>they're just too expensive for the amount of use I'd actually get out of it
You're perhaps ignoring the iPod's feature list. Don't forget that you have a portable Firewire HD, as well as an address book, etc. The 'expense' that so many people tout as being a liability is not a factor when looked at objectively.
I didn't buy an iPod to use just for music, and that's one of the main things that sets it apart from mere portable MP3/music players of any type.
My iBook screen has no white, red or blue spots and the battery lasts for 4.5 hours... My external FW800 drive on my G4 didn't get corrupted when I updated to Panther... The ethernet port in my G4 holds a connection... My G4 doesn't shutdown when I use my cellphone... None of my OS X apps mysteriously quit and I don't have any issues with deep sleep. My iPod battery lasts for days on end and all of the music I purchased from ITMS is still in my iTunes library...
When am I going to be like everyone else and have an issue with an Apple product?
These two geeks decided to go to lunch, and one of them volunteered to drive. They motored off, seatbelts on and laptops open. When they came to a busy intersection, geek 1, who was driving, ran the red light and didn't even flinch.
Geek2 panicked and screamed, "Why'd you do that??" "Geek 1 told geek 2, "calm down...no issue...my brother drives like this and he never has any problems." Geek 2 does his best to accept this, and they continue on.
Another few blocks, and another intersection and another red light and through they go....geek 2 remains quiet, but he's backing up his laptop to his home server, just in case.
Next intersection and this time, the light is green....geek 1 stops. Geek 2 does a double take at the green light and asks geek 1 what he's doing "Why are you stopping?", to which geek 1 replies "Are you kidding? I'm not blowing this intersection on the green....my brother might be coming through here!"
I admit it's not easy. I'm a professional ex-pat (tech sector), in between stints, having first done 4 years in Japan, and recently 4 years in Korea.
Why not go where your worth isn't debated, and the competition from others with similar qualifications is significantly less. Like any kind of marketing, go where the demand is. Sell yourself in the best circumstance possible.
I'm targeting southern China now, and the prospects are high. Working overseas isn't for everyone, of course. I like to tell people that it's as much, if not more, of a mental hurdle than a practical one. All a matter of priorities. Do it once and you'll smile at how easy, and rewarding, it actually turns out to be.
That A+ cert is worthless...face it. Stop blaming the job market and get busy making yourself more valuable. Go where the jobs are and get on with your life. Intel is hiring like crazy in China...nows the time.
Actually, they are. Fry's in Portland is screening as we speak. Maybe you were turned away for a more traditional reason, like say lack of practical experience or job history.
It's the Christmas season, and anyone that can't find a retail job isn't looking.
I am Mrs. Mariam Sese-Seko widow of late President Mobutu Sese-Seko of Zaire. Now known as Democratic Republic of Congo (drc). I received your company profile from the Chambers of Commerce in Morocco.
I am moved to write you this letter, this was in confidence considering my present circumstance and situation. I escaped along with my husband and two of our sons David and Mukoko out of Democratic Republic of Congo (drc) to Abidjan, Cote d'ivoire where my family and I settled, while we later moved to settled in Morocco where my husband later died of cancer disease.
However due to this situation we decided to change most of my husband's billions of dollars deposited in swiss bank and other countries into other forms of money coded for safe purpose because the new head of state of (drc) Mr Laurent Kabila has made arrangement with the swiss government and other european countries to freeze all my late husband's treasures deposited in some european countries.
Hence my children and I decided laying low in Africa to study the situation till when things gets better, like now
that President Kabila is dead and the son taking over (Joseph Kabila).
One of my late husband's chateaux in southern france was confiscated by the french government, and as such i had to change my identity so that my investment will not be traced and confiscated. I have deposited the sum of one hundred million united state dollars (us $100,000,000,00.) With a security company, for safekeeping.
The funds are security coded to prevent them from knowing the content.
What I want you to do is to indicate your interest that you will assist us by receiving the money on our behalf. Acknowledge this message, so that i can introduce you to my son (David) who has the out modalities for the claim of the said funds. I want you to assist in investing this money, but i will not want my identity revealed.
I will also want to buy properties and stock in multi-national companies and to engage in other safe and non-speculative investments. May I at this point emphasise the high level of confidentiality, which this business demands, and hope you will not betray the trust and confidence, which I repose in you.
In conclusion, if you want to assist us, my son shall put you in the picture of the business, tell you where the funds are currently being maintained and also discuss other modalities including renumerations for your services. For this reason kindly furnish us your contact information, that is your personal telephone and fax number for confidential purpose and acknowledge receipt of this mail using the above email address.
Dear My name is Mr.Mark Adams a retired Colonel in the Liberian Army, a close aide and confidant of Mr. Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president.
During the civil war in Sierra Leone (a neighbouring African country) that lasted several years, the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which fought against the legitimate Sierra Leone government, was actively supported by former President Charles Taylor on account of his differences with the Sierra Leone president. He provided training bases, military and political assistance for the rebels in exchange for an unrestrained access to arguably, the second largest deposit of Diamond in the world -the mines were under the control of the RUF. I was the man the former president appointed in charge of all diamond transactions between the Liberian leader and the RUF.
During this period, Liberia became the conduit pipe through which all mined diamonds from Sierra Leone were sold in the international market under my watchful eyes. This continued, until the RUF was finally routed by a government backed international coalition led by the U.K., under the auspices of the UN, two years ago. In a sudden twist of fate, a coalition of an anti-Taylor movement in Liberia launched a guerrilla campaign in 2000, to oust former President Taylor from power.
However, following a large-scale humanitarian crises resulting from the conflict, the international community led by the US, has put pressure on Mr. Taylor to resign/step aside, as the panacea for ending the conflict, which he finally accepted and resigned his presidency on August 11, 2003. The UN War Crimes Tribunal in Sierra Leone also indicted Taylor for war crimes, over his role in the Sierra Leone Civil war. But a solace came from the Nigerian government few weeks ago, which offered asylum to Mr. Taylor and his close aides, of which I am one of them. As a result of this development, the former president sent me as the head of an advance team in Nigeria until his arrival on the same day of his resignation as president of Liberia on August 11, 2003.
I have the sum of $50MUSD (Fifty million US dollars only), being part of the proceeds from the over 5 years diamond transaction that I supervised for the former president, and I need your co-operation in moving these funds to safety overseas.
I have made a perfect arrangement to move these funds into your care within a few days without risk at both ends, if you provide me with your unqualified co-operation. Please indicate your willingness to co-operate with me and provide me with your contact details (your telephone and fax etc, for confidential communications) as time is of essence.
I have been reliably informed that some people send fraudulent letters to unsuspecting individuals overseas making bogus claims. Please be informed that this is not such letters as my claims are true, authentic and verifiable.
Should you have any question, feel free to contact me, but treat this transaction with absolute confidentiality.
Awaiting your prompt response, Kind regards, Mr.Adams
...I used to run a site on MD. Sony views the Apple/Mac platform as competition, and will never support it. Two years ago, I contacted a Russion hacker that was trying to reverse engineer NetMD for Linux, and perhaps Mac, but that ended up dead.
Come on. You can save more than that by buying one system in Oregon and avoiding the tax....RAM pricing alone would skew this on the spot. And when it came time to deal, the two manufs. would duke it out. This is nothing....
"Our test suite, PC WorldBench 4, cannot run on Macs. The new Macs aren't great values either, as the top-of-the-line G5 ($3549 as configured) costs about $200 more than the similarly configured Alienware Aurora.
The dual-G5 sparkled in one main area: our Photoshop test, which it completed in 18 seconds, or about 17 percent faster than the Aurora's 21 seconds. The 1.8-GHz single-chip G5 ($2999) trailed at 27 seconds.
Elsewhere, the Alienware earned top marks, performing particularly well in the Premiere QuickTime test."
======
>>$200.00 is nothing and no direct testing comparision is funny.... This is pure marketing hype.
Supporters of the University of Texas' $38 million Dell cluster 'investment' today asked for their money back so they can build their own G5 cluster and hopefully regain at least a portion of their self-respect.
One UT suppporter was quoted as saying "We didn't get lousy clusters....we got lousy cluster planners!"
I'm assuming $400 now will be more later. If they envisioned a lower price later, say to combat competition, they'd be chomping at the bit to get what they could today.
But since MS, as usual, is fat now, the thought that they can bring that money in later should enhance the long term, thus appearing sweeter to investors.
As the article states: " That means there will be no Visual Studio tools release for two years after "Whidbey" (which Microsoft is still insisting will be a late 2004 product). No Office 12 until 2006. And Longhorn Server -- which was expected, until this week, in 2006 -- is now, more likely than not a 2007 product (given that it was set to lag the client release by a year)."
Since Office is currently the cash MS cow, and since it looks like years before it jumps again, perhaps MS isn't really planning on anything more than milking that cow. Perhaps MS sees too much competition for the Office suite coming over the hill to warrant putting up another fight.
MS may simply be leaving a small force behind, so that it appears business is normal. Mean time, the fort is abandoned, and MS puts Office on the shelf.
Imagine the risk to Sales when they can't push a new version under the customer nose. Imagine the beating Office will take as it continues to stagnate and options continue to proliferate.
Perhaps MS is leaving the software industry for a warmer climate...
Slashdot Mirror
>they're just too expensive for the amount of use I'd actually get out of it
You're perhaps ignoring the iPod's feature list. Don't forget that you have a portable Firewire HD, as well as an address book, etc. The 'expense' that so many people tout as being a liability is not a factor when looked at objectively.
I didn't buy an iPod to use just for music, and that's one of the main things that sets it apart from mere portable MP3/music players of any type.
>worlds biggest and worlds most influental company
Excuse me? MS is not the biggest and hardly the most influential.
That would be General Electric, and MS is way down on the list from them.
However, Harvard likes to think that Gates is the most influential business leader... - HBC has to tag along on someone's coat tails, after all.
I'm tired of this...
My iBook screen has no white, red or blue spots and the battery lasts for 4.5 hours... My external FW800 drive on my G4 didn't get corrupted when I updated to Panther... The ethernet port in my G4 holds a connection... My G4 doesn't shutdown when I use my cellphone... None of my OS X apps mysteriously quit and I don't have any issues with deep sleep. My iPod battery lasts for days on end and all of the music I purchased from ITMS is still in my iTunes library...
When am I going to be like everyone else and have an issue with an Apple product?
It's just not right, I tell you.
These two geeks decided to go to lunch, and one of them volunteered to drive. They motored off, seatbelts on and laptops open. When they came to a busy intersection, geek 1, who was driving, ran the red light and didn't even flinch. Geek2 panicked and screamed, "Why'd you do that??" "Geek 1 told geek 2, "calm down...no issue...my brother drives like this and he never has any problems." Geek 2 does his best to accept this, and they continue on.
Another few blocks, and another intersection and another red light and through they go....geek 2 remains quiet, but he's backing up his laptop to his home server, just in case.
Next intersection and this time, the light is green....geek 1 stops. Geek 2 does a double take at the green light and asks geek 1 what he's doing "Why are you stopping?", to which geek 1 replies "Are you kidding? I'm not blowing this intersection on the green....my brother might be coming through here!"
I admit it's not easy. I'm a professional ex-pat (tech sector), in between stints, having first done 4 years in Japan, and recently 4 years in Korea.
Why not go where your worth isn't debated, and the competition from others with similar qualifications is significantly less. Like any kind of marketing, go where the demand is. Sell yourself in the best circumstance possible.
I'm targeting southern China now, and the prospects are high. Working overseas isn't for everyone, of course. I like to tell people that it's as much, if not more, of a mental hurdle than a practical one. All a matter of priorities. Do it once and you'll smile at how easy, and rewarding, it actually turns out to be.
Intel will sponsor and the PRC will let you in...no issue and no different than many other countries, such as Japan and Korea.
NANOSHA ...?
That A+ cert is worthless...face it. Stop blaming the job market and get busy making yourself more valuable. Go where the jobs are and get on with your life. Intel is hiring like crazy in China...nows the time.
Actually, they are. Fry's in Portland is screening as we speak. Maybe you were turned away for a more traditional reason, like say lack of practical experience or job history.
It's the Christmas season, and anyone that can't find a retail job isn't looking.
....get used to the slump. It's permanent. Jobs are readily available at Frys and Target, however.
I have an external FW800 drive case[..:.. example...], with a 120gb Seagate. Connected to a 1.25GHz G4.
For the record, I've had no issues with Panther and this external drive. I checked the firmware, and it was the suspect 1.02.
Just to be on the safe side, I downloaded and applied the firmware update from WeibeTECH, again, with no issues.
Try this...
...and this...
Dear Friend.
I am Mrs. Mariam Sese-Seko widow of late President
Mobutu Sese-Seko of Zaire. Now known as Democratic
Republic of Congo (drc). I received your company
profile from the Chambers of Commerce in Morocco.
I am moved to write you this letter, this was in
confidence considering my present circumstance
and situation. I escaped along with my husband
and two of our sons David and Mukoko out of
Democratic Republic of Congo (drc) to Abidjan,
Cote d'ivoire where my family and I settled, while
we later moved to settled in Morocco where my
husband later died of cancer disease.
However due to this situation we decided to change
most of my husband's billions of dollars deposited in
swiss bank and other countries into other forms of
money coded for safe purpose because the new head
of state of (drc) Mr Laurent Kabila has made
arrangement with the swiss government and
other european countries to freeze all my late
husband's treasures deposited in some european countries.
Hence my children and I decided laying low in Africa to
study the situation till when things gets better, like now
that President Kabila is dead and the son taking over (Joseph Kabila).
One of my late husband's chateaux in southern france was
confiscated by the french government, and as such
i had to change my identity so that my investment
will not be traced and confiscated. I have deposited
the sum of one hundred million united
state dollars (us $100,000,000,00.) With a security company, for safekeeping.
The funds are security coded to prevent them from knowing the content.
What I want you to do is to indicate your interest that you
will assist us by receiving the money on our behalf.
Acknowledge this message, so that i can introduce
you to my son (David) who has the out modalities
for the claim of the said funds. I want you to
assist in investing this money, but i will not want my
identity revealed.
I will also want to buy properties and stock
in multi-national companies and to engage in
other safe and non-speculative investments.
May I at this point emphasise the high level
of confidentiality, which this business demands,
and hope you will not betray the trust and confidence,
which I repose in you.
In conclusion, if you want to assist us, my son shall put you
in the picture of the business, tell you where the funds are
currently being maintained and also discuss other
modalities including renumerations for your services.
For this reason kindly furnish us your contact
information, that is your personal telephone
and fax number for confidential purpose and
acknowledge receipt of this mail using the above email
address.
Best regards,
Mrs M. Sese Seko
Dear My name is Mr.Mark Adams a retired Colonel in the Liberian Army, a close aide and confidant of Mr. Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president.
During the civil war in Sierra Leone (a neighbouring African country) that lasted several years, the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which fought against the legitimate Sierra Leone government, was actively supported by former President Charles Taylor on account of his differences with the Sierra Leone president. He provided training bases, military and political assistance for the rebels in exchange for an unrestrained access to arguably, the second largest deposit of Diamond in the world -the mines were under the control of the RUF. I was the man the former president appointed in charge of all diamond transactions between the Liberian leader and the RUF.
During this period, Liberia became the conduit pipe through which all mined diamonds from Sierra Leone were sold in the international market under my watchful eyes. This continued, until the RUF was finally routed by a government backed international coalition led by the U.K., under the auspices of the UN, two years ago. In a sudden twist of fate, a coalition of an anti-Taylor movement in Liberia launched a guerrilla campaign in 2000, to oust former President Taylor from power.
However, following a large-scale humanitarian crises resulting from the conflict, the international community led by the US, has put pressure on Mr. Taylor to resign/step aside, as the panacea for ending the conflict, which he finally accepted and resigned his presidency on August 11, 2003. The UN War Crimes Tribunal in Sierra Leone also indicted Taylor for war crimes, over his role in the Sierra Leone Civil war. But a solace came from the Nigerian government few weeks ago, which offered asylum to Mr. Taylor and his close aides, of which I am one of them. As a result of this development, the former president sent me as the head of an advance team in Nigeria until his arrival on the same day of his resignation as president of Liberia on August 11, 2003.
I have the sum of $50MUSD (Fifty million US dollars only), being part of the proceeds from the over 5 years diamond transaction that I supervised for the former president, and I need your co-operation in moving these funds to safety overseas.
I have made a perfect arrangement to move these funds into your care within a few days without risk at both ends, if you provide me with your unqualified co-operation. Please indicate your willingness to co-operate with me and provide me with your contact details (your telephone and fax etc, for confidential communications) as time is of essence.
I have been reliably informed that some people send fraudulent letters to unsuspecting individuals overseas making bogus claims. Please be informed that this is not such letters as my claims are true, authentic and verifiable.
Should you have any question, feel free to contact me, but treat this transaction with absolute confidentiality.
Awaiting your prompt response, Kind regards, Mr.Adams
Would you bid on a piece of Google?
No
Tech bubbles...seen one, seen them all...can you say 'about to burst?' Buy Google and watch it tank within 6 months...
...I used to run a site on MD. Sony views the Apple/Mac platform as competition, and will never support it. Two years ago, I contacted a Russion hacker that was trying to reverse engineer NetMD for Linux, and perhaps Mac, but that ended up dead.
Bottom line...no NetMD support for the Mac.
Buy an iPod.
Come on. You can save more than that by buying one system in Oregon and avoiding the tax....RAM pricing alone would skew this on the spot. And when it came time to deal, the two manufs. would duke it out. This is nothing....
"Our test suite, PC WorldBench 4, cannot run on Macs. The new Macs aren't great values either, as the top-of-the-line G5 ($3549 as configured) costs about $200 more than the similarly configured Alienware Aurora.
The dual-G5 sparkled in one main area: our Photoshop test, which it completed in 18 seconds, or about 17 percent faster than the Aurora's 21 seconds. The 1.8-GHz single-chip G5 ($2999) trailed at 27 seconds.
Elsewhere, the Alienware earned top marks, performing particularly well in the Premiere QuickTime test."
======
>>$200.00 is nothing and no direct testing comparision is funny.... This is pure marketing hype.
It therefore cost roughly 3 times as much per teraflop for Dell as opposed to Apple.
Still looks like Dell has some splain'n to do.
ummm...cluster....project...same thing if your money was well spent. Different things if you paid too much.
Supporters of the University of Texas' $38 million Dell cluster 'investment' today asked for their money back so they can build their own G5 cluster and hopefully regain at least a portion of their self-respect.
One UT suppporter was quoted as saying "We didn't get lousy clusters....we got lousy cluster planners!"
Correct.
I'm assuming $400 now will be more later. If they envisioned a lower price later, say to combat competition, they'd be chomping at the bit to get what they could today.
But since MS, as usual, is fat now, the thought that they can bring that money in later should enhance the long term, thus appearing sweeter to investors.
As the article states: " That means there will be no Visual Studio tools release for two years after "Whidbey" (which Microsoft is still insisting will be a late 2004 product). No Office 12 until 2006. And Longhorn Server -- which was expected, until this week, in 2006 -- is now, more likely than not a 2007 product (given that it was set to lag the client release by a year)."
Since Office is currently the cash MS cow, and since it looks like years before it jumps again, perhaps MS isn't really planning on anything more than milking that cow. Perhaps MS sees too much competition for the Office suite coming over the hill to warrant putting up another fight.
MS may simply be leaving a small force behind, so that it appears business is normal. Mean time, the fort is abandoned, and MS puts Office on the shelf.
Imagine the risk to Sales when they can't push a new version under the customer nose. Imagine the beating Office will take as it continues to stagnate and options continue to proliferate.
Perhaps MS is leaving the software industry for a warmer climate...
When you're doing projections for investors, 2006 dollars are better than 2001 dollars. Imagine the giddiness in the board room....
No one ever got fired for going with IBM.