If you want more info, your library should have the May 2004 issue of Scientific American, which has an excellent article about previous transits. It's amazing to see how a single event provides a reference point for the passage of time and progress of society. Imagine what it will be like when the first of the pair of Venus transits comes in 2117. Maybe we'll be watching it from Mars as well...
It was about these canals they found in Brazil that run dead straight for hundreds of miles, along with manmade mounds that are above the floodplain, supposedly for growing crops.
I would say the growth in child obesity has come from adults who don't know how to cook (they just buy a box and the cheapest, fattiest ground beef they can get their hands on) who also make their kids eat everything.
Kids know when they're not hungry anymore. Don't make them eat if they don't want to, but also don't let them snack.
Actually you can do a SCSI raid with my PowerMac. You'd need a SCSI card and some drives, but you could do it. I just haven't had the need for it.
And I never said you built for games. But you could. The silly little nerfherders who convince their parents to buy them a $5,000 Dell 1337 will think they're hot sh!t because they have it, when folks like yourself are the ones with the real skills.
My Power Mac G4/400 cost $1500 new + $200 for accessories. Over the years I've put about $200 into it (mostly through gifts of more RAM, new HD, CD Burner). I fully expect it to last another 4 years and more. Granted, it won't play any games, but it will last.
The only market I see is one for kids who think they're 1337 HaXX0rS because they bought a machine that gets 150+ fps and they can frag.
Frags? High FPS? A true geek seeks not these things.
The dork issue has been solved by myself. I created a utility belt with slots for both my cell phones, iPod, a cord-wrap for my headphones, leatherman tool, and a clip-on watch. I look like a freak, but at least I'm connected!
On your desk you will probably have them for years and use your cell however for IM and some email.
Uh, no. I can't type fast enough on a cell phone to keep up a conversation on IM (believe me, I've tried), and I don't want to push 9 buttons multiple times just to write an email. There is a reason SMS messages can't be very long. I can't imagine writing more than ~160 character messages; I'd go crazy before I got the message out of my brain and into the phone.
And don't get me started on the teeny little screen.
There are two problems with your theory: Keyboard and screen. If they figure out a way to put a full size keyboard (or maybe a little smaller) and 15" screen into a form factor similar to the current cell phone, then you may have something. Until then I'm going to carry around my Powerbook.
A device that performs two functions does neither well. A device that performs the same two functions and is a phone as well isn't good at any of them.
I want my computer to be my computer, my cell phone to be my cell phone, my GPS receiver to be my GPS receiver, etc. I want them seperate, but easily interoperable.
Give me a cell phone that can get reception in my basement (see journal) and I'll buy that over my T610, even if it doesn't have a camera or WAP access.
As much as I loathe M$, I'm going to have to agree. Apple's.Mac was down for a while, and people were cheesed. Nothing on/. A little bias is okay when they do stupid things (like patent the double-click), but this could happen to anybody. But I do think they should be a little forthcoming as to what the 'system event' is. Was it a hack? Was it a drive error? That would alleviate some of the flack they're taking for this.
I've noticed that new Mac smell is totally different from new PC smell. If I sniff close to the exhuast fan on my Powerbook I can still get a wiff. Now THAT gets me hot.
Heck, I can't upgrade the firmware on my parents! The damn thing won't accept the upgrade from any of the machines connected to it. I just locked it down so the only MAC addresses that can connect to it are myself and my parents. And I changed the default password to a random one.
I've been using OS X since public beta, and every upgrade has been considerably faster, even on my four-year old G4/400. I expect to be using that machine as a server well into the future, mostly due to the fact that Apple is doing such a good job making operating systems work well on older machines.
And the fact that I won't be discouraged from keeping 10.3 or 10.4 on that system if the next version doesn't support my hardware through annoying EULAs.
Linux looked like Windows 95 in 1998, and it looks like Windows 95 now in 2004. WTF is so innovative about that? What is innovative about VI? Give me a fucking break already.
Yes, because the only thing that matters is what things look like, not how they perform or how they interact or their feature set.
I think the article is great (except for some typos), and he makes some good points. But let's look at how Microsoft will implement his ideas...
The ability to log in to all our favorite Web sites with one password:* So that one security exploit can delete all your email AND clear out your bank account!
Spam blocking for our e-mail accounts:* unless the spammer^H^H^H^H^H^H^H advertiser pays Microsoft to show their spam^H^H^H^H ads to people.
Calendar sharing with colleagues and friends to schedule meetings:* Complete ith new movie and album release dates that you can't remove, and totally open so that 1337 haxx0rs know when you're going to be out of your house!
Automatic address book updates for all our contacts: Which are also available to spammers^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H advertisers that pay Microsoft!
A virtual hard drive on the Internet for sharing files, photos, and music with our friends and access to these files via the Internet while traveling anywhere in the world:* Why even require authentication. Everyone should be able to view your photos and add pictures of their own! (Not that they'd do it, but security would probably be so lax that everyone who uses this service would have Goatse pics on their hard drives.)
Synchronization of our Internet bookmarks across all our computers:* Complete with non-deletable links to products you want to buy!
Online profiles of personal information that we could choose to share with Web sites and social networks: Is it me or is this just too damn scary. "we could choose to share" is a Microsoft euphemism for "you agreed to the EULA so we give this to everyone who pays enough"
Regular backup of files to a storage site on the Internet:* And it will be just as secure as your home PC!!!
Regular application and system- security updates: Translation: Agree to the EULA, pay us a monthly fee, and we'll install software that will probably break your machine without your knowledge or consent.
One-step migration of files and programs to a new computer:* But only if you agree to another EULA, and it wipes the old machine and renders it useless. And it might corrupt your files in the transfer.*
* - These features have already been implemented, partially or fully, by other companies, including Apple, specifically.Mac, Keychain, and (can't find it right now) a software package that made switching from PC to Mac easier.
Where do you people live?!? I set up probably the only two wireless access points* in my entire town; one at my parents and one in my apartment. How the heck are you getting 2 or three open APs in your own house???
*Don't get any ideas; they both use WPA and MAC address limiting, so neither of them are open.
While I'm sure many people here would have no trouble filling a 60GB iPod, the real reason they're increasing the space so rapidly is their new feature Home-on-iPod. This, coupled with home folder encryption, would allow for truly portable computing; just plug your iPod in and it's your Macintosh, with all your preferences set and all your libraries available. Sounds great to me!
Let me clarify: I want to leave Earth now. Permanently. I don't want to circle it a couple times. I don't want to wait twenty years to get there when we have the technology now. I can leave now. Nobody else seems to want to go.
I will pay to go somewhere. I will not pay to take a joyride. If I want a thrill, roller coasters are cheaper and safer. If they send me, I will work for them for the rest of my life. How's that for an investment? Just get me off this disgusting, bug-infested, humid, crowded mudball you people call a planet.
I'm not the type to bring that sort of thing up. I'm just saying that if we're too patient, we will die before anything is accomplished. I want to go now. Not because I'm impatient, but because we can and we're wasting our time. I can see the other shore, but everyone seems content to play in the shallows. It didn't make economic sense for Columbus to try to sail west to Asia, but someone financed it.
At any rate, I am not going to provide charity in the form of a $20K flight I don't want to take. If it's a commercial endeavor, they'll have to provide a service I'm willing to pay for. Until then, good job on shooting a billionaire around the world. Next time do it without the spacecraft.
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If you want more info, your library should have the May 2004 issue of Scientific American, which has an excellent article about previous transits. It's amazing to see how a single event provides a reference point for the passage of time and progress of society. Imagine what it will be like when the first of the pair of Venus transits comes in 2117. Maybe we'll be watching it from Mars as well...
Anybody know anything more about this?
They weren't offering Internet access for free as in beer, it was free as in speech. You're free to use it, but you gotta pay.
Kids know when they're not hungry anymore. Don't make them eat if they don't want to, but also don't let them snack.
And I never said you built for games. But you could. The silly little nerfherders who convince their parents to buy them a $5,000 Dell 1337 will think they're hot sh!t because they have it, when folks like yourself are the ones with the real skills.
The only market I see is one for kids who think they're 1337 HaXX0rS because they bought a machine that gets 150+ fps and they can frag.
Frags? High FPS? A true geek seeks not these things.
The dork issue has been solved by myself. I created a utility belt with slots for both my cell phones, iPod, a cord-wrap for my headphones, leatherman tool, and a clip-on watch. I look like a freak, but at least I'm connected!
Actually, that should be "JE SUIS CANADIEN"
Uh, no. I can't type fast enough on a cell phone to keep up a conversation on IM (believe me, I've tried), and I don't want to push 9 buttons multiple times just to write an email. There is a reason SMS messages can't be very long. I can't imagine writing more than ~160 character messages; I'd go crazy before I got the message out of my brain and into the phone.
And don't get me started on the teeny little screen.
There are two problems with your theory: Keyboard and screen. If they figure out a way to put a full size keyboard (or maybe a little smaller) and 15" screen into a form factor similar to the current cell phone, then you may have something. Until then I'm going to carry around my Powerbook.
I want my computer to be my computer, my cell phone to be my cell phone, my GPS receiver to be my GPS receiver, etc. I want them seperate, but easily interoperable.
Give me a cell phone that can get reception in my basement (see journal) and I'll buy that over my T610, even if it doesn't have a camera or WAP access.
As much as I loathe M$, I'm going to have to agree. Apple's .Mac was down for a while, and people were cheesed. Nothing on /. A little bias is okay when they do stupid things (like patent the double-click), but this could happen to anybody. But I do think they should be a little forthcoming as to what the 'system event' is. Was it a hack? Was it a drive error? That would alleviate some of the flack they're taking for this.
I've noticed that new Mac smell is totally different from new PC smell. If I sniff close to the exhuast fan on my Powerbook I can still get a wiff. Now THAT gets me hot.
And usability is better because I'm not spending half my time debugging extension conflicts.
Or get a Mac and not worry about any of that ever. (Well, except the eye candy. Scale is is fast, genie is pretty, Suck is wicked.)
Do any of the major online storage/hosting/email/IM places have sunset provisions, or will they just keep your stuff for as long as they exist?
Heck, I can't upgrade the firmware on my parents! The damn thing won't accept the upgrade from any of the machines connected to it. I just locked it down so the only MAC addresses that can connect to it are myself and my parents. And I changed the default password to a random one.
And the fact that I won't be discouraged from keeping 10.3 or 10.4 on that system if the next version doesn't support my hardware through annoying EULAs.
You have my respect for living in such a shoebox!
Where in the article did it say he was using 98? I didn't see it. For all we know he could be using the latest version of XP.
Yes, because the only thing that matters is what things look like, not how they perform or how they interact or their feature set.
* - These features have already been implemented, partially or fully, by other companies, including Apple, specifically .Mac, Keychain, and (can't find it right now) a software package that made switching from PC to Mac easier.
*Don't get any ideas; they both use WPA and MAC address limiting, so neither of them are open.
While I'm sure many people here would have no trouble filling a 60GB iPod, the real reason they're increasing the space so rapidly is their new feature Home-on-iPod. This, coupled with home folder encryption, would allow for truly portable computing; just plug your iPod in and it's your Macintosh, with all your preferences set and all your libraries available. Sounds great to me!
I will pay to go somewhere. I will not pay to take a joyride. If I want a thrill, roller coasters are cheaper and safer. If they send me, I will work for them for the rest of my life. How's that for an investment? Just get me off this disgusting, bug-infested, humid, crowded mudball you people call a planet.
At any rate, I am not going to provide charity in the form of a $20K flight I don't want to take. If it's a commercial endeavor, they'll have to provide a service I'm willing to pay for. Until then, good job on shooting a billionaire around the world. Next time do it without the spacecraft.