Yeah- two design features I don't get are the stupid touchpads and crappy batteries. Netbook manufacturers are you listening- DITCH THE DAMN TOUCHPADS. Hardly anyone uses them- it just ends up taking up very valuable keyboard real estate and periodically moving my cursor around in unexpected ways. I hate these damn things.
Secondly- 2.5hrs may be enough for regular laptop users who just use the thing as an overly expensive, delicate desktop anyway but netbooks are actually meant to be carried around and as such need to have much better battery life. I think five hours actual running time is mandatory. As a benchmark my 1000HA (with an aftermarket battery since ASUS hasn't grasped that people really, really care about battery life) has a TEN hour (that's 1-0) run time with Wi-fi. Come on netbook makers- take our cash- give us the option of getting decent batteries and don't waste our time and money on 2-3 hour runtimes. It's just not acceptable.
Re:TR shot themselfs in the foot with this lawsuit
on
Zotero Lawsuit Dismissed
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
My brother is a digital media specialist (aka Librarian 2.0) for a major university and believe me Endnote has not just lost one client. Everyone on the inside is wicked pissed about their lawsuit, their outrageous fees and shitty service. They should not be surprised when Universities abandon them in droves just to avoid becoming the next target of this shitty company. Let's hope Blackboard is the next casualty since they suck even harder. (aka almost as much and in the same "make a simple task slow and complicated" way as this comment system on Slashdot)
Usually check engine lights don't matter- loose fuel caps etc will set them off. The basics haven't changed- if you have oil pressure and water flow you're more or less good to go. WHile the efficiency of the engine may suffer cars of the 1950s got along just fine without all this stuff so if your ECU is letting spark and fuel get to the engine the check engine light really doesn't mean shit. If you are worried get a scan gauge (about $150) and it will let you know if something crucial like fuel flow, turbo boost, water temp, oil, etc is gone wrong.
Unfortunately nobody (well I do but almost nobody) works on their own cars any more- cars now have the same status as jewelery or a blender. As a result, they are dropped off wherever and the repairs are a cost of doing business. Nobody gives a shit about independent mechanics either, few people even use them most people having been convinced that cars are "so complicated" only the dealer can work on them. MB even refuses to publish or allow others to publish detailed maintenance info. Check out the Bentley's manual and see just how sparse it is these days. Cars evidently have some new functions beyond moving forward and reverse that I have missed....
Until owners of cars begin to work on them and get pissed off about the lack of information becomes a purchase consideration manufacturers will continue this trend as it means more money for them. I will continue to drive my Bostig equipped VW van for another 20 years....
Ubuntu (Hardy, Intrepid, Jaunty) all run fine and there are specialized distros like easy-peasy and eeeUbuntu which just add a customized kernel and extra utilities for managing power, etc. Ubuntu should install with no problems using Unetbootin or the equivalent. There's a good site with hits, etc. http://www.eeeuser.com/. Just check out the forums and distribution discussions.
My ma, my kids grandma runs Ubuntu- no problems whatsoever. She loves it. As far as the bigger screens nonsense Lenovo is spouting- sounds like he doesn't like the low margin netbook market and wants it to go away. My 7" ASUS was fine but the screen IS too small for regular use. The form factor though is perfect. My new 10" ASUS is about perfect esp with about 11hr (extended battery) run-time. If the screen were bigger I wouldn't get it, it would be too tough to carry around and bring on planes. If a notebook/netbook isn't EXTREMELY portable with a long run time I'll just stick to a much cheaper, more reliable and usable desktop.
Basically, nobody will sell a netbook with Linux on it despite it operating flawlessly on nearly all of them. Only Dell and on unobtainium ASUS model are available so we end up buying one with Windows on it and replacing it. For instance, I just bought a ASUS 1000HA. Guess what- a sale chocked up for Windows despite the fact that I'd just going to rm -rf * it as soon as the netbook arrives. Same thing for my daughter's netbook. She loves Ubuntu on it and has never had a problem. Lenovo is a MS whore.
I have to assume you haven't tried to just use a netbook. Yeah I have desktop with a giant screen and quadcore at home but at work and on the road my Asus works just great, really well in fact. I bring a long cable so I can hook it up to the flat screens that are in more and more hotel rooms. Its fantastic for meetings and I don't have to worry about battery usage. On a plane it's fantastic as it fits right in my lap. At home we keep it on a shelf in the kitchen for looking up recipes, talking via skype and streaming music. I love the the thing- funny though I hated regular size laptops.
Yeah- all the netbook manufacturers seem stuck on that paradigm- I vote for getting rid of the speakers and touchpad, putting in a larger keyboard which can "unplug" from the surface of the system and all bluetooth accessories (mouse, keyboard, sound out) and switch to a DVI video out. Touchpads are the biggest change that's needed- they just make the system LESS usable not more.
Is there any reason, any reason whatsoever that you have made your web site and videos inaccessible from anything other than a machine running Microsoft Windows? I had to go over to my neighbours house just to write this. It's ridiculous. When I made a donation to the ACLU earlier, they had no such requirement. I also heard Sen Biden is against network neutrality. Perhaps it's time to pop over to johnmccain.com. I do notice his videos are available in flash which works everywhere. Careful democratic party- you are showing a bit of plumbers crack and revealing your true allegiances. Fix this, fix it now.
What college isn't? Ummm. Most colleges outside perhaps the CS and Physics departments. Many colleges mandate the use of MS products and most, so far as I can tell, use it more or less exclusively for their infrastructure and operations.
Also, I just remembered the Privacy Act Registration is one of the very few laws which imposes upon contractors the very same penalties as DoD (and presumeably other government) employees- that is you can be held liable under UCMJ for violations. So, the folks who designed and deployed this laptop really should go to jail....
There's are certification programs known as Privacy Act Registration and HSPD-12 which are part of the DIACAP process which REQUIRE hardware encryption of the full disk. DoD systems all have to meet these and it's a big deal if it turns out you tried to speed on meeting these requirements. Clearly, the TSA feels it's too good for it's own policies.
It's an oversight vice insight dilemma. While insight into tactical actions may be valuable for battle planners, their requests for information rapidly degenerate into oversight. Tactical commanders, understanding this, reduce upward information flow to formal language and CYA reports sabotaging the intent of modern battlefield comm.
that's a FANTASTIC idea. Sound cards advance at a much slower pace than graphics cards and as we all know drivers for them- esp drivers which allow us to address invidiual channels and hardware features, are sucky. A programmable multi-in, multi-out sound card with optical connections would be a great boon to the really sucky situation that currently exists.
I'd have to agree with you. Maybe the eeePC has enough market recognition to survive now but I bought it because it was cheap and small- cheap and small enough for me to ignore it's issues (no bluetooth, rather crappy screen, stupid touchpad, weird linux distro and now annoying DOS like drive naming. At $650 even with the larger screen I'm not sure I'd buy it. I don't really need the extra storage, putting things on an SD card works just fine for me. Cheap and small asus- cheap and small.
I picked up a Razer AC-1 card from Woot- you can find these for under $50. Works GREAT under Ubuntu- sounds much better than under MS Windows XP even though the Windows provides pop environments and such. I use drivers from the OSS project.
Like what? Have you ever even used one? Your comment is pure FUD. For instance, does your out of the box MS Windows machine have skype installed? What about word processor and other business applications? What about disk encryption and mobile sync software? Can it sync up your calendar and contacts with google or other calendars and your PDA? My eeepc does all that and more, out of the box. So quick your FUD or name specific examples of USEFUL tasks that aren't just made up to justify your point.
It's excellent for a business environment too- which is how I use mine. It has entirely replaced a "conventional" laptop. It handles doing briefings and the usual business crap with ease and aplomb. There's nothing better for working on tight airline seats or airline terminal couches and tables. It's ultra-quick boot time is fantastic for taking quick notes in meetings or showing documents to others. It's so small it can be easily passed around a table in one hand or alternately it easily hooks up to projectors so lots of people can view at the same time. As a daily user of an eeepc I really don't think this distinction of the eeepc not being "real" is just a red herring created by other laptop makers.
So www.airforce.com is not a DoD site? (I was in the Air Force for 23 years) No kidding the USAF domain is.af.mil so what- it's the Air Force that addressed the email not mildenhall.com domain owner. There's lots of good IT support in the USAF and some dopes- like everywhere. I really doubt these emails were sent by IT personnel- more likely ops and public affairs neither of which are known for their inquisitive nature, careful planning or follow-up- not to mention tech savvy. Mistakes are made sure but not following up immediately and politely to a concerned citizen strikes me as a symptom of not paying attention to details and simultaneously being incredibly arrogant.
As far as encryption devices- dude, we are talking emails here. They are protected, if at all through a PKI certificate issued by HPD-12 compliant CAC cards. KG-58s are for comm, not email. Flight plans by the way are regularly sent over email- we have to communicate with the Civil Air Authorities after all in order to use their air space- we don't own the world. Keys are also distributed electronically now- welcome to the 90s.
Last year, Microsoft introduced the Student Indoctrination Suite, which includes the XP Stuckwithit Edition plus educational applications, for $3 for groveling countries. Microsoft has avoided competition from companies supporting the open-source OS Linux and associated software except in countries which can be bought off. "I think as a company we welcome choice," [Orlando Ayala] said. "Frankly, we welcome the competition, we just don't like other people trying to take our business." The company's educational funding comes with a hitch: "Of course, that includes the fact they [the schools] use Windows," Ayala said.' You don't think we're doing this for good of the students do you?.
How about exchange has to develop a way to work with the phone? I'm sick and tired of pandering to Microsoft's shifting "standards" being a prerequisite to do anything software related. Just why would google, which offers an open, standards based email system for companies of it's own be motivated to do this? How would such connectivity benefit google in any way shape or form? Google seems dedicated to keeping information accessible to all, not locking it in some secret proprietary format. I'm not saying Google is looking out for the consumer in every respect but this sort of requirement is nonsense.
Not to mention comm electronics (beyond the control link). The crew, being on the ground, are likely to have much better situational awareness and not be quite so tired or distracted by food, each other, bad weather and so it.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah- two design features I don't get are the stupid touchpads and crappy batteries. Netbook manufacturers are you listening- DITCH THE DAMN TOUCHPADS. Hardly anyone uses them- it just ends up taking up very valuable keyboard real estate and periodically moving my cursor around in unexpected ways. I hate these damn things.
Secondly- 2.5hrs may be enough for regular laptop users who just use the thing as an overly expensive, delicate desktop anyway but netbooks are actually meant to be carried around and as such need to have much better battery life. I think five hours actual running time is mandatory. As a benchmark my 1000HA (with an aftermarket battery since ASUS hasn't grasped that people really, really care about battery life) has a TEN hour (that's 1-0) run time with Wi-fi. Come on netbook makers- take our cash- give us the option of getting decent batteries and don't waste our time and money on 2-3 hour runtimes. It's just not acceptable.
My brother is a digital media specialist (aka Librarian 2.0) for a major university and believe me Endnote has not just lost one client. Everyone on the inside is wicked pissed about their lawsuit, their outrageous fees and shitty service. They should not be surprised when Universities abandon them in droves just to avoid becoming the next target of this shitty company. Let's hope Blackboard is the next casualty since they suck even harder. (aka almost as much and in the same "make a simple task slow and complicated" way as this comment system on Slashdot)
Usually check engine lights don't matter- loose fuel caps etc will set them off. The basics haven't changed- if you have oil pressure and water flow you're more or less good to go. WHile the efficiency of the engine may suffer cars of the 1950s got along just fine without all this stuff so if your ECU is letting spark and fuel get to the engine the check engine light really doesn't mean shit. If you are worried get a scan gauge (about $150) and it will let you know if something crucial like fuel flow, turbo boost, water temp, oil, etc is gone wrong.
Unfortunately nobody (well I do but almost nobody) works on their own cars any more- cars now have the same status as jewelery or a blender. As a result, they are dropped off wherever and the repairs are a cost of doing business. Nobody gives a shit about independent mechanics either, few people even use them most people having been convinced that cars are "so complicated" only the dealer can work on them. MB even refuses to publish or allow others to publish detailed maintenance info. Check out the Bentley's manual and see just how sparse it is these days. Cars evidently have some new functions beyond moving forward and reverse that I have missed....
Until owners of cars begin to work on them and get pissed off about the lack of information becomes a purchase consideration manufacturers will continue this trend as it means more money for them. I will continue to drive my Bostig equipped VW van for another 20 years....
Ubuntu (Hardy, Intrepid, Jaunty) all run fine and there are specialized distros like easy-peasy and eeeUbuntu which just add a customized kernel and extra utilities for managing power, etc. Ubuntu should install with no problems using Unetbootin or the equivalent. There's a good site with hits, etc. http://www.eeeuser.com/. Just check out the forums and distribution discussions.
My ma, my kids grandma runs Ubuntu- no problems whatsoever. She loves it. As far as the bigger screens nonsense Lenovo is spouting- sounds like he doesn't like the low margin netbook market and wants it to go away. My 7" ASUS was fine but the screen IS too small for regular use. The form factor though is perfect. My new 10" ASUS is about perfect esp with about 11hr (extended battery) run-time. If the screen were bigger I wouldn't get it, it would be too tough to carry around and bring on planes. If a notebook/netbook isn't EXTREMELY portable with a long run time I'll just stick to a much cheaper, more reliable and usable desktop.
Basically, nobody will sell a netbook with Linux on it despite it operating flawlessly on nearly all of them. Only Dell and on unobtainium ASUS model are available so we end up buying one with Windows on it and replacing it. For instance, I just bought a ASUS 1000HA. Guess what- a sale chocked up for Windows despite the fact that I'd just going to rm -rf * it as soon as the netbook arrives. Same thing for my daughter's netbook. She loves Ubuntu on it and has never had a problem. Lenovo is a MS whore.
Score for Grado- I own the SR125s- http://www.goodcans.com/HeadphoneReviews/grado125.htm
I have to assume you haven't tried to just use a netbook. Yeah I have desktop with a giant screen and quadcore at home but at work and on the road my Asus works just great, really well in fact. I bring a long cable so I can hook it up to the flat screens that are in more and more hotel rooms. Its fantastic for meetings and I don't have to worry about battery usage. On a plane it's fantastic as it fits right in my lap. At home we keep it on a shelf in the kitchen for looking up recipes, talking via skype and streaming music. I love the the thing- funny though I hated regular size laptops.
Yeah- all the netbook manufacturers seem stuck on that paradigm- I vote for getting rid of the speakers and touchpad, putting in a larger keyboard which can "unplug" from the surface of the system and all bluetooth accessories (mouse, keyboard, sound out) and switch to a DVI video out. Touchpads are the biggest change that's needed- they just make the system LESS usable not more.
Is there any reason, any reason whatsoever that you have made your web site and videos inaccessible from anything other than a machine running Microsoft Windows? I had to go over to my neighbours house just to write this. It's ridiculous. When I made a donation to the ACLU earlier, they had no such requirement. I also heard Sen Biden is against network neutrality. Perhaps it's time to pop over to johnmccain.com. I do notice his videos are available in flash which works everywhere. Careful democratic party- you are showing a bit of plumbers crack and revealing your true allegiances. Fix this, fix it now.
What college isn't? Ummm. Most colleges outside perhaps the CS and Physics departments. Many colleges mandate the use of MS products and most, so far as I can tell, use it more or less exclusively for their infrastructure and operations.
Also, I just remembered the Privacy Act Registration is one of the very few laws which imposes upon contractors the very same penalties as DoD (and presumeably other government) employees- that is you can be held liable under UCMJ for violations. So, the folks who designed and deployed this laptop really should go to jail....
There's are certification programs known as Privacy Act Registration and HSPD-12 which are part of the DIACAP process which REQUIRE hardware encryption of the full disk. DoD systems all have to meet these and it's a big deal if it turns out you tried to speed on meeting these requirements. Clearly, the TSA feels it's too good for it's own policies.
It's an oversight vice insight dilemma. While insight into tactical actions may be valuable for battle planners, their requests for information rapidly degenerate into oversight. Tactical commanders, understanding this, reduce upward information flow to formal language and CYA reports sabotaging the intent of modern battlefield comm.
that's a FANTASTIC idea. Sound cards advance at a much slower pace than graphics cards and as we all know drivers for them- esp drivers which allow us to address invidiual channels and hardware features, are sucky. A programmable multi-in, multi-out sound card with optical connections would be a great boon to the really sucky situation that currently exists.
I'd have to agree with you. Maybe the eeePC has enough market recognition to survive now but I bought it because it was cheap and small- cheap and small enough for me to ignore it's issues (no bluetooth, rather crappy screen, stupid touchpad, weird linux distro and now annoying DOS like drive naming. At $650 even with the larger screen I'm not sure I'd buy it. I don't really need the extra storage, putting things on an SD card works just fine for me. Cheap and small asus- cheap and small.
I picked up a Razer AC-1 card from Woot- you can find these for under $50. Works GREAT under Ubuntu- sounds much better than under MS Windows XP even though the Windows provides pop environments and such. I use drivers from the OSS project.
Like what? Have you ever even used one? Your comment is pure FUD. For instance, does your out of the box MS Windows machine have skype installed? What about word processor and other business applications? What about disk encryption and mobile sync software? Can it sync up your calendar and contacts with google or other calendars and your PDA? My eeepc does all that and more, out of the box. So quick your FUD or name specific examples of USEFUL tasks that aren't just made up to justify your point.
It's excellent for a business environment too- which is how I use mine. It has entirely replaced a "conventional" laptop. It handles doing briefings and the usual business crap with ease and aplomb. There's nothing better for working on tight airline seats or airline terminal couches and tables. It's ultra-quick boot time is fantastic for taking quick notes in meetings or showing documents to others. It's so small it can be easily passed around a table in one hand or alternately it easily hooks up to projectors so lots of people can view at the same time. As a daily user of an eeepc I really don't think this distinction of the eeepc not being "real" is just a red herring created by other laptop makers.
So www.airforce.com is not a DoD site? (I was in the Air Force for 23 years) No kidding the USAF domain is .af.mil so what- it's the Air Force that addressed the email not mildenhall.com domain owner. There's lots of good IT support in the USAF and some dopes- like everywhere. I really doubt these emails were sent by IT personnel- more likely ops and public affairs neither of which are known for their inquisitive nature, careful planning or follow-up- not to mention tech savvy. Mistakes are made sure but not following up immediately and politely to a concerned citizen strikes me as a symptom of not paying attention to details and simultaneously being incredibly arrogant.
As far as encryption devices- dude, we are talking emails here. They are protected, if at all through a PKI certificate issued by HPD-12 compliant CAC cards. KG-58s are for comm, not email. Flight plans by the way are regularly sent over email- we have to communicate with the Civil Air Authorities after all in order to use their air space- we don't own the world. Keys are also distributed electronically now- welcome to the 90s.
loc.gov == locked out citizens.gov. Outrageous.
Last year, Microsoft introduced the Student Indoctrination Suite, which includes the XP Stuckwithit Edition plus educational applications, for $3 for groveling countries. Microsoft has avoided competition from companies supporting the open-source OS Linux and associated software except in countries which can be bought off. "I think as a company we welcome choice," [Orlando Ayala] said. "Frankly, we welcome the competition, we just don't like other people trying to take our business." The company's educational funding comes with a hitch: "Of course, that includes the fact they [the schools] use Windows," Ayala said.' You don't think we're doing this for good of the students do you?.
How about exchange has to develop a way to work with the phone? I'm sick and tired of pandering to Microsoft's shifting "standards" being a prerequisite to do anything software related. Just why would google, which offers an open, standards based email system for companies of it's own be motivated to do this? How would such connectivity benefit google in any way shape or form? Google seems dedicated to keeping information accessible to all, not locking it in some secret proprietary format. I'm not saying Google is looking out for the consumer in every respect but this sort of requirement is nonsense.
Not to mention comm electronics (beyond the control link). The crew, being on the ground, are likely to have much better situational awareness and not be quite so tired or distracted by food, each other, bad weather and so it.