Yeah, #2 is kind of what I was getting at.
I'm sure if you bought LCD screens in the same quantity Dell does you'd probably be able to get them for about the same price that the component costs in a laptop.
A customer buying a single item doesn't have the same bargaining power as a company that makes thousands of laptops a year. One Dell contract could make a small company.
You apparently got one working, but you'll find that only works with the older revisions of it. Some of them work with a manfid, some require a version, some won't work with either and you need to create a wlan-cf.opt file too.
In two hours in the #zaurus IRC, 7 people came in with WCF12's, five of them required one of three different solutions to get working, and two of them we never quite got working period.
I know it seems like WCF11 should be inferior, since 12's a bigger number and all, but in reality the WCF12 uses more power, is a lot harder to configure, and its smaller form factor comes at the expense of range. The WCF12 is just cheaper and newer, not better.
You're right it blocks the stylus port somewhat, but if I had it to do over again I'd trade my WCF12 for an 11. And there are definately plenty of other options that both work out of the box and don't require a lot of trial and error.
I wonder how many Zaurii HSN sold that day, everyone and their uncle seems to have acquired one.
Here's a little word to the wise if you're looking for 802.11b access. Do NOT buy a Linksys WCF12 card if you're planning on using the Sharp ROM. It doesn't work out of the box and requires a LOT of trial and error to get functioning. Save yourself a headache and get one that's listed in/etc/pcmcia/wlan-ng.conf
I wish I'd done that, would've saved me a couple hours of vi on that little tiny keyboard.
Because we all know how well protectionism has worked in the past.
If the only way I can seem productive enough to warrant hiring/buying from is by artificially inflating the prices of others I'm in the wrong business, plain and simple.
I'll go you one better... suppose an American goes to Hungary and learns a programming technique from a Hungarian. Then he comes back to the US and writes a piece of software using that technique. We should be able to tax that since its an originally foreign idea, right?
But then, what if he writes the software and doesn't sell it, only uses it personally? Perhaps we should have an annual "code inspection" of all software in the country to make sure its free of foreign concepts... and if it isn't, then by god they should have to pay!
If software isn't tangible how can it be imported to begin with?
Software in an intangible form is basically just an idea. Can we tax ideas now? How can you regulate its importation to begin with if it doesn't exist in any physical way? Are we going to prohibit foreigners from coming into the country on vacation now, lest they write a piece of code, and in effect, import software?
What about all the software that hasn't been written yet? Maybe we should start taxing foreigners on the basis of software they might potentially create in the future, since the software really exists in his mind, just waiting to be written down...
Its a lack of opportunities. I for one have some IT experience, and have been passed up over and over for entry level mainframe IT jobs because they want someone who already has experience in it.
I know plenty of out of work IT people who'd be eager to learn mainframe IT if it meant a job, they just aren't willing to teach it.
I've never really played that game before, but that's really more a turn based strategy game, ala Heroes of Might and Magic or Age of Wonders, isn't it?
I know for a fact that none of the big RPG studios (Black Isle, Origin, Bethesda) are working on anything turn based anymore. In fact BIS people said on their forum that they won't, all their new projects use that pseudo turn based system that Baldur's Gate used or are flat out real time.
Except for that its not really turn based. Turn based would be a nightmare in multiplayer, I would imagine.
I mean real, honest to goodness turn based RPGs, like the original Final Fantasy for the NES, or the "Phantasy Star" RPGs for the Sega Genesis, or the Fallout series (Tactics notwithstanding) for the PC.
The sad thing is nearly all the commercial releases nowadays fall into one of three categories, Quake clones, Warcraft clones, and Sports Games.
To me the most important dying genres are:
1. 2D platformers
2. Turn Based RPGs
And despite the fact that most of the best selling games of all time fit nicely into these categories, there really aren't any companies willing to produce new content for them.
What Gamespy really needs is a list of genres that need to die. How about "Mindless Warcraft or Command and Conquer clone", or "Game loosely based on popular movie license"... and surely the world wouldn't miss "Financial simulation that is so random that there is no strategy involved".
This is, after all, the same Dvorak that suggested Microsoft be nationalized by the federal government because operating system software was too important to allow private industry to manage.
It'd be really hard to ask your everyday Iraqi mother what she thinks of Saddam while a stormtrooper is sticking a rifle in her gut.
I've heard stories that Saddam feasts on the blood of Christain infants and keeps the moon carefully secured in his jacket pocket, but that doesn't mean its true.
Before you talk about "ill-informed" people, why don't you come up with something more concrete than "its what I heard"?
So, Windows has 50, Linux 40, presumably Mac and other Unices have the other 10... right?
What happened to all the people who develop without a platform in mind, using Java or whatnot? Does a Java developer using a Linux box to write programs that will be run primarily on Windows boxes get counted as a Linux developer, or a Windows one?
As big as Java is I've got to believe it covers more than the 10% not explicitly named by itself, and that's not including the developers who are undoubtedly working on Macs or Solaris or even DOS.
You say its undergraduate, but is it a very compsci oriented school? Do they have to eliminate all MSFT OSed computers immediately or just not replace them? If the school, say, upgraded the RAM in a Windows box, would it be seen as extending a contract with MSFT? If the school buys Macintoshes that come with IE on them, are the violating the agreement? What if they get Linux boxes that ship with Microsoft mice?
My alma mater is approx that size and I know that kind of money wouldn't put a dent in their IT budget (yet for some reason they can't let me keep an email address after I've gotten my degree).
There are so many questions that need to be answer that its virtually impossible. It would seem to me the donor would do better to specify that the money be used for computers running open source software, as opposed to just "not Microsoft in any way", which is ambiguous.
I don't think this neccesarily has to be some sort of MSFT scheme.
Caldera/SCO hasn't been making money in a good long time and probably won't for the forseeable future. As of their last earnings release they were down to a little over $6 million, and they lost nearly $25 million last year alone.
The fact of the matter is the only reason they've survived as long as they have is the OpenDOS lawsuit proceeds, and now that they've burned through that they need to find another sucker to fleece.
Great business model, isn't it? You don't need to make a profit selling anything, just sue those who do.
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Because Lord knows ViewSonic is as big as Dell.
Yeah, #2 is kind of what I was getting at. I'm sure if you bought LCD screens in the same quantity Dell does you'd probably be able to get them for about the same price that the component costs in a laptop. A customer buying a single item doesn't have the same bargaining power as a company that makes thousands of laptops a year. One Dell contract could make a small company.
You can take this argument one step further.
----
The LCD maker sells Dell ten thousand LCD screens at a certain cost X per unit.
The LCD maker sells you a single comparable LCD screen at a certain cost Y per unit.
Therefore, pricefixing?
Counterexample
Coca Cola sells you a 24 pack of 12 oz cans for $5
Coca Cola will also sell you a single 12 oz can for $0.75
Therefore, pricefixing?
You can run Quake on a Zaurus SL-5500, and that's not that far from GB sized. You can also run a GB emulator on it.
Its funny that someone who posts anonymously is calling other people cowards.
Put your money where your mouth is, get a demonstration going in Lansing and I'll be there.
You apparently got one working, but you'll find that only works with the older revisions of it. Some of them work with a manfid, some require a version, some won't work with either and you need to create a wlan-cf.opt file too.
In two hours in the #zaurus IRC, 7 people came in with WCF12's, five of them required one of three different solutions to get working, and two of them we never quite got working period.
I know it seems like WCF11 should be inferior, since 12's a bigger number and all, but in reality the WCF12 uses more power, is a lot harder to configure, and its smaller form factor comes at the expense of range. The WCF12 is just cheaper and newer, not better.
You're right it blocks the stylus port somewhat, but if I had it to do over again I'd trade my WCF12 for an 11. And there are definately plenty of other options that both work out of the box and don't require a lot of trial and error.
I wonder how many Zaurii HSN sold that day, everyone and their uncle seems to have acquired one.
/etc/pcmcia/wlan-ng.conf
Here's a little word to the wise if you're looking for 802.11b access. Do NOT buy a Linksys WCF12 card if you're planning on using the Sharp ROM. It doesn't work out of the box and requires a LOT of trial and error to get functioning. Save yourself a headache and get one that's listed in
I wish I'd done that, would've saved me a couple hours of vi on that little tiny keyboard.
Because we all know how well protectionism has worked in the past.
If the only way I can seem productive enough to warrant hiring/buying from is by artificially inflating the prices of others I'm in the wrong business, plain and simple.
I'll go you one better... suppose an American goes to Hungary and learns a programming technique from a Hungarian. Then he comes back to the US and writes a piece of software using that technique. We should be able to tax that since its an originally foreign idea, right?
But then, what if he writes the software and doesn't sell it, only uses it personally? Perhaps we should have an annual "code inspection" of all software in the country to make sure its free of foreign concepts... and if it isn't, then by god they should have to pay!
If software isn't tangible how can it be imported to begin with?
Software in an intangible form is basically just an idea. Can we tax ideas now? How can you regulate its importation to begin with if it doesn't exist in any physical way? Are we going to prohibit foreigners from coming into the country on vacation now, lest they write a piece of code, and in effect, import software?
What about all the software that hasn't been written yet? Maybe we should start taxing foreigners on the basis of software they might potentially create in the future, since the software really exists in his mind, just waiting to be written down...
Instead of patching the problem, format the hard drive and use someone's OS who actually fixes security problems next time.
Its a lack of opportunities. I for one have some IT experience, and have been passed up over and over for entry level mainframe IT jobs because they want someone who already has experience in it.
I know plenty of out of work IT people who'd be eager to learn mainframe IT if it meant a job, they just aren't willing to teach it.
That's a good point. I just don't count Final Fantasy because I don't have a PS2 :)
I've never really played that game before, but that's really more a turn based strategy game, ala Heroes of Might and Magic or Age of Wonders, isn't it?
I know for a fact that none of the big RPG studios (Black Isle, Origin, Bethesda) are working on anything turn based anymore. In fact BIS people said on their forum that they won't, all their new projects use that pseudo turn based system that Baldur's Gate used or are flat out real time.
Except for that its not really turn based. Turn based would be a nightmare in multiplayer, I would imagine.
I mean real, honest to goodness turn based RPGs, like the original Final Fantasy for the NES, or the "Phantasy Star" RPGs for the Sega Genesis, or the Fallout series (Tactics notwithstanding) for the PC.
The sad thing is nearly all the commercial releases nowadays fall into one of three categories, Quake clones, Warcraft clones, and Sports Games. To me the most important dying genres are: 1. 2D platformers 2. Turn Based RPGs And despite the fact that most of the best selling games of all time fit nicely into these categories, there really aren't any companies willing to produce new content for them. What Gamespy really needs is a list of genres that need to die. How about "Mindless Warcraft or Command and Conquer clone", or "Game loosely based on popular movie license"... and surely the world wouldn't miss "Financial simulation that is so random that there is no strategy involved".
This is, after all, the same Dvorak that suggested Microsoft be nationalized by the federal government because operating system software was too important to allow private industry to manage.
My guess would be that they've finished the Saliban so its only natural to work on the next nemesis of the galactic peace, Piraq.
Nice solution to the problem:
"I heard that so and so's life sucks, so I'm going to drop a big bomb on her head and kill her entire family..." in her name no less.
It'd be really hard to ask your everyday Iraqi mother what she thinks of Saddam while a stormtrooper is sticking a rifle in her gut.
I've heard stories that Saddam feasts on the blood of Christain infants and keeps the moon carefully secured in his jacket pocket, but that doesn't mean its true.
Before you talk about "ill-informed" people, why don't you come up with something more concrete than "its what I heard"?
So, Windows has 50, Linux 40, presumably Mac and other Unices have the other 10... right?
What happened to all the people who develop without a platform in mind, using Java or whatnot? Does a Java developer using a Linux box to write programs that will be run primarily on Windows boxes get counted as a Linux developer, or a Windows one?
As big as Java is I've got to believe it covers more than the 10% not explicitly named by itself, and that's not including the developers who are undoubtedly working on Macs or Solaris or even DOS.
Fusion to create hydrogen? That's a neat trick, what are we fusing, quarks?
You say its undergraduate, but is it a very compsci oriented school? Do they have to eliminate all MSFT OSed computers immediately or just not replace them? If the school, say, upgraded the RAM in a Windows box, would it be seen as extending a contract with MSFT? If the school buys Macintoshes that come with IE on them, are the violating the agreement? What if they get Linux boxes that ship with Microsoft mice?
My alma mater is approx that size and I know that kind of money wouldn't put a dent in their IT budget (yet for some reason they can't let me keep an email address after I've gotten my degree).
There are so many questions that need to be answer that its virtually impossible. It would seem to me the donor would do better to specify that the money be used for computers running open source software, as opposed to just "not Microsoft in any way", which is ambiguous.
Well, Word Perfect OEM has been beating the pants off of MS Works in the "ships with a new PC" market lately.
I don't think this neccesarily has to be some sort of MSFT scheme.
Caldera/SCO hasn't been making money in a good long time and probably won't for the forseeable future. As of their last earnings release they were down to a little over $6 million, and they lost nearly $25 million last year alone.
The fact of the matter is the only reason they've survived as long as they have is the OpenDOS lawsuit proceeds, and now that they've burned through that they need to find another sucker to fleece.
Great business model, isn't it? You don't need to make a profit selling anything, just sue those who do.