Heh, that's not what I meant. What I meant was watching music videos is one of my favorite ways to kill time - that and slashdot. Actually, I'm doing both right now, having a dual head system rocks! And The Corrs are one of my favorites bands too:)
Macs have pretty nice cases... until you decide to do some upgrades - then you find out that the really big case has no place to put anything.
To be fair though, I can't say any of the major PC manufacturers are any better in terms of expandability. But any true geek builds their own PC anyway.
I have seen some LCDs where they just stick a piece of clear plastic over the panel. I don't know why anyone would want that (the glare has to be absolutely terrible), unless they were in some kind of harsh environment and it was for protection.
My LCD has three modes it can use when you send it a non-native resolution signal. One of them is to not scale anything up. Of course, this means a 640x480 signal takes up something like 5" in the middle of a 20" display, but it sounds like it would work.
The other two modes are a couple of different interpolation algorithms. One of them is quite good (imho) so I just leave it in that mode all the time.
I haven't seen a LCD myself that's lit by a flickering tube. Most (all?) of them convert whatever current they get into high voltage DC, which is what powers the tube. It's easy to confirm whether or not they flicker just by waving your hand in front of the screen in a dark room, which is what I just did for my LCD.
People are more likely to get a headache from using the crappy VGA input on their expensive LCD rather than the DVI input, which is something I'll never understand.
There's a difficult concept to grasp here. You actually have to wait until the OS is booted and the firewall is enabled and _then_ plug the cable in.
Can you even comprehend how stupid it is of Microsoft to bring up the network, and leave the OS unprotected for a considerable period of time before loading the firewall? Or do you think unplugging the network cable is a natural thing to do everytime you reboot?
To Microsoft's credit, they did fix this problem in SP2.
Please explain. What design flaw of Windows forces a user to run as an administrator?
The fact that Windows started out as a single user OS, and a lot of programs are built with that mindset. Windows as a multiple user OS still feels like a hack upon a single user OS. A few years ago, Microsoft could of said, "Sorry, many of your old Win9x programs aren't going to work in the NT line", and we wouldn't have this problem. They even could of provided us with a "classic mode" sandbox to run them in too. But instead they went the backwards compatible route. Ferthermore, since all the old programs basically run as they used to, it didn't give the programmers any incentive to change their habits. So to this day, many programs, including some of MS's own applications do not run right (or at all) unless you are Administrator.
--Apple hardware purchases hold their value. This [lowendmac.com] machine is four years old. It can be had for about $800. I'd take one in a minute for running Mac OS X. But a new iBook G4 is $100 more. The used Mac market is crazy because the machines are so useful.
As someone who would like to get a used Mac to try it out, the used market is insane. You can get a high end name brand PIII system for under $200, but to get a halfway decent Mac that can run OS X is like $400. It's nuts.
when you try to search for something in Help, it asks if you want to index the database by size or search quality...
That dialog box is hilarious. It's been around since the Windows 3.0 days (maybe even before). It was probably a big deal on the 286 when optomizing for speed meant not having to wait 5 minutes to do your search. But any machine running XP is going to take mere seconds at most to do the search quality version. So why is that dialog box still there?
Recently, a Sony TV I had given a friend died. It was manufactured in March 1979. Sony makes excellent screens, but I have never owned a Sony gaming system.
I've had a pop up blocker installed for a very long time. It's called Opera. If you are talking about Internet Explorer, I don't currently, and never have installed a pop up blocker for IE. I just don't use it.
Maybe you should look at one of those small VHS-tape sized laptops, as I think that's about the only thing that can satisfy all those requirements (and even then, the SPDIF might be hard to come by).
Remember, this computer has to handle the bloat that is AOL. Running Windows XP by itself, it would be passable. But load up AOL and this machine is going to crawl.
OpenOffice needs a viewer like the Word Viewer and PowerPoint viewer for Windows. Yes, I know you can download OpenOffice for free, but a viewer would help solve some of the problems of sharing files, as not everyone is ready to download a huge office suite just to view one file someone sends them.
I don't get why FireFox even bothers messing with the pdf plugin. The damn plugin doesn't even work reliably with IE. They should do what Opera does and just hand over the pdf file to the OS so it can launch Acrobat Reader (or Ghostview, or whatever you got installed).
I love how people will go on and on about the quality of the power cable to their stereo, and totally ignore the many feet of who-knows-what that runs through the walls in their house, that hooks into the grid, usually consisting of miles of wire laid decades ago. It's hilarious.
I saw that issue, and I think it was pretty fair. They pointed out many advantages of the Mac, and made claims that PCs were full of viruses and hacks didn't even mention simple things that could be done to prevent this (like using Firefox). Also keep in mind that Consumer Reports is also really sensitive about price, and quite simply, Apple's lower end desktops do not do well here. Note that Consumer Reports only tested low and mid range machines, not high end machines.
Their car reviews are pretty amusing though, but I chalk it up to the fact that what I look for in a car and what they look for are two different things. I've never quite figured out how they decide what cars to recommend though, passing over what would seem to be logical choices (even by their standards) and instead recommending cars like the Ford Focus.
Slashdot Mirror
Now, show me where Dell sells a comparible machine (first hurdle: must run OSX) for $699.
Show me a Dell, and I'll show you PearPC.
Heh, that's not what I meant. What I meant was watching music videos is one of my favorite ways to kill time - that and slashdot. Actually, I'm doing both right now, having a dual head system rocks! And The Corrs are one of my favorites bands too :)
or watching music videos of the Corrs...)
Ahh, now there is a great time waster!
I hope that the man doesn't start cracking down on people who download and share music videos, as that's number one thing that I like to...uhh...copy.
And then 8 computers to run it on?
After playing Diablo II online, I can easily see 2 copies as being useful. But what is someone going to do with 8?
Macs have pretty nice cases... until you decide to do some upgrades - then you find out that the really big case has no place to put anything.
To be fair though, I can't say any of the major PC manufacturers are any better in terms of expandability. But any true geek builds their own PC anyway.
I have seen some LCDs where they just stick a piece of clear plastic over the panel. I don't know why anyone would want that (the glare has to be absolutely terrible), unless they were in some kind of harsh environment and it was for protection.
My LCD has three modes it can use when you send it a non-native resolution signal. One of them is to not scale anything up. Of course, this means a 640x480 signal takes up something like 5" in the middle of a 20" display, but it sounds like it would work.
The other two modes are a couple of different interpolation algorithms. One of them is quite good (imho) so I just leave it in that mode all the time.
I haven't seen a LCD myself that's lit by a flickering tube. Most (all?) of them convert whatever current they get into high voltage DC, which is what powers the tube. It's easy to confirm whether or not they flicker just by waving your hand in front of the screen in a dark room, which is what I just did for my LCD.
People are more likely to get a headache from using the crappy VGA input on their expensive LCD rather than the DVI input, which is something I'll never understand.
Off the top of my head, Virtual PC, just about any of Microsoft's games.
There's a difficult concept to grasp here. You actually have to wait until the OS is booted and the firewall is enabled and _then_ plug the cable in.
Can you even comprehend how stupid it is of Microsoft to bring up the network, and leave the OS unprotected for a considerable period of time before loading the firewall? Or do you think unplugging the network cable is a natural thing to do everytime you reboot?
To Microsoft's credit, they did fix this problem in SP2.
Please explain. What design flaw of Windows forces a user to run as an administrator?
The fact that Windows started out as a single user OS, and a lot of programs are built with that mindset. Windows as a multiple user OS still feels like a hack upon a single user OS. A few years ago, Microsoft could of said, "Sorry, many of your old Win9x programs aren't going to work in the NT line", and we wouldn't have this problem. They even could of provided us with a "classic mode" sandbox to run them in too. But instead they went the backwards compatible route. Ferthermore, since all the old programs basically run as they used to, it didn't give the programmers any incentive to change their habits. So to this day, many programs, including some of MS's own applications do not run right (or at all) unless you are Administrator.
--Apple hardware purchases hold their value. This [lowendmac.com] machine is four years old. It can be had for about $800. I'd take one in a minute for running Mac OS X. But a new iBook G4 is $100 more. The used Mac market is crazy because the machines are so useful.
As someone who would like to get a used Mac to try it out, the used market is insane. You can get a high end name brand PIII system for under $200, but to get a halfway decent Mac that can run OS X is like $400. It's nuts.
when you try to search for something in Help, it asks if you want to index the database by size or search quality...
That dialog box is hilarious. It's been around since the Windows 3.0 days (maybe even before). It was probably a big deal on the 286 when optomizing for speed meant not having to wait 5 minutes to do your search. But any machine running XP is going to take mere seconds at most to do the search quality version. So why is that dialog box still there?
Best part of a server like that is if you want to upgrade the processors to something like 350Mhz, it'll cost you about $10 at www.dumpinggoods.com
beliewe
Dvorak?
There is a difference between what is supported and what is possible.
And, as Real has just found out, what is possible today may not be possible tomorrow.
Recently, a Sony TV I had given a friend died. It was manufactured in March 1979. Sony makes excellent screens, but I have never owned a Sony gaming system.
I've had a pop up blocker installed for a very long time. It's called Opera. If you are talking about Internet Explorer, I don't currently, and never have installed a pop up blocker for IE. I just don't use it.
"We are delighted to announce that Microsoft has acquired Lookout Software!"
Damn, and I always thought that "LookOut" was the name of Microsoft's email client.
Maybe you should look at one of those small VHS-tape sized laptops, as I think that's about the only thing that can satisfy all those requirements (and even then, the SPDIF might be hard to come by).
Remember, this computer has to handle the bloat that is AOL. Running Windows XP by itself, it would be passable. But load up AOL and this machine is going to crawl.
OpenOffice needs a viewer like the Word Viewer and PowerPoint viewer for Windows. Yes, I know you can download OpenOffice for free, but a viewer would help solve some of the problems of sharing files, as not everyone is ready to download a huge office suite just to view one file someone sends them.
I don't get why FireFox even bothers messing with the pdf plugin. The damn plugin doesn't even work reliably with IE. They should do what Opera does and just hand over the pdf file to the OS so it can launch Acrobat Reader (or Ghostview, or whatever you got installed).
I love how people will go on and on about the quality of the power cable to their stereo, and totally ignore the many feet of who-knows-what that runs through the walls in their house, that hooks into the grid, usually consisting of miles of wire laid decades ago. It's hilarious.
I saw that issue, and I think it was pretty fair. They pointed out many advantages of the Mac, and made claims that PCs were full of viruses and hacks didn't even mention simple things that could be done to prevent this (like using Firefox). Also keep in mind that Consumer Reports is also really sensitive about price, and quite simply, Apple's lower end desktops do not do well here. Note that Consumer Reports only tested low and mid range machines, not high end machines.
Their car reviews are pretty amusing though, but I chalk it up to the fact that what I look for in a car and what they look for are two different things. I've never quite figured out how they decide what cars to recommend though, passing over what would seem to be logical choices (even by their standards) and instead recommending cars like the Ford Focus.