The time has come for Andover to secede from the United States. This will allow a huge expansion in business operations.
Suppressed organizations like Napster will be welcomed with opened arms. "IP Address of Convenience" registry will be available to other companies who feel the weight of the DMCA pressing down upon them.
Absolutely nothing a Scientologist or Microsoft or Metallica lawyer can do will matter in the slightest. It will be sort of like Canada, but not lame.
JonKatz will of course be named minister of propaganda and warm fuzzy feelings. CowboyNeal gets the ministry of statistics. Of course no form of expression will be censored, but people wanting to plaster dotcom advertisements over everything will be politely asked not to.
Good Things like microbrew, quality pizza, convertibles, game developers, mechanical wristwatches, fine clothes, USB, penguins, snowboarding and DVD will be encouraged, and perhaps even subsidised.
If you forget to dial the '1' before a phone number, there will be no annoying voice reminding you - instead the phone system will just know you meant to do that, and connect you anyway.
After the Andover goes the way of most non-US$ currencies, your old savings will be worth so much that there will be no need for a real job, nothing but open source hacking on state-supplied Athlons, punctuated by nerf gun wars and visits to the "mainland" for baseball games. Hooray!
It's surprising how much this small notice bothers people. If you're not new here this month you probably know what event in particular prompted it. If not, start with a search on articles by and about JonKatz.
Either way, the suggested action stands. Same goes for the moderator who decided that agreeing with you was worth than ignoring the fact that your post is off-topic. If you don't have a printer I'll be happy to send you a copy.
Sony have just such a device - I have a "Sony Genius" English-Japanese/Japanese-English dictionary. It is a clamshell device with a biggish LCD display and a reasonable sort of keyboard, chiclet style. The coolest part is that it plays mini 3" CD & CD-ROM! I have played singles (common in Japan apparently) and they sound funny on the tiny included speaker but the headphone socket is as good as a CD walkman. It doesn't play regular CDs.
With the unit came a two CDs, one english-kapanese and another japanese-english. Also there was a catalog of books on CD. Pictured are some "3-language" dictionaries, with various combinations of english/french/german/spanish/japanese/whatever. I don't think Sony intend this as a global product, so you probably will only find it on their Japanese site, but the model number is DD-150. I bought the cheaper version - could have paid much more for a better screen, keyboard, etc. The cost was around $200.
It is mainly useful for me in learning Japanese, it is much better than a paper book as you can "spell" kanji using hiragana and see if they come out right. I'm still looking for a solution where I can input kanji and get hiragana or even english out - but if I knew the reading of the kanji to input it I wouldn't need that.
With a 2.5" drive, NO problem. Some cooling may be required, but a low-RPM fan as large as the space available would be both good enough and inaudible.
Built-in CD player, slot loading, not a changer. (plays audio CDs & MP-3 encoded CDs: Added bonus if the CD can act as a CD-ROM reader and provide data for a map display if I have one. But it's strictly a bonus.)
Built-in hard disk storage. Plain old cheap and huge 3.5" would be nice, but 2.5" is more realistic. It should be easily swappable by the end user.
FM tuner. This is one feature I would give up without complaining too much, but it's so cheap to add, why not? One day there might be a decent radio station without too much advertising in the bay area.
Line outputs for connection to an existing head unit.
4-speaker + sub outputs for simple replacement of an existing unit without a separate amp.
slot-in secure design, grab it by the handle and take it with you when you leave the car. The cradle (permanently installed) must be DIN standard size. Plastic shell to protect the unit when carried.
Headphone socket on the front - so when I have it on my desk at work I can listen to my tunes without the music being interrupted when Windows crashes again.
Spare desktop cradle providing PC connnectivity. Better still, 100baseT connection on the unit itself!
Expanding the above idea, include a web-based interface to the unit for management of on-hard-disk MP3s. Throw in a telnet client for good measure, and FTP too. Napster client? Maybe. I bet they would contribute to development too.
Tasteful faceplate. I don't want the inside of my car to look like a disco for pimps. Discrete Tux logo OK.
Make steering wheel control possible through a rear connector interface.
PIN protection. User has the option to set a requirement for re-entry of the PIN every 30 days or so. Screw those thieves.
Remote Control What the hell for? Not much use to me, but I suppose if you drive a behemoth it would be good. Do you really want to give the back-seat passengers control over the tunes?
Price point? $200. OK, this last point is a joke. I would expect to pay around $1000 for this unit. But I would.
As usual, I want everything. Empeg Car is almost perfect, but a couple of features are missing.
I don't like wondering where one of my CDs is when I take it out of the case and put it in the car. I lost Swordfishtrombones for a few months once and it really pissed me off. Point me to a device like I've described above, and I'll buy it right now.
Better still, give me venture capital and I'll build you a prototype inside of three months.
Perhaps "ignore" is too strong a word - "value less than its other advantages". I like C++, and sometimes I wish I could use it, mostly the embedded systems I do don't even have C++ compilers. And I don't think anyone could argue that the most widespread example of C++ to be found is anything approaching efficient. Yes, I'm talking about MFC. C++ makes such unholy messes grow - it's like fertlizer. Anyone can argue the efficiency of a language, especially its author. Some people will even tell you that Ada is as good as anything.
If C++ really was really a better C we'd all be using it, there would be no reason not to. But we're not, it has its problems, and being inherently less efficient is just one. Bjarne doesn't even address this one in his posting defending C++ at http://www.research.att.com/~bs/C++.html - the overhead of mechanisms like virtual functions is well known. You can say "it's only three instructions" but that's still less efficient.
Does kettle inherit from pot, or do both inherit from some other container (a black one)?
>I am pretty tech-savvy and have seen code in VB, Pascal, C and C++ as far as I can see they are all pretty much the same. You have procedures(functions, methods) and objects (structs, etc) so I think a lot of it is just bigotry.
I don't think you're really very tech-savvy. The difference is that Pascal and VB are languages for people incapable of understanding C, and shouldn't really be allowed to program at all. C++ is for people who are capable of understanding C, but choose to ignore things like code size and efficiency.
>emacs is more extensible than vi, but is it really so different? >Anything you can do in one language you can do in another >Unix admin with his ork
Oh yeah, you really know what you're talking about. For your next post, you should know that ork was actually written by Robin Williams, hence the name.
Multiple monitors are GREAT. I developed on a Mac 9600 a few years ago with dual 21" monitors. It didn't leave much space on the desk but it is really easy to get used to following the mouse from one window to another, and monitor real estate is like drive space, you can never have enough.
What do Mass really give you? I can't see this going too far.
>MASS Multiples ship as a complete solution: No need to find, purchase and assemble proprietary mounting arms, discreet LCD monitors, video cards and special driver software from various vendors to arrive at a solution
i.e. It comes as WE like it - we hope that's how YOU like it.
>The modular design provides easy set-up, servicing and upgrading
How could it be any simpler? It still has one VGA connector per display. Is sharing a power cable that much of an advantage?
>Each display is able to tilt and book to achieve optimal viewing position
i.e. same as if you bought discrete monitors
>Superior image clarity, brightness, and color reproduction result from the use of the best LCD and electronic components in the market
Go out and choose the best yourself. What they think is best might not match what you personally prefer. Monitors are very subjective, just like speakers. (And if you want to know my personal choice, it's the Sony GDM-F500. As flat as any LCD, half the price, and no restrictions on which resolutions look good. 100Hz refresh isn't really hard to take.)
>Analog interface facilitates use with most video cards
Not a particularly unique feature.
>Apple Macintosh compatible
Neither is this.
>MASS will protect your monitor investment by providing a liberal trade-up policy that provides credit on any returned MASS multiple for the purchase of your next MASS display system or display system addition
Can't see this business model working - what good is this if they go out of business through a too-liberal upgrade policy?
>MASS will arrange 3rd party leasing to make your purchase as enjoyable as working in front of our monitors
No big advantage there. Lots of places will lease you anything.
>All monitors can be purchased separately or bundled with a high performance multi-output display adapter
Let me guess which one that would be! Not too many dual head cards out there. And any number of places will sell me video cards and monitors at one time. Are they suggesting their combinations are CHEAPER? I doubt it.
Apparently in 1982 in the UK there really was a game called "Kill the Argies!" - right in the middle of the Falklands war. It was a pub tabletop video game, a simple thing with a harrier for the player and some old-fashioned ships and sombrero-wearing Argentinians to shoot.
The manufacturer is said to have withdrawn it after being told that it was not in the best possible taste.
What a pity nobody thought to tell Mrs. Thatcher that.
I feel genuinely sorry for Metallica. It must be even worse to be old and lame after once being young and cool. Now they're like old folks wandering the puke-green halls of a nursing home, wondering what the hell is going on. The world has changed and they just don't get it.
That's right. If Intel say you have to pay $200 more for a piece of silicon that has "600" stamped on it, then that's the price of running at 600MHz. Running a 300MHz Celeron that fast is STEALING! Honestly, it's as bad as those people that use teabags twice.
>Or you could build a large electromagnet around your front door
If the feds suddenly found their guns stuck to the door on the way in, they might get suspicious.
I'd use a physical method of destruction, probably a large, sharp drill bit positioned above my drives. Big red panic switch on the front starts the drill, moving the bit down through all the platters. I don't think DriveSavers could do much with that. They may be able to clean mud off a platter but they can't put the oxide back on.
And of course I'd have to have a good reason for thinking I might need one of these to actually bother.
It's not about spelling or any reverse snobbery, it's about how appropriate the text is. Is the author communicating, regardless of syllable count? Good writer! Is the author trying to impress with lots of big words? Wanker!
When I were a lad I played Elite on a Sinclair ZX Spectrum in wire frame mode! In fact on many platforms. But the best, world beating ultimate Elite (so far) had to be the Amiga version. At the time nothing could touch the Amiga for 3D action.
Thanks to the submitter for this one: I wasn't aware of Terminus, but I had been looking at Starlancer as my next game. (Diablo II still seems so far away) I'll get Terminus instead, partly because it will work on all my systems. I love multi-platform software.
And if it really IS Tradewars/Elite with real time and physics and a great 3D engine... wow.
Real Audio IS the worst. I had to install it for a company webcast the other day and it took over my system entirely. Even clicking on a.PNG brought up a "download window" with TWO windows, both displaying advertising. Task bar icons, desktop shortcuts, new folders all over the place. Yuck.
But I wasn't silly enough to give them my real email address:-)
opt-out... Please reply to this email with "REMOVE" in the subject ...and kindly verify this email address for us so that we can ignore your request and send even more SPAM.
And even if it did work, why should anyone have to take any action to prevent spam? What if I have kids (I don't), and I don't want them receiving "HOT BACKDOOR SLUTZ!!!" emails? (hehehe.. how long before "HOT GRITS delivered TO YOUR DOOR!" spam appears?)
> complain to the uplink
I'm not sure if you mean "mail server" or "ISP" by that. But, surprise, surprise, most SPAM is anonymous, and comes without valid headers showing who sent it. It sneaks in through open SMTP servers.
> Set up a junk account.
But then to see your order status or any other mail you still need to visit the junk account.
More laws would NOT be a mistake. There will be laws. Getting the RIGHT laws, based on an opt-in rather than an opt-out policy is very important. The spammers and the direct mailers want opt-out - in other words, for your email inbox to look just like your mailbox. You want to be able to take legal action, but you don't want laws?
Last week AT&T called me asking if I wanted to talk about why I switched to another long distance carrier. I didn't, and told them not to call again. The next night, again at 7pm, they called me again - same question. I told them not to call again. The third night, you guessed it... The fourth night I don't know, I was out and they didn't leave a message.
As for legal action, I'm not interested. I don't want to go near any slimy lawyers.
http://www.junkbusters.com is a good site devoted to fighting spam and telemarketing.
Please don't take this as a flame in any way, I just don't think you've really tried the solutions you propose. LCDproc looks pretty damn cool, BTW.
Yes, you need printed manuals - or not - you don't say what your software is. If it is complex, anything like Word or Photoshop, I'd like manuals. If you want them to be really useful, make them spiral-bound so they LIE FLAT. Next best is heavy hardcover. Next best is stapled. What IDIOT decided that perfect-bound was good for computer manuals I don't know. It may be cheaper, but it's not much good if you need one hand to hold the manual open while you type.
You say: I'm going to guess that this review will irritate a bunch of people. It tries to pull too much stuff into orbit around the author's worldview, a sort of "kitchen-sink" theorizing that seems to me just what vexes people about JonKatz.
Seabord says, in another reply: You know, this guy uses the BIG words correctly, yes still looks like a freshman jackass trying to impress someone. Not having a point to your posting can not be covered up by using ten dollar words. Have a nice day!
I think you're both onto something. Just who IS "Slashteam"? It's that JonKatz wanker AGAIN, I bet. Actually it probably isn't, but Skald is absolutely right in what he says. But I still appreciated notice that it's available - I'll probably buy it.
To appear soon on the/. front page:
"Perhaps you are seeking to avoid ANYTHING written by Jon Katz - well TOO BAD, because he's now writing anonymously, and stories about him are appearing too. This has become necessary since every single Slashdot reader chose to turn on the JonKatz filter. Have a nice day."
I have the Powershot S20, from Yodabashi in Shinjuku - easy to find, just follow the annoying jingle. Close to the big T-zone.
It's my second Powershot, the first was an A50, now in the hands of a grateful friend. I liked the A50 a lot, especially with a 48M CF card and the Canon rechargable battery kit (get this - 2CR5 cells get expensive, and you'll go through a lot. Who wants to turn that beautiful LCD off and save power?). It was rugged, easy to use and produced great pictures. My big complaint was that it was SLOW. I missed some good shots waiting for my camera to turn on, and reviewing images on the LCD was always an exercise in patience.
The S20 fixes the speed problem and adds some ease of use. Instead of just left and right buttons it has a 4-way gameboy style controller (but not so cheap looking). Flipping between images is almost instant now. Also if you turned the camera off while the LCD was switched on, the LCD will wake up when you next turn it on - the A50 required turning it on manually every time. The menus are better, and settings appear as icons in both LCDs, so there is no need to look away from the image to see if you remembered to turn macro on.
My method of getting the images from the camera is via a SanDisk USB CF reader - this is also highly recommended. I don't use the supplied cables or software, the software is in Japanese and I don't read that yet.
I don't think there is much between the top end in digital cameras right now. All cost too much, and many have good processing speeds with >3 Mpixels. For me it comes down to look and feel, especially since I don't use the supplied software or cables. The Powershot is rectangular, slighly gold in color, a solid-feeling metal construction and is easy to slip into a pocket, the lens retracts fully so there is nothing left sticking out. I have a leather pouch that used to belong to a Leica Minilux and it's almost a perfect fit for the camera + a spare CF (available from any Leica dealer; around $40). In comparison I find the shape of the Kodak a bit weird, and the Kyocera VERY weird, and the swivelly lens of the Coolpix looks hard to use and carry. The Camedia has a big lens sticking out and the new Sony is all lens and no body. All good cameras, but none as easy to just pick up and use as my Canon. I'd buy it again, for sure.
In short it's the Palm Pilot of digital cameras. Others may have more features, but it does what it was made to do simply and well.
Slashdot Mirror
The time has come for Andover to secede from the United States. This will allow a huge expansion in business operations.
Suppressed organizations like Napster will be welcomed with opened arms. "IP Address of Convenience" registry will be available to other companies who feel the weight of the DMCA pressing down upon them.
Absolutely nothing a Scientologist or Microsoft or Metallica lawyer can do will matter in the slightest. It will be sort of like Canada, but not lame.
JonKatz will of course be named minister of propaganda and warm fuzzy feelings. CowboyNeal gets the ministry of statistics. Of course no form of expression will be censored, but people wanting to plaster dotcom advertisements over everything will be politely asked not to.
Good Things like microbrew, quality pizza, convertibles, game developers, mechanical wristwatches, fine clothes, USB, penguins, snowboarding and DVD will be encouraged, and perhaps even subsidised.
If you forget to dial the '1' before a phone number, there will be no annoying voice reminding you - instead the phone system will just know you meant to do that, and connect you anyway.
After the Andover goes the way of most non-US$ currencies, your old savings will be worth so much that there will be no need for a real job, nothing but open source hacking on state-supplied Athlons, punctuated by nerf gun wars and visits to the "mainland" for baseball games. Hooray!
Either way, the suggested action stands. Same goes for the moderator who decided that agreeing with you was worth than ignoring the fact that your post is off-topic. If you don't have a printer I'll be happy to send you a copy.
With the unit came a two CDs, one english-kapanese and another japanese-english. Also there was a catalog of books on CD. Pictured are some "3-language" dictionaries, with various combinations of english/french/german/spanish/japanese/whatever. I don't think Sony intend this as a global product, so you probably will only find it on their Japanese site, but the model number is DD-150. I bought the cheaper version - could have paid much more for a better screen, keyboard, etc. The cost was around $200.
It is mainly useful for me in learning Japanese, it is much better than a paper book as you can "spell" kanji using hiragana and see if they come out right. I'm still looking for a solution where I can input kanji and get hiragana or even english out - but if I knew the reading of the kanji to input it I wouldn't need that.
With a 2.5" drive, NO problem. Some cooling may be required, but a low-RPM fan as large as the space available would be both good enough and inaudible.
Built-in CD player, slot loading, not a changer.
(plays audio CDs & MP-3 encoded CDs:
Added bonus if the CD can act as a CD-ROM reader and provide data for a map display if I have one. But it's strictly a bonus.)
Built-in hard disk storage. Plain old cheap and huge 3.5" would be nice, but 2.5" is more realistic. It should be easily swappable by the end user.
FM tuner. This is one feature I would give up without complaining too much, but it's so cheap to add, why not? One day there might be a decent radio station without too much advertising in the bay area.
Line outputs for connection to an existing head unit.
4-speaker + sub outputs for simple replacement of an existing unit without a separate amp.
slot-in secure design, grab it by the handle and take it with you when you leave the car. The cradle (permanently installed) must be DIN standard size. Plastic shell to protect the unit when carried.
Headphone socket on the front - so when I have it on my desk at work I can listen to my tunes without the music being interrupted when Windows crashes again.
Spare desktop cradle providing PC connnectivity. Better still, 100baseT connection on the unit itself!
Expanding the above idea, include a web-based interface to the unit for management of on-hard-disk MP3s. Throw in a telnet client for good measure, and FTP too. Napster client? Maybe. I bet they would contribute to development too.
Tasteful faceplate. I don't want the inside of my car to look like a disco for pimps. Discrete Tux logo OK.
Make steering wheel control possible through a rear connector interface.
PIN protection. User has the option to set a requirement for re-entry of the PIN every 30 days or so. Screw those thieves.
Remote Control What the hell for? Not much use to me, but I suppose if you drive a behemoth it would be good. Do you really want to give the back-seat passengers control over the tunes?
Price point? $200.
OK, this last point is a joke. I would expect to pay around $1000 for this unit. But I would.
As usual, I want everything. Empeg Car is almost perfect, but a couple of features are missing.
I don't like wondering where one of my CDs is when I take it out of the case and put it in the car. I lost Swordfishtrombones for a few months once and it really pissed me off. Point me to a device like I've described above, and I'll buy it right now.
Better still, give me venture capital and I'll build you a prototype inside of three months.
Perhaps "ignore" is too strong a word - "value less than its other advantages". I like C++, and sometimes I wish I could use it, mostly the embedded systems I do don't even have C++ compilers. And I don't think anyone could argue that the most widespread example of C++ to be found is anything approaching efficient. Yes, I'm talking about MFC. C++ makes such unholy messes grow - it's like fertlizer. Anyone can argue the efficiency of a language, especially its author. Some people will even tell you that Ada is as good as anything.
If C++ really was really a better C we'd all be using it, there would be no reason not to. But we're not, it has its problems, and being inherently less efficient is just one. Bjarne doesn't even address this one in his posting defending C++ at http://www.research.att.com/~bs/C++.html - the overhead of mechanisms like virtual functions is well known. You can say "it's only three instructions" but that's still less efficient.
Does kettle inherit from pot, or do both inherit from some other container (a black one)?
>I am pretty tech-savvy and have seen code in VB, Pascal, C and C++ as far as I can see they are all pretty much the same. You have procedures(functions, methods) and objects (structs, etc) so I think a lot of it is just bigotry.
I don't think you're really very tech-savvy. The difference is that Pascal and VB are languages for people incapable of understanding C, and shouldn't really be allowed to program at all. C++ is for people who are capable of understanding C, but choose to ignore things like code size and efficiency.
>emacs is more extensible than vi, but is it really so different?
>Anything you can do in one language you can do in another
>Unix admin with his ork
Oh yeah, you really know what you're talking about. For your next post, you should know that ork was actually written by Robin Williams, hence the name.
Multiple monitors are GREAT. I developed on a Mac 9600 a few years ago with dual 21" monitors. It didn't leave much space on the desk but it is really easy to get used to following the mouse from one window to another, and monitor real estate is like drive space, you can never have enough.
What do Mass really give you? I can't see this going too far.
>MASS Multiples ship as a complete solution: No need to find, purchase and assemble proprietary mounting arms, discreet LCD monitors, video cards and special driver software from various vendors to arrive at a solution
i.e. It comes as WE like it - we hope that's how YOU like it.
>The modular design provides easy set-up, servicing and upgrading
How could it be any simpler? It still has one VGA connector per display. Is sharing a power cable that much of an advantage?
>Each display is able to tilt and book to achieve optimal viewing position
i.e. same as if you bought discrete monitors
>Superior image clarity, brightness, and color reproduction result from the use of the best LCD and electronic components in the market
Go out and choose the best yourself. What they think is best might not match what you personally prefer. Monitors are very subjective, just like speakers.
(And if you want to know my personal choice, it's the Sony GDM-F500. As flat as any LCD, half the price, and no restrictions on which resolutions look good. 100Hz refresh isn't really hard to take.)
>Analog interface facilitates use with most video cards
Not a particularly unique feature.
>Apple Macintosh compatible
Neither is this.
>MASS will protect your monitor investment by providing a liberal trade-up policy that provides credit on any returned MASS multiple for the purchase of your next MASS display system or display system addition
Can't see this business model working - what good is this if they go out of business through a too-liberal upgrade policy?
>MASS will arrange 3rd party leasing to make your purchase as enjoyable as working in front of our monitors
No big advantage there. Lots of places will lease you anything.
>All monitors can be purchased separately or bundled with a high performance multi-output display adapter
Let me guess which one that would be! Not too many dual head cards out there. And any number of places will sell me video cards and monitors at one time. Are they suggesting their combinations are CHEAPER? I doubt it.
The manufacturer is said to have withdrawn it after being told that it was not in the best possible taste.
What a pity nobody thought to tell Mrs. Thatcher that.
I feel genuinely sorry for Metallica. It must be even worse to be old and lame after once being young and cool. Now they're like old folks wandering the puke-green halls of a nursing home, wondering what the hell is going on. The world has changed and they just don't get it.
> Athlon 500: $146
Bought one last week for $100. Athlon 500MHz is the bargain of the year!
That's right. If Intel say you have to pay $200 more for a piece of silicon that has "600" stamped on it, then that's the price of running at 600MHz. Running a 300MHz Celeron that fast is STEALING! Honestly, it's as bad as those people that use teabags twice.
>Or you could build a large electromagnet around your front door
If the feds suddenly found their guns stuck to the door on the way in, they might get suspicious.
I'd use a physical method of destruction, probably a large, sharp drill bit positioned above my drives. Big red panic switch on the front starts the drill, moving the bit down through all the platters. I don't think DriveSavers could do much with that. They may be able to clean mud off a platter but they can't put the oxide back on.
And of course I'd have to have a good reason for thinking I might need one of these to actually bother.
"Anonymous Coward" says it all.
I think you spelled the raspberry correctly.
It's not about spelling or any reverse snobbery, it's about how appropriate the text is. Is the author communicating, regardless of syllable count? Good writer! Is the author trying to impress with lots of big words? Wanker!
On a day that sees comment regarding RealAudio for their spammer and desktop advertising habits...
Could we have something other than RealAudio as default please?
http://terminus.gamestats.com/information/game/
ega? EGA? PC speaker? Luxury!
When I were a lad I played Elite on a Sinclair ZX Spectrum in wire frame mode! In fact on many platforms. But the best, world beating ultimate Elite (so far) had to be the Amiga version. At the time nothing could touch the Amiga for 3D action.
Thanks to the submitter for this one: I wasn't aware of Terminus, but I had been looking at Starlancer as my next game. (Diablo II still seems so far away) I'll get Terminus instead, partly because it will work on all my systems. I love multi-platform software.
And if it really IS Tradewars/Elite with real time and physics and a great 3D engine... wow.
Real Audio IS the worst. I had to install it for a company webcast the other day and it took over my system entirely. Even clicking on a .PNG brought up a "download window" with TWO windows, both displaying advertising. Task bar icons, desktop shortcuts, new folders all over the place. Yuck.
:-)
But I wasn't silly enough to give them my real email address
So, the company uses SPAM to advertise and can't spell their own URL.
I hope you're looking forward to your professionally run, reliable, shared T1. Please let us know how it turns out.
Mwahahahaha!
It's not so easy.
> Opt-out
opt-out...
Please reply to this email with "REMOVE" in the subject
...and kindly verify this email address for us so that we can ignore your request and send even more SPAM.
And even if it did work, why should anyone have to take any action to prevent spam? What if I have kids (I don't), and I don't want them receiving "HOT BACKDOOR SLUTZ!!!" emails?
(hehehe.. how long before "HOT GRITS delivered TO YOUR DOOR!" spam appears?)
> complain to the uplink
I'm not sure if you mean "mail server" or "ISP" by that. But, surprise, surprise, most SPAM is anonymous, and comes without valid headers showing who sent it. It sneaks in through open SMTP servers.
> Set up a junk account.
But then to see your order status or any other mail you still need to visit the junk account.
More laws would NOT be a mistake. There will be laws. Getting the RIGHT laws, based on an opt-in rather than an opt-out policy is very important. The spammers and the direct mailers want opt-out - in other words, for your email inbox to look just like your mailbox. You want to be able to take legal action, but you don't want laws?
Last week AT&T called me asking if I wanted to talk about why I switched to another long distance carrier. I didn't, and told them not to call again. The next night, again at 7pm, they called me again - same question. I told them not to call again. The third night, you guessed it... The fourth night I don't know, I was out and they didn't leave a message.
As for legal action, I'm not interested. I don't want to go near any slimy lawyers.
http://www.junkbusters.com is a good site devoted to fighting spam and telemarketing.
Please don't take this as a flame in any way, I just don't think you've really tried the solutions you propose. LCDproc looks pretty damn cool, BTW.
Yes, you need printed manuals - or not - you don't say what your software is. If it is complex, anything like Word or Photoshop, I'd like manuals. If you want them to be really useful, make them spiral-bound so they LIE FLAT. Next best is heavy hardcover. Next best is stapled. What IDIOT decided that perfect-bound was good for computer manuals I don't know. It may be cheaper, but it's not much good if you need one hand to hold the manual open while you type.
It's a joke! But you don't have to laugh.
You say:
/. front page:
I'm going to guess that this review will irritate a bunch of people. It tries to pull too much stuff into orbit around the author's worldview, a sort of "kitchen-sink" theorizing that seems to me just what vexes people about JonKatz.
Seabord says, in another reply:
You know, this guy uses the BIG words correctly, yes still looks like a freshman jackass trying to impress someone. Not having a point to your posting can not be covered up by using ten dollar words. Have a nice day!
I think you're both onto something. Just who IS "Slashteam"? It's that JonKatz wanker AGAIN, I bet. Actually it probably isn't, but Skald is absolutely right in what he says. But I still appreciated notice that it's available - I'll probably buy it.
To appear soon on the
"Perhaps you are seeking to avoid ANYTHING written by Jon Katz - well TOO BAD, because he's now writing anonymously, and stories about him are appearing too. This has become necessary since every single Slashdot reader chose to turn on the JonKatz filter. Have a nice day."
It's my second Powershot, the first was an A50, now in the hands of a grateful friend. I liked the A50 a lot, especially with a 48M CF card and the Canon rechargable battery kit (get this - 2CR5 cells get expensive, and you'll go through a lot. Who wants to turn that beautiful LCD off and save power?). It was rugged, easy to use and produced great pictures. My big complaint was that it was SLOW. I missed some good shots waiting for my camera to turn on, and reviewing images on the LCD was always an exercise in patience.
The S20 fixes the speed problem and adds some ease of use. Instead of just left and right buttons it has a 4-way gameboy style controller (but not so cheap looking). Flipping between images is almost instant now. Also if you turned the camera off while the LCD was switched on, the LCD will wake up when you next turn it on - the A50 required turning it on manually every time. The menus are better, and settings appear as icons in both LCDs, so there is no need to look away from the image to see if you remembered to turn macro on.
My method of getting the images from the camera is via a SanDisk USB CF reader - this is also highly recommended. I don't use the supplied cables or software, the software is in Japanese and I don't read that yet.
I don't think there is much between the top end in digital cameras right now. All cost too much, and many have good processing speeds with >3 Mpixels. For me it comes down to look and feel, especially since I don't use the supplied software or cables. The Powershot is rectangular, slighly gold in color, a solid-feeling metal construction and is easy to slip into a pocket, the lens retracts fully so there is nothing left sticking out. I have a leather pouch that used to belong to a Leica Minilux and it's almost a perfect fit for the camera + a spare CF (available from any Leica dealer; around $40). In comparison I find the shape of the Kodak a bit weird, and the Kyocera VERY weird, and the swivelly lens of the Coolpix looks hard to use and carry. The Camedia has a big lens sticking out and the new Sony is all lens and no body. All good cameras, but none as easy to just pick up and use as my Canon. I'd buy it again, for sure.
In short it's the Palm Pilot of digital cameras. Others may have more features, but it does what it was made to do simply and well.