Eastman-Kodak a good comparison? Pretty good/Apple
on
RIAA vs The Economy
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· Score: 1
Ah, but they too realized the benefits of technology too late. Fuji, their best comparison competitior is doing quite well, and not only slowly stealing film biz away but managing to gain a little in the digital camera arena too. You have to realize that Kodak has been in the digital camera market from the get go and COULD have made themselves a leader. Instead, they chose (at the beginning) to have NON expandable memory cameras with no LCDs while their competitor's innovated. Apple's first Quicktakes (100 and 150) were Kodak DC30 rebrands, then Apple noticed Fuji's MX5 Camera with LCD and expandable smartmedia, high res CCD and went with it for the Quicktake 200. Apple would have MUCH rather stayed with Kodak because they were self supporting. (Kodak cameras (to this day) use PowerPC processors.
This can be said the same for the RIAA? Apple/iTunes Music store may be technology too late to save the "P2P profit problem" They had their chance when Napster was at it's peak to at LEAST let Napster pay them something then work out details and payments as things progressed. Instead the RIAA stuck with the old fashioned way of getting money - lawyers!
Running Linux PPC then Mac On Linux allows me to run the Mac OS on my Apple Network Server allowing it's usefulness to be #1 on the list of:
Usefullness
Historical/Collectible value
Coolness factor (one of the coolest enclosures Apple has built
Hardware compliment
I have 5 36 gig 15K RPM SCSI HDs, 1 gig of interleaved RAM, the processor upgrade, a slot load DVD drive, and a CD Burner, + 4 multiport PCI ethernet cards and one I/O card on my ANS.
Linux PPC and Mac On Linux saved this beast from eBay.
Two days ago when I went to court for a parking ticket violation, I noticed one person before me was having "theft magnet fliers" used against him.
Apparently our police department, without knowledge to the public, patrols condo and high end apartments placing fliers that say,
"Your car is attracting theft for the following reasons:
Your doors are unsecure, unlocked, convertible top down
You have _________ in plain view
You do not have a security system
Your custom _________ is unsecure
You have items on your porch that may attract theft
A note from the Greenville County Police Department"
At first, you think this sounds great. "I'm glad the police are patrolling and keeping me safe" Well, in this case, the man's insurance company wasn't going to pay because the police department apparently writes down your license information when they place a flier on your car. IF you do call to report a break-in that information is added to the police report that is sent to your insurance company when you go to make a claim.
To bring this back to topic. There are many things that we have to be aware of when we purchase with anonimity or use things that can be traced to us (IE car through license plate) This is one reason I like to try to get records of any traceable thing I have (credit cards, license, email, phone, local police, BBB report, eBay, etc) every 3 years. ( I have a list of 25 sources that collect information about me and a form letter I use to request information)
I was surprised to find out a couple weeks ago that the post office even has a rap sheet on me. (Rude to desk clerks, mailing in improper boxes, mailing improper rate)
Without trying to instill FUD, just be aware of how FREE you are and how FREE you are not in a trackable, traceable with seamless technology society.
Exactly, and you can also argue with paper as they did in the presidential election about "improperly punched chads".
Womever you wanted to win or thought should win, the recount was unconstitutional in the way it was ordered. It was also unfairly counted because anything that had an "improperly" punched chad was disgarded, which tended be more Bush votes discarded. (Not that I wanted either side to become victorious down to such an infantile issue.)
The real reliability = "Integrity and Honesty of the System"... unfortunately that will never be 100% - I think computerized voting with printouts (like an ATM receipt) of each vote and then the voter taking that vote and placing it in a ballot box. If a hand recount needs to take place you can do so.
Carl Sagan wasn't really respected in the fields of science as many would like for us to believe. He had popular "propoganda" like shows on PBS more to promote his books than anything. The movie "Contact" gave him a little recognition only because the movie was made believable (and bias I might add)
Most scientists will tell you the Carl Sagan coined phrase "If just one in a Billion, then one in that billion...." isn't plausible. (More logical fallacy) Most TRUELY academic scientists will tell you there seems to be "some" evidence of a creator or at the very least a "lottery for life". So, the chances are actually incalculable. Lottery = your chances in getting picked out the pool may be one in a million, but your chances of picking the right number on the right day and being that one in a million are impossible odds. Then you have the odds of actually claiming your prize and meeting the eligibility/legitimacy of the prize.
Amino acids, planet size, PRECISE planetary evolution, distance from a sun, atmosphere, OTHER life, moons and magnetic/gravtational forces all contribute to life existing. Not a single scientists has been able to prove 100% that life exists elsewhere, only propoganda and conjecture.
But I think he does make a good point. The whole "megahertz myth" presentation at MacWorld 2001 was about pipeline stages in the PCC being shorter = the main difference in speed between PPC and all other types of processors, even other RISC processors.
IBM has also had part in the hard drives from the beginning. Many of the 40/80 and 160MB drives in LCs were IBM. The RAM in MANY of the 6100's and 7100's was IBM branded memory. ViaVoice was created specifically for Macs in an enhanced version.
I suppose you have to look at it this way. Microsoft makes Office, it's PC app, for the Mac. Obviously, because it makes money to add to the bottom line. The mac may sell less volume, but also sells more licensed copies to the base. (More Mac people can afford it or work in "license related fields") It's only smart business sense to make products for you and your competition. It's called "hidden market share"
I read some time back that that a move like this costs the taxpayer/letter sender close to 200 MILLION everytime we change the currency (stamp machines in postoffices) and that it costs companies like Coca Cola several BILLION to change over or update their machines. It makes me think of the motive. Is it the vending machine industry or anti counterfeiting / retailers lobby?
Moves like this reak of the Sopranos. The same people that make vending/coin change machines also make lottery ticket distribution and numbering systems and slot machines!!
If the vending industry were smart they'd be lobbying for money readers REQUIRED to accept cash at retail that would authenticate bills and serial numbers OR going to plastic/mark of the beast I suppose would solve the whole thing;)
Speaking of Catherine Zeta Jones - I think the movie Chicago proves this whole ratio thing wrong. It was an EXCELLENT movie 60% music 10% plot 10% Comedy 10% Action 10% sex/romance
Here's the actual formula for a good movie:
Great visuals (set designers, hair dressers, costuming)
Great visuals (Special effects to a level of realistic integration)
Great talent (not just actor clout, but role accuracy)
Great music (john williams, danny elfman, or james newton howard, or fosse) Background Music made Jaws scarey, background music made the first Star Wars and Gone With The Wind emotional. and...
MEMORABLE writing (good writing has memorable lines) Remember Looney Tunes are only a masterpiece of cartoon art because of the lines each character were noted for (+ all the other elements mentioned)
Arnold Swartzenager and Keanu Reeves CAN make great movies under this formula. Total Recall.... Matrix
I really think Sony missed a golden opportunity with Connectix Virtual Game Station. (I think Apple missed the boat too.) As Apple seems to be trying to get "Mac Onlyness" to the computer user, I think this would have been a perfect "switch reason". (A built in Playstation emulator) This program opened up a vast game title to the Mac and did so legally. The fact that it was Mac Only was the driving force behind my purchasing another Apple laptop instead of a desktop as my main machine.
Virtual Gamestation was flawless with the emulation it provided. It was in most ways superior to the Playstation before the PS2 came out. Before most games started being Playstation II only, I already had a transportable DVD Mp3 playing, Playstation game playing unit in my PowerBook G3 500, upgraded to 900Mhz now with 768megs of RAM and a 32x CDRW/DVD combo drive.
I was hoping that Sony would make PCI cards or even PCMCIA cards that would would compliment software emulation.
All said, I'm very content playing Intelligent Qube and Puzzle Fighter on my PowerBook on Airplane trips with the Gravis Gamepad that was just a "PSX controller with a USB connection."
Common misconceptions about commodities&RAM
on
DRAM Price Fixing
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· Score: 3, Insightful
I think there are common misconceptions:
A) Memory is NOT a commodity at least by definition - nor is it a service. I DO think it should be listed on stock markets as such though. I think DRAM, a "combined finished product", would have to be rewritten as a raw material.
I think if there were this type of regulation, rather than regulation on small arms of companies like Samsung, there would be more stabilization.
Contrary to what the article makes it seem like though, I think RAM has been VERY reasonable, it has also been been a help to a partial turn around in PC sales over the past 2 years, by helping margins.
There are also a lot of companies producing RAM, at least more than enough for capatilist competition. I can name at least 6 seperate manufacturers off the top of my head. We don't see the same problem in industries where there is less competition. ( Samsung, Hyundai, Motorola, Kingston, Centon(Kbyte) PNY )
2)The area of concentration for price fixing shouldn't be DRAM it should be FlashRAM. As far as I can tell, this type of RAM is outselling DRAM at this point. (If someone could post a link to comparisons it would be appreciated) I haven't seen compareable Flash RAM decreases. The interesting thing about Flash RAM is that it appears to be cheaper to make and easier to sell. There are also LOTS of competition. Most people can't see through the gimmicky 30x 70x flash RAM, and most don't buy into the Kingston, Viking theory of better RAM. (Novices will not attribute their computer problems to bad RAM they got for $10 after rebate)
IF RAM were made a commodity you'd see it traded like crude oil. Venezuelan and British oil do better because of the refining process. The "clear gas" at Amoco really is better than than the gas from Texaco! The RAM from Kingston really is better than the RAM from KByte.
I have been servicing an Apple IIe that is used at the Lamaster Dairy at Clemson University's Ag Department for 5 years now. (They have had it since 1983) - It is tied in to a bell that rings twice a day. Cows will come in to get milked, it controls a gate to close in behind them when 10 cows have walked over a pressure plate at the front of the building. It then measures the volume of the milk production. All, created by students long ago and uses a super serial card. It's been the same reliable system for almost 20 years. It does it's job and is STILL more modern the majority of milking places I have seen (Ummm.. haven't seen but 3 and that's more than 90% of you I'm sure)
I have serviced this system twice, but only cleaning and optimizing (as much as I could, and transferring the programs to new disks) - At one point, I was going to switch the whole system to an LCIII with an Apple IIe emulation card - the professor in charge said, "Why upgrade for such degrading work?"
I am also an advocate for schools keeping their IIe's to use for teaching. The Apple IIe had GREAT learning software, especially for Math like the Addison Wesley How To series. Again, why spend Taxpayer money when kids will enjoy it. Kids should be tought in an enriching environment not in a rich environment.
I would definately be ready for both. While it costs more - you may want to get a certified wiring/network planner to plan out your "technology" - to sort out interference concerns. In your research, I'd be looking that up more than anything else.
I discovered that I had to unplug my Apple Airport Base Station AND my 802.11 printer adapter ANY time I wanted to use my wireless speakers because they interfered with each other (both on the 2.4Ghz channel) = there was a pop in the audio with 802.11 on
Also nearby wireless cameras make a difference as do nearby phones. Plan for hardwired phones to be near basestations OR get a different spectrum phone like a 5 Ghz phone
I have also discovered that Bluetooth interferes with my Logitech mouse working - so it's good to do some small testing just so everything will work everywhere.
Also, make sure the general area of your "brains and bulk" to your computer is located opposite from your kitchen as it is the area in MOST houses that draws the most amount of electricity and the microwave can cause interference too.
For internet, I have been personally recommending to my newest customers that they not have a landline phone period and just use a cell as a home phone (there are adapters availible that allow you to use all the phones in a house with a cell phone) - or potentially use a VoIP phone - use eFax for faxes. Get broadband.
I agree with the decision because the eBay user agreement states that everyone owns there own feedback comments.
However, while there are places like SquareTrade that remove feedback, I still find eBay's policy of NOT removing libellous comments irresponsible at best.
As a seller on eBay for more than 5 years, now with more than 1500 feedback comments (99.2% positive), I have felt every negative for WEEKS! after I have gotten them; getting emails about what went wrong, etc etc. I also KNOW LOTS of eBayers will peruse through feedback, even with my high rating and look for my one or two negatives. Where this really comes into play is if the buyer is a problematic or habitual complainer, they will use your previous negatives as ammo against you to say, "See, you have a past of poor service" (Not that I experience that many problems) Just, it seems the last two negatives I have gotten as an excuse to justify the poster's poor communication skills.
I wish eBay had a trade sytem, like exchange 1000 positives for 1 negative once a year. OR I wish they would institute a system that makes it as diificult to leave a negative as it is to apply for an auction fees listing credit. Like; post, wait 10 days before it ACTUALLY posts to the other account, in the meantime, seller/buyer are warned of the potential of the negative comment, on the 10th day negative poster can choose to return to eBay and finalize the comment. This gives oppotunity to work something out.
A lot of job hiring and technology is being centered on SPAM right now. Lots of companies are hiring security experts not just to combat hacking but most IT Security job descriptions now include "mail security and continuity"
What's even more ironic about this boom and kind of scarey to me is the same companies that are producing SPAM security/prevention software are also (a few) producing mass mailing software that tricks sendmail. SPAM advertisers are hiring lots of IT people right now, particularly in Texas, from what I can see on hotjobs.com
1) To avoid petty police officers singling you out (especially if you are out of state).. that is a legit legal reason
2) You should be able to have it because the GOVERNMENT does NOT own the road (taxpayers do) and they certainly don't own your car. They also do not have the right without warrant (probable cause) to interfere with or search your car. (Just because a police officer isn't searching your car, rather an electronic "detector", it is STILL an illegal search.
3)Most radar I know I of that are sold today also have the emergency alert - a legal reason to own a radar detector.
This goes back to my original post - the recording industry and movie industry have YET to prove TO ME that I am breaking law and have probable cause to search and confiscate things on my computer or things that I own.
Virginia and a few other states I know of ban radar detectors. To me, that is an invasion of privacy. A radar detector isn't necessarily used to "break the law" but everyone is guilty of exceeding the speed limit on a daily basis- same as a download of an MP3 isn't ALWAYS breaking the law and lots of people do it on a daily basis.
One thing I really wish the RIAA and MPAA would SERIOUSLY crack down on and even make REWARD laws to police departments is Flea Markets. My local flea markets are FULL of people selling knockoffs and CDRs of both movies and say 50 cent/Eminem. And yes these people ARE different than file sharers because they are PURPOSELY trying to make money off of someone else's work. They are NOT sharing it without financial gain as "napster/kazaa users do".
Rather than privacy intrusive laws like the article mentions and really even as DMCA is, I wish states would consider the battle more local and leave the organizations out of it. Instead, be more concerned for the taxable commerce in their state.
I have always been concerned when the corporate world feels like they have the right to justice on their own without the law. Cable companies, Music companies, Movie companies (most are all 3) are beginning to be able to carry out vigilante justice on the public.
One who wants to make a lot of money - they can use your arguement of "unwillingness/concious" as a bargaining chip. Encrytion/security/privacy companies are THRIVING in Silicon Valley right now. It's quite ironic though. The same companies that are pushing these "types" of software to the RIAA are also the same companies producing virus/spam filtering/security software industry wide.
I have noticed that in several of the MGM cartoons, particularly Tex Avery cartoons on the Cartoon Network and now distributed on video, that scenes where Spike or another "dog character" or the wolf have a bomb explode near their face; are editted. I have the original Screwball Classics on VHS and trust me 2 minutes are editted out of modern "re-airs" cartoons due to this.
Only the ones that don't depict the "character" appearing like a "black sambo" have been left in. All explosions that result in a pig tail with bow dread loche look with big africanus nose and africanus lips have been removed due to political correctness.
This is similar to the editting in my opinion that Steven Speilberg did by replacing guns with bats in the special edition of ET.
The only thing I see wrong with what the article mentioned is that teens sometimes wear these things (porn Flintstones and such) on T Shirts. It's not the webmasters we should be after, it's Spencers and Gadzooks, and Hot Topic for promoting the bastardization of cartoon characters.
One of the things I suppose validated (for Steve Wozniak) the Apple I and lives on in the iPod is the game; breakout.
But, how old is Visicalc for the Apple II IIe or even I - wasn't it the first app for the Apple or maybe Turtle?
I believe the date for these programs would be 1977. (Visicalc 1979)
I know of several college professors at Clemson that use Apple IIe's for milk volume analysis and "calling" the cows in for milking at the Lamaster dairy Agricultural arm of Clemson too. I also know one professor that still uses VisiCalc.
I couldn't tell (even by reading the link) if this for nominating real robots and their inventors or hollywood robots. It just says real or fictional.
This is an often overlooked movie... check it out.
Other fictional robots are Robbie from Forbidden planet and the spiders from Minority Report.
Companies are already doing this ...
on
Brain Privacy
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· Score: 2, Interesting
I remember a while back (10-12 years ago) I applied for a job at Toys R Us. For that job, I had to fill out a lengthy multiple choice survey. A question was asked 3 different ways at 3 seperate points during the survey.
A question like:
A Customer is demanding they get their money back for a product we don't carry or that will not scan. You
A) Da da da da
B) Da da do da
or
C) Da da de da
This was clearly a personality test as some of the questions had no "wrong answers" with some choices seeming better. But better to who?
I was told at the beginning of the survey, the answers had NO bearing on my employment chances. If it didn't, why administrate it?
And while this may get this post moderated "funny" I also have this point to make:
Companies like CompUSA make you go through a ridiculous "smile for the customer course". I beleive it's intent was two fold. One, to test to see if an applicant would be driven into a psychotic state. Two, to alert management to "moldable corporate clones".
The training at CompUSA was over two weeks and touched on subjects like greeting customers and asking specific questions. I consider a lot of the training like this; if you don't know how to sell, or you were not born with the ability to sell (some aren't) then CompUSA is not the job for you. I do agree with training. But to tell people they need to sell at CompUSA by Mary Lou Retton (I kid you not) that you are part of the "Winning Team" with a twinkling smile is absurd and belittling. I really do consider this type of training a "personality test" with a twist.
I am sure that some jobs use training and other subliminal ways to test personality. While not a job, isn't this what Sororities and Fraternities do as initiatiations?
Special drives / software for the Mac ...
on
High Density CDs
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· Score: 4, Informative
Personally, I'm going to miss Yamaha now that they've gone bye bye with their Disc@2 labelling laser drives. has anyone heard if they plan to license or sell that technology?
Eventhough a novelty, it did allow me to personalize CDRs like business cards.
The new Plextor mentioned in the article sounds interesting. I wonder if I can access that feature on a Mac?
I know there's this program for OS X to overburn Firestarter - I use it often.
Hopefully, Roxio will make it availible in the next version of Toast.
As a note, firmware on optical drives, especially DVDs is risky due to region coding. If the firmware goes slightly wrong your region could get messed up. I know on the Mac you just reset open firmware and that usually takes care of that.
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This can be said the same for the RIAA? Apple/iTunes Music store may be technology too late to save the "P2P profit problem" They had their chance when Napster was at it's peak to at LEAST let Napster pay them something then work out details and payments as things progressed. Instead the RIAA stuck with the old fashioned way of getting money - lawyers!
Usefullness
Historical/Collectible value
Coolness factor (one of the coolest enclosures Apple has built
Hardware compliment
I have 5 36 gig 15K RPM SCSI HDs, 1 gig of interleaved RAM, the processor upgrade, a slot load DVD drive, and a CD Burner, + 4 multiport PCI ethernet cards and one I/O card on my ANS.
Linux PPC and Mac On Linux saved this beast from eBay.
*for what's it's worth the ANS at the time it shipped could only run AIX until Linux PPC was able to come out with hacks to make it disregard the boot kernel.
Apparently our police department, without knowledge to the public, patrols condo and high end apartments placing fliers that say,
"Your car is attracting theft for the following reasons:
Your doors are unsecure, unlocked, convertible top down
You have _________ in plain view
You do not have a security system
Your custom _________ is unsecure
You have items on your porch that may attract theft
A note from the Greenville County Police Department"
At first, you think this sounds great. "I'm glad the police are patrolling and keeping me safe" Well, in this case, the man's insurance company wasn't going to pay because the police department apparently writes down your license information when they place a flier on your car. IF you do call to report a break-in that information is added to the police report that is sent to your insurance company when you go to make a claim.
To bring this back to topic. There are many things that we have to be aware of when we purchase with anonimity or use things that can be traced to us (IE car through license plate) This is one reason I like to try to get records of any traceable thing I have (credit cards, license, email, phone, local police, BBB report, eBay, etc) every 3 years. ( I have a list of 25 sources that collect information about me and a form letter I use to request information)
I was surprised to find out a couple weeks ago that the post office even has a rap sheet on me. (Rude to desk clerks, mailing in improper boxes, mailing improper rate)
Without trying to instill FUD, just be aware of how FREE you are and how FREE you are not in a trackable, traceable with seamless technology society.
Womever you wanted to win or thought should win, the recount was unconstitutional in the way it was ordered. It was also unfairly counted because anything that had an "improperly" punched chad was disgarded, which tended be more Bush votes discarded. (Not that I wanted either side to become victorious down to such an infantile issue.)
The real reliability = "Integrity and Honesty of the System" ... unfortunately that will never be 100% - I think computerized voting with printouts (like an ATM receipt) of each vote and then the voter taking that vote and placing it in a ballot box. If a hand recount needs to take place you can do so.
Actually he wrote it down in the book "Contact" and Jodie Foster used it in one of her "dramatic moments"
Carl Sagan wasn't really respected in the fields of science as many would like for us to believe. He had popular "propoganda" like shows on PBS more to promote his books than anything. The movie "Contact" gave him a little recognition only because the movie was made believable (and bias I might add)
Most scientists will tell you the Carl Sagan coined phrase "If just one in a Billion, then one in that billion...." isn't plausible. (More logical fallacy) Most TRUELY academic scientists will tell you there seems to be "some" evidence of a creator or at the very least a "lottery for life". So, the chances are actually incalculable. Lottery = your chances in getting picked out the pool may be one in a million, but your chances of picking the right number on the right day and being that one in a million are impossible odds. Then you have the odds of actually claiming your prize and meeting the eligibility/legitimacy of the prize.
Amino acids, planet size, PRECISE planetary evolution, distance from a sun, atmosphere, OTHER life, moons and magnetic/gravtational forces all contribute to life existing. Not a single scientists has been able to prove 100% that life exists elsewhere, only propoganda and conjecture.
But I think he does make a good point. The whole "megahertz myth" presentation at MacWorld 2001 was about pipeline stages in the PCC being shorter = the main difference in speed between PPC and all other types of processors, even other RISC processors.
Whatever!!! Postal machines take 20's some take 50's - all machines in big cities I know of take 2o's because a 20oz Coke is $3
Moves like this reak of the Sopranos. The same people that make vending/coin change machines also make lottery ticket distribution and numbering systems and slot machines!!
If the vending industry were smart they'd be lobbying for money readers REQUIRED to accept cash at retail that would authenticate bills and serial numbers OR going to plastic/mark of the beast I suppose would solve the whole thing ;)
Speaking of Catherine Zeta Jones - I think the movie Chicago proves this whole ratio thing wrong. It was an EXCELLENT movie 60% music 10% plot 10% Comedy 10% Action 10% sex/romance
...
.... Matrix
Here's the actual formula for a good movie:
Great visuals (set designers, hair dressers, costuming)
Great visuals (Special effects to a level of realistic integration)
Great talent (not just actor clout, but role accuracy)
Great music (john williams, danny elfman, or james newton howard, or fosse) Background Music made Jaws scarey, background music made the first Star Wars and Gone With The Wind emotional. and
MEMORABLE writing (good writing has memorable lines) Remember Looney Tunes are only a masterpiece of cartoon art because of the lines each character were noted for (+ all the other elements mentioned)
Arnold Swartzenager and Keanu Reeves CAN make great movies under this formula. Total Recall
There's no certain percentage.
Virtual Gamestation was flawless with the emulation it provided. It was in most ways superior to the Playstation before the PS2 came out. Before most games started being Playstation II only, I already had a transportable DVD Mp3 playing, Playstation game playing unit in my PowerBook G3 500, upgraded to 900Mhz now with 768megs of RAM and a 32x CDRW/DVD combo drive.
I was really hoping at the time Connectix faced legal concerns with Sony, that Apple would step in and co liscense it and just add the emulation to the Mac OS. After reading the article about Virtual PC , many wished Apple would have done the same thing with it or a program called Boch's.
I was hoping that Sony would make PCI cards or even PCMCIA cards that would would compliment software emulation.
All said, I'm very content playing Intelligent Qube and Puzzle Fighter on my PowerBook on Airplane trips with the Gravis Gamepad that was just a "PSX controller with a USB connection."
A) Memory is NOT a commodity at least by definition - nor is it a service. I DO think it should be listed on stock markets as such though. I think DRAM, a "combined finished product", would have to be rewritten as a raw material. I think if there were this type of regulation, rather than regulation on small arms of companies like Samsung, there would be more stabilization. Contrary to what the article makes it seem like though, I think RAM has been VERY reasonable, it has also been been a help to a partial turn around in PC sales over the past 2 years, by helping margins.
There are also a lot of companies producing RAM, at least more than enough for capatilist competition. I can name at least 6 seperate manufacturers off the top of my head. We don't see the same problem in industries where there is less competition. ( Samsung, Hyundai, Motorola, Kingston, Centon(Kbyte) PNY )
2)The area of concentration for price fixing shouldn't be DRAM it should be FlashRAM. As far as I can tell, this type of RAM is outselling DRAM at this point. (If someone could post a link to comparisons it would be appreciated) I haven't seen compareable Flash RAM decreases. The interesting thing about Flash RAM is that it appears to be cheaper to make and easier to sell. There are also LOTS of competition. Most people can't see through the gimmicky 30x 70x flash RAM, and most don't buy into the Kingston, Viking theory of better RAM. (Novices will not attribute their computer problems to bad RAM they got for $10 after rebate)
IF RAM were made a commodity you'd see it traded like crude oil. Venezuelan and British oil do better because of the refining process. The "clear gas" at Amoco really is better than than the gas from Texaco! The RAM from Kingston really is better than the RAM from KByte.
I have been servicing an Apple IIe that is used at the Lamaster Dairy at Clemson University's Ag Department for 5 years now. (They have had it since 1983) - It is tied in to a bell that rings twice a day. Cows will come in to get milked, it controls a gate to close in behind them when 10 cows have walked over a pressure plate at the front of the building. It then measures the volume of the milk production. All, created by students long ago and uses a super serial card. It's been the same reliable system for almost 20 years. It does it's job and is STILL more modern the majority of milking places I have seen (Ummm.. haven't seen but 3 and that's more than 90% of you I'm sure)
I have serviced this system twice, but only cleaning and optimizing (as much as I could, and transferring the programs to new disks) - At one point, I was going to switch the whole system to an LCIII with an Apple IIe emulation card - the professor in charge said, "Why upgrade for such degrading work?"
I am also an advocate for schools keeping their IIe's to use for teaching. The Apple IIe had GREAT learning software, especially for Math like the Addison Wesley How To series. Again, why spend Taxpayer money when kids will enjoy it. Kids should be tought in an enriching environment not in a rich environment.
I discovered that I had to unplug my Apple Airport Base Station AND my 802.11 printer adapter ANY time I wanted to use my wireless speakers because they interfered with each other (both on the 2.4Ghz channel) = there was a pop in the audio with 802.11 on
Also nearby wireless cameras make a difference as do nearby phones. Plan for hardwired phones to be near basestations OR get a different spectrum phone like a 5 Ghz phone
I have also discovered that Bluetooth interferes with my Logitech mouse working - so it's good to do some small testing just so everything will work everywhere.
Also, make sure the general area of your "brains and bulk" to your computer is located opposite from your kitchen as it is the area in MOST houses that draws the most amount of electricity and the microwave can cause interference too.
For internet, I have been personally recommending to my newest customers that they not have a landline phone period and just use a cell as a home phone (there are adapters availible that allow you to use all the phones in a house with a cell phone) - or potentially use a VoIP phone - use eFax for faxes. Get broadband.
However, while there are places like SquareTrade that remove feedback, I still find eBay's policy of NOT removing libellous comments irresponsible at best.
As a seller on eBay for more than 5 years, now with more than 1500 feedback comments (99.2% positive), I have felt every negative for WEEKS! after I have gotten them; getting emails about what went wrong, etc etc. I also KNOW LOTS of eBayers will peruse through feedback, even with my high rating and look for my one or two negatives. Where this really comes into play is if the buyer is a problematic or habitual complainer, they will use your previous negatives as ammo against you to say, "See, you have a past of poor service" (Not that I experience that many problems) Just, it seems the last two negatives I have gotten as an excuse to justify the poster's poor communication skills.
I wish eBay had a trade sytem, like exchange 1000 positives for 1 negative once a year. OR I wish they would institute a system that makes it as diificult to leave a negative as it is to apply for an auction fees listing credit. Like; post, wait 10 days before it ACTUALLY posts to the other account, in the meantime, seller/buyer are warned of the potential of the negative comment, on the 10th day negative poster can choose to return to eBay and finalize the comment. This gives oppotunity to work something out.
What's even more ironic about this boom and kind of scarey to me is the same companies that are producing SPAM security/prevention software are also (a few) producing mass mailing software that tricks sendmail. SPAM advertisers are hiring lots of IT people right now, particularly in Texas, from what I can see on hotjobs.com
2) You should be able to have it because the GOVERNMENT does NOT own the road (taxpayers do) and they certainly don't own your car. They also do not have the right without warrant (probable cause) to interfere with or search your car. (Just because a police officer isn't searching your car, rather an electronic "detector", it is STILL an illegal search.
3)Most radar I know I of that are sold today also have the emergency alert - a legal reason to own a radar detector.
This goes back to my original post - the recording industry and movie industry have YET to prove TO ME that I am breaking law and have probable cause to search and confiscate things on my computer or things that I own.
One thing I really wish the RIAA and MPAA would SERIOUSLY crack down on and even make REWARD laws to police departments is Flea Markets. My local flea markets are FULL of people selling knockoffs and CDRs of both movies and say 50 cent/Eminem. And yes these people ARE different than file sharers because they are PURPOSELY trying to make money off of someone else's work. They are NOT sharing it without financial gain as "napster/kazaa users do".
Rather than privacy intrusive laws like the article mentions and really even as DMCA is, I wish states would consider the battle more local and leave the organizations out of it. Instead, be more concerned for the taxable commerce in their state.
I have always been concerned when the corporate world feels like they have the right to justice on their own without the law. Cable companies, Music companies, Movie companies (most are all 3) are beginning to be able to carry out vigilante justice on the public.
One who wants to make a lot of money - they can use your arguement of "unwillingness/concious" as a bargaining chip. Encrytion/security/privacy companies are THRIVING in Silicon Valley right now. It's quite ironic though. The same companies that are pushing these "types" of software to the RIAA are also the same companies producing virus/spam filtering/security software industry wide.
Only the ones that don't depict the "character" appearing like a "black sambo" have been left in. All explosions that result in a pig tail with bow dread loche look with big africanus nose and africanus lips have been removed due to political correctness.
This is similar to the editting in my opinion that Steven Speilberg did by replacing guns with bats in the special edition of ET.
The only thing I see wrong with what the article mentioned is that teens sometimes wear these things (porn Flintstones and such) on T Shirts. It's not the webmasters we should be after, it's Spencers and Gadzooks, and Hot Topic for promoting the bastardization of cartoon characters.
But, how old is Visicalc for the Apple II IIe or even I - wasn't it the first app for the Apple or maybe Turtle?
I believe the date for these programs would be 1977. (Visicalc 1979)
I know of several college professors at Clemson that use Apple IIe's for milk volume analysis and "calling" the cows in for milking at the Lamaster dairy Agricultural arm of Clemson too. I also know one professor that still uses VisiCalc.
Heartbeeps
I couldn't tell (even by reading the link) if this for nominating real robots and their inventors or hollywood robots. It just says real or fictional.
This is an often overlooked movie ... check it out.
Other fictional robots are Robbie from Forbidden planet and the spiders from Minority Report.
A question like:
A Customer is demanding they get their money back for a product we don't carry or that will not scan. You
A) Da da da da
B) Da da do da
or
C) Da da de da
This was clearly a personality test as some of the questions had no "wrong answers" with some choices seeming better. But better to who?
I was told at the beginning of the survey, the answers had NO bearing on my employment chances. If it didn't, why administrate it?
And while this may get this post moderated "funny" I also have this point to make:
Companies like CompUSA make you go through a ridiculous "smile for the customer course". I beleive it's intent was two fold. One, to test to see if an applicant would be driven into a psychotic state. Two, to alert management to "moldable corporate clones".
The training at CompUSA was over two weeks and touched on subjects like greeting customers and asking specific questions. I consider a lot of the training like this; if you don't know how to sell, or you were not born with the ability to sell (some aren't) then CompUSA is not the job for you. I do agree with training. But to tell people they need to sell at CompUSA by Mary Lou Retton (I kid you not) that you are part of the "Winning Team" with a twinkling smile is absurd and belittling. I really do consider this type of training a "personality test" with a twist.
I am sure that some jobs use training and other subliminal ways to test personality. While not a job, isn't this what Sororities and Fraternities do as initiatiations?
Eventhough a novelty, it did allow me to personalize CDRs like business cards.
The new Plextor mentioned in the article sounds interesting. I wonder if I can access that feature on a Mac?
I know there's this program for OS X to overburn Firestarter - I use it often.
Hopefully, Roxio will make it availible in the next version of Toast.
As a note, firmware on optical drives, especially DVDs is risky due to region coding. If the firmware goes slightly wrong your region could get messed up. I know on the Mac you just reset open firmware and that usually takes care of that.