The real issue is how the use or abuse of this new knowledge puts us at risk of a zombie outbreak/invasion. C'mon scientists, the world needs to know!!!
I'm not saying that Apple machines don't look good - most of them do. However, there is more to the PC world than Dell, and/or cases you find at Fry's.
Believe me, as an American mutt of English and Welsh (along with Scottish, Dutch, and German) ancestry, I am not surprised at all. However, curiously, I don't blame our schools for our lack of geographic knowledge - I learned a lot about geography from school. For some reason, people here seem to forget geography rather easily. I think it must be due to the homogenous nature of the U.S., plus its vast size. In Europe, one can drive 800 miles and see more than a few countries. Over here, I can drive 800 miles and I still haven't left Texas.
The ironic part of all of this is that for most of the 20th century, the American music industry was almost completely Mafia run and controlled. With its byzantine accounting systems and loose distribution system, record companies were seen an easy place to launder money and stash profits. The mob also used their considerable negotiating skills to control where jukeboxes were placed, what music made it to radio (through payola, meaning cash or otherwise), how many records got to what stores, etc., etc., etc. This started falling apart after the 70's, when big corporations started getting involved in music, but large parts of the record industry "business model" are so very screwed up because they were pioneered by extortionists. However, one could argue that the leg-breakers built a fairer system then what we have now.
Two very interesting reads about this are: 'Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside the Music Business' by Fred Dannon and 'Stiffed: A True Story of MCA, the Music Business, and the Mafia' by William Knoedelseder.
Let's say I accept all of your arguments about the superiority of the Mac OS in general (which I don't), why then does Apple have such a small share of the marketplace? Why hasn't the public embraced Apple and the Mac platform as you say they should? Why haven't their advantages propelled them to the top of the market? What is Apple doing wrong?
Your key isn't lost. It's still on the machine. Just use keyfinder to get it.
(Cut and paste. I'm too lazy to make this a link)
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml
I am supposing that this will be set in some alternative historical timeline. I never really bought the "impending Fascist doom" meme of the original, but I did admire it's powerful argument for the rights of the individual and freedom in general. Also, V was a badass, and stuff blew up. Cool.
I got a Dell a couple of years ago, first time I had used XP. I need to change file permissions on a directory, and the security tab was not there (it's not on by default in XP) when I right-clicked it. I called Dell tech support, hoping for a quick answer.
They told me to reinstall Windows. I shit you not. I then googled the issue and found it how to make the security tab show up (XP was new then, not a lot of tips were out there). Thanks for the great support, Dell.
Mostly agreed also. I use the 2.81 "lite" version - no need for it to do anything else other than play.mp3's , I am used to the interface, the thing just plain works and I don't really see a need to change.
I personally could care less about skins, etc.
FYI: You can still get all the versions of winamp at oldversion.com (too lazy to link this).
1) Get a gmal account (1 GB) 2) Mail important files to in (zipped/compressed/whatever). 3) Let them sit there.
Sure, not as absolutely secure as someplace like xdrive, but those guys charge $200/year to store 1GB of information. Ridiculous for the average user to pay that much.
China's innovation relies mostly upon remaking things already patented in the West, just doing it cheaper by not paying the patent rights on it. This could be huge problem in the future, as many nations will require that they start honoring these agreements. I once worked with a client who did some of his manufacturing in China (toys, mostly) - he was stunned how quickly their products would turn up as black market ripoffs once they manufactured there - the plant managers typically run a shift a day making your stuff for you, then a shift at night making your stuff for them. They pulled their manufacturing from China after that.
Also, I don't see China being much of a leader in alternative fuels - they are cutting deals with the Iranian mullahs now to become their primary oil supplier, and have much looser pollution standards that the U.S. or Europe (in fact, they use the U.S. pollution standards from the 1980's for their cars now). China will probably start making more alt fuel cars when the west demands it - meaning for export, not for domestic use.
If you want to talk Asian innovators, Japan is still way, way ahead of China.
Actually, I had a recent experience where I think somebody did something like that. I used a Bank Of America ATM at a gas station - it was one of those free-standing boxes that they just put anywhere on the store, as long as it is close to power and a DSL jack. Anyway, I withdrew $20 and left. The next day, I noticed that my account had been drained of funds. I called the bank, and they said that I had withdrawn all the money at that ATM. I had them pull the transactions, and apparently, somebody immediately after me had done mulitple pulls on my account until they got everything. (Only like $120, as it turns out, since I just use that account for petty cash).
Anyway, the machine is one of the swiper kinds - it does not keep the card until you are finished, you just swipe it. Since I used a "Fast Cash" option, it should only allow that one transaction, then "log out" my account. If another transaction is attempted, it requires another swipe of my card. Obviously, it did not - either someone hacked the ATM - certainly possible if behind the crappy little cabinet with its crappy little lock the ATM monitor rests on there is a box with a mouse and a keyboard - or there was some kind of software error. I was suspicious of the former since there was a guy hanging around the area of the ATM. BofA refunded my loss and is investigating.
Agreed. It became way too plot heavy. The body jumping thing got way, way overplayed. I actually gave up halfway through season 2 - from what I am reading here, it didn't get any better.
If you swap it out with a new hard drive, doesn't that cut down severely on your profit margin? Those drives you linked to cost $32 - if you only charge $50, it looks like you are only making $18 a machine, to me. Did you get them in bulk or something?
Which, again, doesn't prove a whole lot. The reason they are not being produced is because nobody bought them. At least some of the reasons reasons nobody bought them were sited in my earlier post. Why should car companies produce something nobody wants to buy? The fleet market gives them a chance at having at least a break-even market for vehicles that can eventually lead to a viable consumer market, which benefits all of us.
Again, you have no evidence, no basis whatsoever for your rather loony conspiracy theory.
Um, I like to see some evidence of your vast energy conspiracy before you go spouting off like that. The reason that electric vehicles have died out a bit is that they were a bit too "early to market", too expensive, and did not have enough range. Beleive me, car companies want to sell you a car - its just the capital investment to produce the product needs to eventually pay off, and it did not for consumer level electric cars. However, the fleet market is a good place to start selling these vehicles, as they will keep the lines producing so that at some point in the near future, electrics will be a viable option for consumers. Heck, I would buy one now for my daily commute if they weren't twice as expensive as my 1997 gas burning rice racer.
Slashdot Mirror
The real issue is how the use or abuse of this new knowledge puts us at risk of a zombie outbreak/invasion. C'mon scientists, the world needs to know!!!
I guess you haven't been looking very hard. You can get PCs that value the design esthetic as well. Take a look at these, for instance:
http://www.soldam.com/case/jazz_take5/index.html
(Note: Parts of that site appear to be down)
I'm not saying that Apple machines don't look good - most of them do. However, there is more to the PC world than Dell, and/or cases you find at Fry's.
Believe me, as an American mutt of English and Welsh (along with Scottish, Dutch, and German) ancestry, I am not surprised at all. However, curiously, I don't blame our schools for our lack of geographic knowledge - I learned a lot about geography from school. For some reason, people here seem to forget geography rather easily. I think it must be due to the homogenous nature of the U.S., plus its vast size. In Europe, one can drive 800 miles and see more than a few countries. Over here, I can drive 800 miles and I still haven't left Texas.
The ironic part of all of this is that for most of the 20th century, the American music industry was almost completely Mafia run and controlled. With its byzantine accounting systems and loose distribution system, record companies were seen an easy place to launder money and stash profits. The mob also used their considerable negotiating skills to control where jukeboxes were placed, what music made it to radio (through payola, meaning cash or otherwise), how many records got to what stores, etc., etc., etc. This started falling apart after the 70's, when big corporations started getting involved in music, but large parts of the record industry "business model" are so very screwed up because they were pioneered by extortionists. However, one could argue that the leg-breakers built a fairer system then what we have now.
Two very interesting reads about this are: 'Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside the Music Business' by Fred Dannon and 'Stiffed: A True Story of MCA, the Music Business, and the Mafia' by William Knoedelseder.
Let's say I accept all of your arguments about the superiority of the Mac OS in general (which I don't), why then does Apple have such a small share of the marketplace? Why hasn't the public embraced Apple and the Mac platform as you say they should? Why haven't their advantages propelled them to the top of the market? What is Apple doing wrong?
Maybe Jobs was trolling around Tiawanese computer manufactures websites when these came out in...2001.
http://www.cappuccinopc.com/cappuccinotx1.asp
I kind of like the new P4 versions myself.
http://www.cappuccinopc.com/mochae7042b.asp
Your key isn't lost. It's still on the machine. Just use keyfinder to get it. (Cut and paste. I'm too lazy to make this a link) http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml
I am supposing that this will be set in some alternative historical timeline. I never really bought the "impending Fascist doom" meme of the original, but I did admire it's powerful argument for the rights of the individual and freedom in general. Also, V was a badass, and stuff blew up. Cool.
The Incredibles pretty well ripped off much of the Watchmen's plot, especially in the villian dept. No Dr. Manhattan, though.
I got a Dell a couple of years ago, first time I had used XP. I need to change file permissions on a directory, and the security tab was not there (it's not on by default in XP) when I right-clicked it. I called Dell tech support, hoping for a quick answer.
They told me to reinstall Windows. I shit you not. I then googled the issue and found it how to make the security tab show up (XP was new then, not a lot of tips were out there). Thanks for the great support, Dell.
I am extremely old skool. What is a GBA?
Gee, and you wonder why nobody comes to visit you....
Mostly agreed also. I use the 2.81 "lite" version - no need for it to do anything else other than play .mp3's , I am used to the interface, the thing just plain works and I don't really see a need to change.
I personally could care less about skins, etc.
FYI: You can still get all the versions of winamp at oldversion.com (too lazy to link this).
A pretty good free solution:
1) Get a gmal account (1 GB)
2) Mail important files to in (zipped/compressed/whatever).
3) Let them sit there.
Sure, not as absolutely secure as someplace like xdrive, but those guys charge $200/year to store 1GB of information. Ridiculous for the average user to pay that much.
China's innovation relies mostly upon remaking things already patented in the West, just doing it cheaper by not paying the patent rights on it. This could be huge problem in the future, as many nations will require that they start honoring these agreements. I once worked with a client who did some of his manufacturing in China (toys, mostly) - he was stunned how quickly their products would turn up as black market ripoffs once they manufactured there - the plant managers typically run a shift a day making your stuff for you, then a shift at night making your stuff for them. They pulled their manufacturing from China after that. Also, I don't see China being much of a leader in alternative fuels - they are cutting deals with the Iranian mullahs now to become their primary oil supplier, and have much looser pollution standards that the U.S. or Europe (in fact, they use the U.S. pollution standards from the 1980's for their cars now). China will probably start making more alt fuel cars when the west demands it - meaning for export, not for domestic use. If you want to talk Asian innovators, Japan is still way, way ahead of China.
Actually, I had a recent experience where I think somebody did something like that. I used a Bank Of America ATM at a gas station - it was one of those free-standing boxes that they just put anywhere on the store, as long as it is close to power and a DSL jack. Anyway, I withdrew $20 and left. The next day, I noticed that my account had been drained of funds. I called the bank, and they said that I had withdrawn all the money at that ATM. I had them pull the transactions, and apparently, somebody immediately after me had done mulitple pulls on my account until they got everything. (Only like $120, as it turns out, since I just use that account for petty cash). Anyway, the machine is one of the swiper kinds - it does not keep the card until you are finished, you just swipe it. Since I used a "Fast Cash" option, it should only allow that one transaction, then "log out" my account. If another transaction is attempted, it requires another swipe of my card. Obviously, it did not - either someone hacked the ATM - certainly possible if behind the crappy little cabinet with its crappy little lock the ATM monitor rests on there is a box with a mouse and a keyboard - or there was some kind of software error. I was suspicious of the former since there was a guy hanging around the area of the ATM. BofA refunded my loss and is investigating.
And as the Dalai Lama once told Carl Spackler "at the moment of my death, I would reach total conciousness, so I've got that going for me."
Gunga-Lunga.
Agreed. It became way too plot heavy. The body jumping thing got way, way overplayed. I actually gave up halfway through season 2 - from what I am reading here, it didn't get any better.
True, but do they use Snap-On Tools? http://www.snapon.com/
That's why this stupid VB programmer uses error trapping and does not pass ids in the querystring!
If you swap it out with a new hard drive, doesn't that cut down severely on your profit margin? Those drives you linked to cost $32 - if you only charge $50, it looks like you are only making $18 a machine, to me. Did you get them in bulk or something?
Which, again, doesn't prove a whole lot. The reason they are not being produced is because nobody bought them. At least some of the reasons reasons nobody bought them were sited in my earlier post. Why should car companies produce something nobody wants to buy? The fleet market gives them a chance at having at least a break-even market for vehicles that can eventually lead to a viable consumer market, which benefits all of us. Again, you have no evidence, no basis whatsoever for your rather loony conspiracy theory.
Um, I like to see some evidence of your vast energy conspiracy before you go spouting off like that. The reason that electric vehicles have died out a bit is that they were a bit too "early to market", too expensive, and did not have enough range. Beleive me, car companies want to sell you a car - its just the capital investment to produce the product needs to eventually pay off, and it did not for consumer level electric cars. However, the fleet market is a good place to start selling these vehicles, as they will keep the lines producing so that at some point in the near future, electrics will be a viable option for consumers. Heck, I would buy one now for my daily commute if they weren't twice as expensive as my 1997 gas burning rice racer.
No, remind me, is this one where the Klingons are their friends or is this one where the Kilgons are their enemies. This always confused me.