Looks like MS has dropped the ball again (remember Bill G saying they were behind on the internet?)
Maybe Google looked at what MS tried to do when they had fallen behind on the 'net (integrate IE with your desktop, MS Office, your fridge, etc.), and what that did to their 'net competitor (what did Netscape's browser share drop to?).
Google may be trying to forestall a move by the 800 lb. gorilla, who can rightfully fear being outclassed by Google, in what may become the Next Big Thing (if hard drives over 1 Tb are coming into range for techies, search will be even bigger than the 'net).
Sadly, MS's search capability in their own OS seems to have degraded (compare WinME and WinXP search results to Win98 and even WFW311!).
http://www.kimvin.com/
I'm the "computer guy" at a small private school. Other than a state grant each year, for items specifically for student use only, tech budget is on an as needed basis; as in "Do we absolutely need this to keep the lab open?"
Parents, being consumers and usually unknowledgeable, want the PERCEIVED BEST for their children. They KNOW all decent PCs come with Windows, IE, and MS Office (although I have had some ask why we use Office, not Works like they have at home), so that's what they want us to have.
Since our PCs are usually whatever our state-approved vendor sells at the lowest price with Windows (that's what our clients, the parents who pay to send their kids here, want), they don't always have the same version of Windows 2 years in a row. I have some minimal VB knowledge, and can make our own alternatives for some things (2 typing programs, a HOSTS file updater for banned sites, etc.). I work to find as much educational freeware/shareware as possible (BlockCad, CursorDance, Visual Pinball, West Point Bridge Designer, etc.), but I still have to address the basics.
That means IE is on every desktop (though I don't do installs of Outlook/Express; Many parents don't understand why we don't give kids their own e-mail addresses at the schoool...); I would use another browser as well, but the educational/educational game sites our staff will actually use usually require an IE specific feature/Flash/Shockwave/etc.
I've learned from my time here though-
I use AdAware, Spybot, and a 803 Kb HOSTS file. I use Ghost, and make a standard image for each series of new machines. Then, during the summer, I refine 1 system from each of the groups to make it into the next year's Ghost image, and "restore" that to each machine in it's group.
This has already saved me time. I back up student folders from each machine (many home-brewed freeware apps and cheap consumer level apps don't seem to support network folders readily), and restore to the new PC if the box dies. I know I accepted a lot putting myself at the mercy of a small budget, and consumers who are nearly all powerful, but it's worth it for the freedom of a fairly flexible lesson plan (just because Linux isn't the desktop OS on the PCs, doesn't mean the kids don't get to use LiveCds now and then). My students build their own personal websites in DreamWeaver MX(4th-8th), have played AdvanceMAME games, have used Macs (okay, my Quadra 800 just died; but it showed a bunch of kids how easy a PC can be to use), and a lot more. I like to think there can be a decent trade-off.
Getting to the point (finally), my solution to user-installed spyware, etc is simple: anyone I catch clicking "YES" etc, using a floppy without virus-checking it, changing home pages, etc. has to use the Win98SE box in the back of the room. It doesn't have AdAware, SpyBot, etc. It has Bonzi Buddy, WeatherBug, and about a dozen others. That is the PC they use at the start of the next class, and must try to open up IE, run some apps, etc; most kids realize how much of a pain this stuff gets to be. If you let people see the difference side by side (or better yet, if they ask why your PC runs so much better than theirs when yours hasn't been replaced in the last 3 funding cycles), they sometimes will understand that all of this adds up very quickly.
A+ Certified & potty-trained; equally proud of both
I use e-mail, shop for stuff on the web, and post pictures to the company website when home (an arrangement where I get to go home early, if I do what I would do at work). This usually wouldn't require a cable connection, except that my employer expects the day's pics (sometimes 100+) up ASAP.
The REAL problem comes in when you consider that my wife's PC is set up next to mine; she uses e-mail and shops online, my brother-in-law is set up in his section of the house; he uses e-mail and connects through a citrix client to work, his kids connect to their school to a citrix client, and have access for other educational uses. We're also setting up a PC in the guest room for relatives/friends staying over, so they can check their e-mail, etc. Eventually, we'll get my mother-in-law to use a PC at home, too.
Also, with 3 "households" in the same home, we're already using the 2 existing phonelines fairly often. If we were to split the 56k theoretical max between the users, even e-mail use could get painfully slow.
All that pretty much makes a cable modem, and my WinMX box in the basement (running 24/7) a gimme.
For one user, 56k may be reasonable. For a household, it is far less practical.
Or, it's just being caused by kallikanzaros, knowing their time is coming again. Word of warning- watch out for Bortan!
A+ certified and potty-trained; equally proud of both.
On the downside: planes not only move faster, they can also move in a direct line, something train will never be able to do...
Assuming you're talking about city to city travel, this isn't necessarily an accurate view. Planes travel from airport to airport, in a path that isn't tied to rails. However, it's much more cost-intensive (read: expensive) to add an airport halfway between two existing airports, than it is to add a small train station in a developing area. Airplanes have the capability to be FLOWN anywhere, but pilots are still remarkably picky about where they LAND (i.e., airports, usually). If it takes you half an hour to 45 minutes to travel by shuttle, taxi, etc. to the heart of the city you're heading to, it still doesn't feel like a direct trip.
A+ certified and potty-trained; equally proud of both
I'm not an astrophysicist, but it shouldn't matter whether or not the asteroid is traveling in the plane of the ecliptic; the significant fact is that it will cross the plane at a point within roughly 3 Earth diamters of where the Earth will be at that point in time.
Simply put, it doesn't matter what it's vector or path has been, if that path is leading to Earth.
A+ certified, and potty-trained
Equally proud of both
According to the CNN article, at least, the asteroid, 2004 FH, is expected to make its closest approach at 5:08 p.m. EST
That's over 4 hours from the time of the parent post, or 280 minutes. With an acceptable margin of error of 18 minutes, we're still not quite clear yet (1:35 EST as I write this).
However, there will still be plenty to worry about right here, without extraterrestrial assistance...
www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2000/mega_tsunami_qa nda.shtml
(Remove space from link)
A nice 6 to 9 hour warning time for those in the US on the East Coast, less for those closer to Europe (but they won't get those lovely 30 meter waves).
Phones with additional features will always be a compromise, between packing all the features in, keeping the size manageable, and trying to make it fit in the hand like a phone should (does anybody really like using those matchbox sized phones?).
As it is, in the US and UK, you really need a hands-free device. That could easily be connected to a wristwatch with the same features. Maybe we could even use the cord running between as an aerial, and improve the signal. Then, it becomes an all-purpose device, with less concern about the fit in the hand.
With Hitachi's new mini hard drive coming out, it'll be the camera/watch (and/or phone). If you think it's annoying not being able to have your cell phone in a locker room, wait til you can't have your wristwatch in there, because it can store hours of DV.
Phones with additional features will always be a compromise, between packing all the features in, keeping the size manageable, and trying to make it fit in the hand like a phone should.
As it is, in the US and UK, you really need a hands-free device. That could easily be connected to a wristwatch with the same features. Maybe we could even use the cord running between as an aerial, and improve the signal. Then, it becomes an all-purpose device, with less concern about the fit in the hand.
A+ certified, and just as proud of being potty-trained
Here in the US, I've just completed my income tax form. There's a box asking if I (or, separately, my spouse) want to donate $1 to campaign funds.
I'd be quite glad to fund something like PG, or even have $0.25 of my tax go to a separate page, asking how I'd like 10% (or even 1% of my money spent- do I want to support the arts, foreign aid, military spending, etc.). Let people vote with what businesses and PACs vote with; MONEY.
treating otherwise hopeless behavioral, neurological and psychiatric disorders.
All we need is some doc to say that depression should be treated with current to the pleasure centers.
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Oh Dear Lord! They run RoboCoaster with Windows? Nooooooooo....
Yeah, I know that's what sent R. Kelly into bankruptcy...
Looks like MS has dropped the ball again (remember Bill G saying they were behind on the internet?) Maybe Google looked at what MS tried to do when they had fallen behind on the 'net (integrate IE with your desktop, MS Office, your fridge, etc.), and what that did to their 'net competitor (what did Netscape's browser share drop to?). Google may be trying to forestall a move by the 800 lb. gorilla, who can rightfully fear being outclassed by Google, in what may become the Next Big Thing (if hard drives over 1 Tb are coming into range for techies, search will be even bigger than the 'net). Sadly, MS's search capability in their own OS seems to have degraded (compare WinME and WinXP search results to Win98 and even WFW311!). http://www.kimvin.com/
I'm the "computer guy" at a small private school. Other than a state grant each year, for items specifically for student use only, tech budget is on an as needed basis; as in "Do we absolutely need this to keep the lab open?"
Parents, being consumers and usually unknowledgeable, want the PERCEIVED BEST for their children. They KNOW all decent PCs come with Windows, IE, and MS Office (although I have had some ask why we use Office, not Works like they have at home), so that's what they want us to have.
Since our PCs are usually whatever our state-approved vendor sells at the lowest price with Windows (that's what our clients, the parents who pay to send their kids here, want), they don't always have the same version of Windows 2 years in a row. I have some minimal VB knowledge, and can make our own alternatives for some things (2 typing programs, a HOSTS file updater for banned sites, etc.). I work to find as much educational freeware/shareware as possible (BlockCad, CursorDance, Visual Pinball, West Point Bridge Designer, etc.), but I still have to address the basics.
That means IE is on every desktop (though I don't do installs of Outlook/Express; Many parents don't understand why we don't give kids their own e-mail addresses at the schoool...); I would use another browser as well, but the educational/educational game sites our staff will actually use usually require an IE specific feature/Flash/Shockwave/etc.
I've learned from my time here though- I use AdAware, Spybot, and a 803 Kb HOSTS file. I use Ghost, and make a standard image for each series of new machines. Then, during the summer, I refine 1 system from each of the groups to make it into the next year's Ghost image, and "restore" that to each machine in it's group.
This has already saved me time. I back up student folders from each machine (many home-brewed freeware apps and cheap consumer level apps don't seem to support network folders readily), and restore to the new PC if the box dies.
I know I accepted a lot putting myself at the mercy of a small budget, and consumers who are nearly all powerful, but it's worth it for the freedom of a fairly flexible lesson plan (just because Linux isn't the desktop OS on the PCs, doesn't mean the kids don't get to use LiveCds now and then). My students build their own personal websites in DreamWeaver MX(4th-8th), have played AdvanceMAME games, have used Macs (okay, my Quadra 800 just died; but it showed a bunch of kids how easy a PC can be to use), and a lot more. I like to think there can be a decent trade-off.
Getting to the point (finally), my solution to user-installed spyware, etc is simple: anyone I catch clicking "YES" etc, using a floppy without virus-checking it, changing home pages, etc. has to use the Win98SE box in the back of the room. It doesn't have AdAware, SpyBot, etc. It has Bonzi Buddy, WeatherBug, and about a dozen others. That is the PC they use at the start of the next class, and must try to open up IE, run some apps, etc; most kids realize how much of a pain this stuff gets to be. If you let people see the difference side by side (or better yet, if they ask why your PC runs so much better than theirs when yours hasn't been replaced in the last 3 funding cycles), they sometimes will understand that all of this adds up very quickly.
A+ Certified & potty-trained; equally proud of both
I use e-mail, shop for stuff on the web, and post pictures to the company website when home (an arrangement where I get to go home early, if I do what I would do at work). This usually wouldn't require a cable connection, except that my employer expects the day's pics (sometimes 100+) up ASAP.
The REAL problem comes in when you consider that my wife's PC is set up next to mine; she uses e-mail and shops online, my brother-in-law is set up in his section of the house; he uses e-mail and connects through a citrix client to work, his kids connect to their school to a citrix client, and have access for other educational uses. We're also setting up a PC in the guest room for relatives/friends staying over, so they can check their e-mail, etc. Eventually, we'll get my mother-in-law to use a PC at home, too.
Also, with 3 "households" in the same home, we're already using the 2 existing phonelines fairly often. If we were to split the 56k theoretical max between the users, even e-mail use could get painfully slow.
All that pretty much makes a cable modem, and my WinMX box in the basement (running 24/7) a gimme.
For one user, 56k may be reasonable. For a household, it is far less practical.
Or, it's just being caused by kallikanzaros, knowing their time is coming again. Word of warning- watch out for Bortan! A+ certified and potty-trained; equally proud of both.
On the downside: planes not only move faster, they can also move in a direct line, something train will never be able to do... Assuming you're talking about city to city travel, this isn't necessarily an accurate view. Planes travel from airport to airport, in a path that isn't tied to rails. However, it's much more cost-intensive (read: expensive) to add an airport halfway between two existing airports, than it is to add a small train station in a developing area. Airplanes have the capability to be FLOWN anywhere, but pilots are still remarkably picky about where they LAND (i.e., airports, usually). If it takes you half an hour to 45 minutes to travel by shuttle, taxi, etc. to the heart of the city you're heading to, it still doesn't feel like a direct trip. A+ certified and potty-trained; equally proud of both
I'm not an astrophysicist, but it shouldn't matter whether or not the asteroid is traveling in the plane of the ecliptic; the significant fact is that it will cross the plane at a point within roughly 3 Earth diamters of where the Earth will be at that point in time. Simply put, it doesn't matter what it's vector or path has been, if that path is leading to Earth. A+ certified, and potty-trained Equally proud of both
According to the CNN article, at least, the asteroid, 2004 FH, is expected to make its closest approach at 5:08 p.m. EST That's over 4 hours from the time of the parent post, or 280 minutes. With an acceptable margin of error of 18 minutes, we're still not quite clear yet (1:35 EST as I write this). However, there will still be plenty to worry about right here, without extraterrestrial assistance... www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2000/mega_tsunami_qa nda.shtml
(Remove space from link)
A nice 6 to 9 hour warning time for those in the US on the East Coast, less for those closer to Europe (but they won't get those lovely 30 meter waves).
Damn cut and paste! Aargh!
Phones with additional features will always be a compromise, between packing all the features in, keeping the size manageable, and trying to make it fit in the hand like a phone should (does anybody really like using those matchbox sized phones?). As it is, in the US and UK, you really need a hands-free device. That could easily be connected to a wristwatch with the same features. Maybe we could even use the cord running between as an aerial, and improve the signal. Then, it becomes an all-purpose device, with less concern about the fit in the hand. With Hitachi's new mini hard drive coming out, it'll be the camera/watch (and/or phone). If you think it's annoying not being able to have your cell phone in a locker room, wait til you can't have your wristwatch in there, because it can store hours of DV. Phones with additional features will always be a compromise, between packing all the features in, keeping the size manageable, and trying to make it fit in the hand like a phone should. As it is, in the US and UK, you really need a hands-free device. That could easily be connected to a wristwatch with the same features. Maybe we could even use the cord running between as an aerial, and improve the signal. Then, it becomes an all-purpose device, with less concern about the fit in the hand. A+ certified, and just as proud of being potty-trained
Here in the US, I've just completed my income tax form. There's a box asking if I (or, separately, my spouse) want to donate $1 to campaign funds. I'd be quite glad to fund something like PG, or even have $0.25 of my tax go to a separate page, asking how I'd like 10% (or even 1% of my money spent- do I want to support the arts, foreign aid, military spending, etc.). Let people vote with what businesses and PACs vote with; MONEY.
treating otherwise hopeless behavioral, neurological and psychiatric disorders. All we need is some doc to say that depression should be treated with current to the pleasure centers.