I remember when I was in High School, and when I graduated and went to a tech college (still there, going to 4th year) I heard a lot about this. My mother worked in the guidance office for a while when she got bored staying at home and shared a lot of interesting things.
One of the biggest things she saw was the advice given to these girls. Some of the guidance counsellors hesitated to suggest girls pursue technical interests. My high school is better than some, a fairly high ranking (nation wide) public school, and we're better than the majority of schools as far as this kind of thing goes, but it still happens. If the good high schools have guidance counsellors who hesistate to support the girls' interest in a technical field, what kind of message is that giving them?
High school girls (and of course younger) are constantly being told they don't have what it takes to make it in the tech world. It's often quite subtle, or even good natured such as guidance counsellors trying to help. But the result is that these girls have the idea impressed upon them that technology is not a field they should pursue. In high school they're pushed towards the honors and AP liberal arts classes, as opposed to the sciences like biology (always had the most girls though), chem and physics. The math department in my school was fairly homogeneous as were the AP science courses, but when it came to honors or electives you didn't see as many and I know people who came from other schools who said there were hardly any girls in AP math and science courses.
The industry has obviously shown it would love to have them, and the universities are trying to entice them, but I think most of the things preventing more women from entering technical fields are happen at a young age.
Yeah, I pretty much agree. To say that the Xeon beat the Athlon 64 is like saying the sky should be blue when you walk outside. We're comparing a very capable processor used in home PCs to a server/workstation proc. One would hope the Xeon can win in some tests.
An opteron (or at least a 64FX) comparison would be more appropriate I should think.
I knew how to type my the time I was in middle school because my family had a couple computers by then (Apple IIGS, then a 386 and Pentium 75). I didn't type perhaps using the correct keys but i typed faster than anyone else did so it was a waste of time for me.
I know some of us said typing is a good skill to have in this world, but you ought to be able to test out of typing class because honestly for some people (such as myself and others) you're just wasting time and school resources.
I've had this idea before, and the only reason it probably hasn't been done yet is the privacy concern. That said why can't it continually collect data only to throw it out 30 seconds later if nothing happens? This would reduce cost considerably since you wouldn't need much storage.
If a design like that were implemented I'd have no complaints because then we might be able to deal with roadway accidents a lot better and still now have to worry about loss of privacy. Because frankly if you're doing 60mph in a residential area and run little timmy over, you deserve to lose your privacy in the sake of figuring out what the hell you did.
I completely agree. The 12" powerbook does have some heat issues (in addition to everything else you said). Granted it's the only 12" notebook with a built in DVD burner, but if it's going to get so hot it needs to be shut down it's a problem. I recently instructed a friend with a 12" powerbook to prop the backup until she can get one of those laptop cooling pads.
The other major problem with powerbooks is durability. They get worse with the larger screens, but if this is a computer you plan to haul around a lot the powerbook isn't my first recommendation. The iBook is in fact a much better choice for that.
Look em up, the iRiver is the same size roughly. I mentioned the creative is bigger, as in bigger than the iPod and iRiver.
The new 4G ipods are maybe a mm smaller than the iRiver, you really wont notice.
If you want really small there's some other mp3 players just getting to the US that will beat the iPod by quite a bit.
As far as interface, like I said in response to another post, yes the iPod is very simple and you'll pick it up immediately. But if you're even partially technically competent the iRiver won't take much to get used to and becomes very easy to use. I haven't used the Creative in a while but it's not really hard to grasp either.
If you haven't bought anything yet, do some research like I did and you'll find some that might be a lot better for you.
As far as sound quality, a good ripped MP3 from a good recording sounds better than a lot of the shit recordings on the market today unfortunately. And you can hear the lack of depth and clarity and punch playing back tracks on an iPod vs the Creative/iRiver. Sure, I'd rather listen to my record player at times, but that's not very portable.
I know the interface isn't as slick, which I said. However they still function as needed, you don't see that many people with them complaining about them. The simple fact of the matter is the iPod has become a fad, not because it's a totally superior product. And if you're spending that kind of money you should me more aware of such things.
Not everyone wants a software interface anyway. I know I don't and most people I know don't either, and some of them have iPods.
Yes, the iPod has a better interface, but I've also seen plenty of them lock up, including some I've used. I've never seen an iRiver lock up and maybe one creative.
Yeah, that does suck i agree. I had to read a lot of reviews and hunt friends down who had the various MP3 players.
I don't like the file transfer interface of the iPod, although it's very simple which is good for some people. I prefer the drag and drop manual control the iRiver and Creatives support. No proprietary formats make me happy too.
If you have an Apple computer though, the iRiver isn't exactly one I'd recommend, their software support for Apple is lacking.
There's a lot of things I've downloaded to try and realized not only do I not want to keep it, I don't want to buy it. When I was back in high school I downloaded a lot more stuff, since getting broadband/going to college, etc, I don't download music anymore. If I do it's because I want to see if something is worth buying. Everything I downloaded in high school was stuff I never would have bought anyway, so they never lost any money from me then. I've since outgrown the crap I've downloaded and tossed it all away.
Software is the same, you should be able to test things out before buying. The fact you can't generally return software sucks, so many people take it on themselves to try it out in advance.
that said... $666 Music Foo Owned who submitted that? Immature asshole, this website is a good concept. Whether it accomplishes anything or not, don't be a retard.
Yes, this is going to start a flamewar on the same scale as WWII... But the iPod has been beat by several devices although Apple, and their loyal followers (or those who just want to be "in") don't know it.
iRiver has the iHP (now called the H series) which is around the same price for the same storage, has better sound quality, better battery life than the G4 iPods, recording and optical capabilities, LCD remote and connects via USB making it accessible to more machines. It also has a radio.
Creative has the whole line of Zens with has sound quality to rival the iRiver (they're both good, just read the reviews they do beat the iPod), great battery life and huge storage for the money. They're cheap, but they're also bigger but that's fine for many people.
You can argue they may not be as sexy or easy to use, but that's mostly opinion. And if you give either the iRiver or Creative players a few moments of your time you won't have any trouble using them.
Yes, they killed the iPod where it counts, but the iPod is stylish and sexy, and that's more important to people than sound quality, battery life and actual audio features. Why? Beats me, but it is.
(awaits totally unjustified and brutal beating by the mods)
Hmm, this could be bad for any male porn star that needs a replacement heart. Aren't the male porn stars supposed to be able to hold a throbbing erection? Now it's gonna have the distinct hum of a turbine.
At least RFID can handle some types of encryption. A encryption key can be kept in the reader and since it doesn't have to be broadcast this isn't necessarily a huge problem. And since RFIDs can be managed automatically if someone really was worried the whole system could check and rewrite each items data once a day or something to make use of a new encryption key.
Some people have already looked in to this, although of course retailers don't pay attention anyway.
Might one not see the humor in this when you realize the source is MacNewsWorld.
Only a wee bit biased. That said, a lot of the mac-only users i teach can't explain what happens when they have a problem with their computer. "it stopped" "it beeped" "uhhhhhhh, oh shit" and the dreaded "make it work, don't reboot it" after a kernel panick. They have similar problems with just about every other situation in life.
I digress perhaps, but I disagree with their conclusion. Mac users are just as bad./now i wait the inevitable attack of retarded moderators
I wouldn't say superior, but fiercely competitive. Superior in some tasks, inferior in others.
There aint much sexier than AMD 64 processors or the Intel Dothan processors though. Both kick ass.
I keep hoping one of these Dell AMD machine rumors will come true, obviously a lot of other manufacturers have done it, and if Dell did, it could seriously change public opinion of AMD. Many people are still afraid of AMD, and think Dell is an example of what PCs should be. If dell used AMD it'd be a huge public approval of AMD in a sense. Your average joe still thinks there's nothing better or safer than Intel, and while there's nothing wrong with that, there's no reason to stick to it. I would have built an Opteron system last fall if it weren't for the fact that software support just isn't there. I built a moderately priced P4 system instead and it will hold me over quite nicely. If Dell jumps in 64 bit with both feet for the consumer it could force a more rapid interest in 64 bit software development./not trying to be off topic but his comment sparks interesting discussion
There's audible differences. Sometimes I'll like the vinyl better, other times I'll like the CD better. Same thing for tubes vs. transistors. They've got different sounds and I think it suits some stuff better than others.
All that said, while yes if you told someone what to listen for and they payed attention they might hear it, their standards might not be high enough to care. We're talking about people who think the iPod is the best sounding mp3 player, or who are impressed by Bose speakers.
They don't necessarily know, or care. And if you teach them otherwise, they still might not change.
True, it won't affect the performance of the antenna, but with enough interstellar bugs hitting the proverbial windshield, it could wear out chunks of the structure and cause it to collapse. Now that I think about it, it's not very likely, but still there's the risk of a larger object whacking it.
Better for whom? The average listener won't be able to tell the difference, this is like how theres a few nutbags such as myself that still enjoy listening to vinyl. It can just sound better sometimes.
Also how relevant is this? 30 years ago, we've got all kinds of DSP going on now and very efficient transistor amps putting out a boatload of power before they become strained.
The problem with the louder-is-better issue is the albums themselves. They're mixed horribly. You can play them on a cheap boombox or a system costing thousands of dollars. You'll just hear the garbled shit more clearly on the multi-thousand dollar system.
Agreed, I really wouldn't have expected it to be able to fly through the rings, particularly dish forward if the video is accurate. I would think that even the small particles would erode away at it more than would be acceptable.
A lot of people are paying for SMS service. Paying. Some people pay for email as well, but not by the message, and the postal mail is in our taxes... but again we don't pay for each delivered message.
But with many SMS providers do they not have a certain fee for a certain number of messages? In effect these spam messages would then be eating in to the allotted # of SMS use you paid for. I don't like that.
I don't know the laws, and I don't care to really because if they don't protect you from this (just referring to the US right now), then I don't want to hear about the laws.
Slashdot Mirror
I remember when I was in High School, and when I graduated and went to a tech college (still there, going to 4th year) I heard a lot about this. My mother worked in the guidance office for a while when she got bored staying at home and shared a lot of interesting things.
One of the biggest things she saw was the advice given to these girls. Some of the guidance counsellors hesitated to suggest girls pursue technical interests. My high school is better than some, a fairly high ranking (nation wide) public school, and we're better than the majority of schools as far as this kind of thing goes, but it still happens. If the good high schools have guidance counsellors who hesistate to support the girls' interest in a technical field, what kind of message is that giving them?
High school girls (and of course younger) are constantly being told they don't have what it takes to make it in the tech world. It's often quite subtle, or even good natured such as guidance counsellors trying to help. But the result is that these girls have the idea impressed upon them that technology is not a field they should pursue. In high school they're pushed towards the honors and AP liberal arts classes, as opposed to the sciences like biology (always had the most girls though), chem and physics. The math department in my school was fairly homogeneous as were the AP science courses, but when it came to honors or electives you didn't see as many and I know people who came from other schools who said there were hardly any girls in AP math and science courses.
The industry has obviously shown it would love to have them, and the universities are trying to entice them, but I think most of the things preventing more women from entering technical fields are happen at a young age.
Yeah, I pretty much agree. To say that the Xeon beat the Athlon 64 is like saying the sky should be blue when you walk outside. We're comparing a very capable processor used in home PCs to a server/workstation proc. One would hope the Xeon can win in some tests.
An opteron (or at least a 64FX) comparison would be more appropriate I should think.
Ohhh crap I remember some of that stuff. I played Cyberia 2!
Man this is giving me all kinds of crazy nostalgia.
I knew how to type my the time I was in middle school because my family had a couple computers by then (Apple IIGS, then a 386 and Pentium 75). I didn't type perhaps using the correct keys but i typed faster than anyone else did so it was a waste of time for me.
I know some of us said typing is a good skill to have in this world, but you ought to be able to test out of typing class because honestly for some people (such as myself and others) you're just wasting time and school resources.
I've had this idea before, and the only reason it probably hasn't been done yet is the privacy concern. That said why can't it continually collect data only to throw it out 30 seconds later if nothing happens? This would reduce cost considerably since you wouldn't need much storage.
If a design like that were implemented I'd have no complaints because then we might be able to deal with roadway accidents a lot better and still now have to worry about loss of privacy. Because frankly if you're doing 60mph in a residential area and run little timmy over, you deserve to lose your privacy in the sake of figuring out what the hell you did.
Good lord someone is trying very hard to justify $55 on a mediocre game.
I completely agree. The 12" powerbook does have some heat issues (in addition to everything else you said). Granted it's the only 12" notebook with a built in DVD burner, but if it's going to get so hot it needs to be shut down it's a problem. I recently instructed a friend with a 12" powerbook to prop the backup until she can get one of those laptop cooling pads.
The other major problem with powerbooks is durability. They get worse with the larger screens, but if this is a computer you plan to haul around a lot the powerbook isn't my first recommendation. The iBook is in fact a much better choice for that.
Look em up, the iRiver is the same size roughly. I mentioned the creative is bigger, as in bigger than the iPod and iRiver.
The new 4G ipods are maybe a mm smaller than the iRiver, you really wont notice.
If you want really small there's some other mp3 players just getting to the US that will beat the iPod by quite a bit.
As far as interface, like I said in response to another post, yes the iPod is very simple and you'll pick it up immediately. But if you're even partially technically competent the iRiver won't take much to get used to and becomes very easy to use. I haven't used the Creative in a while but it's not really hard to grasp either.
If you haven't bought anything yet, do some research like I did and you'll find some that might be a lot better for you.
That's right. They do support USB2. My bad.
As far as sound quality, a good ripped MP3 from a good recording sounds better than a lot of the shit recordings on the market today unfortunately. And you can hear the lack of depth and clarity and punch playing back tracks on an iPod vs the Creative/iRiver. Sure, I'd rather listen to my record player at times, but that's not very portable.
I know the interface isn't as slick, which I said. However they still function as needed, you don't see that many people with them complaining about them. The simple fact of the matter is the iPod has become a fad, not because it's a totally superior product. And if you're spending that kind of money you should me more aware of such things.
Not everyone wants a software interface anyway. I know I don't and most people I know don't either, and some of them have iPods.
Yes, the iPod has a better interface, but I've also seen plenty of them lock up, including some I've used. I've never seen an iRiver lock up and maybe one creative.
Yeah, that does suck i agree. I had to read a lot of reviews and hunt friends down who had the various MP3 players.
I don't like the file transfer interface of the iPod, although it's very simple which is good for some people. I prefer the drag and drop manual control the iRiver and Creatives support. No proprietary formats make me happy too.
If you have an Apple computer though, the iRiver isn't exactly one I'd recommend, their software support for Apple is lacking.
There's a lot of things I've downloaded to try and realized not only do I not want to keep it, I don't want to buy it. When I was back in high school I downloaded a lot more stuff, since getting broadband/going to college, etc, I don't download music anymore. If I do it's because I want to see if something is worth buying. Everything I downloaded in high school was stuff I never would have bought anyway, so they never lost any money from me then. I've since outgrown the crap I've downloaded and tossed it all away.
Software is the same, you should be able to test things out before buying. The fact you can't generally return software sucks, so many people take it on themselves to try it out in advance.
that said...
$666 Music Foo Owned
who submitted that? Immature asshole, this website is a good concept. Whether it accomplishes anything or not, don't be a retard.
Yes, this is going to start a flamewar on the same scale as WWII... But the iPod has been beat by several devices although Apple, and their loyal followers (or those who just want to be "in") don't know it.
iRiver has the iHP (now called the H series) which is around the same price for the same storage, has better sound quality, better battery life than the G4 iPods, recording and optical capabilities, LCD remote and connects via USB making it accessible to more machines. It also has a radio.
Creative has the whole line of Zens with has sound quality to rival the iRiver (they're both good, just read the reviews they do beat the iPod), great battery life and huge storage for the money. They're cheap, but they're also bigger but that's fine for many people.
You can argue they may not be as sexy or easy to use, but that's mostly opinion. And if you give either the iRiver or Creative players a few moments of your time you won't have any trouble using them.
Yes, they killed the iPod where it counts, but the iPod is stylish and sexy, and that's more important to people than sound quality, battery life and actual audio features. Why? Beats me, but it is.
(awaits totally unjustified and brutal beating by the mods)
Hmm, this could be bad for any male porn star that needs a replacement heart. Aren't the male porn stars supposed to be able to hold a throbbing erection? Now it's gonna have the distinct hum of a turbine.
Could be good, could be bad. Hmm.
At least RFID can handle some types of encryption. A encryption key can be kept in the reader and since it doesn't have to be broadcast this isn't necessarily a huge problem. And since RFIDs can be managed automatically if someone really was worried the whole system could check and rewrite each items data once a day or something to make use of a new encryption key.
Some people have already looked in to this, although of course retailers don't pay attention anyway.
Personally, yes. Why sell a product without the necessary accessories. It's hardly an accessory when you need it.
Might one not see the humor in this when you realize the source is MacNewsWorld.
/now i wait the inevitable attack of retarded moderators
Only a wee bit biased. That said, a lot of the mac-only users i teach can't explain what happens when they have a problem with their computer. "it stopped" "it beeped" "uhhhhhhh, oh shit" and the dreaded "make it work, don't reboot it" after a kernel panick. They have similar problems with just about every other situation in life.
I digress perhaps, but I disagree with their conclusion. Mac users are just as bad.
I wouldn't say superior, but fiercely competitive. Superior in some tasks, inferior in others.
/not trying to be off topic but his comment sparks interesting discussion
There aint much sexier than AMD 64 processors or the Intel Dothan processors though. Both kick ass.
I keep hoping one of these Dell AMD machine rumors will come true, obviously a lot of other manufacturers have done it, and if Dell did, it could seriously change public opinion of AMD. Many people are still afraid of AMD, and think Dell is an example of what PCs should be. If dell used AMD it'd be a huge public approval of AMD in a sense. Your average joe still thinks there's nothing better or safer than Intel, and while there's nothing wrong with that, there's no reason to stick to it. I would have built an Opteron system last fall if it weren't for the fact that software support just isn't there. I built a moderately priced P4 system instead and it will hold me over quite nicely. If Dell jumps in 64 bit with both feet for the consumer it could force a more rapid interest in 64 bit software development.
Damn, I wish I had been here earlier, but you beat me to the joke.
There's audible differences. Sometimes I'll like the vinyl better, other times I'll like the CD better. Same thing for tubes vs. transistors. They've got different sounds and I think it suits some stuff better than others.
All that said, while yes if you told someone what to listen for and they payed attention they might hear it, their standards might not be high enough to care. We're talking about people who think the iPod is the best sounding mp3 player, or who are impressed by Bose speakers.
They don't necessarily know, or care. And if you teach them otherwise, they still might not change.
True, it won't affect the performance of the antenna, but with enough interstellar bugs hitting the proverbial windshield, it could wear out chunks of the structure and cause it to collapse. Now that I think about it, it's not very likely, but still there's the risk of a larger object whacking it.
Pretty cool either way, I like schoolbuses.
Better for whom? The average listener won't be able to tell the difference, this is like how theres a few nutbags such as myself that still enjoy listening to vinyl. It can just sound better sometimes.
Also how relevant is this? 30 years ago, we've got all kinds of DSP going on now and very efficient transistor amps putting out a boatload of power before they become strained.
The problem with the louder-is-better issue is the albums themselves. They're mixed horribly. You can play them on a cheap boombox or a system costing thousands of dollars. You'll just hear the garbled shit more clearly on the multi-thousand dollar system.
Agreed, I really wouldn't have expected it to be able to fly through the rings, particularly dish forward if the video is accurate. I would think that even the small particles would erode away at it more than would be acceptable.
Obviously that's one tough schoolbus sized planet orbiting pretty picture taking probe.
A lot of people are paying for SMS service. Paying. Some people pay for email as well, but not by the message, and the postal mail is in our taxes... but again we don't pay for each delivered message.
But with many SMS providers do they not have a certain fee for a certain number of messages? In effect these spam messages would then be eating in to the allotted # of SMS use you paid for. I don't like that.
I don't know the laws, and I don't care to really because if they don't protect you from this (just referring to the US right now), then I don't want to hear about the laws.
Thank god i haven't received any spam shit yet.
That's the moderators for you. Collectively ignorant, singularly out to get you.