Sounds like you're really screwed by vendor lock-in. Too bad people make such short-sighted decisions to go with proprietary software. It looks like you just have to bend over and take it with a smile.
Adaptive cruise control is available from TRW and is available from Ford and other auto manufacturers.
Even better is electronic stability control (ESC) which is available on many new cars. This automatically senses skids and applies selective braking to individual wheels (and in some cases throttle control) to correct skids.
One of the most interesting points of TFA (yes, I did RTFA), is the point that the "old" spying was about discovering a few vital secrets (i.e. USSR had secrets about numbers of weapons, etc.) and this required moles, traitors, secrets, etc. However, the "new" spying is largely about reading what is already out there "on the street" and putting it together. This is a completely different mode of operation and requires wikis, networks, social spaces, and Google type searches... thus the "open" spying of the article title.
In order to find out what the terrorists want, you just need to read their web sites, blogs, emails, etc. and put it together. Our intelligence agencies just don't get this and are still largely dysfunctional.
Bin Laden has repeatedly said that he just wants to get the "US imperialists out of the Middle East". He has even explicitly offered a "truce" or "peace" if the US would leave. Of course, the US doesn't want to believe this and our politicians can't even consider giving up imperialism/colonialism as our foreign policy so we are stuck in a "war on terror" that we can't win.
Re:it's a rather straightforward observation
on
Tim Bray Says RELAX
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· Score: 1
Why do people read XML? It's intended to be parsed!
Reading XML is like reading compiled code. You might have to do it to debug something or to grok how the code works but XML is intended to be parsed, not read.
It seems to me that emphasis should be placed on features that improve parsing, not human readability. I don't know enough about XML or RELAX NG to opine on which is best for parsing but it seems that parsing should be the main criteria of which is "best".
While his technical cred may be in doubt... the man does know how to turn a phrase:
The site, if you were uncertain as to the nature of the product, looks like an advertisement for an expensive prescription drug for constipation. Seriously, that's exactly what it looks like.
Linux is an option, but it would take me weeks to build and tweak a configuration to the point that I'm happy with it and feel it would serve her needs, and I don't have that kind of time (although Ubuntu out of the box is darned close). Further, she has little interest in exploring computing for its own sake.
I don't understand what would take weeks of tweaking here. I assume your mother is like my mother who needs email, web browsing, and word processing. If she's really "hip" and "cool", she may need an mp3 player.
This configuration is what you get with a standard Ubuntu (or just about any other distro) install (install in about an hour on everything I've tried). Add EasyUbuntu for the mp3 codec(5 minute tweak).
What else would you spend any time on? This is a no-brainer.
I've recently discovered eMusic.com which has 1.4 million mp3 DRM-free tracks. I particularly like their Jazz and Blues and Ethnic collections but they cover a wide range of music. They don't have the latest pop hits from Brittney Spears but I'm not interested in that music. Cost is very reasonable... about $0.25 a track.
Sure, stuff is made as cheaply as possible but my personal experience is that unless you drive over it with a car, it is extremely reliable and durable.
I have boxes full of perfectly working electronic gadgets that have become obsolete. It is rare that anything electronic ever fails on me.
I would love to throw away a lot of stuff but as long as it keeps working, I think that I may use it some day so I save it.
Some stuff:
- a box of about 15 PDAs (Palm and PPC) dating back to the invention of the PDA - 10 years ago. They all work perfectly.
- a box of about 15 cell phones dating back to the invention of the cell phone. They all work perfectly. (My current cell phone is one that is 4 years old I reclaimed from my daughter who apparently used it as a hockey puck judging from the dents and scratches on the case. It works perfectly.)
- a box of about 10 wireless home telephones dating back about 15 years. They all work perfectly. I'm even still using one that's about 10 years old.
- my office is stuffed with old computers (desktops and laptops) going back 20 years that I can't bear to throw away even though they are all obsolete (I still have an original Compaq luggable). They all work perfectly. I needed to retrieve some data from some old backup tapes and 5" floppys so I fired up an old Windows 95 computer last week and it worked perfectly.
The key term here is "limited quantities" for $250.00
Ever heard of a "loss leader"?
Try to buy a few million of these laptops at $250.00 each and I think you'll discover that it's not possible.
You'll also be stuck with a Windows virus magnet(tm) that will make the machine unusable within days (minutes) of connection to the Internet. Plus you won't get all of the educational software bundled with the machine and you won't get the mesh networking (probably for the better if you're using Windows) and you won't get the low power consumption that makes the machine usable where power isn't readily available or reliable.
I heard an interesting interview on NPR this morning with the author of a book about the decline of the Roman Empire. He drew a lot of comparisons to the situation of the USA today... that is, an empire at its zenith that makes fundamental changes (primarily loss of freedom in response to terrorism... yes, Rome had problems with terrorists).
I think the Microsoft is in a similar situation. Profits look good now and they are in a monopoly position in many business areas but you can see that they aren't making the changes they need to compete in a rapidly changing world and they are increasingly relying on "undemocratic" measures (patents, format lock-in, etc.) to maintain their power. It's only a matter of time until this fails. It took a long time for the Empire to fall from its zenith and it will take a long time for Microsoft to fade away. One early sign is their stock price which fell dramatically 5 years ago and has been stagnant ever since.
One of their criteria was "best performance for the buck" but they chose a bunch of expensive laptops.
My 1.7GHz Dell 700m barely gets warm even after prolonged use. The fan rarely even runs so I can't measure the "exhaust temperature". Battery life close to 3 hours (twice that with the big battery- NOT Sony). Also has dual display Intel chipset so I can run an external display for twice the desktop real estate. Cost was less than $1000.
I understand your position but I think you are being naive about Microsoft's willingness to be responsive to customers. Unfortunately, the entire history of MS is that they always put their profits ahead of the customer. MS is a monopoly which means that it doesn't have to listen to customers. When you go to buy a computer, you don't really have a choice.
Everything will come with Vista installed.
It takes a large effort and tech knowledge to buy a computer without a MS OS. Apple is easiest but you have to find a special store and you have limited selection. I personally have no intention of ever buying Vista but I know enough to install Ubuntu on my white boxes. Laptops are more problematic. The existing Linux laptop vendors are good but similar to Apple in that they have limited selection.
That's why I use OpenOffice. It does a good job of opening documents from all versions of MS Word... even when MS Word itself is having problems.
The company I do a lot of work for recently "upgraded" from Word 97 to Word 2003. I just stayed with OpenOffice and no one was the wiser (and I didn't have problems with document compatibility that my colleagues experienced... in fact, OpenOffice helped them sort out a few incompatibilities).
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Sounds like you're really screwed by vendor lock-in. Too bad people make such short-sighted decisions to go with proprietary software. It looks like you just have to bend over and take it with a smile.
Even better is electronic stability control (ESC) which is available on many new cars. This automatically senses skids and applies selective braking to individual wheels (and in some cases throttle control) to correct skids.
In order to find out what the terrorists want, you just need to read their web sites, blogs, emails, etc. and put it together. Our intelligence agencies just don't get this and are still largely dysfunctional.
Bin Laden has repeatedly said that he just wants to get the "US imperialists out of the Middle East". He has even explicitly offered a "truce" or "peace" if the US would leave. Of course, the US doesn't want to believe this and our politicians can't even consider giving up imperialism/colonialism as our foreign policy so we are stuck in a "war on terror" that we can't win.
Reading XML is like reading compiled code. You might have to do it to debug something or to grok how the code works but XML is intended to be parsed, not read.
It seems to me that emphasis should be placed on features that improve parsing, not human readability. I don't know enough about XML or RELAX NG to opine on which is best for parsing but it seems that parsing should be the main criteria of which is "best".
Another case of Microsoft late to the game.
"A plume of smoke rose 1000 meters high and nearby villages were covered in ash."
I carry along a USB hub and power supply as my "charger". I can plug 4 devices into it for charging. Works great.
This configuration is what you get with a standard Ubuntu (or just about any other distro) install (install in about an hour on everything I've tried). Add EasyUbuntu for the mp3 codec(5 minute tweak).
What else would you spend any time on? This is a no-brainer.
I thought *nix commands WERE random key combinations.
I've recently discovered eMusic.com which has 1.4 million mp3 DRM-free tracks. I particularly like their Jazz and Blues and Ethnic collections but they cover a wide range of music. They don't have the latest pop hits from Brittney Spears but I'm not interested in that music. Cost is very reasonable... about $0.25 a track.
Yes, you're right... I should have said that it worked as well as it ever did.
I have boxes full of perfectly working electronic gadgets that have become obsolete. It is rare that anything electronic ever fails on me.
I would love to throw away a lot of stuff but as long as it keeps working, I think that I may use it some day so I save it.
Some stuff:
- a box of about 15 PDAs (Palm and PPC) dating back to the invention of the PDA - 10 years ago. They all work perfectly.
- a box of about 15 cell phones dating back to the invention of the cell phone. They all work perfectly. (My current cell phone is one that is 4 years old I reclaimed from my daughter who apparently used it as a hockey puck judging from the dents and scratches on the case. It works perfectly.)
- a box of about 10 wireless home telephones dating back about 15 years. They all work perfectly. I'm even still using one that's about 10 years old.
- my office is stuffed with old computers (desktops and laptops) going back 20 years that I can't bear to throw away even though they are all obsolete (I still have an original Compaq luggable). They all work perfectly. I needed to retrieve some data from some old backup tapes and 5" floppys so I fired up an old Windows 95 computer last week and it worked perfectly.
- lots more stuff that never breaks
Not only does shark skin decrease drag, it also absorbs sound which is why sharks are "stealthy". http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_sha rk/scales.htm
In California, wood is better for earthquakes (flexible) whereas brick just falls down.
But does it get depressed when you yell at it?
Ever heard of a "loss leader"?
Try to buy a few million of these laptops at $250.00 each and I think you'll discover that it's not possible.
You'll also be stuck with a Windows virus magnet(tm) that will make the machine unusable within days (minutes) of connection to the Internet. Plus you won't get all of the educational software bundled with the machine and you won't get the mesh networking (probably for the better if you're using Windows) and you won't get the low power consumption that makes the machine usable where power isn't readily available or reliable.
* Would you want to pay extra taxes to grant benefits to the most incompetent of farmers? NO
I think the Microsoft is in a similar situation. Profits look good now and they are in a monopoly position in many business areas but you can see that they aren't making the changes they need to compete in a rapidly changing world and they are increasingly relying on "undemocratic" measures (patents, format lock-in, etc.) to maintain their power. It's only a matter of time until this fails. It took a long time for the Empire to fall from its zenith and it will take a long time for Microsoft to fade away. One early sign is their stock price which fell dramatically 5 years ago and has been stagnant ever since.
My 1.7GHz Dell 700m barely gets warm even after prolonged use. The fan rarely even runs so I can't measure the "exhaust temperature". Battery life close to 3 hours (twice that with the big battery- NOT Sony). Also has dual display Intel chipset so I can run an external display for twice the desktop real estate. Cost was less than $1000.
Granted, the cop version has more memory and a screen but...???
Lets gather the energy from our own solar system's natural thermonuclear reactor rather than trying to build one on earth.
It takes a large effort and tech knowledge to buy a computer without a MS OS. Apple is easiest but you have to find a special store and you have limited selection. I personally have no intention of ever buying Vista but I know enough to install Ubuntu on my white boxes. Laptops are more problematic. The existing Linux laptop vendors are good but similar to Apple in that they have limited selection.
Why bother boycotting?... just switch to Linux. You'll be much happier in the long run (and the short run).
The company I do a lot of work for recently "upgraded" from Word 97 to Word 2003. I just stayed with OpenOffice and no one was the wiser (and I didn't have problems with document compatibility that my colleagues experienced... in fact, OpenOffice helped them sort out a few incompatibilities).