So AOL have decided to throw in their lot with Redmond and use a browser that will not be updated again (unless you buy Longhorn). On the other hand they could have had a browser that complies with all the standards and is continually being improved. I despair, I really do, but it was obvious this was going to happen as soon as they got the cash from MS.
Shed a tear for poor old Netscape - the Internet as we know it wouldn't have existed without it, and it was killed off as much by (proven illegal) business practices as much as technical inferiority. They kept flogging v4 for too long and v6 was bloatware, but I'll never see the name "Explorer" as anything other than an ersatz "Navigator".
Oh yeah, I may live in the UK, but isn't the sum of $2m bugger all in real terms? Assuming those developers are taking a salary of only $50k each, that's 40 developers for a year. Whoopee-shit.
I assume Plan9 is an ironic nod to the "worst film ever". When I develop my new filing system, which will only allow numeric characters in filenames, will delete the MFT every time the computer is rebooted, and will require a new directory for each file added to the system - that FAT16 limit of 512 was FAR too generous - I'm going to call it BattlefieldEarthFS.
MS Office, for free (as in beer), with no Office Assistant, task panes or silly chrome bits like choosing how your spelling errors should be highlighted.
I use OOO at home, but the lack of an Outlook-compatible PIM is the killer for businesses. I suppose that means we need an open-source clone of Exchange too.
Sad, but true. We geeks will happily download 15MB files, but most people will use what they have, however many pop-ups they get. So Windows users will use IE4/5/6/7, and Mac users will use Safari.
Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that "Explorer" is a synonym for "Navigator", and "Safari" is in the same vein? We owe Netscape an awful lot - not quite enough to forgive them Communicator 4.7, but a lot.
Most photographers would argue that the eye is a pretty duff piece of hardware (compare a quality 7-element photographic lens). However, it usually does its job perfectly because it's connected to a rather powerful image manipulation computer - your brain. This compensates for the optical aberrations.
The really duff designs in humans are the neck (which is always vulnerable in a fight), the teeth (which don't last a lifetime without regular "servicing") and the close proximity of windpipe and oesophagus, which leads to many untimely deaths from underchewed food.
I'd love to see their user database, just to count the number of Mickey Mice and Elmer Fudds on there. Apart from giving the NYT your e-mail addy for spam purposes, what real point is there to free registration?
Ah, the bete noire of the Internet, if not modern life. The righteously indignant media always trot it out when they're trying to write a decent scare story.
Look, the people who are really interested in such filth don't spend their time trying to peddle it to the largest possible audience, as they could be traced and the book thrown at them. They swap it on private servers with passwords, firewalls and, almost certainly, as much security than your average e-commerce site. They're more concerned about *stopping* people from seeing it so they can carry on their nasty obsession without interference by the authorities.
The sort of stuff we normally get spammed with is 30-year old women with headbands and pigtails.
In an interview, the planet attributed its longevity to never smoking or drinking and eating a balanced diet of meteorites and cosmic dust. However, the planet suffers intermittently from Alzheimer's, and currently believes itself to be the Imperial Death Star.
CPUs are getting cooler. A new Athlon XP definitely dissipates less heat than an old Athlon Thunderbird. With increasing clock speeds there's a gradual increase in heat dissipation until the fabs manage to use a smaller process (0.09 micron is the current target, IIRC), then you get lower voltages and cooler chips. For a while.
I've just rebuilt an old PII-333 for someone - now THAT's a cool running chip. It's the later "Deschutes" 0.25 design, so it's basically an underclocked PII 450. No fan and it hardly gets warm.
My Athlon 1.4 has been running at 1.6 since the day I got it (Sept 2001). Heat dissipation is in excess of 100W with this overclock - the 1.4 is hotter than any of today's chips even at its rated speed - but with a big copper heatsink and case fans it stays below 45 deg C. That's cooler than most people's processors.
I also have a 1.13 Athlon which has been run at 1.26 for the same length of time. That one doesn't even need any extra cooling. Sweat your assets!
My speakers are like the ones attached to most people's PCs, i.e. they are very cheap and nasty. This is probably why there is no apparent difference. Also, you don't need to keep upgrading the sound to run the latest and greatest game.
Onboard video is much more of a problem in this respect - especially as the manufacturers often sacrifice the AGP slot for it. No chance of ever playing Doom 3 on one of those!
People also forget that 128kbps MP3 is *not* CD quality. 256kbps is much better, but I'd still be reluctant to pay CD prices for something slightly worse than the original media. Given that I also have to pay for the bandwidth to download the track and the CDR to burn it to (hard disks fill up or go pop eventually, and I'd want to listen in the car) then 99c per track is a bit steep.
Space films normally date very well. Star Wars has aged gracefully, even allowing for Lucas' tweaks in 1997. The space scenes in Kubrick's "2001", which is *ancient*, still look good. Sadly, the guys in monkey suits at the beginning are only of comedy value these days.
I agree it was memorable anyway - if rather nasty. IIRC it made it into the G'N'R video for "You Could Be Mine", albeit only the bit before the bomb goes off.
Grand Moff Ballmer: Tell me the location of the Mandrake base! Princess Torvalds: It's...it's in France Grand Moff: You see, Lord Gates, she can be cooperative. Continue the firing sequence. Princess: But HP is a peaceful supplier! We have no weapons! (The MS Death Star obliterates HP with a huge laser pulse)
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Shed a tear for poor old Netscape - the Internet as we know it wouldn't have existed without it, and it was killed off as much by (proven illegal) business practices as much as technical inferiority. They kept flogging v4 for too long and v6 was bloatware, but I'll never see the name "Explorer" as anything other than an ersatz "Navigator".
Oh yeah, I may live in the UK, but isn't the sum of $2m bugger all in real terms? Assuming those developers are taking a salary of only $50k each, that's 40 developers for a year. Whoopee-shit.
Is this a new euphemism for "ownz0r3d and h4X0red out of existence, again"?
I assume Plan9 is an ironic nod to the "worst film ever". When I develop my new filing system, which will only allow numeric characters in filenames, will delete the MFT every time the computer is rebooted, and will require a new directory for each file added to the system - that FAT16 limit of 512 was FAR too generous - I'm going to call it BattlefieldEarthFS.
I use OOO at home, but the lack of an Outlook-compatible PIM is the killer for businesses. I suppose that means we need an open-source clone of Exchange too.
Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that "Explorer" is a synonym for "Navigator", and "Safari" is in the same vein? We owe Netscape an awful lot - not quite enough to forgive them Communicator 4.7, but a lot.
The really duff designs in humans are the neck (which is always vulnerable in a fight), the teeth (which don't last a lifetime without regular "servicing") and the close proximity of windpipe and oesophagus, which leads to many untimely deaths from underchewed food.
I'd love to see their user database, just to count the number of Mickey Mice and Elmer Fudds on there. Apart from giving the NYT your e-mail addy for spam purposes, what real point is there to free registration?
Look, the people who are really interested in such filth don't spend their time trying to peddle it to the largest possible audience, as they could be traced and the book thrown at them. They swap it on private servers with passwords, firewalls and, almost certainly, as much security than your average e-commerce site. They're more concerned about *stopping* people from seeing it so they can carry on their nasty obsession without interference by the authorities.
The sort of stuff we normally get spammed with is 30-year old women with headbands and pigtails.
In an interview, the planet attributed its longevity to never smoking or drinking and eating a balanced diet of meteorites and cosmic dust. However, the planet suffers intermittently from Alzheimer's, and currently believes itself to be the Imperial Death Star.
A lot of USB devices pull their power through the cable...this isn't revolutionary.
What is it? It's a recammed demo (basically a movie) of someone completing Quake 2. In 21 minutes. On "Hard" difficulty setting.
There's an even older Quake Done Quick, but I haven't seen it.
I've just rebuilt an old PII-333 for someone - now THAT's a cool running chip. It's the later "Deschutes" 0.25 design, so it's basically an underclocked PII 450. No fan and it hardly gets warm.
Like Lance Armstrong?
I also have a 1.13 Athlon which has been run at 1.26 for the same length of time. That one doesn't even need any extra cooling. Sweat your assets!
Onboard video is much more of a problem in this respect - especially as the manufacturers often sacrifice the AGP slot for it. No chance of ever playing Doom 3 on one of those!
People also forget that 128kbps MP3 is *not* CD quality. 256kbps is much better, but I'd still be reluctant to pay CD prices for something slightly worse than the original media. Given that I also have to pay for the bandwidth to download the track and the CDR to burn it to (hard disks fill up or go pop eventually, and I'd want to listen in the car) then 99c per track is a bit steep.
They still seem to be around, but now they "jiggle" to make it semi-obvious they're not real dialogs.
Space films normally date very well. Star Wars has aged gracefully, even allowing for Lucas' tweaks in 1997. The space scenes in Kubrick's "2001", which is *ancient*, still look good. Sadly, the guys in monkey suits at the beginning are only of comedy value these days.
I agree it was memorable anyway - if rather nasty. IIRC it made it into the G'N'R video for "You Could Be Mine", albeit only the bit before the bomb goes off.
And, no doubt, more smashed crockery than a Greek wedding with angel dust kebabs.
Wasn't the skeleton hugging the chainlink fence in T2?
Why *do* they still make toasters that are capable of burning the toast on the highest setting?
Grand Moff Ballmer: Tell me the location of the Mandrake base!
Princess Torvalds: It's...it's in France
Grand Moff: You see, Lord Gates, she can be cooperative. Continue the firing sequence.
Princess: But HP is a peaceful supplier! We have no weapons!
(The MS Death Star obliterates HP with a huge laser pulse)
Isn't the preferred term "notebook computer"? Mind you, this is more of a "domesdaybook computer" ;-)
Ah...so too much of it DOES affect your eyesight!