I was musing about setting the default home page of our corporate users' browser to about:blank, just so that MSN wasn't getting every launch of IE from our internal workstations.
Then I thought - the flood of L-user calls to the help desk complaining that the network was down... just wasn't worth it.
Energy Star Appliances... CF Replacement Bulbs Gas Dryer
Those three things will annihilate your electric bill.
Examples:
We recently replaced our twenty year old 15 cf* fridge with a 20cf energy start. Power usage went from 1500kwh/year to 425kwh/year. And the old fridge had new seals, was kept away from the stove, vents, and all that. Insane how much we've saved. Sure, it costs $450 plus delivery - but as long as you don't put it on a butt-raping credit card, your fridge will pay for itself in less than five years.
Same goes with electric appliances that heat or dry things. electricity is ten times less efficient than natural gas. So do everything you can to convert your dryer and stove to some form of gas. It'll pay for itself very quickly.
*cubic foot, I'm a lazy American who will not provide metric conversions. Sorry. Not really.
That's an unfortunate accident, and a great fix. If that should happen in the future when your laptop is out of warranty, those keyboards will be expensive. But I can understand not stocking every individual key and spring... that would make inventory even more of a nightmare.
I second the opinion that IBM/Lenovo treats in warranty and out of warranty users very well. Sure they'll sell you every part for your expired laptop, but in warranty treatment is equally good for those first few years of new laptop goodness.
You're a doctor but have already forgotten that residency means being on call 24/7 for several years straight. Would you have been so quick to advocate something that shut down the pagers that residents used to carry before cell phones were ubiquitous?
Every pager I've ever seen comes with a setting called vibrate. People who are too lazy, stupid, selfish to change the setting on their communication devices are simply living up to the labels we give them.
editors: you should have waited 25 days, and accepted the story at about... oh 11:00 am on december 25th then you would have gotten a buttload of seriously frustrated, angry, and demented comments in the affirmative
You must be new here... this story will get reposted multiple times before the holidays.
Just look for the "buttload" of seriously frustrated/.'ers
Sure, we all bash Microsoft for various reasons - and most of the time for good reason. There are so many examples of the big M wanting a new feature or service - and just buying out a third party that's doing it. Look at Defender, purchased last year and integrated into Windows. Or even worse, taking an opensource idea and "Microsofting" it so that it's just beyond open standards to work with anything but their own stuff - LDAP to Active Directory.
For most who haven't seen Office 07 - I also couldn't understand what MORE they could put into Office. Office is the epitome of bloat ware and user unfriendly interfaces. They've been piling features upon features, and giving each one a menu, sub-menu, and pop-up window to use them.
But I've been following the Office '07 development for sometime, even subscribing to the development newsletter and reading up on it. They've truly impressed me with the amount of actual work they've been doing on the user interface and features. I decided to beta test it after it's 2nd RC version came out - and I'm actually very impressed at the end results of throwing dump trucks of Microsoft cash at making Office 07 better and different.
I think in this case, I'd have to say yes - they've been innovative.
Actually, I'm gonna go further. I would, if I were a gambling man, bet that there is at least one exec in the MPAA/right now/ shouting at the screen in his little office, "Damn it they stole my idea! They're hacking my computer!":P
No no, you got the quote all wrong.
"Damn it, they stole my idea. They put my idea on the internets and clogged up all the tubes... you see, because the internets are made of a series of..."
For me, though it I'd want to play the original Super Mario Bros for the NES. First game and first console I owned.
Ditto. And I'd have my wife wrap it and put it and the NES console (in original box) under the tree so I can scamper down the stairs all bleery eyed and shred it like I was 7 again... ah, good times.
But I don't think they make footie pajamas for folks my size... and if they do, well... that's just creepy.
But for the original poster - man get a Wii and play for the next decade, don't give up.
In the end you're still enforcing laws on unlicensed frequencies... these were never licensed so that the average dumbass could have a high powered cordless phone, and not sue his neighbor for turning on his microwave.
Now we have highspeed wireless access points that, by default, broadcast their location - because manufactures want to make it as easy as possible for an idiot to set it up without instructions they'll never read and call tech support.
And now the government thinks these people need protection...
WRONG.
We need protection against these people. People like me who are sick of spam zombies and spyware ladended PC's clogging the tubes of my beloved internet. It should be against the law to broadcast a residential internet connection because THAT is against the ISP's terms of use.
This would be much different if the shmuck who got arrested drilled a hole in his neighbor's wall and ran cat5 through it. Com'on...
How do you revoke someone's fingerprint? Issue them a new one in case of identity fraud? Token + PW is the best way: something you have and something you know, proves that you are you.
Tried and true. I was skeptical of the SecurID fob I was given at my current job... but now I see how secure it is and yet still allows me to have the access I need without jumping through a bunch of crap to get there.
Same door, new key every 30 seconds. Combined with a private pin number, and on some systems a local account (if security is extra tight) - you're really sitting nicely behind a secure system without losing any access.
Every gun owner has killed people... Every teenager is a pot smoking crack addict... Every gamer is planing to shoot up his school... Every driver speeds... Every/. poster never reads the f'in article. Every thing I've written is true.
Zune is crap, Microsoft's handling of this music deal is crap, and the RIAA is crap.
Sure, Apple may be making a full screen ipod. And there are a lot of tactile features it'll be lacking - or will it?
Lets look at the device for what it is - a video player. A larger screen attached to a hard drive and battery. Designed for playing movies on a larger screen that your standard ipod.
Apple will still have iPods designed for "pocket use". They aren't going to slap a full screen on a nano or shuffle. That would be silly. Apple will continue to increase the storage of these devices to make the next iPod worthy of buying.
Now, lets say you get an iPod video and just 'have' to have a clickwheel. I can agree - having it in a pocket or a screen protecting case would make it difficult to change songs or volume.
Why couldn't this be on a corded or cordless remote? The aftermarket is already in bed with iPods - this wouldn't be a difficult device to market if Apple doesn't beat them too it.
And if nobody thought it up, well - nevermind, there's nothing to see here. (running to the patent office)
Uhg... Microsoft's implementation of RSS feeds sucks so bad.
I enjoy FireFox's live bookmarks because it gives me a quick and screen friendly way of scanning stories on sites like BBC,/., Wired, Woot, and all the other places I just don't have time to visit.
Microsoft's Answer: display as a normal website with prettier formatting - and advertisements.
One saving grace for IE 7's implemenation of RSS feeds - it syncs them with Outlook 2007, where I can scan them easily as if they were email messages.
The vchip implementation has been shatty at best on every TV I've seen.
Having to dig through OSD menus at night after my kid goes to bed, just so I can watch a TVMA show. Then having to remember to dig back through the same damn menus to reactivate the lock.
And using a 4 digit code - wee... a dedicated unsupervised child could break it in a half hour of sequential tries.
That's why I supervise my children and leave the Vchip off. P arenting.. meh, it's not that hard - you just have to do it.
Slashdot Mirror
I was musing about setting the default home page of our corporate users' browser to about:blank, just so that MSN wasn't getting every launch of IE from our internal workstations.
Then I thought - the flood of L-user calls to the help desk complaining that the network was down... just wasn't worth it.
Energy Star Appliances...
CF Replacement Bulbs
Gas Dryer
Those three things will annihilate your electric bill.
Examples:
We recently replaced our twenty year old 15 cf* fridge with a 20cf energy start. Power usage went from 1500kwh/year to 425kwh/year. And the old fridge had new seals, was kept away from the stove, vents, and all that. Insane how much we've saved. Sure, it costs $450 plus delivery - but as long as you don't put it on a butt-raping credit card, your fridge will pay for itself in less than five years.
Same goes with electric appliances that heat or dry things. electricity is ten times less efficient than natural gas. So do everything you can to convert your dryer and stove to some form of gas. It'll pay for itself very quickly.
*cubic foot, I'm a lazy American who will not provide metric conversions. Sorry. Not really.
That's an unfortunate accident, and a great fix. If that should happen in the future when your laptop is out of warranty, those keyboards will be expensive. But I can understand not stocking every individual key and spring... that would make inventory even more of a nightmare.
I second the opinion that IBM/Lenovo treats in warranty and out of warranty users very well. Sure they'll sell you every part for your expired laptop, but in warranty treatment is equally good for those first few years of new laptop goodness.
I was beginning to wonder if Barbie was just a heroine addict and came with a bunch of tourniquets.
You're a doctor but have already forgotten that residency means being on call 24/7 for several years straight. Would you have been so quick to advocate something that shut down the pagers that residents used to carry before cell phones were ubiquitous?
Every pager I've ever seen comes with a setting called vibrate. People who are too lazy, stupid, selfish to change the setting on their communication devices are simply living up to the labels we give them.
editors: you should have waited 25 days, and accepted the story at about... oh 11:00 am on december 25th
/.'ers
then you would have gotten a buttload of seriously frustrated, angry, and demented comments in the affirmative
You must be new here... this story will get reposted multiple times before the holidays.
Just look for the "buttload" of seriously frustrated
Sure, we all bash Microsoft for various reasons - and most of the time for good reason. There are so many examples of the big M wanting a new feature or service - and just buying out a third party that's doing it. Look at Defender, purchased last year and integrated into Windows. Or even worse, taking an opensource idea and "Microsofting" it so that it's just beyond open standards to work with anything but their own stuff - LDAP to Active Directory.
For most who haven't seen Office 07 - I also couldn't understand what MORE they could put into Office. Office is the epitome of bloat ware and user unfriendly interfaces. They've been piling features upon features, and giving each one a menu, sub-menu, and pop-up window to use them.
But I've been following the Office '07 development for sometime, even subscribing to the development newsletter and reading up on it. They've truly impressed me with the amount of actual work they've been doing on the user interface and features. I decided to beta test it after it's 2nd RC version came out - and I'm actually very impressed at the end results of throwing dump trucks of Microsoft cash at making Office 07 better and different.
I think in this case, I'd have to say yes - they've been innovative.
These are the same judges who probably send internets to their staff and complain because the tubes are all cloged.
You see, it's not like a truck...
Actually, I'm gonna go further. I would, if I were a gambling man, bet that there is at least one exec in the MPAA /right now/ shouting at the screen in his little office, "Damn it they stole my idea! They're hacking my computer!" :P
:)
No no, you got the quote all wrong.
"Damn it, they stole my idea. They put my idea on the internets and clogged up all the tubes... you see, because the internets are made of a series of..."
Well... you know the rest of it.
Your username is spot on... ;)
For me, though it I'd want to play the original Super Mario Bros for the NES. First game and first console I owned.
Ditto. And I'd have my wife wrap it and put it and the NES console (in original box) under the tree so I can scamper down the stairs all bleery eyed and shred it like I was 7 again... ah, good times.
But I don't think they make footie pajamas for folks my size... and if they do, well... that's just creepy.
But for the original poster - man get a Wii and play for the next decade, don't give up.
If I had points, you'd have earned one there.
Someone forgot to pay the patent office...
And every single magnetic based media for ten miles was instantly erased.
A faint "bwa ha ha ha... vhs tapes and floppy disks suck!" was heard from from the evil scientists' lair.
The moral of my story: if you're not a financial genius, marry someone who is :-)
/.
No truer words have been spoken on
In the end you're still enforcing laws on unlicensed frequencies... these were never licensed so that the average dumbass could have a high powered cordless phone, and not sue his neighbor for turning on his microwave.
Now we have highspeed wireless access points that, by default, broadcast their location - because manufactures want to make it as easy as possible for an idiot to set it up without instructions they'll never read and call tech support.
And now the government thinks these people need protection...
WRONG.
We need protection against these people. People like me who are sick of spam zombies and spyware ladended PC's clogging the tubes of my beloved internet. It should be against the law to broadcast a residential internet connection because THAT is against the ISP's terms of use.
This would be much different if the shmuck who got arrested drilled a hole in his neighbor's wall and ran cat5 through it. Com'on...
Sigh... rant off.
How do you revoke someone's fingerprint? Issue them a new one in case of identity fraud? Token + PW is the best way: something you have and something you know, proves that you are you.
Tried and true. I was skeptical of the SecurID fob I was given at my current job... but now I see how secure it is and yet still allows me to have the access I need without jumping through a bunch of crap to get there.
Same door, new key every 30 seconds. Combined with a private pin number, and on some systems a local account (if security is extra tight) - you're really sitting nicely behind a secure system without losing any access.
So along that same topic:
/. poster never reads the f'in article.
Every gun owner has killed people...
Every teenager is a pot smoking crack addict...
Every gamer is planing to shoot up his school...
Every driver speeds...
Every
Every thing I've written is true.
Zune is crap, Microsoft's handling of this music deal is crap, and the RIAA is crap.
It's a craptastic day!
Sure, go right ahead and don't install AntiVirus or any protection what so ever. As long as the machine stays off the 'net, you should be mostly safe.
One chick in a leather skirt would skid to a halt and plug up the whole works.
Mass casualties in the drop tube.
Next!
So, with the masses doing your leg work... who needs to pay a smart reporter with contacts and experience?
And to think, they want to SELL subscriptions to Crowdsourcing publications? Yeah, right...
"A Chinese government official at a United Nations summit in Athens on internet governance has claimed that no Net censorship exists at all in China.
If truth was that easy.
I'm a millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht.
Sure, Apple may be making a full screen ipod. And there are a lot of tactile features it'll be lacking - or will it?
Lets look at the device for what it is - a video player. A larger screen attached to a hard drive and battery. Designed for playing movies on a larger screen that your standard ipod.
Apple will still have iPods designed for "pocket use". They aren't going to slap a full screen on a nano or shuffle. That would be silly. Apple will continue to increase the storage of these devices to make the next iPod worthy of buying.
Now, lets say you get an iPod video and just 'have' to have a clickwheel. I can agree - having it in a pocket or a screen protecting case would make it difficult to change songs or volume.
Why couldn't this be on a corded or cordless remote? The aftermarket is already in bed with iPods - this wouldn't be a difficult device to market if Apple doesn't beat them too it.
And if nobody thought it up, well - nevermind, there's nothing to see here. (running to the patent office)
Uhg... Microsoft's implementation of RSS feeds sucks so bad.
/., Wired, Woot, and all the other places I just don't have time to visit.
I enjoy FireFox's live bookmarks because it gives me a quick and screen friendly way of scanning stories on sites like BBC,
Microsoft's Answer: display as a normal website with prettier formatting - and advertisements.
One saving grace for IE 7's implemenation of RSS feeds - it syncs them with Outlook 2007, where I can scan them easily as if they were email messages.
My verdict? Firefox still wins this match.
The vchip implementation has been shatty at best on every TV I've seen.
Having to dig through OSD menus at night after my kid goes to bed, just so I can watch a TVMA show. Then having to remember to dig back through the same damn menus to reactivate the lock.
And using a 4 digit code - wee... a dedicated unsupervised child could break it in a half hour of sequential tries.
That's why I supervise my children and leave the Vchip off. P
arenting.. meh, it's not that hard - you just have to do it.