The worst part about is that is there is no confirmation for those actions in Vista & 7, leading me to occasionally shut down my entire computer (possibly accompanied by a long update cycle) completely by accident. At least in Windows 8 they managed to bury the shutdown option well enough that I'm unlikely to activate it unintentionally. I never did understand what was wrong with the simple dialog box that gave 3-4 simple choices as seen in Windows 95 and used up through XP.
Just because you wouldn't use Win2k in 2014, doesn't mean it isn't one of the best releases MIcrosoft ever made. It basically made the NT line usable as a desktop for most people. For people used to the dos-based Windows, it brought in a true multi-user system that was stable and robust, but still ran most of your software including games. For people used to older versions of NT, it brought over the interface from Windows 98SE, much better plug and play support, USB support, the management console, DirectX, and more. For a Windows user, it was a huge step forward no matter where you were coming from. For that reason I consider Windows 2000 to be one of Microsoft's greatest Windows release to date.
Windows ME was kind of a stop-gap release. 98SE was originally supposed to be the end of the line for the Dos-based Windows, but what was going to be XP Home just wasn't ready, so quick lets backport some of the features from XP back to Windows 98 and call it ME! Yeah, maybe trying to shoehorn System Restore and the TCP/IP stack from Win2k into Windows 98 wasn't such a good idea after all...
Really? Used Mac prices are insane. Even models that Apple has dropped support for will still fetch hundreds of dollars on the used market. It's crazy and I have no idea why people pay that much.
On the other hand, used PC's are cheap. Part of it is because new PCs are inexpensive, so people aren't going to pay premium prices for a used system. Another reason is that a lot of corporations lease PC's and after 3-5 years they get dumped on the used market. It also doesn't hurt that the parts are more standardized so they're much easier to repair and upgrade. Recently, the end of life for XP has dumped a lot of early Core 2 systems out there for cheap that came with an XP sticker, and someone decided it wasn't economical to buy a newer version of Windows. These make great Linux systems, and will run Windows 7 or 8 just fine if you're willing to fork out for a license.
Take the Metro screen, put it in a special window that is always open, but can be moved, resized, minimized, etc. If you attempt to close it, Windows asks if you want to shut down the computer. Make it so you can organize the tiles by grouping them together and create a new tile that when clicked on, will open up a sub-window with your tile group in it. That way you can organize your tiles into groups such as "Accessories", "Games", "Applications" and "Main". That ought to work:)
My biggest problem with them is they limit the combinations available. For example, I want cherry root beer dammit! Luckily it's only a few taps on the touch screen to mix Cherry Fanta and Barq's together.
Funny you bring up Half Life, as Alyx Vance (in Half Life 2) is notable for being one of the few women depicted in a video game to be depicted as "normal" in both her build and the way she was dressed.
"Hard" science fiction attempts to stick to things that we either know are possible, or what science tells us is theoretically possible. So no warp engines or light sabers, but things like light sails and "generation" ships are okay, as well as extraterrestrial life, but also things like wormholes, which given current scientific theory, could exist.
The problem with it is that often scientific advances will change our understanding of what's possible and suddenly the science behind the story is "wrong"*. This doesn't bother me really, as I generally just imagine that the story takes place in an alternate universe (with different physics if necessary) that split off of from ours right around the copyright date.
*This also assumes that the author gets the science right in the first place.
Hey, the early 80's was a pretty dark time in terms of performance. It was normal for a new car with a V8 to only have something like 130 HP. Mostly due to primitive emission controls, and attempts to tune the car for maximum efficiency and not performance.
Exactly my thought. I've always thought that 16:9 was awkward, because it was not wide enough to replace two side-by-side standard ratio monitors, and two 16:9 monitors next to each other is just stupidly wide. On the other hand, the 21:9 1080p panels nicely replace two 1280x1024 screens, and this new monitor will nicely replace two 1600x1200 screens.
Of course, you have to be careful with those because sometimes you have no idea what you're getting. 2560x1440 at 27" is only a slightly higher DPI than the common 1920x1080 at 21.5". Anyone claiming "Retina" is full of it.
The problem with inkjet printers is that they are sold on the razor blade model - sell the printer for cheap and rake in the money on the consumables. Since that's the model they are using, they aren't going to lower the cost of the consumables. Furthermore, they are extremely protective of this market, using tactics like DRM to keep the third parties out. Anyone not using this business model can't compete with the $50 printers even if the TCO is lower in the long run. The retailers are in on it too, and the printer companies keep them happy by not including a $1 USB cable in the box, so the retailer can sell them at a huge mark up instead.
Buying a cheap, used laser printer is a good alternative. I bought a HP Laserjet 4P over a decade ago. Cheap to run and reliable.
That's one of the reasons why if I figure out a problem myself and no one has answered my post I'll post a follow-up with the solution I found. I figure it's nice thing to do for my fellow netizens.
There are plenty of people graduating with computer engineering and other STEM degrees, however, as a fresh graduate they don't have "skills" and "experience" so they get continually passed over when it comes to hiring. That's why the unemployment rate for young people is so insane. A few do get lucky and manage to break into the field, but many others simply give up and do something else. Meanwhile, the older experienced people are retiring, and companies would rather whine about a so-called shortage instead of training up the next generation.
If Honda was smart, they wouldn't have axed the first generation Insight right when gas prices shot up. To add to the hilarity, the second generation is a total rip-off of the Prius.
The stupid thing is that it's not really a Windows XP exploit. It's an IE8 exploit, which Microsoft still supports on other versions of Windows such as Server 2003 and Vista. So Microsoft is still on the hook to fix it anyway, so it's not like they gained a whole lot by dragging their feet on this.
Windows XP supports the NX bit, which came in with a service pack. Maybe you're thinking of Windows 2000? Though by default I believe Windows XP won't use it unless you specifically turn it on. And of course, you need to have a processor that has the NX bit in the first place. Windows Vista defaulted it to on (though only for the 64-bit versions), and Windows 8 requires it to the point where it won't boot on a processor that lacks the NX bit.
This issue was disclosed to Microsoft while XP still had almost six months of support left. They should have fixed it, not let it go figuring by the time it was disclosed publicly XP would be out of support.
Though the funny thing is, Microsoft is still on the hook to fix it as they still support IE8 on other versions of Windows, including (off the top of my head) Server 2003 and Vista.
Actually, one of the reasons why Google became so popular so quickly was their search page and results were clean and free of ads compared to their competitors at the time, which had busy and cluttered homepages and results stuffed full of ads in their heavily branded "search portals". Of course, that their search engine itself was very good at finding what you were looking for didn't hurt either. It was only later that Google expanded into other areas and became the advertising behemoth it is now (not to mention also letting their search engine go to shit). In many ways Google resembles the other search engines it crushed back in the early 2000's.
Both my stove and microwave have clocks, but they can also both be turned off. I have the one enabled on the microwave, and turn the stove's off as it can't keep time worth a damn anyway.
If you actually read through that, he has two different kinds of gallons, One is for lard, as he figures lard has a similar energy density as gasoline. The other kind of gallon is kind of an estimate for more typical food you might eat, most of which is less energy dense than lard. Using the gasoline/lard gallon, walking gets 180 MPG for a "long-haul" walk (he also makes the argument that for long-haul walking/biking, you're going to need time to rest so he counts that energy too, which drops your "mileage").
He also makes the argument that sense there is a lot of fossil fuel usage involved in food production and transport, that your effective mileage is much lower once you factor that in. However, if you're going to make that argument, you really should also count the fossil fuel usage to create a gallon of gasoline, which will drop the effective mileage of a ICE car considerably.
GM has good engines, and they have bad engines. The Chevy 350 is a great engine, so is the Olds 307. The 3800 lasts forever, but the 3100 was a bit more fragile. Then you have some engines like the Cadillac HT4100 which was a disaster.
It's much the same with the Japanese brands. Toyota has had some sludge problems with some of their recent V6 designs. Subaru's are notorious for weak head gaskets (though most Subaru owners won't admit it).
Slashdot Mirror
The worst part about is that is there is no confirmation for those actions in Vista & 7, leading me to occasionally shut down my entire computer (possibly accompanied by a long update cycle) completely by accident. At least in Windows 8 they managed to bury the shutdown option well enough that I'm unlikely to activate it unintentionally. I never did understand what was wrong with the simple dialog box that gave 3-4 simple choices as seen in Windows 95 and used up through XP.
Just because you wouldn't use Win2k in 2014, doesn't mean it isn't one of the best releases MIcrosoft ever made. It basically made the NT line usable as a desktop for most people. For people used to the dos-based Windows, it brought in a true multi-user system that was stable and robust, but still ran most of your software including games. For people used to older versions of NT, it brought over the interface from Windows 98SE, much better plug and play support, USB support, the management console, DirectX, and more. For a Windows user, it was a huge step forward no matter where you were coming from. For that reason I consider Windows 2000 to be one of Microsoft's greatest Windows release to date.
Windows ME was kind of a stop-gap release. 98SE was originally supposed to be the end of the line for the Dos-based Windows, but what was going to be XP Home just wasn't ready, so quick lets backport some of the features from XP back to Windows 98 and call it ME! Yeah, maybe trying to shoehorn System Restore and the TCP/IP stack from Win2k into Windows 98 wasn't such a good idea after all...
Really? Used Mac prices are insane. Even models that Apple has dropped support for will still fetch hundreds of dollars on the used market. It's crazy and I have no idea why people pay that much.
On the other hand, used PC's are cheap. Part of it is because new PCs are inexpensive, so people aren't going to pay premium prices for a used system. Another reason is that a lot of corporations lease PC's and after 3-5 years they get dumped on the used market. It also doesn't hurt that the parts are more standardized so they're much easier to repair and upgrade. Recently, the end of life for XP has dumped a lot of early Core 2 systems out there for cheap that came with an XP sticker, and someone decided it wasn't economical to buy a newer version of Windows. These make great Linux systems, and will run Windows 7 or 8 just fine if you're willing to fork out for a license.
Hmm....
Take the Metro screen, put it in a special window that is always open, but can be moved, resized, minimized, etc. If you attempt to close it, Windows asks if you want to shut down the computer. Make it so you can organize the tiles by grouping them together and create a new tile that when clicked on, will open up a sub-window with your tile group in it. That way you can organize your tiles into groups such as "Accessories", "Games", "Applications" and "Main". That ought to work :)
My biggest problem with them is they limit the combinations available. For example, I want cherry root beer dammit! Luckily it's only a few taps on the touch screen to mix Cherry Fanta and Barq's together.
It already exists.
Funny you bring up Half Life, as Alyx Vance (in Half Life 2) is notable for being one of the few women depicted in a video game to be depicted as "normal" in both her build and the way she was dressed.
As far as I can tell, Google and Bing or more or less equivalent when it comes to returning search results that are completely worthless.
"Hard" science fiction attempts to stick to things that we either know are possible, or what science tells us is theoretically possible. So no warp engines or light sabers, but things like light sails and "generation" ships are okay, as well as extraterrestrial life, but also things like wormholes, which given current scientific theory, could exist.
The problem with it is that often scientific advances will change our understanding of what's possible and suddenly the science behind the story is "wrong"*. This doesn't bother me really, as I generally just imagine that the story takes place in an alternate universe (with different physics if necessary) that split off of from ours right around the copyright date.
*This also assumes that the author gets the science right in the first place.
Hey, the early 80's was a pretty dark time in terms of performance. It was normal for a new car with a V8 to only have something like 130 HP. Mostly due to primitive emission controls, and attempts to tune the car for maximum efficiency and not performance.
Exactly my thought. I've always thought that 16:9 was awkward, because it was not wide enough to replace two side-by-side standard ratio monitors, and two 16:9 monitors next to each other is just stupidly wide. On the other hand, the 21:9 1080p panels nicely replace two 1280x1024 screens, and this new monitor will nicely replace two 1600x1200 screens.
Of course, you have to be careful with those because sometimes you have no idea what you're getting. 2560x1440 at 27" is only a slightly higher DPI than the common 1920x1080 at 21.5". Anyone claiming "Retina" is full of it.
The problem with inkjet printers is that they are sold on the razor blade model - sell the printer for cheap and rake in the money on the consumables. Since that's the model they are using, they aren't going to lower the cost of the consumables. Furthermore, they are extremely protective of this market, using tactics like DRM to keep the third parties out. Anyone not using this business model can't compete with the $50 printers even if the TCO is lower in the long run. The retailers are in on it too, and the printer companies keep them happy by not including a $1 USB cable in the box, so the retailer can sell them at a huge mark up instead.
Buying a cheap, used laser printer is a good alternative. I bought a HP Laserjet 4P over a decade ago. Cheap to run and reliable.
That's one of the reasons why if I figure out a problem myself and no one has answered my post I'll post a follow-up with the solution I found. I figure it's nice thing to do for my fellow netizens.
There are plenty of people graduating with computer engineering and other STEM degrees, however, as a fresh graduate they don't have "skills" and "experience" so they get continually passed over when it comes to hiring. That's why the unemployment rate for young people is so insane. A few do get lucky and manage to break into the field, but many others simply give up and do something else. Meanwhile, the older experienced people are retiring, and companies would rather whine about a so-called shortage instead of training up the next generation.
If Honda was smart, they wouldn't have axed the first generation Insight right when gas prices shot up. To add to the hilarity, the second generation is a total rip-off of the Prius.
And how much in is maintenance is the ICE version of the car going to cost you for that many miles?
The stupid thing is that it's not really a Windows XP exploit. It's an IE8 exploit, which Microsoft still supports on other versions of Windows such as Server 2003 and Vista. So Microsoft is still on the hook to fix it anyway, so it's not like they gained a whole lot by dragging their feet on this.
Windows XP supports the NX bit, which came in with a service pack. Maybe you're thinking of Windows 2000? Though by default I believe Windows XP won't use it unless you specifically turn it on. And of course, you need to have a processor that has the NX bit in the first place. Windows Vista defaulted it to on (though only for the 64-bit versions), and Windows 8 requires it to the point where it won't boot on a processor that lacks the NX bit.
This issue was disclosed to Microsoft while XP still had almost six months of support left. They should have fixed it, not let it go figuring by the time it was disclosed publicly XP would be out of support.
Though the funny thing is, Microsoft is still on the hook to fix it as they still support IE8 on other versions of Windows, including (off the top of my head) Server 2003 and Vista.
Actually, one of the reasons why Google became so popular so quickly was their search page and results were clean and free of ads compared to their competitors at the time, which had busy and cluttered homepages and results stuffed full of ads in their heavily branded "search portals". Of course, that their search engine itself was very good at finding what you were looking for didn't hurt either. It was only later that Google expanded into other areas and became the advertising behemoth it is now (not to mention also letting their search engine go to shit). In many ways Google resembles the other search engines it crushed back in the early 2000's.
Both my stove and microwave have clocks, but they can also both be turned off. I have the one enabled on the microwave, and turn the stove's off as it can't keep time worth a damn anyway.
If you actually read through that, he has two different kinds of gallons, One is for lard, as he figures lard has a similar energy density as gasoline. The other kind of gallon is kind of an estimate for more typical food you might eat, most of which is less energy dense than lard. Using the gasoline/lard gallon, walking gets 180 MPG for a "long-haul" walk (he also makes the argument that for long-haul walking/biking, you're going to need time to rest so he counts that energy too, which drops your "mileage").
He also makes the argument that sense there is a lot of fossil fuel usage involved in food production and transport, that your effective mileage is much lower once you factor that in. However, if you're going to make that argument, you really should also count the fossil fuel usage to create a gallon of gasoline, which will drop the effective mileage of a ICE car considerably.
GM has good engines, and they have bad engines. The Chevy 350 is a great engine, so is the Olds 307. The 3800 lasts forever, but the 3100 was a bit more fragile. Then you have some engines like the Cadillac HT4100 which was a disaster.
It's much the same with the Japanese brands. Toyota has had some sludge problems with some of their recent V6 designs. Subaru's are notorious for weak head gaskets (though most Subaru owners won't admit it).