Hmmm. Doesn't that mean you lose all three of the best advantages of Fortran? (Speed, speed and speed.) Sure, that might give the programmer access to a nice set of tools, but native Fortran libraries would be preferable.
I'm probably being a curmudgeon (again) but I catch a whiff of Sun maximising their investment in Java in the sciences arena. But then, I still use some libraries I wrote 30 years ago in Fortran 4, and they still work fine. If Sun cripples Fortran in this implementation, Fortress will deserve the oblivion to which that godawful RATFOR has rightly been consigned.
If Microsoft had convinced the music companies to drop the DRM then Zune would have real potential to grow by word of mouth once people found out how much more it could do than an iPod.
Hmm. That's nice, but it doesn't take into account an anecdotally large number of people (like myself) who rip their own CDs to fill their iPods or mp3 player of choice. I have yet to see any convincing statistics indicating that that iTunes is in any way the most major access point for music.
Which is why it is believed that this initiative might help.
Nonsense. Nobody believes this, including those most actively trying to implement the scheme.
The chappies who flew those planes into the World Trade Centre had undergone pilot training in the US, and no amount of ID would have prevented that. Similarly, I might have a legitimate plastic card identifying me as Ferdinand Elkbottom-Beastmajor, but that isn't going to tell anyone that it is my intention to blow up the Pentagon.
In any case, one of the OP's issues was that his phone was crapping out. Buying a pre-paid phone is often a good way to buy a handset, if you don't need much in the way of features.. Just throw away the SIM card that comes with it and use a plan that fits your needs.
"Xandros Professional 4 lists for $99, versus anticipated Windows Vista pricing of $199"
Maybe, but I hope I don't have to remind you that there are scores of distributions for which you don't have to pay a red cent.
However, this misses the point. A grandparent poster drew the inference that if the interface was that similar, he might just as well stick with Windows. However, the reverse also applies.
Unless one happens to have shares in Microsoft, or some other reason to support their bloated, insecure bugware, it makes at least as much sense to adopt an alternative. The tired old saw that "my computer came with Windows anyway" is insufficiently incisive reasoning to cut anything. If you insist that you don't want Windows when you buy the machine, you don't have to have it. You might have to argue a bit, but I have successfully done so on a number of occasions, back in the days when I didn't build my own computers.
I just carry around disc#1 of the current Slackware set, which I use to boot from.
SLAX
Yes, yes I know, but my point was that it is yet another CD, and presumably another unnecessary contribution to landfill eventually, whereas I have the Slackware install disk anyway (I don't bother with the others in the set). And as I say, with chroot and a bit of know-how, you don't really need the liveCD.