Windows versions have hardly been well marketed. i.e. 1, 2, 3, 3.11, 95, 98, NT, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, and not forgetting CE (or Windows Mobile/Embedded or whatever it's calling itself now).
Actually, not too badly marked. When you go to the store, what versions do you see on the shelves:
XP, and MAYBE 2000. Some higher end computer stores might have CE (or mobile/embedded). That last one is also self explanetory.
But go look for windows and you get so many different versions, and then versions within those. It is much more (by a longshot), complex to select a Linux distro then a Windows version. Mac is probably the easiest.
With the exception when it got to NT, ME, XP, Vista windows has been pretty good and it went up a numerical order. The last three numerical versions were the years it came out which is, frankly, superb.
Gartner is a respected company. Many companies pay TONS of money to get their two cents. Considering this, for those of you who do not like what Gartner is saying about Linux...how about you counter their findings with your findings. Here are the rules:
You should be neutral (tough for this crowd)
You should be logical (shouldn't be tough for us, but will probably be)
You should perform qualified research with backup sources.
Publish
Profit
Saying "Gartner you suck, you don't know what your talking about. You are five years behind the times" is really lame and inflammetory (if not trollish). Proving them wrong goes a LONG way.
And considering The Jetsons were from 1962-1988, they were forseeing flying car's anywhere from 38 to 22 years into the future. Though they were set in the 21st century, and I don't recall a specific year mentioned (though I could be wrong). Given the era, that is not too unlikely. Space flight was accomplished, people landing on the moon, planning for mag. lev. trains.
There is absolutly nothing wrong with using buzzwords. As long as ever fifth word is not a buzzword it is OK. The interesting thing about buzzwords - they convey a lot of information and people are familiar with them. The two words "mission critical" in and of themselves are simple, but put them into a business setting and most everyone knows a great deal a lot about whats implied.
Really, AC, your statement is not that interesting.
If I could just tell somebody to go and get the "Home" version of Linux - from whichever vendor was currently hot then it would be easier to get people to switch.
And then we get into the problem, which is "currently hot". Today it's Redhat, tomorrow it's.... That is problematic. With Windows (and even Mac) I know the latest version is the "hot" version. After windows Me (which sucked) came Windows XP home and professional. Two choices, and their were self-explanetory. Soon MS will come out with a new version of windows (Vista). And it will probably have a Home and Prof. version. Again easy to tell.
IMHO, convenience and marketing are the two most important factors to making a product work. Why is iPod so damn popular, even though it wasn't the first and is not the best (though it is good) - because of marketing/branding.
Whats the model of the mouse? Thats a fantastic idea. I was wondering if that worked, but I didn't think it would. i even called Logitech and their tech people said there was no way to do it.
You have no idea what you are talking about... 1. At the fast food places, many/most have the customer swipe, so the person at the register does _not_ take the card. 2. They don't check ID, or note and ID number, they also don't sign the receipt. Go to an airport in a reasonable sized city and get fastfood - then come back and post.
Store doesn't hold paper receipt either - they use the electronic transaction log. I'd be happy to send you a public releations contact at a fast food firm so you can talk with them if you are too busy to see how it works for yourself.:)
Unless you are swiping a card and using your PIN number, then yes they are supposed to take your signature.
Not checking ID is at the risk of the store. But again, they are supposed to. I cannot help it if they ignore their process...then again, maybe they don't need to count the cash handed to them.
Actually stores DO hold the paper receipts. The electronic logs is good enough for day to day processing, the paper receipts are required if there is a dispute.
Again, as a person who worked in banking for almost five years, I am pretty confident in the process. BTW, during that time I did help businesses setup Merchant services, and explained to them the process (which was detailed on paper). People do not follow the process, always, but that does not mean it is not in place. Also, many places are willing to ignore the process because the potential loss of money is so little compared to the convenience offered to the regular customer (i.e. Fast food places may make $10 for their one CC transaction).
thc69 made that statement in respose to your (AviLazar's) statement "Also, to consider, while I doubt it will be able to shift Earth's orbit..."
What neither I nor thc69 can figure out is why you (AviLazar) want to change Earth's orbit in the first place.
1) Read the entire thread, you will find the first person to mention moving Earth's orbit is NOT me.
2) Where in the thread does it say that I *want* to change Earth's orbit.
I fail to see anywhere in this thread where anybody suggests that the comet should "move the Earth" OMG, do you not read your original posts? "I don't think anybody wants to screw with Earth's orbit." This CLEARLY suggests moving Earth out of orbit.
What I fail to realize is from where the idea that Earth's orbit would be modified came.
Apparantly reading your OP.
Are you suggesting using a cable and winching it to Earth?
If you took half a second to read my statements, and then THINK, you would realize I gave that suggestion and said it would be a bad idea, that is not feasible with current (if ever) technologies.
I have an MX 1000 and can't remember the last time I placed it on the charger. When I first got it, I went a solid 3-4 weeks before I saw the battary meter at low level. I played almost everyday computer games for hours (counter strike). So I have not experienced that problem. The thing I HATE HATE HATE HATE about the MX 1000 is the huge annoying base. I would like for them to come out with a small use adapter so I do not have to take my base with me (I have a laptop for a computer).
Yea you are missing something. How do you plan on putting this thing into orbit? It is moving at a high rate of speed, are you going to ask it and hope it will respond? You could try blasting it into orbit, but do you really want to mess with that many (probably nuclear) bombs?
WTF are you talking about?
What I am speaking about is getting this thing into orbit.
I don't think anybody wants to screw with Earth's orbit.
Well duh, but what you fail to realize is that it will take a whole lot of mass to move the Earth, and simply put it, a comet of that size does not have the mass to do so. Even if it slammed into Earth it would not have the ability to change Earth's orbit.
So the OP suggested putting it in orbit, and I suggested a potential method that would not work. So that is what I am talking about. If you decided to take a moment to think about it, instead of cursing, you woudl realize this.
Also, to consider, while I doubt it will be able to shift Earth's orbit (assuming we COULD hook into it)...what kind of cabling system do we need that COULD sustain that kind of pressure. Even if the thing moved at 1 MPH, it is so freaking massive that any kind of cable we could currently design would snap in half. We simply do not have a method to anchor these things. Though maybe it would be possible to shift its trajectory and crash it into the moon and then mine the stuff from the moon.
The main difference is that here in the US, the society has a large Purtian mind set. Those damn Pilgrims are still haunting us. In Israel (I am from Israel BTW) people are not so uptight about nudity and sex. I remember as a little kid (in Israel) watching this cartoon, introduction to the cartoon was a naked man and woman (presumably Adam and Eve). It was an educational cartoon about the human body...and it would NEVER EVER fly here in the US...not even today.
Though I agree with you, anyone who can figure out how to crack the game has access to insane amounts of porn (is it that hard to type SEX in Google Images?)
and are a Mac, Linux or Firefox user you cannot file a claim online.
My girlfriend, on her Mac, has Internet Explorer. I am a FireFox user, but I have IE on my computer if I need to use it (for situations like this). I am not sure if Linux users can install IE, so this may be true.
I guess I should be thankful that our wonderful editers got 1 out of 3 correct. Oh, lets not forget the proper English usage. The statement does not follow a correct parallel. The person talks about: OS, OS, Browser in the same sentence as if they were all the same. It would have been more appropriate (though still partially wrong) to say "If you only use Mac, Linux, or BSD or if you only use FireFox"
Well, you can say that, but you would be wrong. Creditcard = swipe card and hand over receipt.
Cash = take bills, put them in right spots, count out change, and hand it over along with receipt.
Sure, if there is no change it is _close_ but CC is still faster at the places that are geared for it.
I was hoping you would go this route:) You are totally incorrect.
First lets compare apples to apples, you omitted some steps in CC that you have in Cash. And whats with your "take bills", like you don't have to "take CC"
CC= Swipe card, wait for machine to authorize payment (the longest part of the process), take the person's ID, note their ID number, have them sign the receipt, store the receipt in the correct slot. Let us not forget that many stores (smaller stores, but still many) swipe the card through a manual machine so they have to fill out the form and get information, plus make a phone call.
Cash = Give bills over, count change (potentially), get cash with receipt.
I never said $2 was a micropayment, but I do believe under our current system we will not be getting into pennies or fractions of pennies for purchases.
Actually, half a day of floating is almost always either nothing, or equivalent to a day of floating. Interest is charged (to banks, and pretty much universally) on an overnight loan. The account is reconciled once at the end of each business day, credits and debits from any time of the day are all put in at the same time. This is one of the advantages of daytrading. As long as you close your positions by the end of the day, you don't have to pay any margin interest.
Hmm, I did not know this. I thought that if I bought a stock now, it went up in X amount of dollars/share in 10 minutes, and then I sold it I would earn money. So partial day interest would make sense to me (on a large scale). Well I assume you are correct (yea I know a terrible thing to do) so I learned something new.
...earning 3.5% interest. And that assumes you use your Paypal account for nothing else. Personally I run hundreds of dollars through my paypal account every month. I'd barely notice a few pennies here and there. And $20, at 3.5% interest, is...$0.70/year. (3.5% interest happens to be pretty close to the US dollar LIBOR, so you're not going to get much better for a liquid investment which is pretty close to risk-free.
People will quibble about the smallest thing. In my early days in the banking industry, I had a customer come in and flip out over a 25 cent difference from his checkbook to the banks statements. He cancelled his doctors appointment, and drove into the city (where parking is a premium and costly) to argue this. People flip out. Also, 20 is on the low end. We are thinking of a min to open the account.
Actually their profit margins are a lot less and may even be at a loss when you buy something like that. Big name places can afford to take the small hits. Also big name places have better merchant carrier deals then other places. Merchant services gives special deals to large volume clients - and McD and Jack-in-the-box are considered large volume.
As for faster then cash. I am pretty sure giving $1 is faster then running a credit card. Yea, as a person who worked in banking for almost five years I can pretty much expertly tell you that it is.
Floats almost always happen (with the exception of Wire Transfers, which usually cost 10-50$/transfer). Also, if the merchant doesn't settle their credit machine at the end of the night this delays the transaction (in this case floating to the advantage of the customer). I doubt a place like PayPal, or even any online retailer who only accepts credit cards, would do this. It still takes time, however, and companies float. Some banks have deals with each other and they minimize floating periods, but it is still there (even if just for a day, or even half a day). Remember, in terms of millions and billions, half a day of floating is still a lot of money.
But yes, I think micropayments should be in palce, but how cheap do we go. Someone mentioned that you have a prepayment account. So you stick $20 on your PayPal account. When you make a purchase you use money from that account, so you do not get hit with inter-banking fee's (i.e. ATM fee's). While this would be a good method, it would mean the client gets a HEAVY float penalty. Your $20 sits there for days, weeks, months, years! It's a good option, but many would scream bloody murder for their $20 worth of interest.
Can this be done electronically - yes, the technology is already here. But banks are old school and are greedy. Put it this way, my friend works for a company that knows how much it costs banks for ATM charges (from one bank to another)...it's about 4 cents (as of a couple of years ago). But bank's charge about $2 from the foreign bank, and probably around $1 on your banks end (assuming you do not have a special account). So you suffer a $3 charge for a 4 cent transaction. Talk about price gouging.
Slashdot Mirror
Molar
Ok this one is pretty bad-ass. WIth the exception of half-million price tag, I would get this. Now we just need the FAA to approve it.
We have actual, working, flying cars? Please show this to me, because I would love to see it.
Windows versions have hardly been well marketed. i.e. 1, 2, 3, 3.11, 95, 98, NT, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, and not forgetting CE (or Windows Mobile/Embedded or whatever it's calling itself now).
Actually, not too badly marked. When you go to the store, what versions do you see on the shelves:
XP, and MAYBE 2000. Some higher end computer stores might have CE (or mobile/embedded). That last one is also self explanetory.
But go look for windows and you get so many different versions, and then versions within those. It is much more (by a longshot), complex to select a Linux distro then a Windows version. Mac is probably the easiest.
With the exception when it got to NT, ME, XP, Vista windows has been pretty good and it went up a numerical order. The last three numerical versions were the years it came out which is, frankly, superb.
Gartner is a respected company. Many companies pay TONS of money to get their two cents. Considering this, for those of you who do not like what Gartner is saying about Linux...how about you counter their findings with your findings. Here are the rules:
You should be neutral (tough for this crowd)
You should be logical (shouldn't be tough for us, but will probably be)
You should perform qualified research with backup sources.
Publish
Profit
Saying "Gartner you suck, you don't know what your talking about. You are five years behind the times" is really lame and inflammetory (if not trollish). Proving them wrong goes a LONG way.
And considering The Jetsons were from 1962-1988, they were forseeing flying car's anywhere from 38 to 22 years into the future. Though they were set in the 21st century, and I don't recall a specific year mentioned (though I could be wrong). Given the era, that is not too unlikely. Space flight was accomplished, people landing on the moon, planning for mag. lev. trains.
There is absolutly nothing wrong with using buzzwords. As long as ever fifth word is not a buzzword it is OK. The interesting thing about buzzwords - they convey a lot of information and people are familiar with them. The two words "mission critical" in and of themselves are simple, but put them into a business setting and most everyone knows a great deal a lot about whats implied.
Really, AC, your statement is not that interesting.
If I could just tell somebody to go and get the "Home" version of Linux - from whichever vendor was currently hot then it would be easier to get people to switch.
And then we get into the problem, which is "currently hot". Today it's Redhat, tomorrow it's.... That is problematic. With Windows (and even Mac) I know the latest version is the "hot" version. After windows Me (which sucked) came Windows XP home and professional. Two choices, and their were self-explanetory. Soon MS will come out with a new version of windows (Vista). And it will probably have a Home and Prof. version. Again easy to tell.
IMHO, convenience and marketing are the two most important factors to making a product work. Why is iPod so damn popular, even though it wasn't the first and is not the best (though it is good) - because of marketing/branding.
Whats the model of the mouse? Thats a fantastic idea. I was wondering if that worked, but I didn't think it would. i even called Logitech and their tech people said there was no way to do it.
If they have a contract with Nintendo, and I am sure they do, it won't. Even if Murdoch wasn't happy about the deal, he would have to honor it.
You have no idea what you are talking about... 1. At the fast food places, many/most have the customer swipe, so the person at the register does _not_ take the card. 2. They don't check ID, or note and ID number, they also don't sign the receipt. Go to an airport in a reasonable sized city and get fastfood - then come back and post. Store doesn't hold paper receipt either - they use the electronic transaction log. I'd be happy to send you a public releations contact at a fast food firm so you can talk with them if you are too busy to see how it works for yourself. :)
Unless you are swiping a card and using your PIN number, then yes they are supposed to take your signature.
Not checking ID is at the risk of the store. But again, they are supposed to. I cannot help it if they ignore their process...then again, maybe they don't need to count the cash handed to them.
Actually stores DO hold the paper receipts. The electronic logs is good enough for day to day processing, the paper receipts are required if there is a dispute.
Again, as a person who worked in banking for almost five years, I am pretty confident in the process. BTW, during that time I did help businesses setup Merchant services, and explained to them the process (which was detailed on paper). People do not follow the process, always, but that does not mean it is not in place. Also, many places are willing to ignore the process because the potential loss of money is so little compared to the convenience offered to the regular customer (i.e. Fast food places may make $10 for their one CC transaction).
thc69 made that statement in respose to your (AviLazar's) statement "Also, to consider, while I doubt it will be able to shift Earth's orbit..." What neither I nor thc69 can figure out is why you (AviLazar) want to change Earth's orbit in the first place.
1) Read the entire thread, you will find the first person to mention moving Earth's orbit is NOT me.
2) Where in the thread does it say that I *want* to change Earth's orbit.
Stop making shit up.
I fail to see anywhere in this thread where anybody suggests that the comet should "move the Earth"
OMG, do you not read your original posts? "I don't think anybody wants to screw with Earth's orbit." This CLEARLY suggests moving Earth out of orbit.
What I fail to realize is from where the idea that Earth's orbit would be modified came.
Apparantly reading your OP.
Are you suggesting using a cable and winching it to Earth?
If you took half a second to read my statements, and then THINK, you would realize I gave that suggestion and said it would be a bad idea, that is not feasible with current (if ever) technologies.
I have an MX 1000 and can't remember the last time I placed it on the charger. When I first got it, I went a solid 3-4 weeks before I saw the battary meter at low level. I played almost everyday computer games for hours (counter strike). So I have not experienced that problem. The thing I HATE HATE HATE HATE about the MX 1000 is the huge annoying base. I would like for them to come out with a small use adapter so I do not have to take my base with me (I have a laptop for a computer).
I have the MX 1000. I use it for gaming, and for work (graphics editing).
How does this mouse compare? One of the things I *HATE* about the MX 1000 is the huge base. I like the idea of a very small USB receiver for the M610.
Anyone here have any input (well obviously, but lets say qualified)? How are the tech specs in comparisson?
Maybe I'm just missing something here.
Yea you are missing something. How do you plan on putting this thing into orbit? It is moving at a high rate of speed, are you going to ask it and hope it will respond? You could try blasting it into orbit, but do you really want to mess with that many (probably nuclear) bombs?
WTF are you talking about?
What I am speaking about is getting this thing into orbit.
I don't think anybody wants to screw with Earth's orbit.
Well duh, but what you fail to realize is that it will take a whole lot of mass to move the Earth, and simply put it, a comet of that size does not have the mass to do so. Even if it slammed into Earth it would not have the ability to change Earth's orbit.
So the OP suggested putting it in orbit, and I suggested a potential method that would not work. So that is what I am talking about. If you decided to take a moment to think about it, instead of cursing, you woudl realize this.
Also, to consider, while I doubt it will be able to shift Earth's orbit (assuming we COULD hook into it)...what kind of cabling system do we need that COULD sustain that kind of pressure. Even if the thing moved at 1 MPH, it is so freaking massive that any kind of cable we could currently design would snap in half. We simply do not have a method to anchor these things. Though maybe it would be possible to shift its trajectory and crash it into the moon and then mine the stuff from the moon.
I'd be more worried about a big honkin asteroid hitting us then a comet. Those we know to be solid.
In other words, there is no Mac version of IE 6.0 or later.
Windows emulation on Macs
The main difference is that here in the US, the society has a large Purtian mind set. Those damn Pilgrims are still haunting us. In Israel (I am from Israel BTW) people are not so uptight about nudity and sex. I remember as a little kid (in Israel) watching this cartoon, introduction to the cartoon was a naked man and woman (presumably Adam and Eve). It was an educational cartoon about the human body...and it would NEVER EVER fly here in the US...not even today.
Though I agree with you, anyone who can figure out how to crack the game has access to insane amounts of porn (is it that hard to type SEX in Google Images?)
How were they incompetant (other then their website).
and are a Mac, Linux or Firefox user you cannot file a claim online.
My girlfriend, on her Mac, has Internet Explorer. I am a FireFox user, but I have IE on my computer if I need to use it (for situations like this). I am not sure if Linux users can install IE, so this may be true.
I guess I should be thankful that our wonderful editers got 1 out of 3 correct. Oh, lets not forget the proper English usage. The statement does not follow a correct parallel. The person talks about: OS, OS, Browser in the same sentence as if they were all the same. It would have been more appropriate (though still partially wrong) to say "If you only use Mac, Linux, or BSD or if you only use FireFox"
Well, you can say that, but you would be wrong. Creditcard = swipe card and hand over receipt. Cash = take bills, put them in right spots, count out change, and hand it over along with receipt. Sure, if there is no change it is _close_ but CC is still faster at the places that are geared for it.
:) You are totally incorrect.
I was hoping you would go this route
First lets compare apples to apples, you omitted some steps in CC that you have in Cash. And whats with your "take bills", like you don't have to "take CC"
CC= Swipe card, wait for machine to authorize payment (the longest part of the process), take the person's ID, note their ID number, have them sign the receipt, store the receipt in the correct slot. Let us not forget that many stores (smaller stores, but still many) swipe the card through a manual machine so they have to fill out the form and get information, plus make a phone call.
Cash = Give bills over, count change (potentially), get cash with receipt.
I never said $2 was a micropayment, but I do believe under our current system we will not be getting into pennies or fractions of pennies for purchases.
Actually, half a day of floating is almost always either nothing, or equivalent to a day of floating. Interest is charged (to banks, and pretty much universally) on an overnight loan. The account is reconciled once at the end of each business day, credits and debits from any time of the day are all put in at the same time. This is one of the advantages of daytrading. As long as you close your positions by the end of the day, you don't have to pay any margin interest.
...earning 3.5% interest. And that assumes you use your Paypal account for nothing else. Personally I run hundreds of dollars through my paypal account every month. I'd barely notice a few pennies here and there. And $20, at 3.5% interest, is...$0.70/year. (3.5% interest happens to be pretty close to the US dollar LIBOR, so you're not going to get much better for a liquid investment which is pretty close to risk-free.
Hmm, I did not know this. I thought that if I bought a stock now, it went up in X amount of dollars/share in 10 minutes, and then I sold it I would earn money. So partial day interest would make sense to me (on a large scale). Well I assume you are correct (yea I know a terrible thing to do) so I learned something new.
People will quibble about the smallest thing. In my early days in the banking industry, I had a customer come in and flip out over a 25 cent difference from his checkbook to the banks statements. He cancelled his doctors appointment, and drove into the city (where parking is a premium and costly) to argue this. People flip out. Also, 20 is on the low end. We are thinking of a min to open the account.
Actually their profit margins are a lot less and may even be at a loss when you buy something like that. Big name places can afford to take the small hits. Also big name places have better merchant carrier deals then other places. Merchant services gives special deals to large volume clients - and McD and Jack-in-the-box are considered large volume.
As for faster then cash. I am pretty sure giving $1 is faster then running a credit card. Yea, as a person who worked in banking for almost five years I can pretty much expertly tell you that it is.
Floats almost always happen (with the exception of Wire Transfers, which usually cost 10-50$/transfer). Also, if the merchant doesn't settle their credit machine at the end of the night this delays the transaction (in this case floating to the advantage of the customer). I doubt a place like PayPal, or even any online retailer who only accepts credit cards, would do this. It still takes time, however, and companies float. Some banks have deals with each other and they minimize floating periods, but it is still there (even if just for a day, or even half a day). Remember, in terms of millions and billions, half a day of floating is still a lot of money.
But yes, I think micropayments should be in palce, but how cheap do we go. Someone mentioned that you have a prepayment account. So you stick $20 on your PayPal account. When you make a purchase you use money from that account, so you do not get hit with inter-banking fee's (i.e. ATM fee's). While this would be a good method, it would mean the client gets a HEAVY float penalty. Your $20 sits there for days, weeks, months, years! It's a good option, but many would scream bloody murder for their $20 worth of interest.
Can this be done electronically - yes, the technology is already here. But banks are old school and are greedy. Put it this way, my friend works for a company that knows how much it costs banks for ATM charges (from one bank to another)...it's about 4 cents (as of a couple of years ago). But bank's charge about $2 from the foreign bank, and probably around $1 on your banks end (assuming you do not have a special account). So you suffer a $3 charge for a 4 cent transaction. Talk about price gouging.