I work as a tech for a major midwestern university. Aside from offering a website with complete instructions, we published packets bundled with CDs that guide the students visually through the process of fixing Blaster and Welchia and installing Norton AntiVirus. With so many pictures in the guide we have yet to have anyone mess it up.
Perhaps two steps backward, one step forward; They might just be using more Windows software than open alternatives (using Linux only as a means of avoiding a $200/seat license fee) which sadly for them will be slooooooow.
Perhaps money intended to be allocated to preventing digital shoplifting would be best invested in or donated to libraries - the books are free to borrow and if there isn't a copy available, you either wait until it's returned or suck it up and buy the book. I mean sweet merciful crap - taking 1000 pictures in a readable quality (a quality you would WANT to read) would amount to like 700MB. That's a hella-expensive phone/camera/mailbox.
I have never had a damaging crash of any kind actually, even when running some rather buggy and/or demanding applications (Blackbaud and IIS come to mind). The key is to install the patches (just like in Linux), make sure you have f*ckin' rock-solid drivers, and dear jesus use a UPS. Try it - even though it costs money to run (oh, boo hoo $200 bucks...) it works with everything.
I've been running NT kernel based Windows versions for years. Say it with me now: sta-ble. And yes, I do use Linux. Just because you are for the open source cause you don't have to pull fallacies out of your ass.
I (through my parents primary accounts) have been using US Cellular phones for almost ten years. Recently I have become very disappointed in US Cellular's service. I had been promised features that never surfaced and have dealt with several crappy Motorola V120x phones not working. My most recent concern is this: With the creation of the National Do Not Call Registry, many people suspect that SMS spam will become a large problem for cellular phone users. I would like you to know that personally, if i get even the slightest amount of SMS spam, I will leave US Cellular without a thought and be on a Nextel contract like white on rice on a paper plate in a snowstorm. If however, I get no SMS spam, and (ideally) the feature that was once promised to me (the ability to send e-mail from my phone via SMS) is arranged, I will continue my faithful patronage of USCC. Thank you for any and all consideration.
My solution has been working brilliantly for my first year of college (I'm a chemistry major with a minor in microbiology/premedicine if it matters), and I intend to bring it back for my remaining years:
For class: an HP Jornada 680 (~200 - 300 bucks on eBay). Small enough to carry around in a book bag or even a large pocket, but large enough to have a bitchin' QWERTY keyboard that I can type on faster than most people can write with pen/paper. The only place pen/paper beats this thing is for illustrations, and palm pilots aren't any better. It's battery life (7 hours defaut, 13 hours with the top o' the line battery) completely decimates any x86 laptop on the market.
For home: a big honkin' PC. I spent $1000 on just the computer, and added my own monitor and peripherals. It has the horsepower to do graphics editing and I'm not hunched over a little laptop when I wanna play a LAN game with the whole floor of the dorm.
I opened up my hard drive casing and scoured the discs with a Brillo pad. Turns out that wasn't the best way to clean a HD. Next time I will read the article first.
Imagine if you could use RFID to your advantage though - anyone who has ever lost their keys can imagine the power of a personal database of small possessions that could be triangulated anywhere in the house or perhaps by a portable scanner. I spent 10 minutes today helping a friend search for her class ring in a bed of flowers. If she had a PDA that knew her ring's RFID and could triangulate its position, she wouldn't be calling the maker about a replacement plan.
Since so many pop-ups that appear when browsing major sites are stored on third party servers, it would seem that it would require more bandwidth on the part of the user that is viewing the page than the company that is serving the page. Sheesh.
As a poor, lazy college student with video games, drinking, trying to keep a long-distance high school residue relationship together, and keeping myself in honors standing in mind, I use XP and 2000 as much as possible. This is for several reasons:
1. I don't have the time to twist Linux's arm to make it work with my existing pile of hardware.
2. Our one Linux user (of ~28 computers total: 1 OS 9, 1 OS X, one Linux/2K dual boot, one god-awful copy of ME, and the remainder NT derivatives) on the floor is always late in joining games because he must boot into 2K before he can join us.
3. Much of the software used on campus and distributed in textbooks is written exclusively for Windows (with the exception of the Maple CAS) and I am not willing to sacrifice spectacular study aids to say that I am not feeding the Microsoft machine.
4. NT is stable. Period. Any difference between Linux and NT in terms of workstation stability on my level of use (fairly high) is negligible, and I have managed to crash both repeatedly.
5. When I allow someone to use my machine, I don't want to have to teach them a new OS; I want them to get their assignment done or get AIM images from their friends or whatever is necessary as quick as possible.
6. IMHO, the Linux desktop is not NEARLY in the same generation of development as its server.
Oh yeah and I'm a Chemistry Pre-Med major (everybody thinks I'm in CS) if it matters.
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I work as a tech for a major midwestern university. Aside from offering a website with complete instructions, we published packets bundled with CDs that guide the students visually through the process of fixing Blaster and Welchia and installing Norton AntiVirus. With so many pictures in the guide we have yet to have anyone mess it up.
It's $20 and produces smoke rings? Must be an eighth of...oh...nevermind it's a toy. :-P
"Where do my binary children go now?"
Either Binary District Elementary or Binary Memorial High School.
Perhaps two steps backward, one step forward; They might just be using more Windows software than open alternatives (using Linux only as a means of avoiding a $200/seat license fee) which sadly for them will be slooooooow.
Every copy of XP I've ever seen/used has had shadows, and I have never needed a special program to produce them.
Who could resist the soothing sound of nine case fans wirring in unison? mmmm...
Perhaps money intended to be allocated to preventing digital shoplifting would be best invested in or donated to libraries - the books are free to borrow and if there isn't a copy available, you either wait until it's returned or suck it up and buy the book. I mean sweet merciful crap - taking 1000 pictures in a readable quality (a quality you would WANT to read) would amount to like 700MB. That's a hella-expensive phone/camera/mailbox.
The last time I saw a curve and a star so close together was on a soviet propaganda flyer.
I have never had a damaging crash of any kind actually, even when running some rather buggy and/or demanding applications (Blackbaud and IIS come to mind). The key is to install the patches (just like in Linux), make sure you have f*ckin' rock-solid drivers, and dear jesus use a UPS. Try it - even though it costs money to run (oh, boo hoo $200 bucks...) it works with everything.
You said "crash" and "Linux" in the same sentence! Now /. is gonna have a week of Linuxnazis barking up poor Timothy's tree.
I've been running NT kernel based Windows versions for years. Say it with me now: sta-ble. And yes, I do use Linux. Just because you are for the open source cause you don't have to pull fallacies out of your ass.
I'd like to share my letter to US Cellular:
I (through my parents primary accounts) have been using US Cellular phones for almost ten years. Recently I have become very disappointed in US Cellular's service. I had been promised features that never surfaced and have dealt with several crappy Motorola V120x phones not working. My most recent concern is this: With the creation of the National Do Not Call Registry, many people suspect that SMS spam will become a large problem for cellular phone users. I would like you to know that personally, if i get even the slightest amount of SMS spam, I will leave US Cellular without a thought and be on a Nextel contract like white on rice on a paper plate in a snowstorm. If however, I get no SMS spam, and (ideally) the feature that was once promised to me (the ability to send e-mail from my phone via SMS) is arranged, I will continue my faithful patronage of USCC. Thank you for any and all consideration.
mmm...hate mail feels good...
My solution has been working brilliantly for my first year of college (I'm a chemistry major with a minor in microbiology/premedicine if it matters), and I intend to bring it back for my remaining years:
For class: an HP Jornada 680 (~200 - 300 bucks on eBay). Small enough to carry around in a book bag or even a large pocket, but large enough to have a bitchin' QWERTY keyboard that I can type on faster than most people can write with pen/paper. The only place pen/paper beats this thing is for illustrations, and palm pilots aren't any better. It's battery life (7 hours defaut, 13 hours with the top o' the line battery) completely decimates any x86 laptop on the market.
For home: a big honkin' PC. I spent $1000 on just the computer, and added my own monitor and peripherals. It has the horsepower to do graphics editing and I'm not hunched over a little laptop when I wanna play a LAN game with the whole floor of the dorm.
It works well. You should try it.
I opened up my hard drive casing and scoured the discs with a Brillo pad. Turns out that wasn't the best way to clean a HD. Next time I will read the article first.
Imagine if you could use RFID to your advantage though - anyone who has ever lost their keys can imagine the power of a personal database of small possessions that could be triangulated anywhere in the house or perhaps by a portable scanner. I spent 10 minutes today helping a friend search for her class ring in a bed of flowers. If she had a PDA that knew her ring's RFID and could triangulate its position, she wouldn't be calling the maker about a replacement plan.
Since so many pop-ups that appear when browsing major sites are stored on third party servers, it would seem that it would require more bandwidth on the part of the user that is viewing the page than the company that is serving the page. Sheesh.
I could have sworn that the last time I heard "phased array" and "4-mile radius" together in one sentence something in some movie blew up.
"It's that time again to do the thing we all love to do, compile your shiny new kernel."
*takes long drag*
WHOOOOOOA. that kernel is shiny.
As a poor, lazy college student with video games, drinking, trying to keep a long-distance high school residue relationship together, and keeping myself in honors standing in mind, I use XP and 2000 as much as possible. This is for several reasons: 1. I don't have the time to twist Linux's arm to make it work with my existing pile of hardware. 2. Our one Linux user (of ~28 computers total: 1 OS 9, 1 OS X, one Linux/2K dual boot, one god-awful copy of ME, and the remainder NT derivatives) on the floor is always late in joining games because he must boot into 2K before he can join us. 3. Much of the software used on campus and distributed in textbooks is written exclusively for Windows (with the exception of the Maple CAS) and I am not willing to sacrifice spectacular study aids to say that I am not feeding the Microsoft machine. 4. NT is stable. Period. Any difference between Linux and NT in terms of workstation stability on my level of use (fairly high) is negligible, and I have managed to crash both repeatedly. 5. When I allow someone to use my machine, I don't want to have to teach them a new OS; I want them to get their assignment done or get AIM images from their friends or whatever is necessary as quick as possible. 6. IMHO, the Linux desktop is not NEARLY in the same generation of development as its server. Oh yeah and I'm a Chemistry Pre-Med major (everybody thinks I'm in CS) if it matters.