Hey, I atleast have to give them credit for coming out and stating what they stand for. Unlike some other parties, which have simular goals, but seem to avoid talking about them.
No its not. I've used both, and here's what I have to say...
1. Opera eats memory almost as bad as Windows XP does.
That's because Opera uses the ram for it's cache. If you don't like it, either disable it, or put a leash on it in preferences (the default is to let it go wild).
2. Opera is slow.
Opera is really fast, if you ask me. Firefox is really fast too.
3. Opera has that stupid ad.
Not if you buy it.
4. Opera isn't open source.
Each to their own.
5. Opera isn't as well-supported as Firefox.
Opera is the product of a company. If you are a registered user, they are very happy to provide support. Who are you going to email if you need support for Firefox?
6. Opera is ugly.
Yes, the default skin is ugly as all hell. And Opera has too many widgets that are on by default. Atleast it's skinnable like Firefox.
7. Opera is annoying to use--Firefox has a much better interface. Simple is good.
Opera's interface is highly customizable. Lots of keyboard shortcuts, and mouse gestures too. The original install is very cluttered and annoying though.
Opera is a great browser. I use it, and I have even paid for it. I am a bit concerned about how it's becoming like Windows XP - an actaully decent piece of software that suffers from a horrid default install that has to be heavily tweaked to be the way I like it. My Opera 7.5 install looks pretty much like what Opera 5 did, just like my Windows XP looks like Windows 95. Simple is better.
Of course, the other reason to pay attention to Opera is to see what features are up and coming in Firefox. Who do you think invented things like tab browsing and mouse gestures? How about a built-in pop up blocker?
Just as a note, Firefox is a great browser too, and I recommend it to people all the time. The best part of Firefox is that you can install it and pretty much use it right away if you have any experience with any other web browser. Opera is for people who like to tinker and know what they are doing.
Something to consider is that if you ever lose your iPod, someone could end up with a copy of all your files stored in/home. Just something you might want to keep in mind.
"Try and build a car that will go 200+ miles on a charge."
It's been done, a decade ago.
It's not hard to do anyway. It's just like going into space. In order to go that far, you need lots of batteries. Then you need batteries to carry those batteries. And then you need more batteries for energy to carry the batteries you just added, etc. If you don't mind hauling around tons of lead acid batteries, you can go as far as you want.
A funny story by my roommate who is a pilot. He knew a guy who had retractable landing gear, which had a switch like that. That way, the gear would not retract so long as the plane was on the ground. Well, this guy found out that he could put the gear switch up, and then when he took off, the gear would go up automatically. Pretty cool, huh?
Well, one hot day he was going down the runway, and the pavement had buckled due to the heat. He goes sailing over a bump, and for a brief moment got airborne. Well, the gear retracted, and that was the last time he used that switch like that.
An for landing gear up, it depends on how it is done. If someone knows their gear has failed, they usually stop the engine and land in the grass and this usually does little damage. The worst is when someone thinks it is down, but it isn't (either it failed and they didn't notice, or they were stupid and forgot to lower it). This can do a lot of damage, and can wreck the engine and prop. However, due to the value of even the crappiest airplanes, they almost always will get repaired.
I have size 15 feet, and let me tell you - it is nearly impossible for me to drive an older VW or Audi due to the way they have the pedals (well, unless it's an automatic). Moving them a bit apart is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.
Just a thought - now that they have pedals that can adjust forwards and backwards - why not sideways? That way, everyone (except maybe the lawyers) is happy.
The whole point of ABS is that you aren't going to lose control of the car and go into a spin as easily. Besides, if your car is losing brake pressure, you should have it checked out ASAP. Every car I have seen has plenty of pressure to work the brakes at all times, and usually has enough pressure to operate the brakes for a period of time even if the engine dies.
Of course, if you are some kind of stunt driver who likes to spin out, I could imagine the ABS system being pretty annoying.
Stopping the car on gravel: You'll probably stop much faster by locking up the wheels than by letting the ABS modulate the brakes.
A very common misconception here. ABS is not meant to stop a car faster. Locking the brakes will almost always stop a car faster than ABS can stop a car. The whole point of ABS is that you can still steer the car as you are stopping it. All that ABS does is pump the brakes, like how everyone is taught to do when the brakes are going to lock up - only automatically, and far faster than any human can pump the brakes. Some ABS systems are even more sophisticated as in each wheel can act independently. Say your car was half on the pavement, and half on a gravel shoulder, and you braked hard - the ABS system would keep the car going straight, where as a car without ABS would likely jerk to one side or go into a spin.
Also, any car I have seen with a failed ABS system just meant that the brakes acted as if it was a non-ABS car.
As screwed as people get when their Sony Vaios died and discovered that cost of replacement screen or motherboard is roughly equal to whole replacement notebook?
Atleast if Frankentop dies, just take all the parts and move on to the next laptop to be revied. When the cheapo Walmart laptop dies, you'll just be screwed.
To go through the stuff would mean I would have to get up, and actually sort through the stuff to decide what to keep and what to toss. Then I would have to gather up the stuff that is going to be tossed, and pay to take it to be "recycled" because the trashman won't haul it away. I thought the point was to reduce stress? Better off just letting it stay where it is. It's not causing any harm.
Besides, just because something doesn't have any real monetary value doesn't mean it's worthless. An old AT power supply or floppy drive might have no value - but if you suddenly need one, where are you going to get one?
And then there are some people who just like to tinker with old hardware.
That's true for the Nissan's too. The stick shifts have the little buttons, but the automatics don't.
The reasoning, I believe, is that if you have the automatic in any gear but Park, it won't let you turn the key all the way to lock. Atleast that's the way my Infiniti (upscale Nissan) works. So with the automatic, it is impossible to lock the steering while the wheels are rolling.
If Battle.net should ever shut down (e.g. Blizzard goes out of business), then titles like Starcraft, Diablo, and Warcraft will cease to be playable over the internet.
Actually, if Blizzard went out of business, chances are no one would care about projects like bnetd. The real threat would be if Blizzard decided to end battlenet support for old games - and continued to squash projects like bnet. That would be an interesting scenario.
Justify it all you want -- and hey, some people probably are using bnetd legitimately -- but most people are using it to play pirated versions of Blizzard's games.
Actually, back when I played Diablo II, I used to play on some bnetd servers because they weren't a cesspool like Battle.net is. I know many people did this. And yes, I do have a fully legit copy.
Perhaps Blizzard should of put their lawyers to use making battle.net a better place? Like shutting down all those sites selling duped/hacked items?
My 814 sq ft 1 bdrm apt in Dallas used 1.53 kW last month. (1104 kWh)
My guess is that you have one or more computers that run all the time? Otherwise, that is a bit high. I'm guessing you don't have a washer and drier though (those appliances can suck down a huge amount of electricity).
You only have to order the candidates in condorcet but you are not forced to do so for all the candidates !
Well, lets say I'm one of the "Everybody but Bush" crowd. I may like Cobb, and kind of like Kerry. But I want to make sure I rank Bush dead last. There isn't any way in condorcet (or IRV for that matter) to do something like:
1. Cobb 2. Kerry 3....everyone else... 4. Bush
Instead, I would have to rank everyone in the middle in some order, even if I didn't have a preference, just to make sure Bush is ranked last.
The obvious solution to me would be computer assisted voting. For approval voting, the computer would display a list of canidates on a touch screen. You select the ones you want, and when you are done the computer prints out your ballot, properly filled out with YES and NO checked next to every canidate's name. Then the voter would take their ballot, verify it is correct, and deposit it in the ballot box. The paper ballots would then be counted (possibly by another, seperate computer, or by hand).
A ranking system would work simular. The big advantage to using the computer this way is that it won't allow you to screw up and select two canidates for first place, or forget to rank somebody in second place, or something simular. Just use the computer to rank them, and the computer fills out the ballot for you.
In this system, I would have the ballots already printed, and all the computers are doing is filling in the checkboxes, and counting the paper ballots. So if the computers failed, or someone objects to using them, they could still fill it out manually. And there would be a paper trail of paper ballots to count manually if needed.
To even out, there has to be a job somewhere that causes -1.5 people to be hired. Other than the 435 CongressPricks, and the one in the Oval Office, there aren't too many jobs like that.
On Windows, the backend is an integral part of the operating system. Many other applications use it, many other applications plug into it - it's designed to be a central location for codec storage, and it succeeds in that goal admirably.
You've obviously never experienced codec hell before. Install Xvid, and Divx won't play right. Reinstall Divx, and now Xvid videos are green. Install a mpeg2 decoder, and Windows crashes when playing some mpeg2's. Install another mpeg2 decoder, and now those videos play fine, but another set of them won't play. Install another mpeg2 decoder, and now all the files play fine, but if you play a DVD windows crashes. Argh. And don't get me started on what happens when Elecard gets on the system.
point 4 is probably the most important and oddly, the most obvious, but will be the most difficult policy to implement, and would tend to obviate a lot of the power problems.
You know, letting crazy insane nations everywhere obtain plutonium would probably do a lot towards your goal number 4. Just something to think about.
Slashdot Mirror
Hey, I atleast have to give them credit for coming out and stating what they stand for. Unlike some other parties, which have simular goals, but seem to avoid talking about them.
No its not. I've used both, and here's what I have to say...
1. Opera eats memory almost as bad as Windows XP does.
That's because Opera uses the ram for it's cache. If you don't like it, either disable it, or put a leash on it in preferences (the default is to let it go wild).
2. Opera is slow.
Opera is really fast, if you ask me. Firefox is really fast too.
3. Opera has that stupid ad.
Not if you buy it.
4. Opera isn't open source.
Each to their own.
5. Opera isn't as well-supported as Firefox.
Opera is the product of a company. If you are a registered user, they are very happy to provide support. Who are you going to email if you need support for Firefox?
6. Opera is ugly.
Yes, the default skin is ugly as all hell. And Opera has too many widgets that are on by default. Atleast it's skinnable like Firefox.
7. Opera is annoying to use--Firefox has a much better interface. Simple is good.
Opera's interface is highly customizable. Lots of keyboard shortcuts, and mouse gestures too. The original install is very cluttered and annoying though.
Opera is a great browser. I use it, and I have even paid for it. I am a bit concerned about how it's becoming like Windows XP - an actaully decent piece of software that suffers from a horrid default install that has to be heavily tweaked to be the way I like it. My Opera 7.5 install looks pretty much like what Opera 5 did, just like my Windows XP looks like Windows 95. Simple is better.
Of course, the other reason to pay attention to Opera is to see what features are up and coming in Firefox. Who do you think invented things like tab browsing and mouse gestures? How about a built-in pop up blocker?
Just as a note, Firefox is a great browser too, and I recommend it to people all the time. The best part of Firefox is that you can install it and pretty much use it right away if you have any experience with any other web browser. Opera is for people who like to tinker and know what they are doing.
Something to consider is that if you ever lose your iPod, someone could end up with a copy of all your files stored in /home. Just something you might want to keep in mind.
"Try and build a car that will go 200+ miles on a charge."
It's been done, a decade ago.
It's not hard to do anyway. It's just like going into space. In order to go that far, you need lots of batteries. Then you need batteries to carry those batteries. And then you need more batteries for energy to carry the batteries you just added, etc. If you don't mind hauling around tons of lead acid batteries, you can go as far as you want.
A funny story by my roommate who is a pilot. He knew a guy who had retractable landing gear, which had a switch like that. That way, the gear would not retract so long as the plane was on the ground. Well, this guy found out that he could put the gear switch up, and then when he took off, the gear would go up automatically. Pretty cool, huh?
Well, one hot day he was going down the runway, and the pavement had buckled due to the heat. He goes sailing over a bump, and for a brief moment got airborne. Well, the gear retracted, and that was the last time he used that switch like that.
An for landing gear up, it depends on how it is done. If someone knows their gear has failed, they usually stop the engine and land in the grass and this usually does little damage. The worst is when someone thinks it is down, but it isn't (either it failed and they didn't notice, or they were stupid and forgot to lower it). This can do a lot of damage, and can wreck the engine and prop. However, due to the value of even the crappiest airplanes, they almost always will get repaired.
I have size 15 feet, and let me tell you - it is nearly impossible for me to drive an older VW or Audi due to the way they have the pedals (well, unless it's an automatic). Moving them a bit apart is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.
Just a thought - now that they have pedals that can adjust forwards and backwards - why not sideways? That way, everyone (except maybe the lawyers) is happy.
The whole point of ABS is that you aren't going to lose control of the car and go into a spin as easily. Besides, if your car is losing brake pressure, you should have it checked out ASAP. Every car I have seen has plenty of pressure to work the brakes at all times, and usually has enough pressure to operate the brakes for a period of time even if the engine dies.
Of course, if you are some kind of stunt driver who likes to spin out, I could imagine the ABS system being pretty annoying.
Stopping the car on gravel: You'll probably stop much faster by locking up the wheels than by letting the ABS modulate the brakes.
A very common misconception here. ABS is not meant to stop a car faster. Locking the brakes will almost always stop a car faster than ABS can stop a car. The whole point of ABS is that you can still steer the car as you are stopping it. All that ABS does is pump the brakes, like how everyone is taught to do when the brakes are going to lock up - only automatically, and far faster than any human can pump the brakes. Some ABS systems are even more sophisticated as in each wheel can act independently. Say your car was half on the pavement, and half on a gravel shoulder, and you braked hard - the ABS system would keep the car going straight, where as a car without ABS would likely jerk to one side or go into a spin.
Also, any car I have seen with a failed ABS system just meant that the brakes acted as if it was a non-ABS car.
As screwed as people get when their Sony Vaios died and discovered that cost of replacement screen or motherboard is roughly equal to whole replacement notebook?
Yes.
For ~$50 you can get a high end PII or a low end PIII used. Forget the xBox.
I also thought TechTV had made it pretty clear that pearPC was almost unuseable on a machine below 2.5 GHz.
PearPC runs pretty well on my 2Ghz Athlon. About as fast as a slower G3. Having a gig of ram helps a lot though.
Atleast if Frankentop dies, just take all the parts and move on to the next laptop to be revied. When the cheapo Walmart laptop dies, you'll just be screwed.
To go through the stuff would mean I would have to get up, and actually sort through the stuff to decide what to keep and what to toss. Then I would have to gather up the stuff that is going to be tossed, and pay to take it to be "recycled" because the trashman won't haul it away. I thought the point was to reduce stress? Better off just letting it stay where it is. It's not causing any harm.
Besides, just because something doesn't have any real monetary value doesn't mean it's worthless. An old AT power supply or floppy drive might have no value - but if you suddenly need one, where are you going to get one?
And then there are some people who just like to tinker with old hardware.
That's true for the Nissan's too. The stick shifts have the little buttons, but the automatics don't.
The reasoning, I believe, is that if you have the automatic in any gear but Park, it won't let you turn the key all the way to lock. Atleast that's the way my Infiniti (upscale Nissan) works. So with the automatic, it is impossible to lock the steering while the wheels are rolling.
If Battle.net should ever shut down (e.g. Blizzard goes out of business), then titles like Starcraft, Diablo, and Warcraft will cease to be playable over the internet.
Actually, if Blizzard went out of business, chances are no one would care about projects like bnetd. The real threat would be if Blizzard decided to end battlenet support for old games - and continued to squash projects like bnet. That would be an interesting scenario.
Justify it all you want -- and hey, some people probably are using bnetd legitimately -- but most people are using it to play pirated versions of Blizzard's games.
Actually, back when I played Diablo II, I used to play on some bnetd servers because they weren't a cesspool like Battle.net is. I know many people did this. And yes, I do have a fully legit copy.
Perhaps Blizzard should of put their lawyers to use making battle.net a better place? Like shutting down all those sites selling duped/hacked items?
My 814 sq ft 1 bdrm apt in Dallas used 1.53 kW last month. (1104 kWh)
My guess is that you have one or more computers that run all the time? Otherwise, that is a bit high. I'm guessing you don't have a washer and drier though (those appliances can suck down a huge amount of electricity).
You only have to order the candidates in condorcet but you are not forced to do so for all the candidates !
...everyone else...
Well, lets say I'm one of the "Everybody but Bush" crowd. I may like Cobb, and kind of like Kerry. But I want to make sure I rank Bush dead last. There isn't any way in condorcet (or IRV for that matter) to do something like:
1. Cobb
2. Kerry
3.
4. Bush
Instead, I would have to rank everyone in the middle in some order, even if I didn't have a preference, just to make sure Bush is ranked last.
The obvious solution to me would be computer assisted voting. For approval voting, the computer would display a list of canidates on a touch screen. You select the ones you want, and when you are done the computer prints out your ballot, properly filled out with YES and NO checked next to every canidate's name. Then the voter would take their ballot, verify it is correct, and deposit it in the ballot box. The paper ballots would then be counted (possibly by another, seperate computer, or by hand).
A ranking system would work simular. The big advantage to using the computer this way is that it won't allow you to screw up and select two canidates for first place, or forget to rank somebody in second place, or something simular. Just use the computer to rank them, and the computer fills out the ballot for you.
In this system, I would have the ballots already printed, and all the computers are doing is filling in the checkboxes, and counting the paper ballots. So if the computers failed, or someone objects to using them, they could still fill it out manually. And there would be a paper trail of paper ballots to count manually if needed.
To even out, there has to be a job somewhere that causes -1.5 people to be hired. Other than the 435 CongressPricks, and the one in the Oval Office, there aren't too many jobs like that.
How about all those jobs at the local Wal-Mart?
Pfft! That's nothing. I saw this story on Fark yesterday!
On Windows, the backend is an integral part of the operating system. Many other applications use it, many other applications plug into it - it's designed to be a central location for codec storage, and it succeeds in that goal admirably.
You've obviously never experienced codec hell before. Install Xvid, and Divx won't play right. Reinstall Divx, and now Xvid videos are green. Install a mpeg2 decoder, and Windows crashes when playing some mpeg2's. Install another mpeg2 decoder, and now those videos play fine, but another set of them won't play. Install another mpeg2 decoder, and now all the files play fine, but if you play a DVD windows crashes. Argh. And don't get me started on what happens when Elecard gets on the system.
If going to Athlon XP 2000+ Could I still use the existing 512mb of pc133 ram?
Only if you keep the same board (I assume it's a KT133 based board?). Any modern board is going to require DDR memory though.
Also, XP 2000+ and XP 2000 are the same thing.
The mobile processors are all 266Mhz FSB, as far as I know, all the way to 3000+. However, I have no idea if your motherboard will support them.
4. Reduce the population. A lot.
point 4 is probably the most important and oddly, the most obvious, but will be the most difficult policy to implement, and would tend to obviate a lot of the power problems.
You know, letting crazy insane nations everywhere obtain plutonium would probably do a lot towards your goal number 4. Just something to think about.