Not according to the movies, unless you think Han Solo was secretly a jedi. Remember in Empire when he cut open the tauntaun?
According to the books, some jedi built their lightsabers with a force-activated switch, but it obviously isn't the case for all of them.
I was reading the article with the free version of Opera. I looked up in the top-right corner and noticed that the Google text ads were suggesting two places I could buy towels.
If you've never been there, the Kansas Cosmosphere is an answer to anyone asking "Why the hell would I want to go to Kansas?" While it's not as big as the Air and Space Museum in DC, it has the largest collection of space artifacts in existance. You want to see Oddessey, the Apollo 13 command module? The gloves Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin wore on the moon? I was just there (again) this weekend and, had I not had my wife and daughter along, would have easily spent another 2 hours just walking through the museum. (by the way, the artifacts I mentioned are still there)
They also have a planetarium and IMAX theater, but the museum is the real draw for me. It's a walkthrough the history of space exploration, from the early experiments of Goddard and Von Braun, to the German WW2 missle programs, the cold-war era space race, up through the Shuttle, ISS, and Space Ship One.
The on-site restoration and replication studio does amazing work. They produced most of the props for the Apollo 13 movie. They later restored the Apollo 13 command module and the "Liberty Bell" Mercury module (which had sat on the ocean floor for decades) They received a retired SR-71 plane, and added on to the building to display it in the lobby.
If you're anywhere near Hutchinson, Kansas, it's well worth driving out of your way to see.
In my my experience, space savings rarely has anything to do with it. People see somebody else with one and they want one for themselves. I refer to it as "monitor envy".
I work in the IT dept for a bank with about 170 employees. About 4 years ago, we moved all the tellers from small dedicated teller machines to a PC based system. Space was a very real concern, especially at the small branches. We got each teller a 15" IBM LCD monitor, about $900 apiece at the time.
Within a month, over 20 other employees were begging for LCD monitors. This was back when picture quality was very inferior to CRT, even at native resolution. (And try working on a 15" monitor at 1024x768. Most people here used 800x600, which really looked bad.)
People would suddenly complain that they needed more space on their desks. We did get a few more LCDs for a few select people that probably could have used more desk space. I would set up the monitor, pushing it to the back of their desk. They would move it forward so the screen was where it had been with the CRT, and leave a foot of empty space behind.
People wanted LCDs because they were slim and sexy. They wanted the latest and greatest. I'm sure other corporate IT people have seen this too.
Now, all the new monitors we buy are LCDs. But we're buying them to replace old monitors that are starting to blink out, or are going fuzzy. We aren't on any project to get rid of the CRT monitors.
Now what sucks about Netware? Lack of developers. Every time I sit in a meeting, some asshole wants me to add yet another W2K3/SQL box for their product. Given Netware's market share I can't blame them. No-one is ever going to write another NLM.
Very true. I work at a small midwestern bank. (5 branches, all in one city, 175 users and 3 IT people, one of which is part-time) We have 4 Netware servers - Main file server, offsite mirror of file server, Groupwise mail server, and the server running our backup software.
We still consider ourselves a Netware shop, even though we have (just guessing) 2.5-3 times as many Windows boxes in our server room. Every time a software package we use undergoes a major upgrade, we end up adding at least 1 Windows server. As an example:
Old version: Harland Platform - DOS based program - stored the files on the file server and ran it from the network
New version: Harland Financial Center - Web based program (requires IE) Added dedicated web server (required IIS), dedicated database server (MSSQL), and two "application" servers (Both Windows also, company recommends 1 application server for every 7-10 Financial Center users)
In other words, 4 new Windows boxes in our rack, and this is just one example that has played out several times.
We will be changing our backup server to Windows because Veritas seems to view Backup Exec for Netware as the "red-headed stepchild" of the company. (No offense to actual red-headed stepchildren) We will also be adding annother Windows box because Symantec takes the same view of the Netware version of the corporate antivirus software.
With the move to Linux, they should have access to a much better array of 3rd-party software, and developers will be more likely to write software that can run on a Netware system.
I tried litestep, (and geoshell,) but I have stuck with bblean ever since I've tried it. Litestep was too much of a pain to customize, and geoshell was too unstable.
http://bb4win.sourceforge.net/bblean/
Let me rephrase that. Does anybody know where I could find a standard layout keyboard with a touchpoint?
(smartass)
(Ok, I admit I probably would have done the same thing. And for those who think I'm being lazy, I looked through 6 pages of google results before asking.)
Does anybody make a (standard layout) desktop keyboard with one? We did buy a keyboard that had a touchpoint, but it was basicly an IBM laptop keyboard, meaning slightly weird layout and no Windows key. Scoff at the windows key, but it is the easiest way to get to Explorer, Run, and System Properties.
Interesting this is mentioned. Currently, it is legal to distribute sample of any recording, as long as it is less than 10% of the total work, or 30 seconds, whichever is shorter. This is part of fair use. I'm sure at the time, the RIAA figured, "What good is 30 seconds?"
Now that ringtones have become popular, and that 30 second clip is useful, (for announcing your incoming call and annoying everyone around you), look for an attempt to change the law.
I guess the parent is partly right -- if the ringtone was created on it's own, solely as a ringtone, than it's probably not legal to distribute. However, if the ringtone is a clip from a previously-existing song, and shorter than 30 seconds/10% of the full song, it is legal under current law.
Back in college, I had a gas mask I had picked up at an army surplus store. You have no idea how much fun you can have walking around in public wearing a gas mask. I think the best was when I walked up to the Information desk at a book store and asked if they had any books on paranoia.
I've seen a lot of people raving about the Thinkpads, (which are excellent machines,) but I've found that quality extend to just about anything they make. The bank I work for buys all IBM equipment, and we've had very good experiences. Desktop machines have been very solid and monitors have been incredible. When I first started at my current job, (about 5 years ago,) we had mostly CTX monitors. Total garbage - at any given time we'd have at least 2 in for repair. Out of about 100 monitors (at the time,) I'd say I had sent in at least 1/3 of them for failing within the 3 year warranty period.
I'd imagine this is worse than average, which is why we started buying IBM monitors after I'd been there a couple of months. In the 4.5 years we've been using IBM monitors, I've had 2 go bad. Total.
Which brings me to IBM's biggest strength, service. Anytime I have to call IBM for support, I speak to a real, living person in less than 2 minutes. I tell them the model number, serial number, and, for desktops, what part is bad.
And I have a replacement part the next day. They always say 3-5 business days, but it's almost always the next day. The monitors that I've had go bad, they just send a refurbed monitor, I box up the old one, and send it back. No boxing up my parts, sending them in, and waiting weeks to get them back.
I suppose I sound like an IBM fanboy, but only because of my experience. For a corporate environment, I've never recommended anyone else. I'd be extremely sad to see them getting out of the market. IBM makes great products, but I suppose people mostly buy on price. (except those nutty Apple users)
I would love to see somebody slap some criminal charges against the site owner. Hiding behind an obfuscated EULA is bad enough, but installing software without any permission whatsoever has to be illegal, doesn't it?
Does anyone else find this ironic considering his sig?
Any chance of seeing annother X-Wing series game? Preferably one that doesn't suck?
TIE Fighter was the first PC game that really pulled me in. I'd have no idea how much time I've spent flying in the Imperial Navy. The real high points were in college when I'd take it into a deserted classroom, plug in my joystick, and play it using the video projector sitting as close to the screen as I possible without blocking the projection.
X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter was pretty bad. Really had a "Let's see how we can cram in multi-player" feel to it. Followed by a, "Single-player? Who is going to do that?" feel.
X-Wing Alliance was a bit better, but I get the feeling that many times the designers were thinking, "This mission seems a bit light, not enough to it. I know! Six more waves of enemy fighters! That should do it."
Rogue Squadron was pretty good, but definitely a lightweight game. No power management, no limit on blaster ammo, no sim elements at all. Of course, it was originally a console game, so that's to be expected. I haven't played Jedi Starfighter, but I'm guessing it's more like Rogue Squadron than X-Wing.
I'd love to see a decent game in the X-Wing series made. Done right, it would be really good. (Last time I looked, TIE Fighter was still in PCGamer's top 5 all-time greatest.) They could even pull the storyline from the X-Wing book series, which was inspired by the original game. (Some of the only really good Star Wars novels, IMO)
Security concerns aside - I don't want to be listening to music and start picking up the signals from next door.
There is nothing wierder than playing Half-Life with wireless headphones and vaguely hearing one side of a phone call from somewhere else in the apartment building. (This has happened to me twice, and no, I didn't hear anything worthy of blackmail)
I've gotta plug IBM too. The bank where I work IT is an all-IBM shop. I call IBM -- I talk to a real live person in less than 2 minutes (counting the "Press 1 for hardware support")
Then, that real live person assumes I'm not an idiot! I tell them "The hard drive is dead. It made unhealthy-sounding noises and now it doesn't show up in BIOS." They say "Okay, we'll send you a replacement hard drive. It should be there in 2-5 business days."
Then, the part shows up the next day. I have literally called at 3:30 PM and had the part arrive the next day. I switch the parts, box up the old one, and send it back. I've got nothing but good things to say about IBM.
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Not according to the movies, unless you think Han Solo was secretly a jedi. Remember in Empire when he cut open the tauntaun? According to the books, some jedi built their lightsabers with a force-activated switch, but it obviously isn't the case for all of them.
I was reading the article with the free version of Opera. I looked up in the top-right corner and noticed that the Google text ads were suggesting two places I could buy towels.
They also have a planetarium and IMAX theater, but the museum is the real draw for me. It's a walkthrough the history of space exploration, from the early experiments of Goddard and Von Braun, to the German WW2 missle programs, the cold-war era space race, up through the Shuttle, ISS, and Space Ship One.
The on-site restoration and replication studio does amazing work. They produced most of the props for the Apollo 13 movie. They later restored the Apollo 13 command module and the "Liberty Bell" Mercury module (which had sat on the ocean floor for decades) They received a retired SR-71 plane, and added on to the building to display it in the lobby.
If you're anywhere near Hutchinson, Kansas, it's well worth driving out of your way to see.
No, usually just for style.
In my my experience, space savings rarely has anything to do with it. People see somebody else with one and they want one for themselves. I refer to it as "monitor envy".
I work in the IT dept for a bank with about 170 employees. About 4 years ago, we moved all the tellers from small dedicated teller machines to a PC based system. Space was a very real concern, especially at the small branches. We got each teller a 15" IBM LCD monitor, about $900 apiece at the time. Within a month, over 20 other employees were begging for LCD monitors. This was back when picture quality was very inferior to CRT, even at native resolution. (And try working on a 15" monitor at 1024x768. Most people here used 800x600, which really looked bad.)
People would suddenly complain that they needed more space on their desks. We did get a few more LCDs for a few select people that probably could have used more desk space. I would set up the monitor, pushing it to the back of their desk. They would move it forward so the screen was where it had been with the CRT, and leave a foot of empty space behind.
People wanted LCDs because they were slim and sexy. They wanted the latest and greatest. I'm sure other corporate IT people have seen this too.
Now, all the new monitors we buy are LCDs. But we're buying them to replace old monitors that are starting to blink out, or are going fuzzy. We aren't on any project to get rid of the CRT monitors.
Very true. I work at a small midwestern bank. (5 branches, all in one city, 175 users and 3 IT people, one of which is part-time) We have 4 Netware servers - Main file server, offsite mirror of file server, Groupwise mail server, and the server running our backup software.
We still consider ourselves a Netware shop, even though we have (just guessing) 2.5-3 times as many Windows boxes in our server room. Every time a software package we use undergoes a major upgrade, we end up adding at least 1 Windows server. As an example:
Old version: Harland Platform - DOS based program - stored the files on the file server and ran it from the network
New version: Harland Financial Center - Web based program (requires IE) Added dedicated web server (required IIS), dedicated database server (MSSQL), and two "application" servers (Both Windows also, company recommends 1 application server for every 7-10 Financial Center users)
In other words, 4 new Windows boxes in our rack, and this is just one example that has played out several times.
We will be changing our backup server to Windows because Veritas seems to view Backup Exec for Netware as the "red-headed stepchild" of the company. (No offense to actual red-headed stepchildren) We will also be adding annother Windows box because Symantec takes the same view of the Netware version of the corporate antivirus software.
With the move to Linux, they should have access to a much better array of 3rd-party software, and developers will be more likely to write software that can run on a Netware system.
Why would the iPhone have a slide-out keypad? Wouldn't they just make you rotary-dial?
I tried litestep, (and geoshell,) but I have stuck with bblean ever since I've tried it. Litestep was too much of a pain to customize, and geoshell was too unstable. http://bb4win.sourceforge.net/bblean/
(smartass)
(Ok, I admit I probably would have done the same thing. And for those who think I'm being lazy, I looked through 6 pages of google results before asking.)
Does anybody make a (standard layout) desktop keyboard with one? We did buy a keyboard that had a touchpoint, but it was basicly an IBM laptop keyboard, meaning slightly weird layout and no Windows key. Scoff at the windows key, but it is the easiest way to get to Explorer, Run, and System Properties.
I did that to a friend in high school. I set up AutoCorrect (WordPerfect) to correct his name to "Monkey Boy".
MPAA Agent: "What the hell? Looks like most of this traffic came from our network!"
Does this sound dirty to anyone else?
Now that ringtones have become popular, and that 30 second clip is useful, (for announcing your incoming call and annoying everyone around you), look for an attempt to change the law.
I guess the parent is partly right -- if the ringtone was created on it's own, solely as a ringtone, than it's probably not legal to distribute. However, if the ringtone is a clip from a previously-existing song, and shorter than 30 seconds/10% of the full song, it is legal under current law.
Link to related slashdot story: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/05/23/143420 0
(note that people who use pop music for their ringtones should be beaten with the offending phone)
Back in college, I had a gas mask I had picked up at an army surplus store. You have no idea how much fun you can have walking around in public wearing a gas mask. I think the best was when I walked up to the Information desk at a book store and asked if they had any books on paranoia.
I'd imagine this is worse than average, which is why we started buying IBM monitors after I'd been there a couple of months. In the 4.5 years we've been using IBM monitors, I've had 2 go bad. Total.
Which brings me to IBM's biggest strength, service. Anytime I have to call IBM for support, I speak to a real, living person in less than 2 minutes. I tell them the model number, serial number, and, for desktops, what part is bad.
And I have a replacement part the next day. They always say 3-5 business days, but it's almost always the next day. The monitors that I've had go bad, they just send a refurbed monitor, I box up the old one, and send it back. No boxing up my parts, sending them in, and waiting weeks to get them back.
I suppose I sound like an IBM fanboy, but only because of my experience. For a corporate environment, I've never recommended anyone else. I'd be extremely sad to see them getting out of the market. IBM makes great products, but I suppose people mostly buy on price. (except those nutty Apple users)
Does anyone else find this ironic considering his sig?
TIE Fighter was the first PC game that really pulled me in. I'd have no idea how much time I've spent flying in the Imperial Navy. The real high points were in college when I'd take it into a deserted classroom, plug in my joystick, and play it using the video projector sitting as close to the screen as I possible without blocking the projection.
X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter was pretty bad. Really had a "Let's see how we can cram in multi-player" feel to it. Followed by a, "Single-player? Who is going to do that?" feel.
X-Wing Alliance was a bit better, but I get the feeling that many times the designers were thinking, "This mission seems a bit light, not enough to it. I know! Six more waves of enemy fighters! That should do it."
Rogue Squadron was pretty good, but definitely a lightweight game. No power management, no limit on blaster ammo, no sim elements at all. Of course, it was originally a console game, so that's to be expected. I haven't played Jedi Starfighter, but I'm guessing it's more like Rogue Squadron than X-Wing.
I'd love to see a decent game in the X-Wing series made. Done right, it would be really good. (Last time I looked, TIE Fighter was still in PCGamer's top 5 all-time greatest.) They could even pull the storyline from the X-Wing book series, which was inspired by the original game. (Some of the only really good Star Wars novels, IMO)
There is nothing wierder than playing Half-Life with wireless headphones and vaguely hearing one side of a phone call from somewhere else in the apartment building. (This has happened to me twice, and no, I didn't hear anything worthy of blackmail)
What, nobody else had compiled their own copy from the leaked source code?
Since you mention Volition, Descent, and damned snowballs, I'm still looking for Freespace 3
I'd have to submit "Fight Club" as another exception. I thought the voiceover really added a lot.
Then, that real live person assumes I'm not an idiot! I tell them "The hard drive is dead. It made unhealthy-sounding noises and now it doesn't show up in BIOS." They say "Okay, we'll send you a replacement hard drive. It should be there in 2-5 business days."
Then, the part shows up the next day. I have literally called at 3:30 PM and had the part arrive the next day. I switch the parts, box up the old one, and send it back. I've got nothing but good things to say about IBM.