I got the letter about this with my pre-registration badge yesterday, and I was only slightly annoyed about this, and I realize they have their reasons.
However.
It says that no exeptions to this rule will be made, period -- this is where it sucks because I'm going with my girlfriend (a computer geek too) and this policy will impact her. She has to use forearm crutches which kind of monopolize the use of her hands so she can't carry anything except by using a knapsack slung on her shoulder. Are they going to fuck over an entire group of people over this?
And to all those who are just going to say "you should carry her stuff for her" or "get a wheelchair", you can save it -- it's the principle of the thing that counts here.
No matter how much you want to believe this (and believe me, I want to), you have to notice two very important things: One, that the Apple rumor world isn't mearly as accurate as it was before the reign of heir Jobs, and the most important one is that Apple has said publicly on two occasions (that come to mind) that there will be no Apple Portables aside from laptops.
I want this to be true as I still hold a candle for the lost Newton division, but I've seen these rumours before, and they've never come to fruition then either.
But then again, we never thought we'd have a Mac OS with protected memory, either, so there is a (very) slim chance, I guess. But don't hold youir breath.
Have the Issues with expat, etc, that mod_perl has been sorted out? XML is vital to "e-commerece" infrastructure these days, but the last time I tried using the perl XML modules with mod_perl (2 months ago) I was greeted with a stunning array a segfaults, and I was told it was a known issue (something to do with expat, IIRC). I did look in the usual places and can't find any mention of these issues being fixed, unless I'm not looking in the right place?
.
I bet everyone here has actually had real experience with a mechanical compuer (of sorts). While not a 'computer' in the mathematical description, it's pretty close: It's the automobile automatic transmission. They are probably the most complex mechanical device that people contact every day, except for the very newest computer regulated ones.
It actually does computational tasks in a strict sense -- it takes input, does "intelligent" operations on it based on data and outputs it, except in this case it's motion not math. It uses a series of planetary gears, pumps and pulleys to the extent that it make my brain hur thinking about it.
Don't believe that they are so amazing? See for yourself. They even have a cool video showing you how the whole package works.
.
Another option, besides the Unsupported X untility is a software product by Sonnet Technologies, maker of Macintosh Processor upgrades. It only works in conjunction with their like of Processor Card Upgrades, but it's 100% supported by them, and sometimes *real* commercial support is a nice thing to have. They say that will also have the L2 chache card upgrades working very soon.
However there is a problem that can happen here: No matter what, you can't get around the fact that OS X needs a bucketload of memory, and many machine, like my 6400, max out at laughable amounts like 128mb, which is the bare official minimum for OX X.
.
I wasn't able to get hard facts about this, so I'm going to throw out the question for general "gee whiz" value.
I was pondering the computrons per watt of a cluster such as this versus a real honest-to-Bob supercomputer (Something from Cray/Terra/SGI, for example). we can assume that each machine in HPs cluster uses probably 60-80 watts (because they're sans monitor), so youre looking at about between 1.2 and 1.8 kilowatt hours to power this thing. I'm not sure what a Cray TSE uses, but I have to think it's nowhere near that because of all the redundancy that PC clusters use (one Power supply, chipset, etc per Core).
Though, I'm sure if you can afford either a Cray or 256 PCs, you can afford the power bills, too. If you have to ask how much it will cost you, you can't afford it. But while CIP (Cluster of Inexpensive PCs) is cheaper, is it as efficient?
.
There is also no G4 upgrade coming for Wallstreet, despite what the original poster says.
Hmm.. seeing as how I have been told by Sonnet PR that G4 Upgrades *are* in the works on two separate occasions, well, I have to side with Sonnet on this.
Here is where one of the vitures of Mac PowerBooks comes through -- Upgradeability.
The examples abound: before I retired it, my old 1400CS had been upgraded from it's stock 117mhz 603e CPU to a 366 G3, and G4 upgrades are nearly availble for the 'Wallstreet' Line, that debued with 233 mhz 7400 CPUs.
The upgradeability is probably not due to the hardware as much as the scope; there are a million-and-one difference makes of x86 notebooks, while Apple is the only real manufacturer of mobile PowerPC hardware, so hardware developers spend a lot more time on one specific model, developing upgrades. If memory serves, this began with the PB 520 in 1993 which started out with a 25mhz 68040 and can be taken all the way up to a 183mhz 604e.
Of course, Powerbooks can't run Windows Natively, and some people still don't think that the MacOS is a *real* OS, even though the only two OS options you have for a Powerbook are MacOS and Linux.
.
Yes, it's possible, and I;ve done it in various ways over the years. You have a multitude of ways of doing it, so stand back.
One is using terminal emulation. I'm sure you're already thought of this, though it kind of negates the coolness of having a touch-screen.
Second is using a telepresence package like VNC or PC-Anyhwere. This will either require eithernet-enabled palmtops or for you to fave the host machine be a dial-up PPP server for the paltop; this is because VNC is IP based, and you need to give the paltop an IP. There are VNC clients available for CE, PalmOS and EPOC32.
Third is like the above in that you need to set up a PPP link, or ethernet between the two, but in this case the idea is using a web browser on the palmtop to conrtol the PC. This allows only very limited control, but it would look spiffy because you could form the UI (web page) into anything you want. But you will need to write scripts on teh host machine that will execute all teh commands when you click a link on the palmtop.
Fourth and final is making a custom control program that either worhs through IP or serial. The program can just send the text commands to the host PC, and interpret the results in the contrxt of the program, making the coolest UI you want. It's a lot like using the web page approach but with more flexibility, but with a lot more effort too. And I'm not sure if GCC is available for WinCE yet, so yo'd have to pay a few hundred bucks for the VB/VC++ WinCE toolkit.
WHew. Well, that's my exhaustive list of possibilities.
.
You know, this is great and all considering that Apple has been selling their High-end G4 towers with DVD Recorders for, oh, the last 6 months, and you can buy them separately as an OEM part and use them in any other machine.
Or is this about DVD+RW? If so, the title would do well to be changed to 'Blah blah introduced first DVD Re-Writer'.
.
IIRC, doesn't Mandrake-Linux already have an answerf or this request? The Madrake 8 I have on my laptop at home had a 'pretty' boot screen that tells you what 'section' it's on, but other than that it's just a picture/corporate propoganda display.
Why do verbose boot messages matter when you don't even see them?
It says there are no side effects to the use of this.. somehow that seems like a lie.
Side effect one: A zipper in the side of your skull.
Side effect two: Your mood is being artificially altered! I know that this is a boom to some people with severe depression, but it's the electro-neural equivilent of a pain killer; it covers up the symptom while leaving the underlying problem unaddressed. People enter states of morbid depression for a reason.
On as aside, when I first read this blurb, I thought it said "...about a peacemaker-like device...", as in Colt Peacemaker.
"If Zoloft won't cheer you up, maybe an inch of gunmetal down your throat will."
Some (i'm not sure about the one in question) are more complex than that. For example, I have one, a NCD made device, that requires a specially tailored kernel to be downloaded to it via tftp to make it work. And, as you can imagine, finding the software to make special kernels for 10 year-old X-Terms ain't an easy task.
.
This could be an idea for a buniness if anyone would be interested in it; a site that manages and stores online manuals, et al, for hardware manufacturers. I have a feeling that many companies would like to have anviant manuals available, but they don't want to deal with the hassle.
.
I know it's essentially suicide to mention anything PRO-Microsoft, but I'm going to take the leap.
As much as some of the 'harrier' open-source and free-software supprorters deride large Close-Souce Companies. the truth of the matter is that having companies like them around *does* foster quality development.
Just think: suppose MS died, and there was no one controlling the desktop market? I'm willing to bet you a herring that feature development on ye' olde' favourite Free OS would slow. There would be no need to improve it at the current rate because you're not racing anyone.
We in the Open Source and Free Software communities would like to think that we're immune from such normal things like sloth, but believe it or not, we are human, and are at risk of getting sloppy if there is no one prodding us on.
.
While many laptop makers put fold-up 'feet' on their 'books, a (used) Compaq Armada I just bought has a very novel solution for the issue of key travel:
The notebook in question is the Armada 7380DMT. The key travel issue is solved bu having keys that have as much travel as a desktop keyboard, which places the keytops 4-5mm above the deck of that laptop. This would interfere with the screen closing under normal circumstances -- compaq solves this by a pully system in the screen cam mechanism that relaxes the springs in the keyboard as the screen closes. They fall down lower than the deck and don't impact the screen, and when it is opened, they pop up and give you full travel.
.
This is funny on so many levels because there was a short story floating around the net a few years ago called 'LeapTrek' which was, you guessed it, where Mr. Bakula lept into various characters in the ST:TNG timeline.
I think a lot of the extreme people are much too extreme, like Richard Stallman; He's a very extreme person, and while I admire a lot of his ideals, I don't admire him because he is so extreme that he can't relate to other people; and that's a limitation.
.
I'm not a Java programmerm thought I am an active HDML developer -- In the bean/code in the article, does it still require a WAP server? I know in the olden days, to dispay any WAP content you had to have a WAP server. Is this bean completely self-reliant, or does it require one?
.
I was involved with an ISP startup a few months ago. The owner has some very interesting business strategies and offered interesting technologies. It was going fine.
But.
He had to shut it down. Why? Because, although he was making money, the user base wasn't growing at a fast enough rate to the point he would be able to pay us all a _real_ salary. The compnay could support itself, but it could not support the people involved in it.
The key here, I think, it Capital. If you really want to be sucessful, you need to have enough stored capital, not to run the company, but to pay your employees, including yourself. You need to have enough cash at your disposal too keep the human side running while the business' user base grows to the point where it can sustain itself.
.
One), bend over, grit your teeth and take it like a man. As a 675 Owner, I know how I'd feel if someone tried to force a Westel or Alcatel on me, but...
Two), buy a 677, wich is the Discrete Mutlitone (DMT) version of the 675, which is Carrierless Amplitude Protocol (CAP).
Three) Get the logic board of a 677 from a Cisco Parts Supplier and swap it into your 675 -- a new logic board, however, would probably cast as much as new router, anyhoo.
Four) Find someone with a 677 who is moving and needs a 675 and do a trade. Sounds like a nice idea for a web site -- CapDMT CPE trading!
All the ICs in a 675 (mine, at least) are soldered surface mount-like, and even assuming you coild swap out whichever chip is responsible for the demodulation, there is no guarantee that changing it would work.
.
You're close -- The extra wires are there to provide more "bleed off" speed for the cable. With a 40-wire cable. there's like one or two ground wires, but with 80-conductor cables every data conductor will have a coresponding ground conductor.
In DMA-66 and DMA-100, this allows each data line to be used again quicker, because the previous signal 'bleeds off' quicker due to paired ground lines, whereas DMA-33 and slower have to wait for the shared few ground wires to bleed the signal off.
.
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I got the letter about this with my pre-registration badge yesterday, and I was only slightly annoyed about this, and I realize they have their reasons.
However.
It says that no exeptions to this rule will be made, period -- this is where it sucks because I'm going with my girlfriend (a computer geek too) and this policy will impact her. She has to use forearm crutches which kind of monopolize the use of her hands so she can't carry anything except by using a knapsack slung on her shoulder. Are they going to fuck over an entire group of people over this?
And to all those who are just going to say "you should carry her stuff for her" or "get a wheelchair", you can save it -- it's the principle of the thing that counts here.
I call blatant matterism!
It's not dark matter you unenlightened cretins!
It's matter of color!
Heathens.
No matter how much you want to believe this (and believe me, I want to), you have to notice two very important things: One, that the Apple rumor world isn't mearly as accurate as it was before the reign of heir Jobs, and the most important one is that Apple has said publicly on two occasions (that come to mind) that there will be no Apple Portables aside from laptops.
I want this to be true as I still hold a candle for the lost Newton division, but I've seen these rumours before, and they've never come to fruition then either.
But then again, we never thought we'd have a Mac OS with protected memory, either, so there is a (very) slim chance, I guess. But don't hold youir breath.
Have the Issues with expat, etc, that mod_perl has been sorted out? XML is vital to "e-commerece" infrastructure these days, but the last time I tried using the perl XML modules with mod_perl (2 months ago) I was greeted with a stunning array a segfaults, and I was told it was a known issue (something to do with expat, IIRC). I did look in the usual places and can't find any mention of these issues being fixed, unless I'm not looking in the right place?
.
I bet everyone here has actually had real experience with a mechanical compuer (of sorts). While not a 'computer' in the mathematical description, it's pretty close: It's the automobile automatic transmission. They are probably the most complex mechanical device that people contact every day, except for the very newest computer regulated ones.
It actually does computational tasks in a strict sense -- it takes input, does "intelligent" operations on it based on data and outputs it, except in this case it's motion not math. It uses a series of planetary gears, pumps and pulleys to the extent that it make my brain hur thinking about it.
Don't believe that they are so amazing? See for yourself. They even have a cool video showing you how the whole package works.
.
Another option, besides the Unsupported X untility is a software product by Sonnet Technologies, maker of Macintosh Processor upgrades. It only works in conjunction with their like of Processor Card Upgrades, but it's 100% supported by them, and sometimes *real* commercial support is a nice thing to have. They say that will also have the L2 chache card upgrades working very soon.
However there is a problem that can happen here: No matter what, you can't get around the fact that OS X needs a bucketload of memory, and many machine, like my 6400, max out at laughable amounts like 128mb, which is the bare official minimum for OX X.
.
I wasn't able to get hard facts about this, so I'm going to throw out the question for general "gee whiz" value.
I was pondering the computrons per watt of a cluster such as this versus a real honest-to-Bob supercomputer (Something from Cray/Terra/SGI, for example). we can assume that each machine in HPs cluster uses probably 60-80 watts (because they're sans monitor), so youre looking at about between 1.2 and 1.8 kilowatt hours to power this thing. I'm not sure what a Cray TSE uses, but I have to think it's nowhere near that because of all the redundancy that PC clusters use (one Power supply, chipset, etc per Core).
Though, I'm sure if you can afford either a Cray or 256 PCs, you can afford the power bills, too. If you have to ask how much it will cost you, you can't afford it. But while CIP (Cluster of Inexpensive PCs) is cheaper, is it as efficient?
.
Hmm.. seeing as how I have been told by Sonnet PR that G4 Upgrades *are* in the works on two separate occasions, well, I have to side with Sonnet on this.
Here is where one of the vitures of Mac PowerBooks comes through -- Upgradeability.
The examples abound: before I retired it, my old 1400CS had been upgraded from it's stock 117mhz 603e CPU to a 366 G3, and G4 upgrades are nearly availble for the 'Wallstreet' Line, that debued with 233 mhz 7400 CPUs.
The upgradeability is probably not due to the hardware as much as the scope; there are a million-and-one difference makes of x86 notebooks, while Apple is the only real manufacturer of mobile PowerPC hardware, so hardware developers spend a lot more time on one specific model, developing upgrades. If memory serves, this began with the PB 520 in 1993 which started out with a 25mhz 68040 and can be taken all the way up to a 183mhz 604e.
Of course, Powerbooks can't run Windows Natively, and some people still don't think that the MacOS is a *real* OS, even though the only two OS options you have for a Powerbook are MacOS and Linux.
.
Yes, it's possible, and I;ve done it in various ways over the years. You have a multitude of ways of doing it, so stand back.
One is using terminal emulation. I'm sure you're already thought of this, though it kind of negates the coolness of having a touch-screen.
Second is using a telepresence package like VNC or PC-Anyhwere. This will either require eithernet-enabled palmtops or for you to fave the host machine be a dial-up PPP server for the paltop; this is because VNC is IP based, and you need to give the paltop an IP. There are VNC clients available for CE, PalmOS and EPOC32.
Third is like the above in that you need to set up a PPP link, or ethernet between the two, but in this case the idea is using a web browser on the palmtop to conrtol the PC. This allows only very limited control, but it would look spiffy because you could form the UI (web page) into anything you want. But you will need to write scripts on teh host machine that will execute all teh commands when you click a link on the palmtop.
Fourth and final is making a custom control program that either worhs through IP or serial. The program can just send the text commands to the host PC, and interpret the results in the contrxt of the program, making the coolest UI you want. It's a lot like using the web page approach but with more flexibility, but with a lot more effort too. And I'm not sure if GCC is available for WinCE yet, so yo'd have to pay a few hundred bucks for the VB/VC++ WinCE toolkit.
WHew. Well, that's my exhaustive list of possibilities.
.
You know, this is great and all considering that Apple has been selling their High-end G4 towers with DVD Recorders for, oh, the last 6 months, and you can buy them separately as an OEM part and use them in any other machine.
Or is this about DVD+RW? If so, the title would do well to be changed to 'Blah blah introduced first DVD Re-Writer'.
.
IIRC, doesn't Mandrake-Linux already have an answerf or this request? The Madrake 8 I have on my laptop at home had a 'pretty' boot screen that tells you what 'section' it's on, but other than that it's just a picture/corporate propoganda display.
Why do verbose boot messages matter when you don't even see them?
Side effect one: A zipper in the side of your skull.
Side effect two: Your mood is being artificially altered! I know that this is a boom to some people with severe depression, but it's the electro-neural equivilent of a pain killer; it covers up the symptom while leaving the underlying problem unaddressed. People enter states of morbid depression for a reason.
On as aside, when I first read this blurb, I thought it said "...about a peacemaker-like device...", as in Colt Peacemaker.
.
Some (i'm not sure about the one in question) are more complex than that. For example, I have one, a NCD made device, that requires a specially tailored kernel to be downloaded to it via tftp to make it work. And, as you can imagine, finding the software to make special kernels for 10 year-old X-Terms ain't an easy task.
.
I *almost* hate this idea, but not quite. As for me, I think it might have one vaild use:
Using this system, I (as a male) might be freed from watching commercial after commercial for femenine hygiene products!
This capability in itself might be enough to get me to give away any shred of privacy I had.
.
This could be an idea for a buniness if anyone would be interested in it; a site that manages and stores online manuals, et al, for hardware manufacturers. I have a feeling that many companies would like to have anviant manuals available, but they don't want to deal with the hassle.
.
You're completely missing the point, aren't you?
One, I never said this was an issue of closed source versus closed source -- I said it was an issue of software vs. software.
And two, I was trolling? Hmm, as thought I was saying what I think. Tell me, is an attack somehow morally acceptable?
I amazes me how many people miss the point of eveything.
.
I know it's essentially suicide to mention anything PRO-Microsoft, but I'm going to take the leap.
As much as some of the 'harrier' open-source and free-software supprorters deride large Close-Souce Companies. the truth of the matter is that having companies like them around *does* foster quality development.
Just think: suppose MS died, and there was no one controlling the desktop market? I'm willing to bet you a herring that feature development on ye' olde' favourite Free OS would slow. There would be no need to improve it at the current rate because you're not racing anyone.
We in the Open Source and Free Software communities would like to think that we're immune from such normal things like sloth, but believe it or not, we are human, and are at risk of getting sloppy if there is no one prodding us on.
.
While many laptop makers put fold-up 'feet' on their 'books, a (used) Compaq Armada I just bought has a very novel solution for the issue of key travel:
The notebook in question is the Armada 7380DMT. The key travel issue is solved bu having keys that have as much travel as a desktop keyboard, which places the keytops 4-5mm above the deck of that laptop. This would interfere with the screen closing under normal circumstances -- compaq solves this by a pully system in the screen cam mechanism that relaxes the springs in the keyboard as the screen closes. They fall down lower than the deck and don't impact the screen, and when it is opened, they pop up and give you full travel.
.
This is funny on so many levels because there was a short story floating around the net a few years ago called 'LeapTrek' which was, you guessed it, where Mr. Bakula lept into various characters in the ST:TNG timeline.
Life imitates art, indeeed.
.
I think a lot of the extreme people are much too extreme, like Richard Stallman; He's a very extreme person, and while I admire a lot of his ideals, I don't admire him because he is so extreme that he can't relate to other people; and that's a limitation.
.
I'm not a Java programmerm thought I am an active HDML developer -- In the bean/code in the article, does it still require a WAP server? I know in the olden days, to dispay any WAP content you had to have a WAP server. Is this bean completely self-reliant, or does it require one?
.
I was involved with an ISP startup a few months ago. The owner has some very interesting business strategies and offered interesting technologies. It was going fine.
But.
He had to shut it down. Why? Because, although he was making money, the user base wasn't growing at a fast enough rate to the point he would be able to pay us all a _real_ salary. The compnay could support itself, but it could not support the people involved in it.
The key here, I think, it Capital. If you really want to be sucessful, you need to have enough stored capital, not to run the company, but to pay your employees, including yourself. You need to have enough cash at your disposal too keep the human side running while the business' user base grows to the point where it can sustain itself.
.
As I see it, there are maybe 4 options you have:
One), bend over, grit your teeth and take it like a man. As a 675 Owner, I know how I'd feel if someone tried to force a Westel or Alcatel on me, but...
Two), buy a 677, wich is the Discrete Mutlitone (DMT) version of the 675, which is Carrierless Amplitude Protocol (CAP).
Three) Get the logic board of a 677 from a Cisco Parts Supplier and swap it into your 675 -- a new logic board, however, would probably cast as much as new router, anyhoo.
Four) Find someone with a 677 who is moving and needs a 675 and do a trade. Sounds like a nice idea for a web site -- CapDMT CPE trading!
All the ICs in a 675 (mine, at least) are soldered surface mount-like, and even assuming you coild swap out whichever chip is responsible for the demodulation, there is no guarantee that changing it would work.
.
You're close -- The extra wires are there to provide more "bleed off" speed for the cable. With a 40-wire cable. there's like one or two ground wires, but with 80-conductor cables every data conductor will have a coresponding ground conductor.
In DMA-66 and DMA-100, this allows each data line to be used again quicker, because the previous signal 'bleeds off' quicker due to paired ground lines, whereas DMA-33 and slower have to wait for the shared few ground wires to bleed the signal off.
.