Maybe not "flash drives", but solid state erasable memory did in many formats like EAROM, EEPROM, UVEPROM etc.
In the early-mid 1980s, the company I worked for had designed their own sound effects boards for use on flight and vehicle simulators with digitised copies of real sounds in EPROM.
The lab trick was to rig up a tank gunnery board to a speaker behind someone's desk and let them have it when they sat down!
Things have certainly changed over time and I do not think manufacturers are as consistent (quality-wise) now between models as they used to be; I think it's the continuous rush to bring out new designs to compete with, or better, the opposition - but to generalise:
Sony: Do not sneeze near them. I stay clear of them. My wife was captivated by a VGN-2S a few years back due to its lightweight design, and despite my warnings she bought it. It was back for repair within the month with a failed screen AND motherboard fault.
Dell: Overheating was always a problem.
Toshiba: Generally quite rugged with a few 'sensitive' models.
Acer: Quite reliable and well priced.
IBM: Solid - some too solid (heavy)
Compaq: Non eventful.
Overall, I'd say that I lean towards Acer - I've personally had: Extensa 355, Travelmate 600, Travelmate 240, Travelmate 3500 and now moved on to an Aspire One Netbook (running Linux) as I am not on the road as much now. All models are still running - albeit the 355 is well obsolete now! Loved the TM600 (PIII-600)
Nope - you've missed the point: we serviced pretty much all the main brands as a manufacturer-approved centre (fully trained staff, mandatory attendance at training classes, inventoried tooling & spares stock etc.) and the volume of Sonys that came in for repairs due to 'mystery' or 'non-user induced' faults (eg: not because the user dropped the laptop) was significantly higher than other brands.
...possibly true for hifi, TVs etc., but having once worked for a Sony laptop repair shop I can say that the evidence suggests they have never really perfected the art of laptop design - bits fall off, break, or the system boards/screens develop early life failures.
We used to repair Sony, Toshiba, Dell, Compaq, IBM etc. and he Sonys were the worse for 'it just happened' faults as opposed to 'I dropped it' or disk failures etc.
Forgot to add: This reminds me of a cartoon I saw perhaps 10-15 years ago; a potential employee is being shown around by a Manager. The caption read something like:
"Of course, we like to treat everyone here as individuals - for example, this is individual #64881"
The ring could always be upgraded with an additional core, a co-ring or a front-end ring to give the extra capacity required. Alternatively, they could run a copy of the ring on a virtual finger.
One final possibility is to switch the larger unit for a thinner client.
Two of us support 30 veterinary clinics, a diagnostics lab and an animal hospital. There's about 180 staff and 100 computers. Due to acquisitions we run a mix of OSs in the clinics from NT4 to Vista. 25 sites have their own Win2K servers and due to the bespoke nature of the clinic software, we have the servers covered by a contract with the software house. Most staff spend their time in the Practice Management Apps, checking email (Outlook or Thunderbird), On the Intranet (Firefox) or drafting letters/checking clinic stats (OpenOffice for the general staff, MS Office 2003 for the Managers because Oo's spreadsheet could not cope with some of the macros in the Management sheets).
For infrastructure services (email, Intranet,data mining, inter-site backups, VoIP, video security and SMS messaging (appointment reminders)), we have 9 Linux servers at various locations.
As many posters have pointed out, there's no magic formula for planning IT Support numbers - especially when you move outside a 'cosy' corporate environment.
Our biggest hassle is interfacing with the authors of one of the clinic apps as their support quality is abysmal. The Linux servers give us the least trouble, the bespoke software/Win2K servers the most - mainly due to one apps' poor implementation of data replication, which is always going wrong.
Some users have noticed a slight rosy color hue on their new Microsoft(TM) MVLB (MakeVistaLookBetter) displays. This is a design feature, but users who have downgraded their computer systems to vastly inferior Operating Systems (Windows XP or Lin.. [MSKb Editor: REMOVED - Mention that and you're sacked]) may wish to obtain MVLB Service Pack 1 to re-balance the colors to a more natural 'look-and-feel'.
Article ID : 45888372 Last Review : July 25, 2008 Revision : 1.0
SYMPTOMS: You look at your MVLB display and the world seems rosy.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION: MVLB display optics have been chromatically adjusted to emphasise the red end of the color spectrum to enhance the user experience with Windows(TM) Vista.
RESOLUTION: Users can obtain MVLB Service Pack 1, which comprises 3932160 (1280x1024x3) colour-corrected nano-dots. Using the supplied grid alignment device (ruler) and tweezers, one dot should be carefully applied to the surface of the MVLB immediately above each pixel. Note that each nano-dot is color-balanced for a specific pixel color (red, green and blue) and so must be applied above the correct display pixel - each nano-dot has an identifying letter ('R', 'G' and 'B') stamped on its edge. Users will require a tube of superglue and possibly a scanning electron microscope.
NOTE: Do not sneeze whilst applying the nano-dots.
A couple of weeks ago I changed an on-site router for one with a better firewall. No-one had the admin password for the old one so I setup the new one from scratch without any reference point. I would normally leave the old router on site 'just in case' but I managed to 'tidy it up' and bring it back to the office.
Guess what, a few hours later someone from the site was calling because a piece of neworked kit (a stock management scanner) could not connect to its remote ordering server.
To cut a long story short, my colleague drove the old router to Portsmouth (UK) - about 30 miles - and it was put on a hovercraft over to the Isle of Wight, where it was picked up by one of the site staff!
The 'My Documents' folder on my (Vista-based) laptop does an rsync via ssh to a server at work every 15 minutes so I don't have to worry about transporting my laptop to/from work + I can 'pick up' stuff if I 'forget' it.
I'd like to see a beowulf cluster of Linux servers running Duke Nukem Forever on virtualised copies of Vista, whilst at the same time running a grid/distributed computing program that's testing proteins for possible AIDs/MRSA cures in spare GPU cycles - the whole lot powered by solar cells using a revolutionary optical coating, with the standby generator powered by algae-derived biofuel. The whole system to be owned by the former Soviet Union and housed in a hybrid solar/hydrogen-powered car, driven by Natalie Portman, with room in the back for three Senior citizens from North Korea to sit confortably while playing aforementioned game.
Oh, and the whole lot has to be available 'within the next 5 years' - as confirmed by NetCraft.
I'm sure I've missed something - help me out here guys.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, imagine hooking it to your laptop to download songs:
http://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/osborne1/
Maybe not "flash drives", but solid state erasable memory did in many formats like EAROM, EEPROM, UVEPROM etc.
In the early-mid 1980s, the company I worked for had designed their own sound effects boards for use on flight and vehicle simulators with digitised copies of real sounds in EPROM.
The lab trick was to rig up a tank gunnery board to a speaker behind someone's desk and let them have it when they sat down!
Happy days!
How true - my Granny can only do UNIVAC SHORT code and 4004 assembly code. At her age, she'd also have no idea what a POKE is.
Things have certainly changed over time and I do not think manufacturers are as consistent (quality-wise) now between models as they used to be; I think it's the continuous rush to bring out new designs to compete with, or better, the opposition - but to generalise:
Sony: Do not sneeze near them. I stay clear of them. My wife was captivated by a VGN-2S a few years back due to its lightweight design, and despite my warnings she bought it. It was back for repair within the month with a failed screen AND motherboard fault.
Dell: Overheating was always a problem.
Toshiba: Generally quite rugged with a few 'sensitive' models.
Acer: Quite reliable and well priced.
IBM: Solid - some too solid (heavy)
Compaq: Non eventful.
Overall, I'd say that I lean towards Acer - I've personally had: Extensa 355, Travelmate 600, Travelmate 240, Travelmate 3500 and now moved on to an Aspire One Netbook (running Linux) as I am not on the road as much now. All models are still running - albeit the 355 is well obsolete now! Loved the TM600 (PIII-600)
Nope - you've missed the point: we serviced pretty much all the main brands as a manufacturer-approved centre (fully trained staff, mandatory attendance at training classes, inventoried tooling & spares stock etc.) and the volume of Sonys that came in for repairs due to 'mystery' or 'non-user induced' faults (eg: not because the user dropped the laptop) was significantly higher than other brands.
...possibly true for hifi, TVs etc., but having once worked for a Sony laptop repair shop I can say that the evidence suggests they have never really perfected the art of laptop design - bits fall off, break, or the system boards/screens develop early life failures.
We used to repair Sony, Toshiba, Dell, Compaq, IBM etc. and he Sonys were the worse for 'it just happened' faults as opposed to 'I dropped it' or disk failures etc.
Radio - someone still loves youuuuuuu.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=x9slEfTBRXc
Vet related too (I do the IT for a group of clinics) but not that relevant:
Customer: "Are gherkin (pickle) slices bad for dogs?"
Receptionist: "I'm not sure - I'll ask the vet...well, the vet says in small quantities they should not be harmful...has your dog swallowed one?"
Customer: "Oh, no, we just wondered whether we should remove it when we buy our dog a burger at the drive-thru"
No - that would be silly.
This is the third major redesign of the Dragon chip.....with each update they've tripled the performance
Is this following some kind of Mooles Law?
Forgot to add: This reminds me of a cartoon I saw perhaps 10-15 years ago; a potential employee is being shown around by a Manager. The caption read something like:
"Of course, we like to treat everyone here as individuals - for example, this is individual #64881"
Quick, start doing something random, but work-related, regularly, at random intervals.
Model that you bastards.
15?
You mean 0xF, surely.
Unfortunately, an Osmium ring will make for a relatively short marriage - and/or a visit from Homeland Security!
http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/week/040413.htm
The ring could always be upgraded with an additional core, a co-ring or a front-end ring to give the extra capacity required. Alternatively, they could run a copy of the ring on a virtual finger.
One final possibility is to switch the larger unit for a thinner client.
The "amateur 2 cents worth"-to-"professional advice" ratio in this thread is awesome!
Two of us support 30 veterinary clinics, a diagnostics lab and an animal hospital. There's about 180 staff and 100 computers. Due to acquisitions we run a mix of OSs in the clinics from NT4 to Vista. 25 sites have their own Win2K servers and due to the bespoke nature of the clinic software, we have the servers covered by a contract with the software house. Most staff spend their time in the Practice Management Apps, checking email (Outlook or Thunderbird), On the Intranet (Firefox) or drafting letters/checking clinic stats (OpenOffice for the general staff, MS Office 2003 for the Managers because Oo's spreadsheet could not cope with some of the macros in the Management sheets).
For infrastructure services (email, Intranet,data mining, inter-site backups, VoIP, video security and SMS messaging (appointment reminders)), we have 9 Linux servers at various locations.
As many posters have pointed out, there's no magic formula for planning IT Support numbers - especially when you move outside a 'cosy' corporate environment.
Our biggest hassle is interfacing with the authors of one of the clinic apps as their support quality is abysmal. The Linux servers give us the least trouble, the bespoke software/Win2K servers the most - mainly due to one apps' poor implementation of data replication, which is always going wrong.
The way I first read the headline was much more appealing:
"ISS gets new recycling gear, ready for lager"
Red Colour Hue on MVLB Displays
Some users have noticed a slight rosy color hue on their new Microsoft(TM) MVLB (MakeVistaLookBetter) displays. This is a design feature, but users who have downgraded their computer systems to vastly inferior Operating Systems (Windows XP or Lin.. [MSKb Editor: REMOVED - Mention that and you're sacked]) may wish to obtain MVLB Service Pack 1 to re-balance the colors to a more natural 'look-and-feel'.
Article ID : 45888372
Last Review : July 25, 2008
Revision : 1.0
SYMPTOMS:
You look at your MVLB display and the world seems rosy.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION:
MVLB display optics have been chromatically adjusted to emphasise the red end of the color spectrum to enhance the user experience with Windows(TM) Vista.
RESOLUTION:
Users can obtain MVLB Service Pack 1, which comprises 3932160 (1280x1024x3) colour-corrected nano-dots. Using the supplied grid alignment device (ruler) and tweezers, one dot should be carefully applied to the surface of the MVLB immediately above each pixel. Note that each nano-dot is color-balanced for a specific pixel color (red, green and blue) and so must be applied above the correct display pixel - each nano-dot has an identifying letter ('R', 'G' and 'B') stamped on its edge. Users will require a tube of superglue and possibly a scanning electron microscope.
NOTE: Do not sneeze whilst applying the nano-dots.
APPLIES TO:
MVLB V1.0 displays
KEYWORDS: MVLB, rosy, tinted, Vista
Hello Gnarg,
Your opposite gender progeny creator says its not so emboldened!!!
e.x.t_e-n+d your r=e=p=r=o=d=u=c=t=i=v=e f~l~u~i~d -t-r-a-n-s-f-e-r p-r-o-t-u-b-e-r-a-n-c-e.
S01-3 V1ag-rrra, C1aLLiSS/
Make OGPC happy - replace universalwideweb with uww below
universalwideweb.solpharm89.sol ...
Dear Aliens,
Have you met our representative - Mr Darl McBride?
Now about that technology you stole from us...
Ah! Soul!
A couple of weeks ago I changed an on-site router for one with a better firewall. No-one had the admin password for the old one so I setup the new one from scratch without any reference point. I would normally leave the old router on site 'just in case' but I managed to 'tidy it up' and bring it back to the office.
Guess what, a few hours later someone from the site was calling because a piece of neworked kit (a stock management scanner) could not connect to its remote ordering server.
To cut a long story short, my colleague drove the old router to Portsmouth (UK) - about 30 miles - and it was put on a hovercraft over to the Isle of Wight, where it was picked up by one of the site staff!
That must be the hovercraft of shame!?
Meh,
The 'My Documents' folder on my (Vista-based) laptop does an rsync via ssh to a server at work every 15 minutes so I don't have to worry about transporting my laptop to/from work + I can 'pick up' stuff if I 'forget' it.
I use Deltacopy for the syncing.
Works a treat!
Let's get it out of the way:
I'd like to see a beowulf cluster of Linux servers running Duke Nukem Forever on virtualised copies of Vista, whilst at the same time running a grid/distributed computing program that's testing proteins for possible AIDs/MRSA cures in spare GPU cycles - the whole lot powered by solar cells using a revolutionary optical coating, with the standby generator powered by algae-derived biofuel. The whole system to be owned by the former Soviet Union and housed in a hybrid solar/hydrogen-powered car, driven by Natalie Portman, with room in the back for three Senior citizens from North Korea to sit confortably while playing aforementioned game.
Oh, and the whole lot has to be available 'within the next 5 years' - as confirmed by NetCraft.
I'm sure I've missed something - help me out here guys.