I checked Slashdot from a $3 for five minutes internet kiosk in the Bahamas on my honeymoon. My wife was done with her email (which was cheaper than making a phone call!) and we still had a few minutes left, so she let me use the last few. Instead of communicating with my friends and family, I checked Slashdot.
And no, Slashdotters don't count as my friends and family.
Some states do not allow possession of drug-related items at all. Despite legal uses for them, it is not always legal to possess a "bong." It may have changed in the last ten years, but when I was in high school a friend had a bong in his backseat when he got pulled over. He had crossed the state line and went from Indiana (where he bought it) and was not five miles into Michigan when the cop confiscated the bong and wrote him a hefty ticket.
My recollection of the exact details are a little foggy (not because of pot, I assure you) - so I may be completely wrong. Sorry if that's the case.
IIRC, a couple of geeks got in trouble a while back for exceeding FCC regulations. I suppose it would be pretty easy for someone to "know enough to be dangerous."
If you're not sure what dangerous could mean, think microwaves, pacemakers, cell phones, aircraft, etc.
It was actually pretty good - and at the time, the exchange rate worked out in my favor (bringing US$ to yen). When I got home, things started swinging in the other direction a bit... so I held on to my 30,000 yen until an opportunity came along. I ended up making about $50 on it, which is handy as a poor college student.
...we're willing to pay for those quickie stops at the ATM with often usurious fees--usually about $1.50 each time..."
Those fees drive me nuts. When I was in college, using the ATM would add $2.50 surcharge. When I studied abroad in Japan, there was a single ATM that I could use in all of Nagoya. The downtown Citibank had an ATM that would only charge me $1.00 for every transaction. That's right - it cost me $2.50 to use a machine just a mile from my bank, but only $1.00 to use a machine on the other side of the frickin' world.
coughcoughscamcoughcough
Now I use a credit union and only use credit union ATMs. No fees.
Exactly the comment I was going to make. Even at educational discounts, you can't beat a PC for hardware.
The plus side of that hardware commitment is this: the software investment for Linux may be considerably cheaper. With schools (at least, around here) so strapped for cash, selling them on Linux may be easier than you think. Of course, there are probably support agreements in place that may work against such a move.
In my high school, I watched the Macs take over - after a few security blips, not to mention the frustrated staff not being able to figure out how to do basic tasks, they saw it as a necessary move.
"Turning off anti-virus is a horrible idea. Every Windows computer connected to the internet today requires: firewall, antivirus, adaware/spybot s&d and some other webbrowser/email than IE and OE. You're playing russian roulette if you skip ANY of these steps.."
Whoa there! I never said to turn it off. I said you shouldn't use a memory hogging AV. There are anti-virus and firewall packages that do not demand quite so much from your machine. My father, a network and systems admin saved his company hundreds of thousands of dollars last year by stretching their outdated machines an extra year. The only reason they wanted to upgrade? Because McAfee was causing the machines to run too slow. He replaced it with something else (I can't remember offhand) and everything sped back up. Same protection, just more efficient. As for P2P, leaving the software on all the time will eat memory, constantly read from your drive, etc. All the factors add up - if you're not downloading right then, turn it off.
"As for other applications. If you're a developer, you always have 10-20 programs open. There's really no point in making things more difficult for yourself by closing an application you will have a need for 10 minutes later. RAM is cheap."
It is cheap. But even with 512, 1024, or more, you will still experience these kinds of issues if you abuse it. You can stretch 256 by closing programs you don't use. I don't mean a developer that needs 10-20 programs open. I mean the normal user that has eight browser windows open (seven of which are not being used), AIM, Weatherbug, mp3s playing, and four MS Word documents. If you're not using Word, close the damn thing.
"It's kind of like how people buy a new PC to get faster Internet. Of course, your internet will not become any faster. If you're on a modem, then you need broadband. So the right observation and understanding is important."
That's a good comparison. I don't claim that RAM shouldn't be upgraded - I'm just saying that too many people overlook the actual source of their problems and think that memory is the solution to everything.
I know scientists that believe such a discovery would discredit religious beliefs... but many religious folks I know have absolutely no problem with life on other planets (or some a source other than that described in the Creation story).
One friend of mine, a pastor at a non-denomination church, argues that the Creation story is not a literal history; science can never remove God completely, no matter the discoveries.
Really, the obsession with life on Mars (or other places) has a lot of sources. As we learn more about the Universe, human beings don't want to be alone in it. We want to try and answer questions that may not have answers here on Earth, including the origins of life and the nature of evolution. Wouldn't you like to be there to witness the natural beginning or end of life on an entire planet?
Uninformed? Because your XP box won't run with so little memory? Here are some tips for you (and your inner troll):
Step 1: Remove spyware. Step 2: Don't use a memory hogging virus scan. Step 3: Turn off your P2P when you're not using it. Step 4: If you don't need a program open, close it. Step 5: Profit! (Because you didn't have to buy a gig of RAM just to use MS Office)
I'm always surprised by people that think failing hardware is at fault because their computers perform badly. There are a lot of software related factors. Even then, RAM isn't always the fix. Too many people buy more memory than they need, thinking it will fix their gaming problems. You won't see a huge jump in your FPS if you move from 512MB to 1GB. But you will see that jump if you move from a Geforce 4 MX 420 to a Radeon 9700 Pro. Or if you replace your Athlon XP 1600 with a 2500+.
I was using XP just fine with 128MB. Nothing fancy, just normal OS stuff.
I have been running my current box with 256MB PC2100 for a few weeks now, while I wait for my 1 GB to be replaced. It runs JK2, Counter-strike, and Halo with very few problems.
RAM is often overrated - your processor, your OS configuration, and [in the case of games] your video card are often more important than adding another 256MB.
If the people at the table next to you are speaking Korean, it doesn't affect you. If your table is speaking English, that doesn't affect the other tables. But if the waiter only speaks Korean, it does affect you.
Not knowing anything about Orkut, and not reading the article (surprised?) I would suggest that they handle this like they handle their existing site - offer it in as many languages as they can/want and let the users live with the choices.
There's no reason to offer a site like this in just English or any other language.
So you get a pay check on a timely basis... will you:
code a virus? code spyware? send spam? write a browser hijack? work for Claria/Gator? sell user information without consent?
Hey, I get a paycheck too. But if my clients ask me (or my company) to do something that I don't feel right doing, I won't do it. I've been in that situation - I'd quit my job before I made myself a hypocrite.
"For instance, today there is a review of the Toyota Prius that had the famous line 'Since no car really achieves the EPA estimated mileage...' "
If the review came out today, how did that line become so famous so fast? Or is this really a "famous" line? I live in a cave, so maybe I missed that one.
If I don't get mileage reasonably close to the EPA numbers, I take the car back to the dealer and ask them to check it out.
Ever since she bought her first car, five years ago, she has tracked the mileage on a notepad she keeps in her glove compartment. She marks the exact amount that the gas station pump reads, the price per gallon she paid (for curiosity), and the mileage on her odometer. She can track her exact MPG for the last five years. Simply amazing.
I don't track mine. I'm guessing it's approximately 30-35, and since the exact number won't influence me in any way whatsoever - I don't care.
Too bad I don't have any real ones to give. Oh, and I'm the great-great...grandparent poster, so I don't think I could give them anyway. I've never had mod points.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm trying to follow your directions, but I'm confused - in Step A, what do I connect the Pocket PC to?
Does "always keeping the shield side toward the Sun" count as technology?
Sorry if I'm skeptical about this stuff... not in the moon hoax sense, but in the building a base on the moon and sending people to Mars sense.
Only if you take a picture of it with your camera phone.
I checked Slashdot from a $3 for five minutes internet kiosk in the Bahamas on my honeymoon. My wife was done with her email (which was cheaper than making a phone call!) and we still had a few minutes left, so she let me use the last few. Instead of communicating with my friends and family, I checked Slashdot.
And no, Slashdotters don't count as my friends and family.
I get email forwards from Nigeria more entertaining than this.
Some states do not allow possession of drug-related items at all. Despite legal uses for them, it is not always legal to possess a "bong." It may have changed in the last ten years, but when I was in high school a friend had a bong in his backseat when he got pulled over. He had crossed the state line and went from Indiana (where he bought it) and was not five miles into Michigan when the cop confiscated the bong and wrote him a hefty ticket.
My recollection of the exact details are a little foggy (not because of pot, I assure you) - so I may be completely wrong. Sorry if that's the case.
IIRC, a couple of geeks got in trouble a while back for exceeding FCC regulations. I suppose it would be pretty easy for someone to "know enough to be dangerous."
If you're not sure what dangerous could mean, think microwaves, pacemakers, cell phones, aircraft, etc.
If you never go in the sun, why do you need the protection?
Sounds like walking into Best Buy and asking to buy the service plan on an appliance you don't have and don't plan to get.
"(I know this is off-topic but I'll take the potential karma hit for the joke only a couple people might get.)"
I don't get it. Can I hit you?
It was actually pretty good - and at the time, the exchange rate worked out in my favor (bringing US$ to yen). When I got home, things started swinging in the other direction a bit... so I held on to my 30,000 yen until an opportunity came along. I ended up making about $50 on it, which is handy as a poor college student.
...we're willing to pay for those quickie stops at the ATM with often usurious fees--usually about $1.50 each time..."
Those fees drive me nuts. When I was in college, using the ATM would add $2.50 surcharge. When I studied abroad in Japan, there was a single ATM that I could use in all of Nagoya. The downtown Citibank had an ATM that would only charge me $1.00 for every transaction. That's right - it cost me $2.50 to use a machine just a mile from my bank, but only $1.00 to use a machine on the other side of the frickin' world.
coughcoughscamcoughcough
Now I use a credit union and only use credit union ATMs. No fees.
Exactly the comment I was going to make. Even at educational discounts, you can't beat a PC for hardware.
The plus side of that hardware commitment is this: the software investment for Linux may be considerably cheaper. With schools (at least, around here) so strapped for cash, selling them on Linux may be easier than you think. Of course, there are probably support agreements in place that may work against such a move.
In my high school, I watched the Macs take over - after a few security blips, not to mention the frustrated staff not being able to figure out how to do basic tasks, they saw it as a necessary move.
Yeah - if guns were popular only because they were being used to kill people, then guns would probably be outlawed.
Mod chips are popular because they are used for piracy. Kazaa is popular because it's used for piracy.
There are all kinds of "good" uses for items that are illegal. I don't hear you complaining that brass knuckles are illegal, though.
Of course, there are some people who do complain.
If it can hurt/damage you or your property, then you should be informed.
If not, there's no reason for you to be informed.
And if you want it more than every hour, well then edit the source and compile it yourself "
My newsreader is proprietary, you insensitive clod!
"Turning off anti-virus is a horrible idea. Every Windows computer connected to the internet today requires: firewall, antivirus, adaware/spybot s&d and some other webbrowser/email than IE and OE. You're playing russian roulette if you skip ANY of these steps.."
Whoa there! I never said to turn it off. I said you shouldn't use a memory hogging AV. There are anti-virus and firewall packages that do not demand quite so much from your machine. My father, a network and systems admin saved his company hundreds of thousands of dollars last year by stretching their outdated machines an extra year. The only reason they wanted to upgrade? Because McAfee was causing the machines to run too slow. He replaced it with something else (I can't remember offhand) and everything sped back up. Same protection, just more efficient. As for P2P, leaving the software on all the time will eat memory, constantly read from your drive, etc. All the factors add up - if you're not downloading right then, turn it off.
"As for other applications. If you're a developer, you always have 10-20 programs open. There's really no point in making things more difficult for yourself by closing an application you will have a need for 10 minutes later. RAM is cheap."
It is cheap. But even with 512, 1024, or more, you will still experience these kinds of issues if you abuse it. You can stretch 256 by closing programs you don't use. I don't mean a developer that needs 10-20 programs open. I mean the normal user that has eight browser windows open (seven of which are not being used), AIM, Weatherbug, mp3s playing, and four MS Word documents. If you're not using Word, close the damn thing.
"It's kind of like how people buy a new PC to get faster Internet. Of course, your internet will not become any faster. If you're on a modem, then you need broadband. So the right observation and understanding is important."
That's a good comparison. I don't claim that RAM shouldn't be upgraded - I'm just saying that too many people overlook the actual source of their problems and think that memory is the solution to everything.
I know scientists that believe such a discovery would discredit religious beliefs... but many religious folks I know have absolutely no problem with life on other planets (or some a source other than that described in the Creation story).
One friend of mine, a pastor at a non-denomination church, argues that the Creation story is not a literal history; science can never remove God completely, no matter the discoveries.
Really, the obsession with life on Mars (or other places) has a lot of sources. As we learn more about the Universe, human beings don't want to be alone in it. We want to try and answer questions that may not have answers here on Earth, including the origins of life and the nature of evolution. Wouldn't you like to be there to witness the natural beginning or end of life on an entire planet?
Uninformed? Because your XP box won't run with so little memory? Here are some tips for you (and your inner troll):
Step 1: Remove spyware.
Step 2: Don't use a memory hogging virus scan.
Step 3: Turn off your P2P when you're not using it.
Step 4: If you don't need a program open, close it.
Step 5: Profit! (Because you didn't have to buy a gig of RAM just to use MS Office)
I'm always surprised by people that think failing hardware is at fault because their computers perform badly. There are a lot of software related factors. Even then, RAM isn't always the fix. Too many people buy more memory than they need, thinking it will fix their gaming problems. You won't see a huge jump in your FPS if you move from 512MB to 1GB. But you will see that jump if you move from a Geforce 4 MX 420 to a Radeon 9700 Pro. Or if you replace your Athlon XP 1600 with a 2500+.
I was using XP just fine with 128MB. Nothing fancy, just normal OS stuff.
I have been running my current box with 256MB PC2100 for a few weeks now, while I wait for my 1 GB to be replaced. It runs JK2, Counter-strike, and Halo with very few problems.
RAM is often overrated - your processor, your OS configuration, and [in the case of games] your video card are often more important than adding another 256MB.
If the people at the table next to you are speaking Korean, it doesn't affect you. If your table is speaking English, that doesn't affect the other tables. But if the waiter only speaks Korean, it does affect you.
Not knowing anything about Orkut, and not reading the article (surprised?) I would suggest that they handle this like they handle their existing site - offer it in as many languages as they can/want and let the users live with the choices.
There's no reason to offer a site like this in just English or any other language.
So you get a pay check on a timely basis... will you:
code a virus?
code spyware?
send spam?
write a browser hijack?
work for Claria/Gator?
sell user information without consent?
Hey, I get a paycheck too. But if my clients ask me (or my company) to do something that I don't feel right doing, I won't do it. I've been in that situation - I'd quit my job before I made myself a hypocrite.
"For instance, today there is a review of the Toyota Prius that had the famous line 'Since no car really achieves the EPA estimated mileage...' "
If the review came out today, how did that line become so famous so fast? Or is this really a "famous" line? I live in a cave, so maybe I missed that one.
If I don't get mileage reasonably close to the EPA numbers, I take the car back to the dealer and ask them to check it out.
Ever since she bought her first car, five years ago, she has tracked the mileage on a notepad she keeps in her glove compartment. She marks the exact amount that the gas station pump reads, the price per gallon she paid (for curiosity), and the mileage on her odometer. She can track her exact MPG for the last five years. Simply amazing.
I don't track mine. I'm guessing it's approximately 30-35, and since the exact number won't influence me in any way whatsoever - I don't care.
I hadn't considered revenge... I figure that the inevitable difficulties he will encounter as a result of his...mistakes... will be bad enough.
Nice. Honorary mod points to you for that one.
Too bad I don't have any real ones to give. Oh, and I'm the great-great...grandparent poster, so I don't think I could give them anyway. I've never had mod points.