Toya accelerates, or pulses, to 29 mph, then glides down to 25 mph before pulsing again. The car uses no fuel when gliding. I doubt the other traffic on the road would like this method being used to get the high mileage. One of these cars being driven conservatively to get good mileage while blending in with other traffic on the road would not get these high figures, but every little bit helps. Some of the methods used by the Japanese Mileage maniacs would also require taking one's eyes off the road a lot to view the extra guages installed, perhaps a safety hazard in normal traffic situations.
The last time this was tried (in 1986 or so), the golf industry made an extra $200 million in income.
More people are out playing golf and other outdoor sports because of the shift between the clock's time and the position of the Sun in the evening sky. Not just sports, but all of the DIY people, repairing cars, cutting grass, working in the garden, working on a little construction project outside, such as building a deck. I put a roof on my house working until the sun went down. Took a while, as I removed the old roof (in stages) and put a new one on. Saved thousands.
On the other end of the day, when you have to get up before dawn, you're going to have to go to your job, work, etc. Better to get that over with, as most of us work for someone else, and you might as well start early, so you can get home early, and work for yourself, if it involves the outdoors, and the need for sunlight to see what you are doing. Even if you just go outside and look at your garden. Life's too short to get up, go to work, come home in the dark. Perhaps the current pattern referred to as Daylight Savings Time will give you some outdoor time to enjoy life.
I have a Toshiba 4015CDS that has Windows 98, and I can run my livecd linux, a Knoppix Remaster on it with no problem. Very secure, only problem I have had is that the battery has gone bad, that is expected after so long a time. Never had to call them up about anything, but I could show them the machine with only Windows 98 on it, even thought I might run linux on a daily basis, and they would not know the difference. It's not on the hard drive, but having said that, I would have to delete the swap file before having a Toshiba service rep look at the machine, to be able to have everything as it was when new. They do give you a restoration CD that will put it back as new, and it does not use a "restoration partition" as some machines do, Dell notably.
Sure, they make a statement that linux is greener than Windows, and it's open to all sorts of interpretation and comment. It's true that one can have a linux install that does not have the hardware requirements of Windows Vista, and still get the job done. Powerful hardware usually translates into more power consumption, so linux, able to do the job on less complicated/powerful hardware, is greener. I can surf the web with Firefox 2.0.0.3 with my Knoppix remaster, using only 256 MB of system RAM. I don't need a GB or two of RAM, but it would be nice. Not greener, however.
Tonight, I have decided to be on Ballmer's side, even though I am probably the only one here. Having said that, I would like a copy of Windows Vista, (any flavor), and a suitable PC to install it on. Preferably one that I can also run my livecd linux on, just for comparison purposes, you understand. There, that was easy. Now for the good part, that Mr. Ballmer will surely appreciate:
Every operating system has it's bad days, I have odd things happen to mine once in a while, probably related to some of the strange web sites Mozilla Firefox and I surf. Surely Windows Vista will sit there, stable as a rock, and let me run Firefox just as if I am using my livecd linux. I understand that Vista will want a much more powerful PC than the dual pentium pro machine I'm using, with a hefty 256 MB of 72-pin RAM. That's why I am also requesting a new PC from Mr. Ballmer, to go with the free Windows Vista. Something with a dual core, and 2 GB of RAM will do nicely. No need to thank me for my restraint here. Thank you very much for your patience.
I had a Dell laptop in my facility that the owner complained of too much software, all wanting to start up and have an icon in the tray, resulting in slow performance. This was a dual core, with 2 GB of RAM, and Windows XP media edition. He wanted the hard drive formatted, and then a reinstall of XP from the restoration CD. I did that, formatted the main XP partition, and proceeded with the reinstall. Had to boot up my livecd linux to get all the drivers from Dell that were not on the restoration partitions, and a driver from Intel for the wireless. Once that was done, I could then boot into XP and finish all of the installation. I didn't know that the restoration media would not provide all of the necessary drivers, but did find everything at Dell's website to be more than adequate. I just switched the Intel wireless driver, the Dell one is just as good. I put all of the driver files in a place where the procedure could be done again, if necessary. The laptop came with a 17 inch widescreen, and the 128 MB ATI card driver suggested that I use the maximum resolution, but I opted instead for 1024x768 since everything would be easier to see. The owner changed that right off, and all I could do was point out the very small text, and the reasoning for my resolution choice. The laptop runs very well after the reinstall, and the owner is pleased overall. However, if it were not for my livecd linux, the entire procedure would have been different, to say the least. I could, with the linux, see in all of the partitions, to see what Dell had there, and then make a list of what I needed, based on Dell's recommendations. At least I could see what I was doing.
Yellowstone has a history of big eruptions, the first one had the power of 2500 Mt. St. Helen's and occured 2.1 million years ago, according to information in the link. 600 cubic miles of material thrown into the atmosphere. The New England (USA) "year without a summer" is detailed here. From that link:
Global cooling often has been linked with major volcanic eruptions. The year 1816 often has been referred to as "the year without a summer". It was a time of significant weather-related disruptions in New England and in Western Europe with killing summer frosts in the United States and Canada. These strange phenomena were attributed to a major eruption of the Tambora volcano in 1815 in Indonesia. The volcano threw sulfur dioxide gas into the stratosphere, and the aerosol layer that formed led to brilliant sunsets seen around the world for several years.
I had thought that the material thrown into the atmosphere and spread around the world by the rotation of the earth simply reduced the available sunlight that could warm the ground, but that link says it was sulfur dioxide gas, not just particulates. I remember the Mt. St. Helens aircraft warning, so they would not sustain damage from solid material blasted airborne from the volcano.
Didn't we have some effect from the material thrown into the atmosphere from Mt. St. Helens as far as overall global temperatures is concerned? That link refers to the "haze effect", resulting in very red sunsets. So we would have 2500 times the 600 cubic miles of material (If all the force of the volcano results in material in the atmosphere) if the Yellowstone Supervolcano has a major eruption. Would that not result in a lowering of temperatures worldwide, the Sun not able to warm the earth, and that meaning "a period without summers", perhaps years long, with no crops being able to be grown due to the cold? Famine, freezing to death, or what. Have to remember that these things are on a geological time scale, don't expect Yellowstone to appear on the evening news anytime soon. That said, there have been lots of big volcanos in the last century or so, plenty of them on film or television. But that is volcanos worldwide, not for one that has been "asleep" for so long.
When I started bicycling, outdoors, each day I would tackle the same hill, and see how long it took to get up there, and back down. Used one of those handlebar bicycle computers. Going up, when it got hard, lots of cuss words were appropriate to the pain and extreme effort. That in itself did not boost brainpower, the same ones seemed appropriate on each assent. Soon, I varied the ride, going other places in the same outing. Looking for some more hills, where I could exercise my verbal skills where needed. Eventually, over thousands of miles, I could easily ride 50 miles in a day, not along one road (boring), but all over the place. I lost weight, and felt healthy, at least. It is dangerous to bicycle, I broke my leg once. When I could, I just bicycled with one leg, after mending a while. That helped the circulation overall. I did notice that the leg muscle disappears when you are laid up with a broke leg. When you bicycle, it is important to at least think that you are doing a lot, and are "setting some records". The bicycle computer helps with that, If your average speed goes down on a certain course, you are getting better at it. To shave time off that average takes a lot of planning, and you cannot falter. So, you think your are doing something. Perhaps while you are bicycling, some teenagers come along and try and outrun you. You keep up with them, and soon they tire, as they are not trained. For all of this, you need a good bicycle, well maintained. I broke that leg because the gears slipped, were too worn, apparently, and I was applying a lot of pressure to the pedals. Not all bicycle shops fix your bike right, some just hire kids, don't replace needed parts either. Any doubt, replace a 4000 mile bike with a new one, don't take chances. You'll know when a bike is a good one, take a short test ride. There won't be any doubt, and you'll be happy to take it home with you today. I fixed up my mountain bike with special easy-rolling tires, and "police" inner tubes, that won't go flat. Those inner tubes are so thick, they look like they belong on a motorcycle.
We have four time zones in the continental USA, and we all know that the Sun does not "jump" from one to the other, it appears to move across the sky evenly. Dawn and Sunset times are not fixed to the zones, so we have people who live in the "western edge of the Eastern Time Zone", and during the summer, the Sun does not set until after 9 PM or so. Ask the people in Highlands, N.C. about this. The answer is not more zones, but perhaps to keep the same time all year long. At least, they would get used to the Sun rising and setting at a certain time, rather than changing with DST. Russia, for instance, has many more "time zones" than we have, so the people at the eastern edge, and western edge of any time zone there have odd Sunrise and Sunset times to contend with. They really don't do the time zone thing differently than we do, it's just that Russia covers a greater east-west part of the globe than does the USA and needs more zones. I say keep the time the same all year around, and if it's energy savings you want, that's going to have to come from technology. Here is a link to the White House site on Energy Security, one can see some of what's going on in the field of energy savings.
Then I drove back after receiving the e-mail about my order being ready and walked over to the customer service desk and talked to the same exact girl I did an hour earlier.
It's not the employee's fault, it's the management.
I won't go into details about the practices of management, everyone here knows exactly what I am talking about.
So, there are two victims, the customer, and the employee made to do this.
Sure, you can say that the employee has a choice, to go somewhere else, and work for an honest employer.
You would think that low-paying simple jobs are "honest", but I'll be willing to bet that some of you here would be able to discredit that idea, based on your own experiences in the workplace.
In Reusing old PC's, we need to know what secure operating system will be used.
I have several older PC's that came with Windows 98 on them, but I'm not using that, I run my livecd linux. I don't really run it off the CDROM drive except one time to set it up, I use these files to use loadlin to run it off the hard drive.
I can use MSDOS here, to provide a menu at bootup, that in turn runs the loadlin batch files to start linux. So, I am not wearing out an expensive CDROM drive, just to run the OS on a daily basis. One can keep Windows 98, and use that, it has DOS in it, and the Windows 98 splash screen appears briefly before the menu comes up.
I am posting this using Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.2, and the box has 256 MB of 72-pin RAM, and two 200 MHZ Pentium Pro processors.
I use a 40 GB HDD, partitioned to provide a "persistent home", and with this setup, the drive activity is very low, compared to what it was when Windows 98 was being run as the primary OS.
Only problem I have is the monitor, an ADI Microscan 4V, probably using more power than a LCD, but I am reusing an old piece of hardware, rather than throw it away. I usually run 800x600, since the monitor is about 13 inches diagonal.
As with most upgrades to the latest power-saving technology, money is always a problem. I got the ADI monitor at a thrift store for $20.00, upgrading would be expensive, in comparison to the cost of the rest of the system.
An individual or family that has a fairly well-behaved Windows XP computer, decides not to run out and buy Windows Vista, or a new computer that has Vista preinstalled. Mostly because of the price, and secondly, because the Windows XP computer works well for them. And, they paid a good price for it, and would like to see if they can get some more miles out of it. A third, and perhaps major reason is that they are unclear as to "just what Vista does", besides look pretty. It would be Big News if Microsoft could say that Vista is a secure operating system, and that Vista spells the end of the viruses and trojans war.
The point is that there is a trickle down effect.
No one paid any attention to the individual or family that "decides not to run out and buy Windows Vista"
But, a major government department that has perhaps thousands of computers, making this decision not to upgrade, and giving reasons, gets everyones attention.
That individual or family now doesn't feel all alone, the U.S. DOT is on the same page as them. It's a matter of money for the individual, and a matter of money for the U.S. DOT, not to mention the other reasons they have, that are much more serious for Microsoft.
Everyone thinks the Government has plenty of money, and "buys $100.00 toothbrushes", etc. Money to burn, literally. So, perhaps their reasons are more about the "other problems", rather than the money.
What large organization or Government entity will be next?
Please don't let this story get on Drudge Report. Yes, I know Drudge Report has a little text box where one can send in story links. Don't all rush in and do that at once!
As you can see, this is only a 256 MB of RAM machine, and quite a bit is "used", also the Swap is being used. I'm running Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.2, and using IceWM for "X". (See screenshots, below)
I know from experience, that if I now want to fire up GIMP, I can work on a bunch of images if I want to, and this setup will have no problems with that. I use a HD partition for a gimp-swap.
I suppose that Vista can do the same thing, but requiring a dual core, and 2 GB of RAM, the norm for a lot of machines Dell has for sale now.
I have seen one of these machines, but with XP, and was amazed at the number of apts that can be opened at once and run successfully for hours, without any problems. There are a lot of applications available for XP, and I have noted that the users tend to load up their desktops with a ton of icons for the apts, very impressive indeed to someone who maintains a livecd linux, with a defined set of applications, not very expandable, but do-able with the "persistent home" hard drive partition. If I can get ahold of an application in a tarball, such as a new, or perhaps a nightly build of Firefox, for instance, then I can add that to the running linux system, and have it come back the next time the box is booted.
OK for a livecd linux such as mine, but not in the same league as XP or Vista.
I'm thinking the world would be a much duller place without them, sorry to see so much bad press about the expensive Vista OS, and the powerful machines that run it.
I'm sure I am not the only one who has had to format the Windows XP partition to get rid of these products that have seemingly "gone bad". When I got through, I had two new XP installs on the same computer, different partitions. I left AOL off of one, and it seems to run very well, using a free virus scanner there. So far so good, but I really do not know if those installs will stay put. Windows updates as needed, and so does the scanner. Just lucky I guess. I don't use that machine, others do, and if they have a problem, they see me. That's not really good either, since the viruses don't always announce their presence. I don't feel safe running Windows, and certainly don't like the fact that others use that OS to do online banking, and pay bills, make purchases.
I did try Windows 3.1 on a 386 once, and I think it didn't want to have a "page file", known to us Linux folks as a swap file. It did connect to the internet, but mostly only to text sites, such as government weather sites. I was using dial up which can have problems contributing to the text-only surfing on tiny processors. On another one, I put Basic Linux on a small Compaq Contura notebook, and set up a dial-up web server, (for test only), one could edit the served page (text only), and view it in Netscape 3.0. Slow, but it was reliable and worked. Had two hard drives for the Contura, one with Windows, so I removed it, and put the test drive in, to install Basic Linux. I did get some very old Mac's to connect to the internet, same thing, mostly text-only pages available. The trick here is to set up the hard drive on a more powerful computer, then move it to the old box. I have a newer Mac Quadra 660AV, and one can easily download the iCab browser, it automatically installs, and does not have a time limit for the 68K Macs. Makes a mess of most modern web pages, however.
Yes, we can all waste time on projects like this, but they do tend to increase our overall range of knowledge about the subject of "installing OS's on PC's".
For those of you wanting to try a "loadlin" install of Knoppix 3.4, or my remaster of it (screenshots below), I have a tarball of the files to set up a MSDOS menu, all of the loadlin batch files, and the 2.4 kernel to use, here.
For this setup, I put MSDOS 6.21 on a small hard drive at/dev/hda, and then use a larger hard drive for linux, having copied the livecd using the "tohd=/dev/hdd1" Knoppix cheatcode. On this box my "hdd" is 40 GB, on another, I have a 160 GB drive, both with many partitions. I always use a 2 GB or so partition for a "persistent home", that makes the system automatically save all kinds of files and applications for you, to return on the next boot-up of the livecd system. Your Mozilla Thunderbird mail settings return, as well as your printer configuration. You'll notice the "home=scan" knoppix cheatcode in most of the loadlin command lines in the tarball. One big advantage to using a "persistent home" is the ability to download and test (and keep) the nightly builds of Firefox, or Opera (weekly builds). You can easily set up a separate IceWM (my default wm) menu item for the test build, and keep that too. Lots of options here for experimenters.
If you don't have MSDOS, Windows 95 or 98 will work, the machine just displays the Windows splash screen briefly before going to the Menu, where you can then multi-boot. I threw in MSDOS "Edit" and "Scandisk" in the Menu, to give me a way (With Edit) to fix the loadlin batch files if they have any problems.
I do this on all of my computers, none have more than 256 MB of RAM, this box I am on now has two 200 MHZ Pentium Pro's. The setup runs as fast as one could possibly want, I use a Diamond Stealth S60 Radeon 7000 ATI 32 B card, and use the DVI output to a 17 inch Dell Ultrasharp LCD monitor.
These "loadlin" installs are faster, quieter (won't beat your hard drive up) than XP, and run on much older computers, usually from the Windows 98 era. QTParted is available in the CD, so you can set up the/dev/hda with the swap file, and other partitions.
Windows may have killed itself by bringing out Vista, with the installation restrictions it has. Apparently, we either buy a new PC with Vista on it, or pay $400.00 for the Ultimate Vista to install on... Wait. Do I get to install Ultimate Vista on all of my Vista-Capable PC's? I have to pay more for separate licenses? What if I have an entire school full of Vista-Capable PC's that my students have built? What, throw them out, you'll give me new PC's with Vista preinstalled? I can't just buy a copy of Vista at Office Depot, with an installation DVD, and then install Vista on all of my PC's? I have to have a big license for all of them together? How much is that going to cost? What if I'm not a school, just an organization full of tree huggers, with 539 PC's that we write papers on. How much is Vista going to cost me? Does it include a word processor so we can publish our thoughts? You say all of my PC's are outdated, don't have enough memory, graphics power, or processor power to run Vista? Well, that's enough reason for me to throw all of them out and buy new ones! Lemme see... 539 times $800.00 equals $431,200.00 Hmmm... We don't want to sound cheap, but were are we going to get that kind of money? I could just let everyone pay for their own upgrade, some organizations do that you know...
How about if we just get one linux cd, and install that on our old boxes and see how it goes first. If we cannot get linux to do what we want, we'll be back with the $431,200.00 (or maybe not)
I got a variety of them for my house, some look like regular light bulbs, for those lamps that have shades that require them. I am putting some CFL's in the refrigerator, replacing the 40 watt bulbs there. I found that the refrigerator had three 40 watt bulbs in the refrigerator section, and two in the freezer. Replaced with 9 watt CFL's, and they seem fine. No, they are not the same color, but I will get used to them. If I want to, when the electric bill comes in, I can go outside in the daylight and read it. I like to imagine that it will be cheaper. Now, If I can replace all these CRT monitors with LCD ones. I really want one of those new 19 inch monitors like this one. I find it strange that they light those monitors with florescent bulbs, apparently because LED's are too expensive. Sony makes one laptop computer that uses LED's to light the LCD display, here is some background on the technology. One thing to remember about replacing regular light bulbs with CFL's: Don't wait. The savings start when you replace an incandescent bulb with a CFL. For those of you that require high light levels, they make some that run at 23 watts, a couple of those in a double ceiling fixture does very well. First thing in the morning, you'll wish they were not so bright.
Well, that's what we have here, computers with various hardware installed, and an OS that works with everything the box ships with. That's what Microsoft has done all these years. I like Linux as much as anyone here (see screenshots below), but to think that Dell, or anyone else will "ship a box with linux on it", and not expect to test everything first, and settle on a nice distro that has some commercial backing somewhere, for the boxes that ship with "linux". Even more complicated for them to dual boot something like Vista and some flavor of Linux. Sounds like they would really lose money on that kind of product, when all of the hardware vs OS has been done for them by Microsoft. I am advising people that buy a new Vista computer to just run it like it is, and not get caught up in a merry-go-round of buying software and add on hardware for it every weekend, and expecting all of it to work. They do provide drivers for 5000 or so devices and or programs, so that ought to prove me wrong, or I hope so, for the benefit of the buyers. As far as the "not-installed" livecd linux is concerned, I test a lot of them, and find that there are problems, one big one is the wireless driver. No internet, no computer, they say. I do extensively test my livecd linux, and although I can boot on lots of boxes, and plenty of older machines, If the network card is not one I provide a driver for, then no internet either. Most of the older Windows 98 boxes I target don't have a network card, so one can be easily added that works with my livecd linux, and we have internet. I don't need Windows, just MSDOS, and perhaps a 20 GB or so hard drive to partition, provide a swap, and lots of space for a "persistent home".
Most of my computers only have 256 MB of RAM, or less, and 200 MHZ - 400 MHZ processors. Do like to put at least a 32 MB graphics card in there, however. With setups like that, I get good response, nothing is "slow". Shows you what a 2.4 kernel can do. The 2.6 kernel bogs down big-time, so I stay away from it.
In my rapidweatherlinux.blogspot.com blog, I have a recent post where I have a downloadable archive of files to set up loadlin and a menu on a msdos box, to go with my livecd linux. If all you want is Firefox 2.0.0.1 and a broadband connection, then we are on the same page. I have GIMP, too, so you can create your own Worth1000.com style images, and entertain your friends from now on. Check out the Getting Started Guide here.
So, my livecd linux is "installed", and no longer runs from the CDROM drive after that first setup day.
If I buy a Dell, I'd be prepared to opt out on a lot of hardware, and pick my own, later. Sure would like to get ahold of their water-cooled gaming box, however.
TFA says the parrot will repeat what it hears, (just like a real one). I know of one parrot that was a visitor in a Doctor's office, and repeated (later) what one of the clients said about the Doctor.
Well, I'm using a D-Link WBR-2310 router, and I did have a new password for the admin account. Now, according to the article, I need to also change the "login name" for the Administrator account to something other than the default "admin". I've done that now, and also changed the password to the maximum allowed by the router. I am using Comcast, but the router is not their equipment. No problem with Comcast, really, and I am satisfied with their service. Once, during high winds (Katrina) my cable line was brought down, they fixed it in a reasonable amount of time. It did take a week for the power to be restored to my street, Comcast came and fixed the line shortly thereafter. I do have problems with limbs, and need to hire a tree-trimmer to fix that, neither Comcast, or the power company will do that for me. I usually have up to three desktops connected to the router, (wired), and one laptop (wireless). I do have backup dial-up service with Nexband, they are very reliable, I can connect at 49333 or higher, sometimes as high as 53000. Phone company put in all new lines from pole to house, I wired everything in the house.
The big water cooled Dell gaming computers, the ones that sell for over $5.000.00 come with XP, not Vista. Dell says that they are still evaluating Vista, so in light of what is said here, I can see why they would want to ship these big boxes with XP, so as not to disappoint the gamers. These machines have 4 GB of RAM, two dual core processors, and a 1 KW power supply, and a water cooling setup. I'm not going to link to a specific Dell PC here, but you can browse their site to see this for yourself.
Truck all the snow they have in NY to other parts of the country, where they need a white covering on the ground, and need cooling off. That ought to do it.
Good. I finally found a thread where funny solutions are presented.
Here's mine:
Wait till the Sun comes up, and someone step outside and throw a towel over it. Don't take the towel off for a while, till the Earth cools off, and everyone forgets about global warming.
I bought a Toshiba T 1910 CS laptop, and it came with software installed to manufacture Windows 3.1 installation floppies, and also MSDOS 6.21 installation floppies. I do use the MSDOS floppies now and again. This box has MSDOS to run the menu, to select which configuration of my knoppix remaster to run, down to which screen resolution. Small monitor, so somedays I like 800x600.
Slashdot Mirror
Pulse and Glide
Toya accelerates, or pulses, to 29 mph, then glides down to 25 mph before pulsing again. The car uses no fuel when gliding.
I doubt the other traffic on the road would like this method being used to get the high mileage.
One of these cars being driven conservatively to get good mileage while blending in with other traffic on the road would not get these high figures, but every little bit helps. Some of the methods used by the Japanese Mileage maniacs would also require taking one's eyes off the road a lot to view the extra guages installed, perhaps a safety hazard in normal traffic situations.
More people are out playing golf and other outdoor sports because of the shift between the clock's time and the position of the Sun in the evening sky.
Not just sports, but all of the DIY people, repairing cars, cutting grass, working in the garden, working on a little construction project outside, such as building a deck. I put a roof on my house working until the sun went down. Took a while, as I removed the old roof (in stages) and put a new one on. Saved thousands.
On the other end of the day, when you have to get up before dawn, you're going to have to go to your job, work, etc. Better to get that over with, as most of us work for someone else, and you might as well start early, so you can get home early, and work for yourself, if it involves the outdoors, and the need for sunlight to see what you are doing. Even if you just go outside and look at your garden. Life's too short to get up, go to work, come home in the dark.
Perhaps the current pattern referred to as Daylight Savings Time will give you some outdoor time to enjoy life.
I have a Toshiba 4015CDS that has Windows 98, and I can run my livecd linux, a Knoppix Remaster on it with no problem. Very secure, only problem I have had is that the battery has gone bad, that is expected after so long a time.
Never had to call them up about anything, but I could show them the machine with only Windows 98 on it, even thought I might run linux on a daily basis, and they would not know the difference. It's not on the hard drive, but having said that, I would have to delete the swap file before having a Toshiba service rep look at the machine, to be able to have everything as it was when new. They do give you a restoration CD that will put it back as new, and it does not use a "restoration partition" as some machines do, Dell notably.
Sure, they make a statement that linux is greener than Windows, and it's open to all sorts of interpretation and comment.
It's true that one can have a linux install that does not have the hardware requirements of Windows Vista, and still get the job done.
Powerful hardware usually translates into more power consumption, so linux, able to do the job on less complicated/powerful hardware, is greener.
I can surf the web with Firefox 2.0.0.3 with my Knoppix remaster, using only 256 MB of system RAM.
I don't need a GB or two of RAM, but it would be nice.
Not greener, however.
Having said that, I would like a copy of Windows Vista, (any flavor), and a suitable PC to install it on. Preferably one that I can also run my livecd linux on, just for comparison purposes, you understand.
There, that was easy.
Now for the good part, that Mr. Ballmer will surely appreciate:
Every operating system has it's bad days, I have odd things happen to mine once in a while, probably related to some of the strange web sites Mozilla Firefox and I surf.
Surely Windows Vista will sit there, stable as a rock, and let me run Firefox just as if I am using my livecd linux. I understand that Vista will want a much more powerful PC than the dual pentium pro machine I'm using, with a hefty 256 MB of 72-pin RAM. That's why I am also requesting a new PC from Mr. Ballmer, to go with the free Windows Vista. Something with a dual core, and 2 GB of RAM will do nicely. No need to thank me for my restraint here.
Thank you very much for your patience.
Careful with that chair...
I had a Dell laptop in my facility that the owner complained of too much software, all wanting to start up and have an icon in the tray, resulting in slow performance.
This was a dual core, with 2 GB of RAM, and Windows XP media edition.
He wanted the hard drive formatted, and then a reinstall of XP from the restoration CD. I did that, formatted the main XP partition, and proceeded with the reinstall.
Had to boot up my livecd linux to get all the drivers from Dell that were not on the restoration partitions, and a driver from Intel for the wireless. Once that was done, I could then boot into XP and finish all of the installation.
I didn't know that the restoration media would not provide all of the necessary drivers, but did find everything at Dell's website to be more than adequate.
I just switched the Intel wireless driver, the Dell one is just as good. I put all of the driver files in a place where the procedure could be done again, if necessary.
The laptop came with a 17 inch widescreen, and the 128 MB ATI card driver suggested that I use the maximum resolution, but I opted instead for 1024x768 since everything would be easier to see. The owner changed that right off, and all I could do was point out the very small text, and the reasoning for my resolution choice.
The laptop runs very well after the reinstall, and the owner is pleased overall.
However, if it were not for my livecd linux, the entire procedure would have been different, to say the least. I could, with the linux, see in all of the partitions, to see what Dell had there, and then make a list of what I needed, based on Dell's recommendations. At least I could see what I was doing.
Yellowstone has a history of big eruptions, the first one had the power of 2500 Mt. St. Helen's and occured 2.1 million years ago, according to information in the link. 600 cubic miles of material thrown into the atmosphere.
The New England (USA) "year without a summer" is detailed here.
From that link:
Global cooling often has been linked with major volcanic eruptions. The year 1816 often has been referred to as "the year without a summer". It was a time of significant weather-related disruptions in New England and in Western Europe with killing summer frosts in the United States and Canada. These strange phenomena were attributed to a major eruption of the Tambora volcano in 1815 in Indonesia. The volcano threw sulfur dioxide gas into the stratosphere, and the aerosol layer that formed led to brilliant sunsets seen around the world for several years.
I had thought that the material thrown into the atmosphere and spread around the world by the rotation of the earth simply reduced the available sunlight that could warm the ground, but that link says it was sulfur dioxide gas, not just particulates. I remember the Mt. St. Helens aircraft warning, so they would not sustain damage from solid material blasted airborne from the volcano.
Didn't we have some effect from the material thrown into the atmosphere from Mt. St. Helens as far as overall global temperatures is concerned? That link refers to the "haze effect", resulting in very red sunsets.
So we would have 2500 times the 600 cubic miles of material (If all the force of the volcano results in material in the atmosphere) if the Yellowstone Supervolcano has a major eruption.
Would that not result in a lowering of temperatures worldwide, the Sun not able to warm the earth, and that meaning "a period without summers", perhaps years long, with no crops being able to be grown due to the cold?
Famine, freezing to death, or what.
Have to remember that these things are on a geological time scale, don't expect Yellowstone to appear on the evening news anytime soon. That said, there have been lots of big volcanos in the last century or so, plenty of them on film or television.
But that is volcanos worldwide, not for one that has been "asleep" for so long.
Bicycling for exercise:
When I started bicycling, outdoors, each day I would tackle the same hill, and see how long it took to get up there, and back down. Used one of those handlebar bicycle computers. Going up, when it got hard, lots of cuss words were appropriate to the pain and extreme effort. That in itself did not boost brainpower, the same ones seemed appropriate on each assent. Soon, I varied the ride, going other places in the same outing. Looking for some more hills, where I could exercise my verbal skills where needed. Eventually, over thousands of miles, I could easily ride 50 miles in a day, not along one road (boring), but all over the place. I lost weight, and felt healthy, at least. It is dangerous to bicycle, I broke my leg once. When I could, I just bicycled with one leg, after mending a while. That helped the circulation overall. I did notice that the leg muscle disappears when you are laid up with a broke leg.
When you bicycle, it is important to at least think that you are doing a lot, and are "setting some records". The bicycle computer helps with that, If your average speed goes down on a certain course, you are getting better at it. To shave time off that average takes a lot of planning, and you cannot falter. So, you think your are doing something. Perhaps while you are bicycling, some teenagers come along and try and outrun you. You keep up with them, and soon they tire, as they are not trained.
For all of this, you need a good bicycle, well maintained. I broke that leg because the gears slipped, were too worn, apparently, and I was applying a lot of pressure to the pedals. Not all bicycle shops fix your bike right, some just hire kids, don't replace needed parts either. Any doubt, replace a 4000 mile bike with a new one, don't take chances. You'll know when a bike is a good one, take a short test ride. There won't be any doubt, and you'll be happy to take it home with you today.
I fixed up my mountain bike with special easy-rolling tires, and "police" inner tubes, that won't go flat. Those inner tubes are so thick, they look like they belong on a motorcycle.
We have four time zones in the continental USA, and we all know that the Sun does not "jump" from one to the other, it appears to move across the sky evenly. Dawn and Sunset times are not fixed to the zones, so we have people who live in the "western edge of the Eastern Time Zone", and during the summer, the Sun does not set until after 9 PM or so. Ask the people in Highlands, N.C. about this. The answer is not more zones, but perhaps to keep the same time all year long. At least, they would get used to the Sun rising and setting at a certain time, rather than changing with DST.
Russia, for instance, has many more "time zones" than we have, so the people at the eastern edge, and western edge of any time zone there have odd Sunrise and Sunset times to contend with. They really don't do the time zone thing differently than we do, it's just that Russia covers a greater east-west part of the globe than does the USA and needs more zones.
I say keep the time the same all year around, and if it's energy savings you want, that's going to have to come from technology.
Here is a link to the White House site on Energy Security, one can see some of what's going on in the field of energy savings.
It's not the employee's fault, it's the management.
I won't go into details about the practices of management, everyone here knows exactly what I am talking about.
So, there are two victims, the customer, and the employee made to do this. Sure, you can say that the employee has a choice, to go somewhere else, and work for an honest employer.
You would think that low-paying simple jobs are "honest", but I'll be willing to bet that some of you here would be able to discredit that idea, based on your own experiences in the workplace.
In Reusing old PC's, we need to know what secure operating system will be used.
I have several older PC's that came with Windows 98 on them, but I'm not using that, I run my livecd linux.
I don't really run it off the CDROM drive except one time to set it up, I use these files to use loadlin to run it off the hard drive.
I can use MSDOS here, to provide a menu at bootup, that in turn runs the loadlin batch files to start linux. So, I am not wearing out an expensive CDROM drive, just to run the OS on a daily basis. One can keep Windows 98, and use that, it has DOS in it, and the Windows 98 splash screen appears briefly before the menu comes up.
I am posting this using Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.2, and the box has 256 MB of 72-pin RAM, and two 200 MHZ Pentium Pro processors.
I use a 40 GB HDD, partitioned to provide a "persistent home", and with this setup, the drive activity is very low, compared to what it was when Windows 98 was being run as the primary OS.
Only problem I have is the monitor, an ADI Microscan 4V, probably using more power than a LCD, but I am reusing an old piece of hardware, rather than throw it away. I usually run 800x600, since the monitor is about 13 inches diagonal.
As with most upgrades to the latest power-saving technology, money is always a problem. I got the ADI monitor at a thrift store for $20.00, upgrading would be expensive, in comparison to the cost of the rest of the system.
An individual or family that has a fairly well-behaved Windows XP computer, decides not to run out and buy Windows Vista, or a new computer that has Vista preinstalled.
Mostly because of the price, and secondly, because the Windows XP computer works well for them. And, they paid a good price for it, and would like to see if they can get some more miles out of it. A third, and perhaps major reason is that they are unclear as to "just what Vista does", besides look pretty.
It would be Big News if Microsoft could say that Vista is a secure operating system, and that Vista spells the end of the viruses and trojans war.
The point is that there is a trickle down effect.
No one paid any attention to the individual or family that "decides not to run out and buy Windows Vista"
But, a major government department that has perhaps thousands of computers, making this decision not to upgrade, and giving reasons, gets everyones attention.
That individual or family now doesn't feel all alone, the U.S. DOT is on the same page as them.
It's a matter of money for the individual, and a matter of money for the U.S. DOT, not to mention the other reasons they have, that are much more serious for Microsoft.
Everyone thinks the Government has plenty of money, and "buys $100.00 toothbrushes", etc.
Money to burn, literally. So, perhaps their reasons are more about the "other problems", rather than the money.
What large organization or Government entity will be next?
Please don't let this story get on Drudge Report.
Yes, I know Drudge Report has a little text box where one can send in story links.
Don't all rush in and do that at once!
I'm running my knoppix remaster, kernel 2.4, and "top" shows:
Cpu(s): 0.5% user, 2.0% system, 0.0% nice, 97.6% idle
Mem: 256268k total, 251592k used, 4676k free, 3856k buffers
Swap: 1405648k total, 2156k used, 1403492k free, 159616k cached
As you can see, this is only a 256 MB of RAM machine, and quite a bit is "used", also the Swap is being used. I'm running Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.2, and using IceWM for "X". (See screenshots, below)
I know from experience, that if I now want to fire up GIMP, I can work on a bunch of images if I want to, and this setup will have no problems with that. I use a HD partition for a gimp-swap. I suppose that Vista can do the same thing, but requiring a dual core, and 2 GB of RAM, the norm for a lot of machines Dell has for sale now. I have seen one of these machines, but with XP, and was amazed at the number of apts that can be opened at once and run successfully for hours, without any problems. There are a lot of applications available for XP, and I have noted that the users tend to load up their desktops with a ton of icons for the apts, very impressive indeed to someone who maintains a livecd linux, with a defined set of applications, not very expandable, but do-able with the "persistent home" hard drive partition. If I can get ahold of an application in a tarball, such as a new, or perhaps a nightly build of Firefox, for instance, then I can add that to the running linux system, and have it come back the next time the box is booted. OK for a livecd linux such as mine, but not in the same league as XP or Vista. I'm thinking the world would be a much duller place without them, sorry to see so much bad press about the expensive Vista OS, and the powerful machines that run it.
I'm sure I am not the only one who has had to format the Windows XP partition to get rid of these products that have seemingly "gone bad".
When I got through, I had two new XP installs on the same computer, different partitions. I left AOL off of one, and it seems to run very well, using a free virus scanner there. So far so good, but I really do not know if those installs will stay put. Windows updates as needed, and so does the scanner. Just lucky I guess.
I don't use that machine, others do, and if they have a problem, they see me.
That's not really good either, since the viruses don't always announce their presence. I don't feel safe running Windows, and certainly don't like the fact that others use that OS to do online banking, and pay bills, make purchases.
Rapidweather
Before 6 beers
After 6 beers.
I did try Windows 3.1 on a 386 once, and I think it didn't want to have a "page file", known to us Linux folks as a swap file. It did connect to the internet, but mostly only to text sites, such as government weather sites. I was using dial up which can have problems contributing to the text-only surfing on tiny processors.
/dev/hda, and then use a larger hard drive for linux, having copied the livecd using the "tohd=/dev/hdd1" Knoppix cheatcode. On this box my "hdd" is 40 GB, on another, I have a 160 GB drive, both with many partitions. I always use a 2 GB or so partition for a "persistent home", that makes the system automatically save all kinds of files and applications for you, to return on the next boot-up of the livecd system. Your Mozilla Thunderbird mail settings return, as well as your printer configuration.
/dev/hda with the swap file, and other partitions.
On another one, I put Basic Linux on a small Compaq Contura notebook, and set up a dial-up web server, (for test only), one could edit the served page (text only), and view it in Netscape 3.0. Slow, but it was reliable and worked. Had two hard drives for the Contura, one with Windows, so I removed it, and put the test drive in, to install Basic Linux.
I did get some very old Mac's to connect to the internet, same thing, mostly text-only pages available.
The trick here is to set up the hard drive on a more powerful computer, then move it to the old box.
I have a newer Mac Quadra 660AV, and one can easily download the iCab browser, it automatically installs, and does not have a time limit for the 68K Macs. Makes a mess of most modern web pages, however.
Yes, we can all waste time on projects like this, but they do tend to increase our overall range of knowledge about the subject of "installing OS's on PC's".
For those of you wanting to try a "loadlin" install of Knoppix 3.4, or my remaster of it (screenshots below), I have a tarball of the files to set up a MSDOS menu, all of the loadlin batch files, and the 2.4 kernel to use, here.
For this setup, I put MSDOS 6.21 on a small hard drive at
You'll notice the "home=scan" knoppix cheatcode in most of the loadlin command lines in the tarball.
One big advantage to using a "persistent home" is the ability to download and test (and keep) the nightly builds of Firefox, or Opera (weekly builds). You can easily set up a separate IceWM (my default wm) menu item for the test build, and keep that too. Lots of options here for experimenters.
If you don't have MSDOS, Windows 95 or 98 will work, the machine just displays the Windows splash screen briefly before going to the Menu, where you can then multi-boot. I threw in MSDOS "Edit" and "Scandisk" in the Menu, to give me a way (With Edit) to fix the loadlin batch files if they have any problems.
I do this on all of my computers, none have more than 256 MB of RAM, this box I am on now has two 200 MHZ Pentium Pro's. The setup runs as fast as one could possibly want, I use a Diamond Stealth S60 Radeon 7000 ATI 32 B card, and use the DVI output to a 17 inch Dell Ultrasharp LCD monitor.
These "loadlin" installs are faster, quieter (won't beat your hard drive up) than XP, and run on much older computers, usually from the Windows 98 era. QTParted is available in the CD, so you can set up the
Rapidweather
Windows may have killed itself by bringing out Vista, with the installation restrictions it has.
Apparently, we either buy a new PC with Vista on it, or pay $400.00 for the Ultimate Vista to install on...
Wait. Do I get to install Ultimate Vista on all of my Vista-Capable PC's?
I have to pay more for separate licenses? What if I have an entire school full of Vista-Capable PC's that my students have built?
What, throw them out, you'll give me new PC's with Vista preinstalled?
I can't just buy a copy of Vista at Office Depot, with an installation DVD, and then install Vista on all of my PC's?
I have to have a big license for all of them together? How much is that going to cost?
What if I'm not a school, just an organization full of tree huggers, with 539 PC's that we write papers on. How much is Vista going to cost me? Does it include a word processor so we can publish our thoughts?
You say all of my PC's are outdated, don't have enough memory, graphics power, or processor power to run Vista?
Well, that's enough reason for me to throw all of them out and buy new ones!
Lemme see... 539 times $800.00 equals $431,200.00 Hmmm...
We don't want to sound cheap, but were are we going to get that kind of money?
I could just let everyone pay for their own upgrade, some organizations do that you know...
How about if we just get one linux cd, and install that on our old boxes and see how it goes first. If we cannot get linux to do what we want, we'll be back with the $431,200.00 (or maybe not)
I got a variety of them for my house, some look like regular light bulbs, for those lamps that have shades that require them.
I am putting some CFL's in the refrigerator, replacing the 40 watt bulbs there.
I found that the refrigerator had three 40 watt bulbs in the refrigerator section, and two in the freezer. Replaced with 9 watt CFL's, and they seem fine. No, they are not the same color, but I will get used to them.
If I want to, when the electric bill comes in, I can go outside in the daylight and read it. I like to imagine that it will be cheaper.
Now, If I can replace all these CRT monitors with LCD ones. I really want one of those new 19 inch monitors like this one. I find it strange that they light those monitors with florescent bulbs, apparently because LED's are too expensive. Sony makes one laptop computer that uses LED's to light the LCD display, here is some background on the technology.
One thing to remember about replacing regular light bulbs with CFL's:
Don't wait. The savings start when you replace an incandescent bulb with a CFL. For those of you that require high light levels, they make some that run at 23 watts, a couple of those in a double ceiling fixture does very well.
First thing in the morning, you'll wish they were not so bright.
Well, that's what we have here, computers with various hardware installed, and an OS that works with everything the box ships with. That's what Microsoft has done all these years.
I like Linux as much as anyone here (see screenshots below), but to think that Dell, or anyone else will "ship a box with linux on it", and not expect to test everything first, and settle on a nice distro that has some commercial backing somewhere, for the boxes that ship with "linux".
Even more complicated for them to dual boot something like Vista and some flavor of Linux. Sounds like they would really lose money on that kind of product, when all of the hardware vs OS has been done for them by Microsoft.
I am advising people that buy a new Vista computer to just run it like it is, and not get caught up in a merry-go-round of buying software and add on hardware for it every weekend, and expecting all of it to work. They do provide drivers for 5000 or so devices and or programs, so that ought to prove me wrong, or I hope so, for the benefit of the buyers.
As far as the "not-installed" livecd linux is concerned, I test a lot of them, and find that there are problems, one big one is the wireless driver. No internet, no computer, they say. I do extensively test my livecd linux, and although I can boot on lots of boxes, and plenty of older machines, If the network card is not one I provide a driver for, then no internet either.
Most of the older Windows 98 boxes I target don't have a network card, so one can be easily added that works with my livecd linux, and we have internet.
I don't need Windows, just MSDOS, and perhaps a 20 GB or so hard drive to partition, provide a swap, and lots of space for a "persistent home".
Most of my computers only have 256 MB of RAM, or less, and 200 MHZ - 400 MHZ processors. Do like to put at least a 32 MB graphics card in there, however.
With setups like that, I get good response, nothing is "slow". Shows you what a 2.4 kernel can do. The 2.6 kernel bogs down big-time, so I stay away from it.
In my rapidweatherlinux.blogspot.com blog, I have a recent post where I have a downloadable archive of files to set up loadlin and a menu on a msdos box, to go with my livecd linux. If all you want is Firefox 2.0.0.1 and a broadband connection, then we are on the same page. I have GIMP, too, so you can create your own Worth1000.com style images, and entertain your friends from now on.
Check out the Getting Started Guide here.
So, my livecd linux is "installed", and no longer runs from the CDROM drive after that first setup day.
If I buy a Dell, I'd be prepared to opt out on a lot of hardware, and pick my own, later. Sure would like to get ahold of their water-cooled gaming box, however.
TFA says the parrot will repeat what it hears, (just like a real one).
I know of one parrot that was a visitor in a Doctor's office, and repeated (later) what one of the clients said about the Doctor.
It said, "Dr. (so-and-so) is a SOB!"
Not very flattering, I would say!
Well, I'm using a D-Link WBR-2310 router, and I did have a new password for the admin account. Now, according to the article, I need to also change the "login name" for the Administrator account to something other than the default "admin".
I've done that now, and also changed the password to the maximum allowed by the router.
I am using Comcast, but the router is not their equipment. No problem with Comcast, really, and I am satisfied with their service.
Once, during high winds (Katrina) my cable line was brought down, they fixed it in a reasonable amount of time. It did take a week for the power to be restored to my street, Comcast came and fixed the line shortly thereafter. I do have problems with limbs, and need to hire a tree-trimmer to fix that, neither Comcast, or the power company will do that for me.
I usually have up to three desktops connected to the router, (wired), and one laptop (wireless).
I do have backup dial-up service with Nexband, they are very reliable, I can connect at 49333 or higher, sometimes as high as 53000. Phone company put in all new lines from pole to house, I wired everything in the house.
Rapidweather
The big water cooled Dell gaming computers, the ones that sell for over $5.000.00 come with XP, not Vista.
Dell says that they are still evaluating Vista, so in light of what is said here, I can see why they would
want to ship these big boxes with XP, so as not to disappoint the gamers.
These machines have 4 GB of RAM, two dual core processors, and a 1 KW power supply, and a water cooling setup.
I'm not going to link to a specific Dell PC here, but you can browse their site to see this for yourself.
As long as we have a funny thread:
Truck all the snow they have in NY to other parts of the country, where they need a white covering on the ground, and need cooling off. That ought to do it.
Good. I finally found a thread where funny solutions are presented.
Here's mine:
Wait till the Sun comes up, and someone step outside and throw a towel over it.
Don't take the towel off for a while, till the Earth cools off, and everyone forgets about global warming.
I bought a Toshiba T 1910 CS laptop, and it came with software installed to manufacture Windows 3.1 installation floppies, and also MSDOS 6.21 installation floppies. I do use the MSDOS floppies now and again.
This box has MSDOS to run the menu, to select which configuration of my knoppix remaster to run, down to which screen resolution. Small monitor, so somedays I like 800x600.
Rapidweather