Yes, I know it's hard, and no, I have no incredibly accurate method of estimating project timelines. However, I still contend that Microsoft project managers have (or should have) at least a better estimate of project timelines than this. This is their business, after all.
During my undergrad years, one of the points of discussion that came up during senior design (where project management was taught more heavily than the technical aspects--those you were expected to learn in the classes leading to senior design) was that engineers have a historically terrible time of estimating project timelines. The thumbrule that came out of that was: ask the engineer for a realistic timeline, and double it. Some might think this is padding the schedule, but I've learned that this thumbrule has largely worked in the limited opportunities I've had to apply it.
Will setbacks occur? Sure they will. Some things can't be put on a timeline to completion, such as brand-new-not-yet-developed technologies. Maybe that's what happened to Microsoft--they were trying to schedule technological breakthroughs. You can't plan new inventions or miracles--they happen when they happen, and don't care about schedules.
We whine when they delay and push back release dates of their OS over and over again but when they finally do come out with something "on time" (whatever that means) and it's not up to par we give them shit.
So they can't win....
Ahh, but they can win...it's called proper project management.
Delays can and do occur, but to be years off target is inexcusible. Rushing a product to market to meet the project deadline is also inexcusible. Microsoft has way too much experience in software development to not be able to estimate how long a project will take. When projects are chronically late by significant anounts of time, your means of estimating time to complete projects needs to be re-examined.
Longhorn is estaimated to ship when, 2008 is it? This is several years behind schedule? (I don't know for certain.) Microsoft's project manager knew (or whould have known) what was going into the new OS and the developers should have been better prepared to provide a more reasonable estimate of the time needed to complete the project.
Of course, the MS Marketing Dept. may be setting timelines and not the engineering/R&D department....no shock there.
I had a T-Mobile BlackBerry phone and was able to get it unlocked about three months after I got it. It helped that I told them I was overseas and wanted to unlock it to use an Australian prepaid SIM card (which was the truth.) At first they said that I would receive a text message that would unlock the phone within 72 hours, but they must have thought I was still in the US. After the deadline came and went, I called them back and demended the unlock code told to me over the phone. Two minutes later, I'm using a Vodafone prepaid SIM in my T-Mobile phone.
As a security measure, I'm going to attach an explosive collar to your neck, complete with tracking system and personal identification. If you want to high jack a plane and crash it into a tower, we'll just blow the collar. If you do not, you will be completely safe.
If you control the facility and want to implement that as your security system, go right ahead. I'll watch from outside the perimeter, thankyouverymuch. This isn't about Stallman protesting an RFID tag that could potentially be tracked ouside the facility, this was in a controlled environment--NOT in general public.
I used to work for the government, and one of the rules at the facility was that by entering, you were willing to be subject to search of your person and vehicle at any time. If you felt that was a violation of your privacy, then you were free to find new employment.
Stallman could have stood up for his beliefs in a non-violent yet visible and effective manner by telling the leaders of the panels he was a member of that he refused to participate due to the RFID badge issue, and gotten on the next plane back for the US. Instead, his actions led to a disruption of other people's scheduled discussions. The disruption itself most likely will distract the interested from the issue that caused it in the first place.
Imagine then bombs that blow up when it detects more than 10 US rfid passports in its vicinity. Imagine thieves using rfid sniffers to 'borrow' your credit card when you stand behind them in line. Imagine someone stealing your identity with your credit card and drivers license while at the DMV renewing your car's registration....
Wouldn't you do the same with your credit cards, driver's license, and passport?
Of course I would. To not be protective of those sorts of things would be irresponsible.
Stallman wasn't protecting his driver's license or passport (I doubt he has to worry about credit cards, I'd bet a donut he doesn't have any) though. He was wrapping a security badge issued to him as part of the security procedures in place for the conference. In that way, he was actively acting against the security procedeures.
I stand by my original statement--if he had a problem wearing it, then he should have left the conference. Instead, he caused a commotion, disrupted the schedule of others who may or may not have shared his view, thereby causing THEM to be inconvenienced by his opinion.
You can't give Richard a visible RF ID strip without expecting him to protest. Richard acquired an entire roll of aluminum foil and wore his foil-shielded pass prominently. He willingly unwrapped it to go through any of the visible check-points, he simply objected to the potential that people might be reading the RF ID without his knowledge and tracking him around the grounds. This, again, is a legitimate gripe, handled with Richard's usual highly-visible, guile-less and absolutely un-subtle style of non-violent protest.
I'm not quite sure I understand why RMS felt that the RFID was a violation of his privacy. It's a SECURITY BADGE. It's whole PURPOSE is to identify the wearer. If he didn't want to wear it, then he shouldn't have attended the event.
I disagree that it's a "legitimate gripe." Remember, he wasn't out on a public road somewhere, but in a "what I suspect is) a secure facility. Furthermore, if somebody really DID want to track him, they would just have somebody watch him the entire time. Believing that somebody wants to track your every motion is either a sign of paranoia or an overinflated sense of self-importance.
All of this completely disrupted the panel that was supposed to follow ours in that room, and the folks operating that panel were rightly furious.....So, this was no doubt an interesting problem for the security folks, who had no real idea who Richard was except that he was someone reasonably distinguished who was visibly violating their security measure.
So he makes his point and disrupts the schedule of other panels. Great--this leaves the impression that "Others be damned, I'll make my point however I damn well please." That will earn you a lot of respect. And before you point out that it was the UNU security personnel who caused the ruckus and not Stallman, re-read the account. He was VIOLATING A SECURITY MEASURE. What do you expect them to do? He's violating a security measure that they are there to enforce.
I didn't see anyone further molesting Richard, but I'd imagine he was followed around by plainclothes agents for the rest of the day. This, however, may not be unusual. Perhaps Kramer even got his own protective detail.
See above.
I could just be ignorant of RFID, or misinterpreting Stallman's point of view, but he does seem to be a bit "over the top" in terms of making his opinion known to the public at large. He's 100% entitled to his opinion, but there is a point where making one's point and the cacophony that comes with it washes over the actual issue at hand. What will be remembered more, the RFID issue or that Stallman caused a commotion at a UN event?
I dunno about everybody here, but I am getting fed up of all this 'my dad is bigger than your dad' business. Linux users DON'T care.
Hear hear!
As has been stated before, you use what works. For me, OS X works, with Virtual PC hosting a Win2K client for those times when I need a Windows machine for some specific purpose. The biggest one right now? Syncronizing my Tungsten E2 with Oracle Calendar. The native OS X Oracle Sync for Palm doesn't support the E2 yet (I hope it will soon though.)
If Windows works for you, use it. If Linux works for you, use it. Use what's comfortable. I will say that one shouldn't blindly use MS or Linux or Mac, make an informed decision. Being smart about your choice is the key factor, not what you end up using.
Damn, that must have been you blowing your horn and flashing your lights trying to pass. You Inconsiderate Clod, didn't you see that I was in the middle of a call on my cellphone? I nearly spilled my coffee too!
100,000 miles is just the warranty, not expected lifetime. Nowhere have I seen it stated that the battery is replaced at 100,000 miles. Also I put miles on faster than the typical driver, and they came in big chunks (DC to WI and back, DC to NC and back).
I fully expect my car to last up to 200,000 miles, and combined with the vast reduction in miles I'm driving now that I'm in grad school, I still don't expect to be replacing a battery in the next 2-3 years.
I'd be more concerned with household batteries that are simply tossed in the household trash, disposed of in an uncontrolled fashion. A hybrid battery is just a series of D-sized NiMH cells, but they are disposed of/recycled in a controlled fashion. (I have no facts on hand to back that up, it's just a gut feeling.)
(understood regarding the "not being singled out" comment)
The bulk of the miles came in bulk increments...east coast to the midwest and back in one weekend, DC to NC and back in one weekend, all vacation trips. The majority of the time was spent in DC traffic, where a hybrid has a MAJOR advantage over a conventional car. More than once did I sit in the parking lot that passes for I-95/Capital Beltway, not burning a single drop of fuel for 10-15 minutes at a stretch while creeping along.
Now that I'm back in graduate school, most of the driving will be in-town type, where again the hybrid's advantage leaps out.
I agree that a hybrid's strengths are negated by exclusively driving on the highway, and that there are cars out there that can get better economy at lower cost. However, in city driving where the engine can be (and usually is) not even running half the time, it's tough to beat the reduction in emissions even with the most clean-burning gas or diesel engine.
As far as the battery recycling goes, I'll ask this question: consider all the batteries that are used in various electronic devices--AA, C, D, 9V, etc. Now, how many of THOSE are recycled instead of being tossed in the household trash? At least with car batteries (hybrid, lead-acid or otherwise) they are in fact being collected and disposed of/recycled properly instead of mixed in the general household trash pick-up where they will sit and corrode and leak undetected and uncontrolled.
I have no facts to back it up, but my gut tells me that the myraid of houselhold batteries pitched into the general trash every year are more of a hazard than the big batteries that are collected and disposed of/recycled in a controlled fashion.
Look at how much toxic chemicals is in a battery. Now factor in that you have to replace the batt every 2-4 years. Not only does it end up costing you more, but you're not doing much besides thinking you're helping.
Interesting...I've had my Prius for over 2-1/2 years and over 75,000 miles, and I haven't had to replace the battery yet. The battery carries a 100,000 mile warranty, and is designed for the life of the car.
I'll admit to my potential ignorance now and get it over with...I don't follow the whole MS/Apple/Intel/??? soap opera as closely as most of the Slashdotters do, I'm probably more the everyday Joe Sixpack who just wants a machine that works.
Having switched to Mac OS X from Windows, I have achieved that goal: a machine that "just works." Reboot my iBook? Why? Reboot my HP? Every other day, and make sure I take out the Linksys WiFi card, because half the time it won't boot with it installed.
OK, enough of that, back to the topic at hand.
For years the MacOS has run only on Apple hardware. Now Apple has decided to switch to an x86-based architecture and has a version of OS X that will run on said architecture in advanced development. Marvelous, now they can use x86 processors in Apple hardware instead of PowerPC processors.
Now there's a big hullabaloo about wanting to run OS X on non-Apple hardware. There are pros and cons, many of which have already been brought up for discussion here. "Sell it for standard PC hardware and you'll capture market share!" "Lock it to Apple hardware to prevent loss of hardware sales and keep the stability of running on known hardware!" All valid points.
My question to the masses is: if it is limited to Apple hardware, who cares? How is that different from present, where OS X is only available to the general public with Apple hardware?
It's Apple's OS. Whether it runs on an Apple or grapefruit, that's their own business. Frankly, as a user, I'd prefer that OS X stay on Apple hardware. It works. It's stable. Apple doesn't sell a computer or an OS, they sell a package solution--a package solution that works.
Now, that brings up the question of Microsoft and Microsoft-produced hardware. If Microsoft were to come out and say "Starting with Longhorn, Windows will only run on Microsoft-built hardware." The lawsuits would come down hard and heavy.
How is this different from Apple? With the brief Mac clone market, Apple Mac hardware has always been required to run Apple Mac software (don't know if this is true for the Apple II/III line so I can't go back that far.) Marrying OS X to Apple hardware isn't a new business practice, it's been that way since the beginning. Microsoft starting the same thing now would be abuse of it's near-monopoly position.
So to keep myself from getting long-winded I'll end with the question again. Apple OS tied exclusively to Apple hardware. It's been that way since the beginning, what's the big deal now?
Offtopic but I'll ask anyway, since the previous post prompted me to ask the question...
DVB-H, DVB-T...GSM, CDMA...110V/60Hz, 220V/50Hz...why does there always seem to be a slight yet significant difference in what should otherwise be a universal te3chnology when it comes to the North American and the rest of the world?
Two different types of digital broadcast television, so global electronics manufacturers have to build two different types of equipment or build in the capability to accept either one.
GSM, a GLOBAL standard for cellphone technology, yet the US is quite late to adopt it in favor of CDMA (coincidentally, patented by a US company, Qualcomm.) Granted that CDMA is superior in some respects (power requirements and bandwidth come to mind) but why be a telecommunications island?
Basic electricity...ok, most modern devices can accept 110 or 220 vac, 50 or 60 Hz, but again, why did it have to be different? 220 vac would make more sense, as the same amount of power can be delivered with less current and less heat loss, but 110 vac may be safer due to the lower voltage...
I fully admit that I don't have all the technical details, and probably live in my own utopian world where everybody has the same electricity and everybody can roam on anybody else's cellphone network without needing a phone capable of three or four different frequency bands, but sometimes I think that the differences are more political and territorial than technical. (US GSM at 1900 MHz where the rest of the world uses 900/1800 MHz?)
This idea (now called "transclusion") is the center of our work and the center of my own beliefs.
...and...
Many will be quick to call the Transliterature design "Vaporware," even though the Transquoter exists. But Transliterature is an agenda, not a promise, and I offer no dates of availability. (I believe something isn't "vaporware" till you've promised it- a mistake I don't intend to make again.)
Another example of "agenda"...is it me or does the whole work ring of some sort of ideological agenda? Maybe it's just the writing style the man uses, but it reminds me of some lofty, ideological-agenda-pushing writing. He even says that all publishing is vanity publishing. Does he include his own works in this umbrella statement?
The World Wide Web- Tim's early design as boxed up and enhanced by the lads in Illinois- has validated all our early predictions for the benefits and wonderfulness of anarchic world-wide hypertext publishing, where anyone can publish internationally, without prior restraint, at very low cost. ("Most people don't want to publish," said arch-publisher William Jovanovich to me in 1966. I said everyone did. "Oh, you mean VANITY publishing," he said. Since he was my boss, I had to stifle the urge to explain that ALL publishing is vanity publishing.)
As has been said before, the ads that are tossed about on web pages are obnoxious and get in the way of the real content. I never realized how distracting the ads were until I started using Adblock on Firefox...when I have to use IE, I am amazed at the prevalence of online advertising and glad I don't see it.
I don't see the point in putting all that information on the card in the first place. All the card has to do is match the embedded code with the code the door is programmed to accept. Why bother with anything else?
A metal key doesn't need all that extra information, and is somewhat harder to duplicate. By that I mean all you need is a card reader/writer and a blank card. The card doesn't need to be a specific shape, they are all pretty generic, aren't they? A metal key in comparison is secured not only in the teeth cut into the key but also the grooves on the side of the key.
I didn't read the article the first time around, so maybe something was changed/removed that prompted the disclaimer. I read the report and couldn't find a single reference to NCSA, except in the URL and in the disclaimer itself.
Aside from the URL, was there some sort of NCSA association implied or claimed in the original post then removed?
Interesting question...not being a bio-anything, I'd suspect that it has to approach some sort of limit where bone loss stops. While the bones don't have to support the cosmonaut's weight, he still has inertia to overcome (he still has mass) to move around while he does work around the station. Holding the body's basic form is a stress on the bones, as is daily activities such as moving equipment from here to there, doing maintenance, experiments, etc. Some sort of bone structure is required for that, so that would be the point at which bone loss stops.
* State Bar of Wisconsin * Waukesha County Republican Party
* Riveredge Nature Center
* American Philatelic Society
* Friends of the Museum
* Episcopal Church
With the costs of laser printers dropping, I've taken the stand that I'll never buy another inkjet printer. Recently I bought a HP Laserjet 1012, which is not that much bigger than a good inkjet printer and reasonably fast (14 ppm I think). Toner is about $90 for a 2000 page cartridge.
If printing in color is ever really that important, I'll either get a color laser printer or print at work/school/Kinko's/etc.
I used Outlook XP with my BlackBerry 7100t until my desktop machine died at the hands of...well, me. It's replacement is a Mac Mini, and I use Office 2004 for Mac. Using PocketMac for Blackberry, I am all nice and synced. In fact, it was the syncing that made it easy to import my Windows Outlook XP contacts and appointments over to the Mac.
"We believe these innovative cards with blink will provide merchants and cardmembers with the increased speed and convenience they want at the point-of-sale," said Carter Franke, chief marketing officer of the company's credit card division, in a statement.
I didn't think that signing a charge receipt took that long, but maybe I'm wrong.
From the CNN article referenced: But MasterCard said the feedback for its system was more positive. The company has been testing its cards in Orlando and Dallas and plans to roll the new cards this summer in other cities but declined to elaborate on the details.
"We're looking at places where the cards can replace cash," said Art Kranzley, MasterCard's chief ebusiness officer, citing McDonald's, Starbucks, Loews movie theaters and Chevron gas stations, among other destinations, as examples. Citibank, J.P. Morgan Chase and MBNA -- some of the nation's biggest card issuers -- took part in the trials.
How does the current use of the cards not perform the same function?
Call me old-fashioned, but the idea of my signature on the receipt being checked against the card (stop laughing, some merchants actually still do this) at least provides a little bit of protection against credit card theft/fraud.
Maybe if the motion picture companies focused more on making the content worthwhile, there would be less motivation to copy movies.
The digital format of most films and music released today has led to its increased piracy. The quality of video and audio recordings based in analog technology, such as cassette or VCR tapes, decreases each time an original version is copied.
No, a crappy movie is still a crappy movie, whether it is the first copy or the 1000th copy.
When digital recordings, such as CDs and DVDs, are copied, however, no quality is lost.
You can't lose what you don't have to start with.
The group will also need to develop a system for writing to the tags, a platform for associating DVDs with their purchasers or owners and a means of encrypting the tag data.
Associating a DVD with a particular owner? Right there is baaad news. What is it called, First Sale doctrine or something? I ask because I don't recall the actual name, but you get my point.
Past anti-copy technology has been foiled by simple tricks with markers and clever people cracking weak encryption. I'd bet a dollar or two that this will be no exception.
Note to the **AA: focus more on making the content/experience worth the price of admission/sale/whatever, and people will purchase it. If the public can't enjoy entertainment on their own terms, one of two things will happen:
(1) WE (as in the public) will stop paying for content, or
(2) The aforementioned clever people will break your protection and get the content for free and enjoy it how they wish.
Either way, you lose.
(BTW...the MPAA website is "temporarily unavailable.")
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Yes, I know it's hard, and no, I have no incredibly accurate method of estimating project timelines. However, I still contend that Microsoft project managers have (or should have) at least a better estimate of project timelines than this. This is their business, after all.
During my undergrad years, one of the points of discussion that came up during senior design (where project management was taught more heavily than the technical aspects--those you were expected to learn in the classes leading to senior design) was that engineers have a historically terrible time of estimating project timelines. The thumbrule that came out of that was: ask the engineer for a realistic timeline, and double it. Some might think this is padding the schedule, but I've learned that this thumbrule has largely worked in the limited opportunities I've had to apply it.
Will setbacks occur? Sure they will. Some things can't be put on a timeline to completion, such as brand-new-not-yet-developed technologies. Maybe that's what happened to Microsoft--they were trying to schedule technological breakthroughs. You can't plan new inventions or miracles--they happen when they happen, and don't care about schedules.
We whine when they delay and push back release dates of their OS over and over again but when they finally do come out with something "on time" (whatever that means) and it's not up to par we give them shit.
...
So they can't win.
Ahh, but they can win...it's called proper project management.
Delays can and do occur, but to be years off target is inexcusible. Rushing a product to market to meet the project deadline is also inexcusible. Microsoft has way too much experience in software development to not be able to estimate how long a project will take. When projects are chronically late by significant anounts of time, your means of estimating time to complete projects needs to be re-examined.
Longhorn is estaimated to ship when, 2008 is it? This is several years behind schedule? (I don't know for certain.) Microsoft's project manager knew (or whould have known) what was going into the new OS and the developers should have been better prepared to provide a more reasonable estimate of the time needed to complete the project.
Of course, the MS Marketing Dept. may be setting timelines and not the engineering/R&D department....no shock there.
I had a T-Mobile BlackBerry phone and was able to get it unlocked about three months after I got it. It helped that I told them I was overseas and wanted to unlock it to use an Australian prepaid SIM card (which was the truth.) At first they said that I would receive a text message that would unlock the phone within 72 hours, but they must have thought I was still in the US. After the deadline came and went, I called them back and demended the unlock code told to me over the phone. Two minutes later, I'm using a Vodafone prepaid SIM in my T-Mobile phone.
As a security measure, I'm going to attach an explosive collar to your neck, complete with tracking system and personal identification. If you want to high jack a plane and crash it into a tower, we'll just blow the collar. If you do not, you will be completely safe.
If you control the facility and want to implement that as your security system, go right ahead. I'll watch from outside the perimeter, thankyouverymuch. This isn't about Stallman protesting an RFID tag that could potentially be tracked ouside the facility, this was in a controlled environment--NOT in general public.
I used to work for the government, and one of the rules at the facility was that by entering, you were willing to be subject to search of your person and vehicle at any time. If you felt that was a violation of your privacy, then you were free to find new employment.
Stallman could have stood up for his beliefs in a non-violent yet visible and effective manner by telling the leaders of the panels he was a member of that he refused to participate due to the RFID badge issue, and gotten on the next plane back for the US. Instead, his actions led to a disruption of other people's scheduled discussions. The disruption itself most likely will distract the interested from the issue that caused it in the first place.
Imagine then bombs that blow up when it detects more than 10 US rfid passports in its vicinity. ...
Imagine thieves using rfid sniffers to 'borrow' your credit card when you stand behind them in line.
Imagine someone stealing your identity with your credit card and drivers license while at the DMV renewing your car's registration.
Wouldn't you do the same with your credit cards, driver's license, and passport?
Of course I would. To not be protective of those sorts of things would be irresponsible.
Stallman wasn't protecting his driver's license or passport (I doubt he has to worry about credit cards, I'd bet a donut he doesn't have any) though. He was wrapping a security badge issued to him as part of the security procedures in place for the conference. In that way, he was actively acting against the security procedeures.
I stand by my original statement--if he had a problem wearing it, then he should have left the conference. Instead, he caused a commotion, disrupted the schedule of others who may or may not have shared his view, thereby causing THEM to be inconvenienced by his opinion.
(All quotes from Bruce Perens' blog, http://perens.sourcelabs.com/)
..So, this was no doubt an interesting problem for the security folks, who had no real idea who Richard was except that he was someone reasonably distinguished who was visibly violating their security measure.
You can't give Richard a visible RF ID strip without expecting him to protest. Richard acquired an entire roll of aluminum foil and wore his foil-shielded pass prominently. He willingly unwrapped it to go through any of the visible check-points, he simply objected to the potential that people might be reading the RF ID without his knowledge and tracking him around the grounds. This, again, is a legitimate gripe, handled with Richard's usual highly-visible, guile-less and absolutely un-subtle style of non-violent protest.
I'm not quite sure I understand why RMS felt that the RFID was a violation of his privacy. It's a SECURITY BADGE. It's whole PURPOSE is to identify the wearer. If he didn't want to wear it, then he shouldn't have attended the event.
I disagree that it's a "legitimate gripe." Remember, he wasn't out on a public road somewhere, but in a "what I suspect is) a secure facility. Furthermore, if somebody really DID want to track him, they would just have somebody watch him the entire time. Believing that somebody wants to track your every motion is either a sign of paranoia or an overinflated sense of self-importance.
All of this completely disrupted the panel that was supposed to follow ours in that room, and the folks operating that panel were rightly furious...
So he makes his point and disrupts the schedule of other panels. Great--this leaves the impression that "Others be damned, I'll make my point however I damn well please." That will earn you a lot of respect. And before you point out that it was the UNU security personnel who caused the ruckus and not Stallman, re-read the account. He was VIOLATING A SECURITY MEASURE. What do you expect them to do? He's violating a security measure that they are there to enforce.
I didn't see anyone further molesting Richard, but I'd imagine he was followed around by plainclothes agents for the rest of the day. This, however, may not be unusual. Perhaps Kramer even got his own protective detail.
See above.
I could just be ignorant of RFID, or misinterpreting Stallman's point of view, but he does seem to be a bit "over the top" in terms of making his opinion known to the public at large. He's 100% entitled to his opinion, but there is a point where making one's point and the cacophony that comes with it washes over the actual issue at hand. What will be remembered more, the RFID issue or that Stallman caused a commotion at a UN event?
I dunno about everybody here, but I am getting fed up of all this 'my dad is bigger than your dad' business. Linux users DON'T care.
Hear hear!
As has been stated before, you use what works. For me, OS X works, with Virtual PC hosting a Win2K client for those times when I need a Windows machine for some specific purpose. The biggest one right now? Syncronizing my Tungsten E2 with Oracle Calendar. The native OS X Oracle Sync for Palm doesn't support the E2 yet (I hope it will soon though.)
If Windows works for you, use it. If Linux works for you, use it. Use what's comfortable. I will say that one shouldn't blindly use MS or Linux or Mac, make an informed decision. Being smart about your choice is the key factor, not what you end up using.
Is anbody else's head spinning in this kludge of alphabet soup?
Woah, low 30s in neighborhood driving?? Sounds painfully low to me. When you say "neighborhood" are you stopping and starting every block?
My 2003 gets in the high 50s/low 60s in town, and 45-50 on the highway (with winter rolling in, those numbers are crawling down though.)
Damn, that must have been you blowing your horn and flashing your lights trying to pass. You Inconsiderate Clod, didn't you see that I was in the middle of a call on my cellphone? I nearly spilled my coffee too!
100,000 miles is just the warranty, not expected lifetime. Nowhere have I seen it stated that the battery is replaced at 100,000 miles. Also I put miles on faster than the typical driver, and they came in big chunks (DC to WI and back, DC to NC and back).
I fully expect my car to last up to 200,000 miles, and combined with the vast reduction in miles I'm driving now that I'm in grad school, I still don't expect to be replacing a battery in the next 2-3 years.
I'd be more concerned with household batteries that are simply tossed in the household trash, disposed of in an uncontrolled fashion. A hybrid battery is just a series of D-sized NiMH cells, but they are disposed of/recycled in a controlled fashion. (I have no facts on hand to back that up, it's just a gut feeling.)
(understood regarding the "not being singled out" comment)
The bulk of the miles came in bulk increments...east coast to the midwest and back in one weekend, DC to NC and back in one weekend, all vacation trips. The majority of the time was spent in DC traffic, where a hybrid has a MAJOR advantage over a conventional car. More than once did I sit in the parking lot that passes for I-95/Capital Beltway, not burning a single drop of fuel for 10-15 minutes at a stretch while creeping along.
Now that I'm back in graduate school, most of the driving will be in-town type, where again the hybrid's advantage leaps out.
I agree that a hybrid's strengths are negated by exclusively driving on the highway, and that there are cars out there that can get better economy at lower cost. However, in city driving where the engine can be (and usually is) not even running half the time, it's tough to beat the reduction in emissions even with the most clean-burning gas or diesel engine.
As far as the battery recycling goes, I'll ask this question: consider all the batteries that are used in various electronic devices--AA, C, D, 9V, etc. Now, how many of THOSE are recycled instead of being tossed in the household trash? At least with car batteries (hybrid, lead-acid or otherwise) they are in fact being collected and disposed of/recycled properly instead of mixed in the general household trash pick-up where they will sit and corrode and leak undetected and uncontrolled.
I have no facts to back it up, but my gut tells me that the myraid of houselhold batteries pitched into the general trash every year are more of a hazard than the big batteries that are collected and disposed of/recycled in a controlled fashion.
Look at how much toxic chemicals is in a battery. Now factor in that you have to replace the batt every 2-4 years. Not only does it end up costing you more, but you're not doing much besides thinking you're helping.
Interesting...I've had my Prius for over 2-1/2 years and over 75,000 miles, and I haven't had to replace the battery yet. The battery carries a 100,000 mile warranty, and is designed for the life of the car.
Where does the 2-4 year number come from?
I'll admit to my potential ignorance now and get it over with...I don't follow the whole MS/Apple/Intel/??? soap opera as closely as most of the Slashdotters do, I'm probably more the everyday Joe Sixpack who just wants a machine that works.
Having switched to Mac OS X from Windows, I have achieved that goal: a machine that "just works." Reboot my iBook? Why? Reboot my HP? Every other day, and make sure I take out the Linksys WiFi card, because half the time it won't boot with it installed.
OK, enough of that, back to the topic at hand.
For years the MacOS has run only on Apple hardware. Now Apple has decided to switch to an x86-based architecture and has a version of OS X that will run on said architecture in advanced development. Marvelous, now they can use x86 processors in Apple hardware instead of PowerPC processors.
Now there's a big hullabaloo about wanting to run OS X on non-Apple hardware. There are pros and cons, many of which have already been brought up for discussion here. "Sell it for standard PC hardware and you'll capture market share!" "Lock it to Apple hardware to prevent loss of hardware sales and keep the stability of running on known hardware!" All valid points.
My question to the masses is: if it is limited to Apple hardware, who cares? How is that different from present, where OS X is only available to the general public with Apple hardware?
It's Apple's OS. Whether it runs on an Apple or grapefruit, that's their own business. Frankly, as a user, I'd prefer that OS X stay on Apple hardware. It works. It's stable. Apple doesn't sell a computer or an OS, they sell a package solution--a package solution that works.
Now, that brings up the question of Microsoft and Microsoft-produced hardware. If Microsoft were to come out and say "Starting with Longhorn, Windows will only run on Microsoft-built hardware." The lawsuits would come down hard and heavy.
How is this different from Apple? With the brief Mac clone market, Apple Mac hardware has always been required to run Apple Mac software (don't know if this is true for the Apple II/III line so I can't go back that far.) Marrying OS X to Apple hardware isn't a new business practice, it's been that way since the beginning. Microsoft starting the same thing now would be abuse of it's near-monopoly position.
So to keep myself from getting long-winded I'll end with the question again. Apple OS tied exclusively to Apple hardware. It's been that way since the beginning, what's the big deal now?
Offtopic but I'll ask anyway, since the previous post prompted me to ask the question...
DVB-H, DVB-T...GSM, CDMA...110V/60Hz, 220V/50Hz...why does there always seem to be a slight yet significant difference in what should otherwise be a universal te3chnology when it comes to the North American and the rest of the world?
Two different types of digital broadcast television, so global electronics manufacturers have to build two different types of equipment or build in the capability to accept either one.
GSM, a GLOBAL standard for cellphone technology, yet the US is quite late to adopt it in favor of CDMA (coincidentally, patented by a US company, Qualcomm.) Granted that CDMA is superior in some respects (power requirements and bandwidth come to mind) but why be a telecommunications island?
Basic electricity...ok, most modern devices can accept 110 or 220 vac, 50 or 60 Hz, but again, why did it have to be different? 220 vac would make more sense, as the same amount of power can be delivered with less current and less heat loss, but 110 vac may be safer due to the lower voltage...
I fully admit that I don't have all the technical details, and probably live in my own utopian world where everybody has the same electricity and everybody can roam on anybody else's cellphone network without needing a phone capable of three or four different frequency bands, but sometimes I think that the differences are more political and territorial than technical. (US GSM at 1900 MHz where the rest of the world uses 900/1800 MHz?)
This idea (now called "transclusion") is the center of our work and the center of my own beliefs.
Many will be quick to call the Transliterature design "Vaporware," even though the Transquoter exists. But Transliterature is an agenda, not a promise, and I offer no dates of availability. (I believe something isn't "vaporware" till you've promised it- a mistake I don't intend to make again.)
Another example of "agenda"...is it me or does the whole work ring of some sort of ideological agenda? Maybe it's just the writing style the man uses, but it reminds me of some lofty, ideological-agenda-pushing writing. He even says that all publishing is vanity publishing. Does he include his own works in this umbrella statement?
The World Wide Web- Tim's early design as boxed up and enhanced by the lads in Illinois- has validated all our early predictions for the benefits and wonderfulness of anarchic world-wide hypertext publishing, where anyone can publish internationally, without prior restraint, at very low cost. ("Most people don't want to publish," said arch-publisher William Jovanovich to me in 1966. I said everyone did. "Oh, you mean VANITY publishing," he said.
Since he was my boss, I had to stifle the urge to explain that ALL publishing is vanity publishing.)
I'm not sure what to make of all it.
As has been said before, the ads that are tossed about on web pages are obnoxious and get in the way of the real content. I never realized how distracting the ads were until I started using Adblock on Firefox...when I have to use IE, I am amazed at the prevalence of online advertising and glad I don't see it.
I don't see the point in putting all that information on the card in the first place. All the card has to do is match the embedded code with the code the door is programmed to accept. Why bother with anything else?
A metal key doesn't need all that extra information, and is somewhat harder to duplicate. By that I mean all you need is a card reader/writer and a blank card. The card doesn't need to be a specific shape, they are all pretty generic, aren't they? A metal key in comparison is secured not only in the teeth cut into the key but also the grooves on the side of the key.
Any enlightening thoughts?
I didn't read the article the first time around, so maybe something was changed/removed that prompted the disclaimer. I read the report and couldn't find a single reference to NCSA, except in the URL and in the disclaimer itself.
Aside from the URL, was there some sort of NCSA association implied or claimed in the original post then removed?
So how much has he actually lost...
Interesting question...not being a bio-anything, I'd suspect that it has to approach some sort of limit where bone loss stops. While the bones don't have to support the cosmonaut's weight, he still has inertia to overcome (he still has mass) to move around while he does work around the station. Holding the body's basic form is a stress on the bones, as is daily activities such as moving equipment from here to there, doing maintenance, experiments, etc. Some sort of bone structure is required for that, so that would be the point at which bone loss stops.
From Rep. Sensenbrenner's website bio:
ORGANIZATIONAL AFFILIATIONS
* State Bar of Wisconsin
* Waukesha County Republican Party
* Riveredge Nature Center
* American Philatelic Society
* Friends of the Museum
* Episcopal Church
Note the party affiliation.
With the costs of laser printers dropping, I've taken the stand that I'll never buy another inkjet printer. Recently I bought a HP Laserjet 1012, which is not that much bigger than a good inkjet printer and reasonably fast (14 ppm I think). Toner is about $90 for a 2000 page cartridge.
If printing in color is ever really that important, I'll either get a color laser printer or print at work/school/Kinko's/etc.
I used Outlook XP with my BlackBerry 7100t until my desktop machine died at the hands of...well, me. It's replacement is a Mac Mini, and I use Office 2004 for Mac. Using PocketMac for Blackberry, I am all nice and synced. In fact, it was the syncing that made it easy to import my Windows Outlook XP contacts and appointments over to the Mac.
"We believe these innovative cards with blink will provide merchants and cardmembers with the increased speed and convenience they want at the point-of-sale," said Carter Franke, chief marketing officer of the company's credit card division, in a statement.
I didn't think that signing a charge receipt took that long, but maybe I'm wrong.
From the CNN article referenced:
But MasterCard said the feedback for its system was more positive. The company has been testing its cards in Orlando and Dallas and plans to roll the new cards this summer in other cities but declined to elaborate on the details.
"We're looking at places where the cards can replace cash," said Art Kranzley, MasterCard's chief ebusiness officer, citing McDonald's, Starbucks, Loews movie theaters and Chevron gas stations, among other destinations, as examples. Citibank, J.P. Morgan Chase and MBNA -- some of the nation's biggest card issuers -- took part in the trials.
How does the current use of the cards not perform the same function?
Call me old-fashioned, but the idea of my signature on the receipt being checked against the card (stop laughing, some merchants actually still do this) at least provides a little bit of protection against credit card theft/fraud.
Maybe if the motion picture companies focused more on making the content worthwhile, there would be less motivation to copy movies.
The digital format of most films and music released today has led to its increased piracy. The quality of video and audio recordings based in analog technology, such as cassette or VCR tapes, decreases each time an original version is copied.
No, a crappy movie is still a crappy movie, whether it is the first copy or the 1000th copy.
When digital recordings, such as CDs and DVDs, are copied, however, no quality is lost.
You can't lose what you don't have to start with.
The group will also need to develop a system for writing to the tags, a platform for associating DVDs with their purchasers or owners and a means of encrypting the tag data.
Associating a DVD with a particular owner? Right there is baaad news. What is it called, First Sale doctrine or something? I ask because I don't recall the actual name, but you get my point.
Past anti-copy technology has been foiled by simple tricks with markers and clever people cracking weak encryption. I'd bet a dollar or two that this will be no exception.
Note to the **AA: focus more on making the content/experience worth the price of admission/sale/whatever, and people will purchase it. If the public can't enjoy entertainment on their own terms, one of two things will happen:
(1) WE (as in the public) will stop paying for content, or
(2) The aforementioned clever people will break your protection and get the content for free and enjoy it how they wish.
Either way, you lose.
(BTW...the MPAA website is "temporarily unavailable.")