Well, I used my first iPod (the original one) as a hard drive for my old PowerBook G3 which internal hard drive had failed. So, the iPod was th only hard drive "in" the PowerBook. Worked great. I installed OS X from the CD to the iPod and just booted. No worries!
Only thing I had to remember was to reconnect the iPod BEFORE opening the lid of a sleeping PowerBook. OS X really doesn't like that the computer's hard drive is removed while the computer is sleeping.... =)
It was fun while it lasted (for about a week), before I got around to buying a new hard drive for the PowerBook. No point in this (OS X on iPod) really, except the fun- and just-because-you-can -factors......but it was worth it, I feel that I have much bigger now that I did it. =)
iJust wonder, is it that I'm too old to understand the beauty of this, or are there others (younger) than me who think similarly?
iMean that, why would I buy a subscription to some radio, when even my mobile can receive all the freely available alternatives? (iAlso have a radio in my car that, believe it or not, can receive free radio broadcasts.) iCannot believe that the content of these pay-radios would be any different from any other commercial one, they're still formatted radios anyhow. - iOn the other hand, do understand the iPod, as with that you can listen to your own music with no interruptions.
iAlso don't understand the need to fill my head with tunes 24/7. iPersonally actually switch off the radio/CD/MP3/whatever-player in my car, and just enjoy the engine sounds when driving. iEven get a kick out of it!
iGuess it's just me, too old to understand the necessaty to buy content to my life.
Actually I personally have retained from buying Sony-products since this came out. - And I urge other people to do the same, and also to mention it when buying the other product. Say to the salesman that you are looking for a product that is not a Sony, beacause of Sony's crap CD-protection that messed your computer. It doesn't make any difference if I alone do this, but if others do it as well and tell their friends to do the same. Finally if we can get enough mass to do this, it will have an affect on Sony sales. And if enough people tell the reason to the salesperson, some of "the news" may actually find its way back to Sony.
I personally have already done this twice since the Sony rootkit came out! Both cases Sony's product would have been either my choise or a finalist. This time I dismissed Sony's product straight away, because of Sony's "rootkit". I bought a Nokia-phone instead of a SonyEricsson (my previous was a SonyEricsson), and I bought a Philips FlatScreen TV - although my old TV was Sony. In the FlatScreen TV's case Philips' promise for no dead pixels was also a deciding factor!
So, I urge more people to choose a non-Sony product, just because Sony's fcuk-the-customers-politics on DRM!
As for choosing non-MS, well I haven't liked the company's products for a long while, and I think there's been enough MS-bashing already to leave it to that...
Firstly I have to say that I have NOT played around with a XBox, either one. I do not own a PlayStation nor a Sega. I simply find very few games interesting enough to waste my time there...
Now, with that said. 1% is WAY too much! If a product has a 1% failure rate, I call the product faulty by design or due to manufacturing processes. Let's say I produce code that is 1% buggy, I would NOT let it out of my hands. Nor would my company. Let's say I built a car engine that misfires 1% of the time, I would call the engine faulty, nowhere near acceptable. - These were just two examples that I do build myself and can say I know something about. I do not know the fault-rate of an XBox 360, but if it's even close to 1% - the whole console should be sent back to the drawing board...
Naturally a console is more complex than one person's code or a car engine, but it IS possible to build even more complex products that actually work. So, for MS's sake I hope this console is better...
"Clearly this dramatic fall (0.44%) of sales is due to the fact that MP3-players are the work of the devil! They corrupt the mind of our youth with filthy thoughts of freedom. We should go to war agains these terrorists that terrorise the free world with their unearthly ideas of freedom. All the god-fearing good citizens of the world should destroy their MP3-players and rush to the stores and buy newly released rereleases of the all time good old songs on the new improved tape-medium......we shall prevail!"
PetCell is not the first about this. A Finnish company callen Pointer had a Pet-phone on the market a year ago. I actually saw a demo a couple a years back in an exhibition. This Dog-GPS as its called is actually an old Benefon GPS/GSM-phone (another Finnish company) in a dog harness. You put it on your hunting dog. Once the dog's running somewhere you send a SMS to the dog and get a location on your similar Esc!-phone's map display. Naturally you have your own GPS on on the phone, so you can track towards the dog. Also if you like you can "call the dog" and with auto answer on you can listen to whats going on around the dog.
No, I don't hunt myself so I have no real knowledge about the usefullness of this. But as a dog owner I cannot think of any other reason to get phones for my dogs... I did own a Benefon Esc! -GPSphone a couple of years ago, and it was a nice gadget. But no GPRS (or UMTS) it became obsolite for me. Also this would be pretty useless in some less developed countries that don't have GSM coverage in the woods like Finland, as the system relies on GSM's SMS-messages for location enqueries.
...DDT is totally harmless to humans. ...asbestos is totally harmless. ...tobacco is totally harmless. ...cars do not pollute. ...computers are easy to use. ...cows do fly.
Just last night I was in a MobileMonday -meeting at a local bar in Helsinki. It used to be a meeting for nerds interested in mobile stuff, but it has been overrun by marketdroids and you rarely see a nerd there any more.
Anyway I was talking to a business contact, who is a partner in a management consultant company. His comment last night was that Microsoft is the sales department for OS X. They trashed all their PCs and switched totally to OS X -environment as XP's ServicePack 2 came out. They just couldn't get their PCs to co-operate with that pack. What amazed me was that this came from a guy that's allways used PCs and is in no way interested in geek-stuff - he is a management consultant after all. And this happens in Finland, that's propably one of the most pro-PC countries in the World. Three years ago I used to know only a couple of people who used Macs. Now it seems that number has well over trippled, and that's mostly converts.
Personally I do use PCs, Macs & Unix boxes (HP & Sun), with major OSs. But as a for my laptop, the choise has been clear for years. Apple's laptops were far ahead in battery life for years. Nowadays there's not that much difference, but the usability, stability and connectivity is still there...
Why not, at least it would explain a lot what's been happening in our company:
The whole sales department is acting like a bunch of zombies. All the coders are propably direct descendants of Count Drakul - at least they react to UV-light similarly. The customer support group must be all ghosts, as we all know they must exist (as we've heard them), but nobody's ever seen them - or been able to take a photo of them. And we do hear Strange Noises from The Office Upstairs during late (last)night rush to catch up before next mornings deadline... ...come to think of it, even the word deadline starts to make sense now...
I see your point, but I disagree with the importance of some of these points. IMO there couple more important issue... (Well, you could count them as one.)...as for your worries: > How good is it as an actual phone?
I gather you are worried about the usability of this phone. This I DO agree with. VERY important point! If the phone is too sluggish or requires "getting used to", it's worthless. > What does it sound like when making a call?
> How is the microphone?
I haven't used any modern phone that has major issues with these. I'm not expecting HiFi, it's a phone. But any of the modern phones have had good sound and good microphone pickup. The problems come later, when a phone gets old (and contacts become dirty). Also third-party HFs have problems, but that's not the phone manufacturers concern. You buy cheap, you get crap. > Is the antenna any use?
This is an issue I've not even thought about in the last five years. I know this might be important in some backwater countries, but should not matter in developed nations. And yes, I do travel the countryside quite a lot too.
But what about the issue that I think is the biggest one?
STABILITY! Can I shout that out any louder? R E L I A B I L I T Y ! ! !
And let's not forget the usability, you mentioned earlier. These three points make all the difference in the world. And sorry to say, but Nokia has NOT been one for any of these in the last couple of years. At least when a phone comes out. I would NOT buy this phone - at least within a year, as the software is too buggy to use. And even then the responsiveness is not good.
Oh yes, I've toyed around with this phone. And it was not very responsive, and yes, it did crash! - And the phone was a production model, not a pre-release model. Sorry, but no sale here. (Even when I liked the idea of finally introducing optics to a camera phone.)
At -40 I'd be more worried about that little car even working than about crushing your keys.
I'd be worried about a wheenie plastic toy car too... (And I'm not just talking about Mazdas now.)...on the other hand -40C/F is nothing that a car should not stand. I've started (to get to the uni as usual) at -40C/F, and didn't have a block heater either at the time. No worries. But that was about 20 years ago with a car that was about 20 years old at the time, it was a late 60's model Beetle.
Nowadays I live by the sea (where it hardly ever gets below -30C) have a block (and internal) heater, so I'm not worried about my new cars. - But I do have some older (project) cars in the garage, so I won't be stranded in case the new computerised play things break...
Actually when is correct, be it manned or unmanned.
Whether we like it or not, lauching and landing spacecraft is a risky business. It's not possible to design a 100% safe craft. There will always be more or less risk involved, thus the correct word being when...
Well, I've been using a variety of PDAs. From extinct Newtons to modern smart phones. I've liked a lot of the gadgets, and still own a few of them. They all have their pros and cons, and some are better suited for other tasks than others. And people do have different needs, so your milage may vary...
About a year ago I sumbled upon my old Psion 5mx (actually a Ericsson's version of it)......and I fell in love, again. I don't know why I even abandoned it. (Well, maybe because I like gadgets, and am always looking for a new one.) But this old PDA found it's place in my pocket/backpack, again.
It has a touch screen, IR, serial, CF-card slot, VERY stable multitasking oprating system, and all the gizmos you'd expect from a modern PDA. But it does have one gizmo that sets it apart (at least for me) - the keyboard! This thing really has a keyboard that you can type on. No, it's not a desktop, or even a laptop, but neither ot those can fit in my pocket, and neither of them can last two weeks on a single pair of batteries!
Yes, even this awesome PDA does have it's drawbacks. I could do with a better display. I don't need color, but excellent contrast. Also I would specially like internal Bluetooth and a WLAN would be a nice addition too. I do realise that they suck the batteries dead FAST, but when do I need them, I could stand the heavy load of carrying extra pair of batteries.
The article behind the link was so familiar reading. Even though I nowadays try to avoid maintenance of Windows systems. The story also reminded me of my "Windows days", as well as something that happened just last night.
I happened to stop by mu ucles house where my father was setting up my uncle's computer. My uncle knows nothing about computers, but uses one for surfing and emails. My father on the other hand has fooled around computers as long as me, since 1981. He is a fan of Windows and now in his retirement helps his friends with Windows problems.
The problem was very typical. Reinstall of Windows (because of regitry problems) and upgrade from 98 to XP home (bad mistake)!
As soon as they connected to Ineternet to download patches, the computer got hit by SoBig and Sasser. And even the antivirus software on the CDs was no help - it was obsolite by the time the CD was pressed.
Luckily I happened to stop by and we could download with my secure laptop all the necessary updates and cleaners. The just move the files with USB-dongle to the sick (although fresh) PC.
All's well that ends well? - I think that my uncle will think twice if he ever buys a new computer, at least which OS he would like to have it run...
The only problem with the eMacs is that you have to know a special secret Ctrl-key combo to shut it down! Anyway, the eMacs were a total flop to Apple as nobody wanted to buy a computer with three different Ctrl-keys to manage all the possible combinations...
...I definately prefer the upcoming viMac (as noted by someone here), as it has a way more sensible way of handling this kind of stuff. You have couple of predefined modes you can use the computer in. For example you just simply press "@" to start up the Internet-mode, and you can always rely on a simple press of the Esc-key to return to the navigational mode (to move the mouse pointer that is)...
Interestingly from what I have read about the security vulnerabilities with the *five* models affected by this (Nokia 6310, 6310i, 8910, 8910i and 7650), Nokia has confirmed only that the 7650 has the problem. Also reported that some SonyEricsson phones would have similar vulnerabilities, but it was not stated which models.
So, I take it that at least these five Nokia phones have the Bluetooth holes. But what is interesting is that different news-feeds report Nokia confirming/denying different models!
What this really tells us that the writers of the news themselves are either:
1) Too lazy to look it up from Nokia itself.
2) Too naive to take some other newsfeeds info as a fact.
3) Too inexperienced to check the validity of the info.
4) Too ??? to ???
So, who made the mistake?
ALL the "reporters" who did not check the validity of the news by themselves straight from the source.
I'm not sure about the speed issue on the PowerBook, but the RW is no problem. Sure you cannot use RWs from OS directly, but you can use them with Toast. Of course you have to buy one, but compared to the price of the laptop...
I fount this to be true with my desktop (with the Pioneer DVD-RW). I'm not sure about the DVD burning speed, as I don't burn DVDs that often that it would make any real difference.
Anyway I wouldn't complain, you got a beautiful piece of engineering on your lap...
It just goes to prove that the Finnish court system has failed!...and it was the last one in the World that I trusted...
The point being: The radio station broadcasting the music has to pay royalty for the music they play. This I understand, and think is reasonable. But what I don't understand is that the taxi owner has to pay again for the same music that was already paid by the radio station. AND The court even noted that the reason they lowered the earlier decission of 40 Euros/year to 22 Euros/year, was because "the music has no significan value in forming of the customer-service provider relationship."
So, even the court admitted that people actually don't choose a taxi by the music they play. (Shockingly I actually take the first one available!) So, why would they have to pay again for the music that's already been paid for?
On an other note: If the taxi has no radio installed (or the one preinstalled is ripped out) they don't naturally have to pay. Even if all the passangers would listen to the radio with their mobile phones or walkmans......maybe the next step is to ban people from listening radio in any public space, unless the owner of that space has paid royalty fees to the music industry?
Yet another note: This may not after all be such a shocking news in Finland. We actually have to pay royalty for each empty CD-R we buy, just because it MAY be used to copy music! So, we actually pay royalty for an act that would be criminal to do...
At least I have been waiting for one. There is definate (legal) use for this, when you have to test you company's / other network. And specially if you have to prove the vulnerability to your boss.
I know it's been available for ages to Linux platform, but as a TiBook user I had to use someone elses laptop for this. Now it's finally available for OS X...
OK, I know you can use it for criminal activity too. But, as it is available on other platforms already I don't see the problem with it becoming available for new ones too......after all you can use even you car to good or bad - not even mentioning firearms... (Well, seems that I just did.)
Do you know if this works in OSX? My PB (April 01) dies each and every time I try this while running OSX (even jaguar) but works perfectly in OS9.
Works perfectly with OS X. The sleep is a hardware feature, so it doesn't matter even if you'd be running Linux... I've tried it personally with PB G3/400 & TiBooks 500, 550 & 667, and a mate of mine with PB G3/500 & iBook 600. All with OS 9 & X - no worries!
My guess is that the problem could be with your PB's internal capasitors. They are the ones keeping the PB asleep while changing batteries. I'd contact Apple about this problem...
Well, I know I might sound a bit pessimistic, but sue me...
Anyway, you never have too much batterylife ofcourse, but I still would personally choose to buy extra batteries for my TiBook. This unit they talk about here is an external battery with a cable, seems very clumsy to me. And with TiBook's (& iBook's) feature that you can change the battery while the laptop is sleeping, I really don't see the use for this kind of product. But that's just me
OK, I would like one to use with a PC laptop as I haven't seen one with the above mentioned feature. And yes, I do use both - just to mention before you lit the flamer.
Yes, buying one from US & then bringing it back without paying the taxes would be illegel - but the risk of getting cought is close to 0.
I fly with my TiBook quite frequently and never has been asked to prove the computer was bought back home and not from the trip. I mean everyone is flying with a laptop nowadays! Of course if you have the laptop packed in original box, instead of your backpack or whatever, they could become interested. But you propably wouldn't be allowed to take the box with you as handluggage anyway. And I wouldn't put my TiBook into the chargo bay...
So the bottom line is: If you can live with the heavy burden of this crime haunting you for the rest of your life, you'll propably get away with it...
Of course I would never do such a thing! And shame on you, if you would either! (Just to point out that I'm not encouraging you to commit tax fraud...)
I won't comment on the relativeness of the original article, but just a couple of points about "the real world".
Get a stand-alone GPS unit (Assuming the Royal navy stripped out the navigation equipment that the ship originally had, that is, which I'm sure didn't run Windows!). And I'm sure an engine room in a ship like that still requires a trained engineer and at least one assistant to operate.
While GPS and radar units themselves have nothing to do with Windows or PCs. But instead navigation systems unfortunately quite often do. I'm talking about a complete system with autohelm, mapping and the lot integrated.
I was working on the bridge of a passanger creise ship just after the modernisation of the bridge. The minute we passed out of the harbour the PC systems went nuts. 5 buzzers started screaming at the same time, and the main display of the system gave an unfriendly error while slave displays only froze. I wont write here what the comments were onboard, as there might be kids reading this. Anyway, the solution was easy. Go to manual and rip out all the cables going to that damn PC. (No time to try out nice ways to shut it down...)
So, we did that trip with manual helm and no maplines on the radars, otherwise everything else was back to normal. But the call the skipper gave to the company that sold the equipment was quite hilarious to hear. I've never heard anyone insult someone over the phone that badly...
And a note about engineering too. While most newer small cargo vessels (under 150m), and some bigger new ones too, run with E0 (engineering zero) it doesn't mean you could do it (cheaply) with an old warboat. It is quite possible to run a ship with only one person on watch. All the alarms are linked to the bridge and there is a separate engines monitor for the (deck)officer on watch. But you do need an engineer on stand by (at cabin) to fix the problems. But as I said, its a question of money only......I don't know how much of the old warboat is left on that cruiser? Is it just a hull with all new gadgets refitted or just minor modifications with interface to the new computer gear?
Although I would be interested to hear what navigation software they use on that boat? I do have Macs myselft and would like to use them for navigation too, but until now I've only fount PC software...
Slashdot Mirror
Well, I used my first iPod (the original one) as a hard drive for my old PowerBook G3 which internal hard drive had failed. So, the iPod was th only hard drive "in" the PowerBook. Worked great. I installed OS X from the CD to the iPod and just booted. No worries!
Only thing I had to remember was to reconnect the iPod BEFORE opening the lid of a sleeping PowerBook. OS X really doesn't like that the computer's hard drive is removed while the computer is sleeping.... =)
It was fun while it lasted (for about a week), before I got around to buying a new hard drive for the PowerBook. No point in this (OS X on iPod) really, except the fun- and just-because-you-can -factors... ...but it was worth it, I feel that I have much bigger now that I did it. =)
iJust wonder, is it that I'm too old to understand the beauty of this, or are there others (younger) than me who think similarly?
iMean that, why would I buy a subscription to some radio, when even my mobile can receive all the freely available alternatives? (iAlso have a radio in my car that, believe it or not, can receive free radio broadcasts.) iCannot believe that the content of these pay-radios would be any different from any other commercial one, they're still formatted radios anyhow. - iOn the other hand, do understand the iPod, as with that you can listen to your own music with no interruptions.
iAlso don't understand the need to fill my head with tunes 24/7. iPersonally actually switch off the radio/CD/MP3/whatever-player in my car, and just enjoy the engine sounds when driving. iEven get a kick out of it!
iGuess it's just me, too old to understand the necessaty to buy content to my life.
I'm all for this!
Actually I personally have retained from buying Sony-products since this came out. - And I urge other people to do the same, and also to mention it when buying the other product. Say to the salesman that you are looking for a product that is not a Sony, beacause of Sony's crap CD-protection that messed your computer. It doesn't make any difference if I alone do this, but if others do it as well and tell their friends to do the same. Finally if we can get enough mass to do this, it will have an affect on Sony sales. And if enough people tell the reason to the salesperson, some of "the news" may actually find its way back to Sony.
I personally have already done this twice since the Sony rootkit came out! Both cases Sony's product would have been either my choise or a finalist. This time I dismissed Sony's product straight away, because of Sony's "rootkit". I bought a Nokia-phone instead of a SonyEricsson (my previous was a SonyEricsson), and I bought a Philips FlatScreen TV - although my old TV was Sony. In the FlatScreen TV's case Philips' promise for no dead pixels was also a deciding factor!
So, I urge more people to choose a non-Sony product, just because Sony's fcuk-the-customers-politics on DRM!
As for choosing non-MS, well I haven't liked the company's products for a long while, and I think there's been enough MS-bashing already to leave it to that...
Firstly I have to say that I have NOT played around with a XBox, either one. I do not own a PlayStation nor a Sega. I simply find very few games interesting enough to waste my time there...
Now, with that said. 1% is WAY too much! If a product has a 1% failure rate, I call the product faulty by design or due to manufacturing processes. Let's say I produce code that is 1% buggy, I would NOT let it out of my hands. Nor would my company. Let's say I built a car engine that misfires 1% of the time, I would call the engine faulty, nowhere near acceptable. - These were just two examples that I do build myself and can say I know something about. I do not know the fault-rate of an XBox 360, but if it's even close to 1% - the whole console should be sent back to the drawing board...
Naturally a console is more complex than one person's code or a car engine, but it IS possible to build even more complex products that actually work. So, for MS's sake I hope this console is better...
"Clearly this dramatic fall (0.44%) of sales is due to the fact that MP3-players are the work of the devil! They corrupt the mind of our youth with filthy thoughts of freedom. We should go to war agains these terrorists that terrorise the free world with their unearthly ideas of freedom. All the god-fearing good citizens of the world should destroy their MP3-players and rush to the stores and buy newly released rereleases of the all time good old songs on the new improved tape-medium... ...we shall prevail!"
Somehow this all sounds so familiar...
Depends on the sauna. From about 30mins (a small electric one) to about a day (a real smoke one)...
As you're a slashdotter (a guy thats never seen a girl, whose name doesn't end .JPG); nope.
PetCell is not the first about this. A Finnish company callen Pointer had a Pet-phone on the market a year ago. I actually saw a demo a couple a years back in an exhibition. This Dog-GPS as its called is actually an old Benefon GPS/GSM-phone (another Finnish company) in a dog harness. You put it on your hunting dog. Once the dog's running somewhere you send a SMS to the dog and get a location on your similar Esc!-phone's map display. Naturally you have your own GPS on on the phone, so you can track towards the dog. Also if you like you can "call the dog" and with auto answer on you can listen to whats going on around the dog.
No, I don't hunt myself so I have no real knowledge about the usefullness of this. But as a dog owner I cannot think of any other reason to get phones for my dogs... I did own a Benefon Esc! -GPSphone a couple of years ago, and it was a nice gadget. But no GPRS (or UMTS) it became obsolite for me. Also this would be pretty useless in some less developed countries that don't have GSM coverage in the woods like Finland, as the system relies on GSM's SMS-messages for location enqueries.
As for links, check out:p s.htm
http://www.pointersolutions.com/eng/hunting_dog_g
http://benefon.com/products/esc/
...DDT is totally harmless to humans.
...asbestos is totally harmless.
...tobacco is totally harmless.
...cars do not pollute.
...computers are easy to use.
...cows do fly.
I pay, I say - you shut up and write!
Just last night I was in a MobileMonday -meeting at a local bar in Helsinki. It used to be a meeting for nerds interested in mobile stuff, but it has been overrun by marketdroids and you rarely see a nerd there any more.
Anyway I was talking to a business contact, who is a partner in a management consultant company. His comment last night was that Microsoft is the sales department for OS X. They trashed all their PCs and switched totally to OS X -environment as XP's ServicePack 2 came out. They just couldn't get their PCs to co-operate with that pack. What amazed me was that this came from a guy that's allways used PCs and is in no way interested in geek-stuff - he is a management consultant after all. And this happens in Finland, that's propably one of the most pro-PC countries in the World. Three years ago I used to know only a couple of people who used Macs. Now it seems that number has well over trippled, and that's mostly converts.
Personally I do use PCs, Macs & Unix boxes (HP & Sun), with major OSs. But as a for my laptop, the choise has been clear for years. Apple's laptops were far ahead in battery life for years. Nowadays there's not that much difference, but the usability, stability and connectivity is still there...
Why not, at least it would explain a lot what's been happening in our company:
...come to think of it, even the word deadline starts to make sense now...
The whole sales department is acting like a bunch of zombies. All the coders are propably direct descendants of Count Drakul - at least they react to UV-light similarly. The customer support group must be all ghosts, as we all know they must exist (as we've heard them), but nobody's ever seen them - or been able to take a photo of them. And we do hear Strange Noises from The Office Upstairs during late (last)night rush to catch up before next mornings deadline...
I see your point, but I disagree with the importance of some of these points. IMO there couple more important issue... (Well, you could count them as one.) ...as for your worries:
> How good is it as an actual phone?
I gather you are worried about the usability of this phone. This I DO agree with. VERY important point! If the phone is too sluggish or requires "getting used to", it's worthless.
> What does it sound like when making a call?
> How is the microphone?
I haven't used any modern phone that has major issues with these. I'm not expecting HiFi, it's a phone. But any of the modern phones have had good sound and good microphone pickup. The problems come later, when a phone gets old (and contacts become dirty). Also third-party HFs have problems, but that's not the phone manufacturers concern. You buy cheap, you get crap.
> Is the antenna any use?
This is an issue I've not even thought about in the last five years. I know this might be important in some backwater countries, but should not matter in developed nations. And yes, I do travel the countryside quite a lot too.
But what about the issue that I think is the biggest one?
STABILITY! Can I shout that out any louder? R E L I A B I L I T Y ! ! !
And let's not forget the usability, you mentioned earlier. These three points make all the difference in the world. And sorry to say, but Nokia has NOT been one for any of these in the last couple of years. At least when a phone comes out. I would NOT buy this phone - at least within a year, as the software is too buggy to use. And even then the responsiveness is not good.
Oh yes, I've toyed around with this phone. And it was not very responsive, and yes, it did crash! - And the phone was a production model, not a pre-release model. Sorry, but no sale here. (Even when I liked the idea of finally introducing optics to a camera phone.)
...is anctient history!
I'd be worried about a wheenie plastic toy car too... (And I'm not just talking about Mazdas now.) ...on the other hand -40C/F is nothing that a car should not stand. I've started (to get to the uni as usual) at -40C/F, and didn't have a block heater either at the time. No worries. But that was about 20 years ago with a car that was about 20 years old at the time, it was a late 60's model Beetle.
Nowadays I live by the sea (where it hardly ever gets below -30C) have a block (and internal) heater, so I'm not worried about my new cars. - But I do have some older (project) cars in the garage, so I won't be stranded in case the new computerised play things break...
Actually when is correct, be it manned or unmanned.
Whether we like it or not, lauching and landing spacecraft is a risky business. It's not possible to design a 100% safe craft. There will always be more or less risk involved, thus the correct word being when...
Well, I've been using a variety of PDAs. From extinct Newtons to modern smart phones. I've liked a lot of the gadgets, and still own a few of them. They all have their pros and cons, and some are better suited for other tasks than others. And people do have different needs, so your milage may vary...
About a year ago I sumbled upon my old Psion 5mx (actually a Ericsson's version of it)... ...and I fell in love, again. I don't know why I even abandoned it. (Well, maybe because I like gadgets, and am always looking for a new one.) But this old PDA found it's place in my pocket/backpack, again.
It has a touch screen, IR, serial, CF-card slot, VERY stable multitasking oprating system, and all the gizmos you'd expect from a modern PDA. But it does have one gizmo that sets it apart (at least for me) - the keyboard! This thing really has a keyboard that you can type on. No, it's not a desktop, or even a laptop, but neither ot those can fit in my pocket, and neither of them can last two weeks on a single pair of batteries!
Yes, even this awesome PDA does have it's drawbacks. I could do with a better display. I don't need color, but excellent contrast. Also I would specially like internal Bluetooth and a WLAN would be a nice addition too. I do realise that they suck the batteries dead FAST, but when do I need them, I could stand the heavy load of carrying extra pair of batteries.
The article behind the link was so familiar reading. Even though I nowadays try to avoid maintenance of Windows systems. The story also reminded me of my "Windows days", as well as something that happened just last night.
I happened to stop by mu ucles house where my father was setting up my uncle's computer. My uncle knows nothing about computers, but uses one for surfing and emails. My father on the other hand has fooled around computers as long as me, since 1981. He is a fan of Windows and now in his retirement helps his friends with Windows problems.
The problem was very typical. Reinstall of Windows (because of regitry problems) and upgrade from 98 to XP home (bad mistake)!
As soon as they connected to Ineternet to download patches, the computer got hit by SoBig and Sasser. And even the antivirus software on the CDs was no help - it was obsolite by the time the CD was pressed.
Luckily I happened to stop by and we could download with my secure laptop all the necessary updates and cleaners. The just move the files with USB-dongle to the sick (although fresh) PC.
All's well that ends well? - I think that my uncle will think twice if he ever buys a new computer, at least which OS he would like to have it run...
The only problem with the eMacs is that you have to know a special secret Ctrl-key combo to shut it down! Anyway, the eMacs were a total flop to Apple as nobody wanted to buy a computer with three different Ctrl-keys to manage all the possible combinations...
...I definately prefer the upcoming viMac (as noted by someone here), as it has a way more sensible way of handling this kind of stuff. You have couple of predefined modes you can use the computer in. For example you just simply press "@" to start up the Internet-mode, and you can always rely on a simple press of the Esc-key to return to the navigational mode (to move the mouse pointer that is)...
Interestingly from what I have read about the security vulnerabilities with the *five* models affected by this (Nokia 6310, 6310i, 8910, 8910i and 7650), Nokia has confirmed only that the 7650 has the problem. Also reported that some SonyEricsson phones would have similar vulnerabilities, but it was not stated which models. So, I take it that at least these five Nokia phones have the Bluetooth holes. But what is interesting is that different news-feeds report Nokia confirming/denying different models! What this really tells us that the writers of the news themselves are either: 1) Too lazy to look it up from Nokia itself. 2) Too naive to take some other newsfeeds info as a fact. 3) Too inexperienced to check the validity of the info. 4) Too ??? to ??? So, who made the mistake? ALL the "reporters" who did not check the validity of the news by themselves straight from the source.
I'm not sure about the speed issue on the PowerBook, but the RW is no problem. Sure you cannot use RWs from OS directly, but you can use them with Toast. Of course you have to buy one, but compared to the price of the laptop...
I fount this to be true with my desktop (with the Pioneer DVD-RW). I'm not sure about the DVD burning speed, as I don't burn DVDs that often that it would make any real difference.
Anyway I wouldn't complain, you got a beautiful piece of engineering on your lap...
As a Finn, I am shamed by this court decission!
...and it was the last one in the World that I trusted...
...maybe the next step is to ban people from listening radio in any public space, unless the owner of that space has paid royalty fees to the music industry?
It just goes to prove that the Finnish court system has failed!
The point being: The radio station broadcasting the music has to pay royalty for the music they play. This I understand, and think is reasonable. But what I don't understand is that the taxi owner has to pay again for the same music that was already paid by the radio station. AND The court even noted that the reason they lowered the earlier decission of 40 Euros/year to 22 Euros/year, was because "the music has no significan value in forming of the customer-service provider relationship."
So, even the court admitted that people actually don't choose a taxi by the music they play. (Shockingly I actually take the first one available!) So, why would they have to pay again for the music that's already been paid for?
On an other note: If the taxi has no radio installed (or the one preinstalled is ripped out) they don't naturally have to pay. Even if all the passangers would listen to the radio with their mobile phones or walkmans...
Yet another note: This may not after all be such a shocking news in Finland. We actually have to pay royalty for each empty CD-R we buy, just because it MAY be used to copy music! So, we actually pay royalty for an act that would be criminal to do...
I would say this is good news.
...after all you can use even you car to good or bad - not even mentioning firearms... (Well, seems that I just did.)
At least I have been waiting for one. There is definate (legal) use for this, when you have to test you company's / other network. And specially if you have to prove the vulnerability to your boss.
I know it's been available for ages to Linux platform, but as a TiBook user I had to use someone elses laptop for this. Now it's finally available for OS X...
OK, I know you can use it for criminal activity too. But, as it is available on other platforms already I don't see the problem with it becoming available for new ones too...
My guess is that the problem could be with your PB's internal capasitors. They are the ones keeping the PB asleep while changing batteries. I'd contact Apple about this problem...
Well, I know I might sound a bit pessimistic, but sue me...
Anyway, you never have too much batterylife ofcourse, but I still would personally choose to buy extra batteries for my TiBook. This unit they talk about here is an external battery with a cable, seems very clumsy to me. And with TiBook's (& iBook's) feature that you can change the battery while the laptop is sleeping, I really don't see the use for this kind of product. But that's just me
OK, I would like one to use with a PC laptop as I haven't seen one with the above mentioned feature. And yes, I do use both - just to mention before you lit the flamer.
Yes, buying one from US & then bringing it back without paying the taxes would be illegel - but the risk of getting cought is close to 0.
I fly with my TiBook quite frequently and never has been asked to prove the computer was bought back home and not from the trip. I mean everyone is flying with a laptop nowadays! Of course if you have the laptop packed in original box, instead of your backpack or whatever, they could become interested. But you propably wouldn't be allowed to take the box with you as handluggage anyway. And I wouldn't put my TiBook into the chargo bay...
So the bottom line is: If you can live with the heavy burden of this crime haunting you for the rest of your life, you'll propably get away with it...
Of course I would never do such a thing! And shame on you, if you would either! (Just to point out that I'm not encouraging you to commit tax fraud...)
While GPS and radar units themselves have nothing to do with Windows or PCs. But instead navigation systems unfortunately quite often do. I'm talking about a complete system with autohelm, mapping and the lot integrated.
I was working on the bridge of a passanger creise ship just after the modernisation of the bridge. The minute we passed out of the harbour the PC systems went nuts. 5 buzzers started screaming at the same time, and the main display of the system gave an unfriendly error while slave displays only froze. I wont write here what the comments were onboard, as there might be kids reading this. Anyway, the solution was easy. Go to manual and rip out all the cables going to that damn PC. (No time to try out nice ways to shut it down...)
So, we did that trip with manual helm and no maplines on the radars, otherwise everything else was back to normal. But the call the skipper gave to the company that sold the equipment was quite hilarious to hear. I've never heard anyone insult someone over the phone that badly...
And a note about engineering too. While most newer small cargo vessels (under 150m), and some bigger new ones too, run with E0 (engineering zero) it doesn't mean you could do it (cheaply) with an old warboat. It is quite possible to run a ship with only one person on watch. All the alarms are linked to the bridge and there is a separate engines monitor for the (deck)officer on watch. But you do need an engineer on stand by (at cabin) to fix the problems. But as I said, its a question of money only...
Although I would be interested to hear what navigation software they use on that boat? I do have Macs myselft and would like to use them for navigation too, but until now I've only fount PC software...