even a 640x480 projector on a wall will look better than most tubes.
What about day time viewing? Also, how much are you paying for that mobile projector? If you're looking in the $1.5k-$3k market, you can get some AMAZING digital HDTV's, even though they're based upon these outdated tubes you speak of. I can understand big, clunky TV's not working into your lifestyle (I know I hate moving mine), but for visual quality, high end CRT stuff is still pretty hard to beat. Until companies can hack out 40-60" LCD's (screw those puny 24" SGI deals) for less than a new Mercede's, tubes are going to have a major presence in every part of the display market. Go to a pretentious hifi shop and check out some of those Pioneer Elite sets. This is not your grandfather's TV.
Or better yet, start a distributed project that installs a tiny client that just loads their website about once a minute. It'll either bring their webservers to a permenant halt, or cost them 100x as much to have a site, or some mixture of the two. I mean, you can't bring charges against 100,000 geeks for loading a website every now and then, can you?
Um, the concept of an ad campaign is to try and sell something. They identify a problem (that lots of people have) and present a solution. I'm trying to figure out how you can have issues with this. I hate to shock you, but PC companies advertise too.. DUUUUUUDE, yer gettin' a DELL!!! (*ROLL*)
Well, then the story comes out that they knew about the security hole before the SW reached the shelves, but it was after GM, so they conveniently "obscured" reports of it until a few months later when the release hoopla has died down, and they can release the patch without too much embarrassment.
On the flip side of things, 5 days really isn't "that" fast, or newsworthy. But what can you do? M$ is the badguy and any publicity is bad, and Apple's the underdog, and any publicity is good.
If you're really that concerned with the politics of your hw, there's really very little related to computers you *COULD* buy. What with scandals abound from M$ and apple, all the lawsuits involved with DRAM mnfr's, shoddy HD's, and optical/removable drives with deplorable MTBF ratings (compared to parts being made 10 years ago), and all the bad mouthing and CSR nightmares in between, it's amazing you found a box to post on today.
For dvorak users who need to log in using QWERTY, there's an easy solution: set your password to the QWERTY equivalent of your dvorak password/phrase. For example, if your password was "dogcow", set your computer to QWERTY, then type dogcow using dvorak keys, which comes out to something like "hsuis," Not only is this easy for you (you just type in dvorak), but evolves a password that is hard to guess as well.
Digital Dream makes a similar product called the l'espion which has similar specs. it's like $60, and has 352x288, self timer, works as a webcam - it even has a keyring attachment so you can keep it on your keychain. It's supercheap, but it's british, so shipping to U.S. kinda kills it.
the article already assumes each Xbox owner buys 7 games , and notes that first party kickbacks on SW are like $5-10 per title (it even goes on to mention that those $$$ are development/overhead free). The result is the same, Xbox is still bleeding money compared to its console competitors. They're not so much stating that "M$ can't weather these difficult times" but that Sony and Nintendo aren't losing money at all.
I was all excited when I saw this article yesterday. Then, I started reading it, and my mood just got worse and worse. The lack of native handwriting SW was a major insult. What exactly is a tablet PC for if you can't use pen based input? That, coupled with little possibility for RAM upgrade, a relatively slow processor, proprietary USB and VGA ports, supercheapo integrated video, and having menu and pivot functionality tied to WinXP sw only kinda ruined it for me. The "powered' 4-pin firewire was also a compromise in my opinion. Why use two cables to do the job of one? Especially on a laptop where cableclutter is not only frustrating and unsightly, but dangerous to the light hardware it's attached to, and the ports which tend to break easily on portables. Personally, I thought the "any key" was another slap in the face. Integrating a hardware element to deal with BSOD's (i.e. a sucky OS) is like putting a reset button on your mouse. It's not PaceBlade's fault that windows is so full of holes, but it hurts when their HW reflects that, too.
As a really minor last note, they talked about using this down the road as an LCD display/TV, but neglected to put either a TV tuner or video in onboard.
Go ahead and flame away. But in my defense, I was really excited and wanted to be blown away by this product, but couldn't find any reason this was better than one of those slim Viao offerings
It took me about 5 calls and 3 days to cancel my earthlink acct. Personally, I find it amusing that their "tech" support was 24 hours a day, but their "customer" service was only like 9-5. Further, I found it interesting that two of the tech support people I spoke to couldn't give me the customer support ppl's number. I, too, had to call the general CS number, and be forwarded to their cancellation dept, which apparently had no public number (from what their CSR's would have you believe). I also found it infinitely frustrating that the only people that can cancel your account are the least accessible. I tried emailing all their depts, the online chat thing (which did NOT work for me), and finally, calling every number I could get my hands on.
I don't remember getting any bull about trying to keep me as a customer, but then again, when I'm talking on the phone, I'm like one step removed from pathological liar ("Um, I'm going to Africa for 6 months. . . I'm getting an OC3 installed in my apartment building. . . due to the nature of my employment, I cannot divulge personal information over insecure lines. )
Now that my new apt has a T1 line, I actually *enjoy* telling broadband telemarketer's the truth.
CSR: You do understand that Verison DSL can give you speeds up to 50 times as fast as dial up access, along with great reliability and consolidated billing with your local phone access. Me: I've got a T1 line in my apt. CSR: Well, in many areas, DSL service is faster than a Cable modem. Me: No, I've got a T1. You know how you guys are an ISP, and you provide internet access to other people via your larger network backbone. CSR: Er, yes... Me: Well, that's what I've got. I could be you guys and offer customers broadband access from me. You could NEVER offer me access as fast as what I've currently got. *evil cackle* CSR: Ok, thanks for your time *sniff*
Even if you don't have a T1, even if your still on dialup. I suggest ppl take this route w/ telemarketers. It'll give you an amazing evil/warm fuzzy all over.;)
A decent 250W one is enough for most typical PCs, that is, one or two hard-drives, one or two optical drives, and one or two fans on top of the internal PSU fan. PSU are one more thing where buying quality stuff pays out in the end...
When your AthlonXP 1800 eats 85W by itself, I wouldn't be in a hurry to test this. insufficient voltage can be bad for chips and expansion cards. However, I do agree with the high quality PSU sentiment.
Heh, A Powermac uses a 125W PSU. That's for TWO processors, an optical drive, zip drive, up to 4 HD's, two fans, tumbler digital audio amplifier, AND flat panel display. If there's one thing they've got down at Apple is low power consumption. I wish they'd look into rackspace applications, since in that market, their HW wouldn't be any more than PC counterparts.
What in the world are you talking about? Are you suggesting that AMD stop supporting M$ because a whopping 2% of their chip sales comes from geeks who buy new kit and intend to install *only linux* on their computers? It may seem like everyone and their mother runs a *nix around/. (hell, from what I've read from a lot of you guys, your mothers _do_ run linux), but in the rest of the computer sector, that kind of marketshare and mindshare is amazingly small. Plus, how many/.'ers are reading this off a Pentium Pro system *because* they're preficient in linux?
Having sold Apple Computers for the last 9 months, I can tell you what 5% of the market feels like. I'd say over 60% of our foot traffic had never even heard of an Apple computer, and practically none of them knew what it meant to say that OSX is built on UNIX. To hedge their bets like that is to give up on the consumer PC market and join the Sun/Apple/Amiga's of the world.
I buy apple hardware, I run linux as well, but the rest of the business world (AMD/M$ included) really doesn't really give a damn.
I've worked sans office for 4.5 years now, which has been at times challenging since my work has always required Office compatibility. Open office only suffices for the very simplest of Office documents. As soon as you throw in a few pictures, some columns, tables, text effects, footnotes, or any of another hundred commonly used formatting tools, Open Office makes a garden frittata out of your *.doc files.
A big part of Apple's OSX message is "Unix with Office." And for a lot of people, that's a huge development, as it means one less computer in their offices (ok, a lot of/.'ers WANT the extra machine on their desks). But apple's always been kinda silly by making some of their most important messages nearly imperceptible.
From 1997 to about 2000, Microsoft owned like $1.5M worth of non-voting shares. So they did kinda own some of it, but never had any influence (stock wise), over the company. It doesn't matter anyhoo, since M$ sold it all. It was all PR bull$#!t also, since what really mattered was 1) M$ signed a contract to support Mac Office/IE/OE for the next 5 years.
2) M$ gave Apple an *undisclosed sum of money* as an out of court settlement
3) M$ buys the non-voting stock as a public sign of good will
4) Apple stops prosecuting M$ for copying System 7, and stealing source code from the OS and Quicktime to develop Windows stuff. The third time M$ and Apple came to legal blows over stealing source.
Every PPC model from 4400-9600 is officially supported. I'm running YDL on a 6500/250. Installation was a breeze, even with using my TV as a monitor in video safe mode. It was certainly no harder than RH. Now that its installed and *RUNNING* I get to figure out how to use the damned thing, but getting it up was cake, even for a linux newbie like me
We get quite a few Sun employee's at our (mac) store, some of whom work on apple hardware (laptops mostly). That, and lots of Sun developers buy scads of HW and seem to have like 5 of the latest macs in their "collection". So there are two conclusions: 1) Sun people seem to like macs. 2) Sun people got mad bankroll.
The upgrade was FREE for the month of October from Apple Authorized Vendors. Don't live near one? Couldn't get to one in a MONTH? It was $19.95 for over 4 months from the website. Didn't have web access for the past half year? Well, then you've got an excuse...
I'd just like to add that I'm terribly disturbed that C|net is more of a M$ pawn than I thought.
Story 1:
Microsoft exec: Bundling only a benefit
By Bloomberg News Special to CNET News.com February 1, 1999, 6:05 PM PT
update WASHINGTON--Microsoft's Windows 98 operating system in many regards doesn't offer consumers more benefits than they could get by installing the company's Internet Explorer Web browser on an earlier version of Windows, said Microsoft senior executive James Allchin.
That testimony in the company's antitrust trial goes to the heart of one of Microsoft's main lines of defense: That the company put a Web browser in Windows 98 to benefit consumers, not squelch competition from rival browsers.
Under relentless cross-examination by the government's lead attorney, David Boies, Allchin acknowledged that Windows 98 gave consumers roughly the same capabilities they would get from separately installing Internet Explorer into an older version of Windows.
Boies grilled Allchin using the same videotaped presentation that Microsoft attorneys presented in court to detail the benefits of Windows 98.
Nineteen times, Boies played a clip from the tape and asked Allchin about Windows 98's purported benefits. He asked Allchin, "If you took a Windows 95 machine without any Internet Explorer technologies and added a browser that you got off the Internet, you'd get the same rich experience you got here?"
Allchin, whose answers became less and less audible, responded, "Yes, I believe that's correct."
The second Microsoft executive to take the stand at the company's antitrust trial under way here added that when Internet Explorer is installed separately on an operating system, it "replaces core files" in Windows that enable the browser to run in much the same way Windows 98's Web browsing function does.
"It doesn't matter where [consumers] get the software," Allchin testified, referring to Internet Explorer.
Boies shot back, "Within Microsoft, it mattered a great deal because if [consumers] got [Internet Explorer] one way it represented a competitive choice, and if they got it another way the consumer had to take it, right?"
Allchin agreed with the assertion after Boies showed him a copy of an email the executive sent in December 1995 that discussed Microsoft needing to "leverage Windows more" to gain share in the Internet browser market.
Critical exchange Today's courtroom exchange is critical to the case against Microsoft brought by the Justice Department and 19 states, which allege the company used illegal tactics to protect its Windows monopoly from competitive threats posed by emerging Internet technologies. The government alleges Microsoft realized Internet browsers could become alternate computer operating systems.
The company responded by "welding" Internet Explorer to Windows to ensure a dedicated distribution method with the majority of computer users. Windows runs on more than 90 percent of the world's personal computers.
Company officials frequently cite, as they did today, language in a June 1998 appeals court decision in a related dispute that said the company is free to integrate new products into Windows as long as some consumer benefit results. That language was not central to the appeals court's decision.
Speaking outside the courthouse after the trial adjourned today, Microsoft spokesman Mark Murray dodged a question about the benefits Windows 98 has that consumers couldn't get by installing Microsoft's browser separately.
Instead, emphasizing the appellate court ruling, he said, "The government's case is really about trying to dictate product design...which would set back the growth of the high-tech sector in our economy."
Boies' questioning of Allchin today was intended to support the government's claim that there is no reason for Microsoft to link the two products except to illegally maintain its Windows monopoly. To support this charge, Boies cited pretrial testimony by Microsoft executive Ben Slivka, who answered "yes" when asked if integrating the browser into Windows was a response to the threat posed by Internet browsers.
Boies read this part of Slivka's deposition to Allchin, asking him if he agreed. Allchin answered: "Yes," saying that Microsoft "believed Netscape was a serious potential platform threat" to Windows.
Last week, Microsoft senior executive Paul Maritz testified that the software giant had asked Netscape not to compete against it in the Internet browser market in an attempt to have Netscape instead build products that worked with Windows.
Roll the video Microsoft provided the ammunition for Boies' attack by introducing into evidence almost three hours of videotaped presentations. That video was intended to prop up Allchin's direct testimony about why it was important include Internet browsing technologies in Windows 98, which went on sale last June.
One segment featured Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates at a 1995 conference explaining to software developers how Microsoft planned to make it easier to access information on the Internet by "reducing the number of steps the user has to learn." The company planned to "set standards" for configuring Web sites to help Internet users find information, he said.
Another video purported to show the ease with which computer users could "seamlessly" move from accessing files within their personal computers to information on the Internet. Microsoft employee David Fester showed that such features were unavailable when Navigator was loaded onto a Windows 95-based personal computer.
Boies called the comparison irrelevant. "This is not a trial about whether Navigator is better than [Internet Explorer] or whether [Internet Explorer] is better than Navigator," he told reporters. "This is a trial about whether consumers ought to have a free choice" between Web browsers, he said, noting later that Allchin's testimony showed that Microsoft had "no technological justification for what was done."
At the close of the day's proceedings, Microsoft attorney John Warden asked U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson to "nullify" an earlier order barring the attorneys from talking to their witnesses outside the courtroom. Jackson turned Warden down.
Shares of Microsoft fell 2.0625 to close at 172.9375.
Story 2:
Chase admits another tape fudge
By Bloomberg News Special to CNET News.com February 16, 1999, 11:00 AM PT
Microsoft Vice President Brad Chase acknowledged that computer users could spend more time downloading a rival's Web browser than was depicted in a videotape the software giant had played at its antitrust trial.
The company's videotaped demonstration, which Microsoft played last week, showed that rival Netscape's Navigator Web browser could be downloaded from America Online in several easy steps.
Today, Chase acknowledged that a counter demonstration video prepared by the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) accurately portrayed a more complicated download process that took between 30 minutes and an hour. Chase also conceded that the Microsoft video skipped over several steps in the procedure that computer users had to follow to download Navigator, including opening a folder to find the browser once the process was completed.
"One of the things you skipped was opening up this folder?" asked David Boies, the government's chief trial lawyer.
"That's correct," Chase said.
The government's video "accurately describes what it purports to describe?" Boies asked.
"It accurately shows the setup process, yes," Chase said.
The issue is important because it marked the third time that the government had successfully challenged a videotape demonstration by Microsoft. In two earlier episodes, Microsoft was forced to concede flaws in their demonstrations. In one instance, U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, said he was troubled by flaws in the presentation that raised questions about the reliability of the entire demonstration.
Chase today also apologized for inaccurately stating last week that the Netscape Navigator icon would appear on the computer user's desktop screen after the download was completed. In fact, users must click to a folder to find the icon, then move the icon to the desktop.
"I was incorrect, I apologize for that," Chase said, adding that most AOL users who download software from the Internet understand they have to go to the folder.
Microsoft had played its latest videotape in an attempt to show that downloading the Navigator browser was so easy that Netscape could easily distribute its rival product to users over the Internet. The video is intended to counter accusations Microsoft stifled competition from Netscape by making it harder for its rival to distribute its browser.
The government has presented evidence that Microsoft restricted how computer manufacturers and Internet service providers could promote Netscape. Microsoft argues the contracts that required distribution of its Internet Explorer Web browser were standard cross-promotional agreements that did not foreclose Netscape's ability to distribute Navigator.
Government uses Chase's email Boies also showed Chase a November, 17, 1997 email the Microsoft vice president had written stating that Internet Explorer "has become too big to download" and the "set-up process is too hard for user to figure out."
The email also stated that "only a little more than half of the people" that download one application from Microsoft's Web site "end up installing the browser."
The government is trying to show that Microsoft understood that downloading large software programs like Web browsers was a difficult procedure. That would make it difficult for Netscape to distribute Navigator through installation on computers and would foreclose a key means of getting a product to customers.
Chase said the email contained overblown rhetoric. "It's sort of part of our culture to take strong, extreme positions in order to push people to get their attention." Besides, more up-to-date market figures showed that a much larger percentage of computer users ended up downloading the browsing software, he said.
Copyright 1999, Bloomberg L.P. All Rights Reserved.
And I think it's not only the PC people who ARE interested in macs, but those who specifically aren't interested as well. Maybe then, Apple would really know what they need to woo the "other 95%".
I wonder if something like this could be built small enough to integrate into my laptop, so the screen could radiate sound. It wouldn't take much to improve upon the tinny crap that comes built in, and with a lot of modern laptops being made of magnesium or titanium, I'd think that they're certainly rigid enough to be driven by one of these. Just a few more details from my rudimentary understanding of german:
Great alternative to headphones Needs a metal plate, glass surface, or other similar surface Can generate sound levels up to 75 dB A group of people can listen to music, or a presenter can give a preso w/ a laptop without speakers! weighs 180 grams 6.34 oz, or about the same as an iPod http://www.soundbug.biz has some more info as well
Not to raise a stink, but I think of next generation as referring to a major change in system performance and design. For instance, the K7 was next generation from the K6's since the 700Mhz K7 was SIGNIFICANTLY better than a (albeit nonexistant) similarly clocked K6-III. It also involved a new processor core, socket, and a lot of hardware that we (at least for a while) couldn't get our hands on.
Tom Pabst over there is using some new hardware (basically some fatty P4's, and some juiced up RAMBUS), but his mobo, cards, software, etc, are all things that/.'ers either have or can get shipped to them by tomorrow. This is more like "This week's fastest processor" than "Next-Generation". I like hardware upgrades as much as the next geek, but when I read the title, I was suspecting something cooler than 50% increase in "Office Performance".
"My reports repaginate in.013 seconds, whereas your puny PIII machine takes almost a tenth of a second!!!"
I read constantly that bogomips are not a measure of processorspeed, absolute or relative, do not tranlslate into performance, and are only used to assign cache timing. Is there something beyond this that I'm missing? Why include a bogomips rating for this dual Xeon behemoth?
My understanding, from talking with film/camera people in my store is that Lucas et al will be adopting a streaming technology, so that the distribution costs are basically a one-time fee (laying down bandwidth), and due to the movie being streamed, it'd be "impossible" (as in, at least very difficult) to copy in digital format.
Slashdot Mirror
even a 640x480 projector on a wall will look better than most tubes.
What about day time viewing? Also, how much are you paying for that mobile projector? If you're looking in the $1.5k-$3k market, you can get some AMAZING digital HDTV's, even though they're based upon these outdated tubes you speak of. I can understand big, clunky TV's not working into your lifestyle (I know I hate moving mine), but for visual quality, high end CRT stuff is still pretty hard to beat. Until companies can hack out 40-60" LCD's (screw those puny 24" SGI deals) for less than a new Mercede's, tubes are going to have a major presence in every part of the display market. Go to a pretentious hifi shop and check out some of those Pioneer Elite sets. This is not your grandfather's TV.
Or better yet, start a distributed project that installs a tiny client that just loads their website about once a minute. It'll either bring their webservers to a permenant halt, or cost them 100x as much to have a site, or some mixture of the two. I mean, you can't bring charges against 100,000 geeks for loading a website every now and then, can you?
Um, the concept of an ad campaign is to try and sell something. They identify a problem (that lots of people have) and present a solution. I'm trying to figure out how you can have issues with this. I hate to shock you, but PC companies advertise too.. DUUUUUUDE, yer gettin' a DELL!!! (*ROLL*)
Well, then the story comes out that they knew about the security hole before the SW reached the shelves, but it was after GM, so they conveniently "obscured" reports of it until a few months later when the release hoopla has died down, and they can release the patch without too much embarrassment.
On the flip side of things, 5 days really isn't "that" fast, or newsworthy. But what can you do? M$ is the badguy and any publicity is bad, and Apple's the underdog, and any publicity is good.
If you're really that concerned with the politics of your hw, there's really very little related to computers you *COULD* buy. What with scandals abound from M$ and apple, all the lawsuits involved with DRAM mnfr's, shoddy HD's, and optical/removable drives with deplorable MTBF ratings (compared to parts being made 10 years ago), and all the bad mouthing and CSR nightmares in between, it's amazing you found a box to post on today.
For dvorak users who need to log in using QWERTY, there's an easy solution: set your password to the QWERTY equivalent of your dvorak password/phrase. For example, if your password was "dogcow", set your computer to QWERTY, then type dogcow using dvorak keys, which comes out to something like "hsuis," Not only is this easy for you (you just type in dvorak), but evolves a password that is hard to guess as well.
Digital Dream makes a similar product called the l'espion which has similar specs. it's like $60, and has 352x288, self timer, works as a webcam - it even has a keyring attachment so you can keep it on your keychain. It's supercheap, but it's british, so shipping to U.S. kinda kills it.
the article already assumes each Xbox owner buys 7 games , and notes that first party kickbacks on SW are like $5-10 per title (it even goes on to mention that those $$$ are development/overhead free). The result is the same, Xbox is still bleeding money compared to its console competitors. They're not so much stating that "M$ can't weather these difficult times" but that Sony and Nintendo aren't losing money at all.
I was all excited when I saw this article yesterday. Then, I started reading it, and my mood just got worse and worse. The lack of native handwriting SW was a major insult. What exactly is a tablet PC for if you can't use pen based input? That, coupled with little possibility for RAM upgrade, a relatively slow processor, proprietary USB and VGA ports, supercheapo integrated video, and having menu and pivot functionality tied to WinXP sw only kinda ruined it for me. The "powered' 4-pin firewire was also a compromise in my opinion. Why use two cables to do the job of one? Especially on a laptop where cableclutter is not only frustrating and unsightly, but dangerous to the light hardware it's attached to, and the ports which tend to break easily on portables. Personally, I thought the "any key" was another slap in the face. Integrating a hardware element to deal with BSOD's (i.e. a sucky OS) is like putting a reset button on your mouse. It's not PaceBlade's fault that windows is so full of holes, but it hurts when their HW reflects that, too.
As a really minor last note, they talked about using this down the road as an LCD display/TV, but neglected to put either a TV tuner or video in onboard.
Go ahead and flame away. But in my defense, I was really excited and wanted to be blown away by this product, but couldn't find any reason this was better than one of those slim Viao offerings
It took me about 5 calls and 3 days to cancel my earthlink acct. Personally, I find it amusing that their "tech" support was 24 hours a day, but their "customer" service was only like 9-5. Further, I found it interesting that two of the tech support people I spoke to couldn't give me the customer support ppl's number. I, too, had to call the general CS number, and be forwarded to their cancellation dept, which apparently had no public number (from what their CSR's would have you believe). I also found it infinitely frustrating that the only people that can cancel your account are the least accessible. I tried emailing all their depts, the online chat thing (which did NOT work for me), and finally, calling every number I could get my hands on.
;)
I don't remember getting any bull about trying to keep me as a customer, but then again, when I'm talking on the phone, I'm like one step removed from pathological liar ("Um, I'm going to Africa for 6 months. . . I'm getting an OC3 installed in my apartment building. . . due to the nature of my employment, I cannot divulge personal information over insecure lines. )
Now that my new apt has a T1 line, I actually *enjoy* telling broadband telemarketer's the truth.
CSR: You do understand that Verison DSL can give you speeds up to 50 times as fast as dial up access, along with great reliability and consolidated billing with your local phone access.
Me: I've got a T1 line in my apt.
CSR: Well, in many areas, DSL service is faster than a Cable modem.
Me: No, I've got a T1. You know how you guys are an ISP, and you provide internet access to other people via your larger network backbone.
CSR: Er, yes...
Me: Well, that's what I've got. I could be you guys and offer customers broadband access from me. You could NEVER offer me access as fast as what I've currently got. *evil cackle*
CSR: Ok, thanks for your time *sniff*
Even if you don't have a T1, even if your still on dialup. I suggest ppl take this route w/ telemarketers. It'll give you an amazing evil/warm fuzzy all over.
They've got a 3U, dual fiber channel, 14 drive RAID Xserver in the works. Keep a lookout for those ;)
A decent 250W one is enough for most typical PCs, that is, one or two hard-drives, one or two optical drives, and one or two fans on top of the internal PSU fan. PSU are one more thing where buying quality stuff pays out in the end...
When your AthlonXP 1800 eats 85W by itself, I wouldn't be in a hurry to test this. insufficient voltage can be bad for chips and expansion cards. However, I do agree with the high quality PSU sentiment.
Heh, A Powermac uses a 125W PSU. That's for TWO processors, an optical drive, zip drive, up to 4 HD's, two fans, tumbler digital audio amplifier, AND flat panel display. If there's one thing they've got down at Apple is low power consumption. I wish they'd look into rackspace applications, since in that market, their HW wouldn't be any more than PC counterparts.
What in the world are you talking about? Are you suggesting that AMD stop supporting M$ because a whopping 2% of their chip sales comes from geeks who buy new kit and intend to install *only linux* on their computers? It may seem like everyone and their mother runs a *nix around /. (hell, from what I've read from a lot of you guys, your mothers _do_ run linux), but in the rest of the computer sector, that kind of marketshare and mindshare is amazingly small. Plus, how many /.'ers are reading this off a Pentium Pro system *because* they're preficient in linux?
Having sold Apple Computers for the last 9 months, I can tell you what 5% of the market feels like. I'd say over 60% of our foot traffic had never even heard of an Apple computer, and practically none of them knew what it meant to say that OSX is built on UNIX. To hedge their bets like that is to give up on the consumer PC market and join the Sun/Apple/Amiga's of the world.
I buy apple hardware, I run linux as well, but the rest of the business world (AMD/M$ included) really doesn't really give a damn.
I've worked sans office for 4.5 years now, which has been at times challenging since my work has always required Office compatibility. Open office only suffices for the very simplest of Office documents. As soon as you throw in a few pictures, some columns, tables, text effects, footnotes, or any of another hundred commonly used formatting tools, Open Office makes a garden frittata out of your *.doc files.
/.'ers WANT the extra machine on their desks). But apple's always been kinda silly by making some of their most important messages nearly imperceptible.
A big part of Apple's OSX message is "Unix with Office." And for a lot of people, that's a huge development, as it means one less computer in their offices (ok, a lot of
From 1997 to about 2000, Microsoft owned like $1.5M worth of non-voting shares. So they did kinda own some of it, but never had any influence (stock wise), over the company. It doesn't matter anyhoo, since M$ sold it all. It was all PR bull$#!t also, since what really mattered was
1) M$ signed a contract to support Mac Office/IE/OE for the next 5 years.
2) M$ gave Apple an *undisclosed sum of money* as an out of court settlement
3) M$ buys the non-voting stock as a public sign of good will
4) Apple stops prosecuting M$ for copying System 7, and stealing source code from the OS and Quicktime to develop Windows stuff. The third time M$ and Apple came to legal blows over stealing source.
Every PPC model from 4400-9600 is officially supported. I'm running YDL on a 6500/250. Installation was a breeze, even with using my TV as a monitor in video safe mode. It was certainly no harder than RH. Now that its installed and *RUNNING* I get to figure out how to use the damned thing, but getting it up was cake, even for a linux newbie like me
We get quite a few Sun employee's at our (mac) store, some of whom work on apple hardware (laptops mostly). That, and lots of Sun developers buy scads of HW and seem to have like 5 of the latest macs in their "collection". So there are two conclusions: 1) Sun people seem to like macs. 2) Sun people got mad bankroll.
The upgrade was FREE for the month of October from Apple Authorized Vendors. Don't live near one? Couldn't get to one in a MONTH? It was $19.95 for over 4 months from the website. Didn't have web access for the past half year? Well, then you've got an excuse...
I'd just like to add that I'm terribly disturbed that C|net is more of a M$ pawn than I thought.
Story 1:
Microsoft exec: Bundling only a benefit
By Bloomberg News
Special to CNET News.com
February 1, 1999, 6:05 PM PT
update WASHINGTON--Microsoft's Windows 98 operating system in many regards doesn't offer consumers more benefits than they could get by installing the company's Internet Explorer Web browser on an earlier version of Windows, said Microsoft senior executive James Allchin.
That testimony in the company's antitrust trial goes to the heart of one of Microsoft's main lines of defense: That the company put a Web browser in Windows 98 to benefit consumers, not squelch competition from rival browsers.
Under relentless cross-examination by the government's lead attorney, David Boies, Allchin acknowledged that Windows 98 gave consumers roughly the same capabilities they would get from separately installing Internet Explorer into an older version of Windows.
Boies grilled Allchin using the same videotaped presentation that Microsoft attorneys presented in court to detail the benefits of Windows 98.
Nineteen times, Boies played a clip from the tape and asked Allchin about Windows 98's purported benefits. He asked Allchin, "If you took a Windows 95 machine without any Internet Explorer technologies and added a browser that you got off the Internet, you'd get the same rich experience you got here?"
Allchin, whose answers became less and less audible, responded, "Yes, I believe that's correct."
The second Microsoft executive to take the stand at the company's antitrust trial under way here added that when Internet Explorer is installed separately on an operating system, it "replaces core files" in Windows that enable the browser to run in much the same way Windows 98's Web browsing function does.
"It doesn't matter where [consumers] get the software," Allchin testified, referring to Internet Explorer.
Boies shot back, "Within Microsoft, it mattered a great deal because if [consumers] got [Internet Explorer] one way it represented a competitive choice, and if they got it another way the consumer had to take it, right?"
Allchin agreed with the assertion after Boies showed him a copy of an email the executive sent in December 1995 that discussed Microsoft needing to "leverage Windows more" to gain share in the Internet browser market.
Critical exchange
Today's courtroom exchange is critical to the case against Microsoft brought by the Justice Department and 19 states, which allege the company used illegal tactics to protect its Windows monopoly from competitive threats posed by emerging Internet technologies. The government alleges Microsoft realized Internet browsers could become alternate computer operating systems.
The company responded by "welding" Internet Explorer to Windows to ensure a dedicated distribution method with the majority of computer users. Windows runs on more than 90 percent of the world's personal computers.
Company officials frequently cite, as they did today, language in a June 1998 appeals court decision in a related dispute that said the company is free to integrate new products into Windows as long as some consumer benefit results. That language was not central to the appeals court's decision.
Speaking outside the courthouse after the trial adjourned today, Microsoft spokesman Mark Murray dodged a question about the benefits Windows 98 has that consumers couldn't get by installing Microsoft's browser separately.
Instead, emphasizing the appellate court ruling, he said, "The government's case is really about trying to dictate product design...which would set back the growth of the high-tech sector in our economy."
Boies' questioning of Allchin today was intended to support the government's claim that there is no reason for Microsoft to link the two products except to illegally maintain its Windows monopoly. To support this charge, Boies cited pretrial testimony by Microsoft executive Ben Slivka, who answered "yes" when asked if integrating the browser into Windows was a response to the threat posed by Internet browsers.
Boies read this part of Slivka's deposition to Allchin, asking him if he agreed. Allchin answered: "Yes," saying that Microsoft "believed Netscape was a serious potential platform threat" to Windows.
Last week, Microsoft senior executive Paul Maritz testified that the software giant had asked Netscape not to compete against it in the Internet browser market in an attempt to have Netscape instead build products that worked with Windows.
Roll the video
Microsoft provided the ammunition for Boies' attack by introducing into evidence almost three hours of videotaped presentations. That video was intended to prop up Allchin's direct testimony about why it was important include Internet browsing technologies in Windows 98, which went on sale last June.
One segment featured Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates at a 1995 conference explaining to software developers how Microsoft planned to make it easier to access information on the Internet by "reducing the number of steps the user has to learn." The company planned to "set standards" for configuring Web sites to help Internet users find information, he said.
Another video purported to show the ease with which computer users could "seamlessly" move from accessing files within their personal computers to information on the Internet. Microsoft employee David Fester showed that such features were unavailable when Navigator was loaded onto a Windows 95-based personal computer.
Boies called the comparison irrelevant. "This is not a trial about whether Navigator is better than [Internet Explorer] or whether [Internet Explorer] is better than Navigator," he told reporters. "This is a trial about whether consumers ought to have a free choice" between Web browsers, he said, noting later that Allchin's testimony showed that Microsoft had "no technological justification for what was done."
At the close of the day's proceedings, Microsoft attorney John Warden asked U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson to "nullify" an earlier order barring the attorneys from talking to their witnesses outside the courtroom. Jackson turned Warden down.
Shares of Microsoft fell 2.0625 to close at 172.9375.
Story 2:
Chase admits another tape fudge
By Bloomberg News
Special to CNET News.com
February 16, 1999, 11:00 AM PT
Microsoft Vice President Brad Chase acknowledged that computer users could spend more time downloading a rival's Web browser than was depicted in a videotape the software giant had played at its antitrust trial.
The company's videotaped demonstration, which Microsoft played last week, showed that rival Netscape's Navigator Web browser could be downloaded from America Online in several easy steps.
Today, Chase acknowledged that a counter demonstration video prepared by the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) accurately portrayed a more complicated download process that took between 30 minutes and an hour. Chase also conceded that the Microsoft video skipped over several steps in the procedure that computer users had to follow to download Navigator, including opening a folder to find the browser once the process was completed.
"One of the things you skipped was opening up this folder?" asked David Boies, the government's chief trial lawyer.
"That's correct," Chase said.
The government's video "accurately describes what it purports to describe?" Boies asked.
"It accurately shows the setup process, yes," Chase said.
The issue is important because it marked the third time that the government had successfully challenged a videotape demonstration by Microsoft. In two earlier episodes, Microsoft was forced to concede flaws in their demonstrations. In one instance, U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, said he was troubled by flaws in the presentation that raised questions about the reliability of the entire demonstration.
Chase today also apologized for inaccurately stating last week that the Netscape Navigator icon would appear on the computer user's desktop screen after the download was completed. In fact, users must click to a folder to find the icon, then move the icon to the desktop.
"I was incorrect, I apologize for that," Chase said, adding that most AOL users who download software from the Internet understand they have to go to the folder.
Microsoft had played its latest videotape in an attempt to show that downloading the Navigator browser was so easy that Netscape could easily distribute its rival product to users over the Internet. The video is intended to counter accusations Microsoft stifled competition from Netscape by making it harder for its rival to distribute its browser.
The government has presented evidence that Microsoft restricted how computer manufacturers and Internet service providers could promote Netscape. Microsoft argues the contracts that required distribution of its Internet Explorer Web browser were standard cross-promotional agreements that did not foreclose Netscape's ability to distribute Navigator.
Government uses Chase's email
Boies also showed Chase a November, 17, 1997 email the Microsoft vice president had written stating that Internet Explorer "has become too big to download" and the "set-up process is too hard for user to figure out."
The email also stated that "only a little more than half of the people" that download one application from Microsoft's Web site "end up installing the browser."
The government is trying to show that Microsoft understood that downloading large software programs like Web browsers was a difficult procedure. That would make it difficult for Netscape to distribute Navigator through installation on computers and would foreclose a key means of getting a product to customers.
Chase said the email contained overblown rhetoric. "It's sort of part of our culture to take strong, extreme positions in order to push people to get their attention." Besides, more up-to-date market figures showed that a much larger percentage of computer users ended up downloading the browsing software, he said.
Copyright 1999, Bloomberg L.P. All Rights Reserved.
They sell macs at Fry's? And further, the sales guy was trying to sell one? Ye Flipping Gods! Whats the world coming to?
And I think it's not only the PC people who ARE interested in macs, but those who specifically aren't interested as well. Maybe then, Apple would really know what they need to woo the "other 95%".
I wonder if something like this could be built small enough to integrate into my laptop, so the screen could radiate sound. It wouldn't take much to improve upon the tinny crap that comes built in, and with a lot of modern laptops being made of magnesium or titanium, I'd think that they're certainly rigid enough to be driven by one of these. Just a few more details from my rudimentary understanding of german:
Great alternative to headphones
Needs a metal plate, glass surface, or other similar surface
Can generate sound levels up to 75 dB
A group of people can listen to music, or a presenter can give a preso w/ a laptop without speakers!
weighs 180 grams 6.34 oz, or about the same as an iPod
http://www.soundbug.biz has some more info as well
Not to raise a stink, but I think of next generation as referring to a major change in system performance and design. For instance, the K7 was next generation from the K6's since the 700Mhz K7 was SIGNIFICANTLY better than a (albeit nonexistant) similarly clocked K6-III. It also involved a new processor core, socket, and a lot of hardware that we (at least for a while) couldn't get our hands on.
/.'ers either have or can get shipped to them by tomorrow. This is more like "This week's fastest processor" than "Next-Generation". I like hardware upgrades as much as the next geek, but when I read the title, I was suspecting something cooler than 50% increase in "Office Performance".
.013 seconds, whereas your puny PIII machine takes almost a tenth of a second!!!"
Tom Pabst over there is using some new hardware (basically some fatty P4's, and some juiced up RAMBUS), but his mobo, cards, software, etc, are all things that
"My reports repaginate in
I read constantly that bogomips are not a measure of processorspeed, absolute or relative, do not tranlslate into performance, and are only used to assign cache timing. Is there something beyond this that I'm missing? Why include a bogomips rating for this dual Xeon behemoth?
My understanding, from talking with film/camera people in my store is that Lucas et al will be adopting a streaming technology, so that the distribution costs are basically a one-time fee (laying down bandwidth), and due to the movie being streamed, it'd be "impossible" (as in, at least very difficult) to copy in digital format.