This doesn't make any sense to me. Microsoft's big selling point all along, with the abomination that was Windows Mobile, that you could run Windows "everywhere" and it'd all work together, which was (supposed to be) a big selling point to IT organizations. I know that back in the day, the phone of choice for rank & file was Mobile 5 or 6, and you had to get a manager's signature to get issued a Blackberry (assuming the company had invested in BB Enterprise Server) or Palm device (and good luck with Exchange support). And the argument was not that Windows Mobile was better (it demonstrably was not) but solely that it integrated more easily into a Windows-dominant infrastructure.
And they gave that up? What were they thinking they'd sell phones on, their looks?
In an environment where iOS and Android are trying hard to integrate seamlessly with a Windows-based framework (with iOS a bit ahead of the curve) Microsoft decides they're no longer going to pursue what amounts to their ONLY strength? What the hell?
I read somewhere that WP7 is still running the WinCE kernel; can anyone verify that? WP8 is supposed to be the complete rewrite. I wonder if the Lumia can be reflashed with 8, as some older phones running Mobile 5 could be reflashed with Mobile 6?
I'm told that this will be a lot easier when Windows 8 is released. I won't be an early adopter, (I need to get work done!) but I will be interested in the results.
Thanks, that actually makes sense. The way it was worded made it sound like the most useless misfeature since the motorized ice cream cone. But really, "on the fly"?
I understand -- you don't necessarily want inept programmers because someone else has to clean up the ghastly morass later. The thing is, a good game tester has similar skills to a good QA or beta tester, plus a love for games. They have to be regimented, good at documentation, have good communication skills, and be able to keep track of a number of technical factors while testing. Merely spending a lot of hours with WOW doesn't necessarily mean you qualify.
Ok ok ok... just because some bizarre set of circumstances causes a totally irresponsible lifestyle to work for some, doesn't make it a good business plan.
...because that's a feature everyone has been clamoring for. I can't count the times I've thought to myself "Darn it, I wish I could switch to Berber on the fly".
In fairness, sometimes you have to teach a topic on which you are not an expert. My daughter was homeschooled for a few years (she's now about to graduate 12th grade at a magnet school) and I don't mind telling you, I had one hell of a time with biology, which I had skipped in school. (My school allowed you to take physics instead if you had already passed chemistry.) I wasn't even a chapter ahead of her; often I was only two or three pages ahead of her. (Geeze, biology is hard! I now have a profound respect for people in that field. As an engineer, I always thought of organisms as "really complicated machines". Now I think of organisms as "impossibly complicated machines".) And because I did not know the subject (as was the case with your teacher) I did not unquestioningly believe the textbook. If we found something questionable, we looked it up on the internet, found three or four sources, and saw if they agreed. (Not a sure thing, but better than having only one source.) We never found an actual error, although in a couple of cases I'd argue that some parts violated the "correlation is not causation" rule.
And then, we got into US History at her current school, and wow! Talk about logical fallacies! In reading the text to her, I'd have to stop every second paragraph and remark "those two things are actually unrelated". or "that's demonstrably untrue" or "that's a false dilemma". It was hard to get through the materials, find answers that passed the course, and still leave her critical thinking skills intact.
In summary, it's not necessarily how well the teacher knows the material, it's how well the teacher is engaged as a teacher.
...reminds me of my nephew. He dropped out of his programming classes because "programming is hard". He decided he wanted to be a game tester. I don't think that worked out.
Apropos of your comment, he also wanted to date strippers. To my knowledge none of his attempts ended well.
2) Less fragile than hard drives, designed to be removable
3) Cheaper per-byte than flash
Optical is more expensive than hard drive, so if you're comparing it against removable hard drives, or an HD "toaster" setup (a box in which you can plug raw SATA drives) then the question is one of durability. If that's not an issue, go with plugable hard drives.
Tape is still cheapest, so if random access is not an issue, go with tape.
If cost isn't an issue, go with flash.
The problem as I remember with Minidisc is that the cost per byte for data storage didn't pencil out, and the sample rate wasn't conducive to high fidelity audio, which left it a solution that didn't address any particular problem. It'll be interesting to see if they've come up with a set of specs that have meaning now. I strongly suspect Sony will come up with a good solid implementation and then price it out of market.
Not sure I agree. I'm not an Apple fan, but I observe that they took a lot of heat for the "grip of death", and for dropping calls frequently on earlier models. (And incidentally, deservedly so.) Moreover, I just yesterday read an article dissing the ipad 3 for a number of factors. I think there is perhaps a huge positive bias from certain sources, but it's by no means a blanket condition.
Nor do I believe that there is a huge negative bias from the media against Windows. There are sources that will always rag on M$ and (admittedly fewer) sources for which Balmer can do no wrong. I think an argument can be made that the negative press they get, they deserve.
What you use when the DSL or Cable goes down. Or when stuck in a hotel without internet (except a phone). I've downloaded a lot of torrents over 50k these last several years, and no bandwidth caps.:-)
AOL dial-up still exists? And still has customers? Is that because you live in the last place in America that doesn't have broadband, or is sticking with dial-up easier than running the gauntlet to cancel your AOL account? (Been there, commiserate.)
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This doesn't make any sense to me. Microsoft's big selling point all along, with the abomination that was Windows Mobile, that you could run Windows "everywhere" and it'd all work together, which was (supposed to be) a big selling point to IT organizations. I know that back in the day, the phone of choice for rank & file was Mobile 5 or 6, and you had to get a manager's signature to get issued a Blackberry (assuming the company had invested in BB Enterprise Server) or Palm device (and good luck with Exchange support). And the argument was not that Windows Mobile was better (it demonstrably was not) but solely that it integrated more easily into a Windows-dominant infrastructure.
And they gave that up? What were they thinking they'd sell phones on, their looks?
In an environment where iOS and Android are trying hard to integrate seamlessly with a Windows-based framework (with iOS a bit ahead of the curve) Microsoft decides they're no longer going to pursue what amounts to their ONLY strength? What the hell?
I read somewhere that WP7 is still running the WinCE kernel; can anyone verify that? WP8 is supposed to be the complete rewrite. I wonder if the Lumia can be reflashed with 8, as some older phones running Mobile 5 could be reflashed with Mobile 6?
I wonder if it has anything to do with Win7 still being CE based? Win8 is supposed to run the same kernel regardless of platform. I'd wait until that.
I'm told that this will be a lot easier when Windows 8 is released. I won't be an early adopter, (I need to get work done!) but I will be interested in the results.
Thanks, that actually makes sense. The way it was worded made it sound like the most useless misfeature since the motorized ice cream cone. But really, "on the fly"?
My house takes 36 lightbulbs. That's... over two grand. I'll have to take out a loan.
I understand -- you don't necessarily want inept programmers because someone else has to clean up the ghastly morass later. The thing is, a good game tester has similar skills to a good QA or beta tester, plus a love for games. They have to be regimented, good at documentation, have good communication skills, and be able to keep track of a number of technical factors while testing. Merely spending a lot of hours with WOW doesn't necessarily mean you qualify.
Ok ok ok... just because some bizarre set of circumstances causes a totally irresponsible lifestyle to work for some, doesn't make it a good business plan.
Agree. I already have a start button. Why would I pay $150 to give it up?
Pointless, expensive, expensive and pointless.
In fairness, sometimes you have to teach a topic on which you are not an expert. My daughter was homeschooled for a few years (she's now about to graduate 12th grade at a magnet school) and I don't mind telling you, I had one hell of a time with biology, which I had skipped in school. (My school allowed you to take physics instead if you had already passed chemistry.) I wasn't even a chapter ahead of her; often I was only two or three pages ahead of her. (Geeze, biology is hard! I now have a profound respect for people in that field. As an engineer, I always thought of organisms as "really complicated machines". Now I think of organisms as "impossibly complicated machines".) And because I did not know the subject (as was the case with your teacher) I did not unquestioningly believe the textbook. If we found something questionable, we looked it up on the internet, found three or four sources, and saw if they agreed. (Not a sure thing, but better than having only one source.) We never found an actual error, although in a couple of cases I'd argue that some parts violated the "correlation is not causation" rule.
And then, we got into US History at her current school, and wow! Talk about logical fallacies! In reading the text to her, I'd have to stop every second paragraph and remark "those two things are actually unrelated". or "that's demonstrably untrue" or "that's a false dilemma". It was hard to get through the materials, find answers that passed the course, and still leave her critical thinking skills intact.
In summary, it's not necessarily how well the teacher knows the material, it's how well the teacher is engaged as a teacher.
Apropos of your comment, he also wanted to date strippers. To my knowledge none of his attempts ended well.
1) Better random access than tape
2) Less fragile than hard drives, designed to be removable
3) Cheaper per-byte than flash
Optical is more expensive than hard drive, so if you're comparing it against removable hard drives, or an HD "toaster" setup (a box in which you can plug raw SATA drives) then the question is one of durability. If that's not an issue, go with plugable hard drives.
Tape is still cheapest, so if random access is not an issue, go with tape.
If cost isn't an issue, go with flash.
The problem as I remember with Minidisc is that the cost per byte for data storage didn't pencil out, and the sample rate wasn't conducive to high fidelity audio, which left it a solution that didn't address any particular problem. It'll be interesting to see if they've come up with a set of specs that have meaning now. I strongly suspect Sony will come up with a good solid implementation and then price it out of market.
Not sure I agree. I'm not an Apple fan, but I observe that they took a lot of heat for the "grip of death", and for dropping calls frequently on earlier models. (And incidentally, deservedly so.) Moreover, I just yesterday read an article dissing the ipad 3 for a number of factors. I think there is perhaps a huge positive bias from certain sources, but it's by no means a blanket condition.
Nor do I believe that there is a huge negative bias from the media against Windows. There are sources that will always rag on M$ and (admittedly fewer) sources for which Balmer can do no wrong. I think an argument can be made that the negative press they get, they deserve.
> Making Android look like Windoof is about as "cool" as sprinkling dry dogshit on your cappuccino.
Ok, I got nuthin.
I really miss that interface.
Buy them and beat them.
What you use when the DSL or Cable goes down. Or when stuck in a hotel without internet (except a phone). I've downloaded a lot of torrents over 50k these last several years, and no bandwidth caps. :-)
Cellular hot-spot.
AOL dial-up still exists? And still has customers? Is that because you live in the last place in America that doesn't have broadband, or is sticking with dial-up easier than running the gauntlet to cancel your AOL account? (Been there, commiserate.)
How long before we see the first advertisement for special shoes to shield us from smart floors?
Wait until it's required...
("Buildering"? Drunk Buildering? Could be big!)