Well, I suppose there is the Dolphin when i was in 8th grade the library at the school had one that they had me set up and configure. It seemed to run a full blown copy of DOS, and would dump you at a C:\> prompt until you set the thing up properly. In any event they would scan quite a bit of the library before returning it to the sync thingy. My thought though is this thing is probably expensive.
Honestly I would not feel safe driving a car that has more control over itself then I do, as it is I feel that the computers in cars do far more then they should. Talk to any mechanic and they will tell you how much new cars suck. Here is a small example: Lets say one sensor in new car is not reporting correctly, this one event will cause the computer(ECU) to adjust things that in reality dont need to be adjusted, causing further problems, now other sensors are (validly this time) reporting problems. The spiral effect kicks in here and you can imagine the problems this would cause, all due to a sensor misreporting something.
Lets take a real life example shall we? I own a 1995 GMC Sierra pickup truck, it has 190,000miles on it and i have never replaced anything on the engine except the alternator at 185,000mi. (Note: this is excluding general maintaince things obviously). The truck does have a pretty basic ECU, in fact so basic it cannot even be soft programmed to change performance settings. The truck runs awesome, in the winter it gets down to around -20F(-29C) in this area, the truck runs fine even then (though the heat doesnt have much effect).
Now my dad on the other hand, he has a 2004 Gmc Sierra pickup truck, with the same options as my truck (yes he even custom ordered it with roll down windows + non power locks). The ECU in his truck is rediculously complex, controlling everything from headlights to complex engine tuning settings. Last winter on one of those days where it was -20F he went to leave for work and it informed him 'CHECK BRAKE BOOSTER MOTOR' and would stall when he stepped on the brakes. The cause? the sensor was too cold and wasnt reporting the correct data. In addition, dad has this thing about buying a certain brand of battery (dont ask) so he charged the battery and swapped them. guess what? couldnt drive the truck more then 10mph without it stalling... somehow managed to get it to the dealer (first time we have ever brought a vehicle to a dealer for _ANY_ sort of work) and they basically said 'you disconnected the battery, it reset the computer and we had to reprogram it'.
Honestly i would never want a vehicle that i couldnt work on, Whats more is i do not trust a computer to have more control over my vehicle then i do.
I got a 95 GMC Sierra... 1st engine... 1st alternator (!) 1st everything except the exhaust manifold and the water pump. 188,000 miles. It was used as a work truck before my dad gave it to me:). The computer in it is very simple... so simple that you cant even tune the engine with it, you can only read sensors with it. It runs perfectly
Already exists -- to some extent... http://www.aolcheckout.com/aol-pc/aol_02.asp
"Of course, the AOL Systemax PC runs on the award-winning Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition operating system for incomparable performance and stability."
I guess its not AOL OS but from the screen shots ive seen they did some work with the UI... prolly added spyware or something heh.
Sun's OS has had the ability to do this for a very long time as well. CDE (the window manager that was used in the -OLD- sun machines) allowed for 4 virtual desktops if i remember right. My sun sparcstation is probably 10 or 11 years old...
Well, I suppose there is the Dolphin when i was in 8th grade the library at the school had one that they had me set up and configure. It seemed to run a full blown copy of DOS, and would dump you at a C:\> prompt until you set the thing up properly. In any event they would scan quite a bit of the library before returning it to the sync thingy. My thought though is this thing is probably expensive.
Honestly I would not feel safe driving a car that has more control over itself then I do, as it is I feel that the computers in cars do far more then they should. Talk to any mechanic and they will tell you how much new cars suck. Here is a small example: Lets say one sensor in new car is not reporting correctly, this one event will cause the computer(ECU) to adjust things that in reality dont need to be adjusted, causing further problems, now other sensors are (validly this time) reporting problems. The spiral effect kicks in here and you can imagine the problems this would cause, all due to a sensor misreporting something.
Lets take a real life example shall we?
I own a 1995 GMC Sierra pickup truck, it has 190,000miles on it and i have never replaced anything on the engine except the alternator at 185,000mi. (Note: this is excluding general maintaince things obviously). The truck does have a pretty basic ECU, in fact so basic it cannot even be soft programmed to change performance settings. The truck runs awesome, in the winter it gets down to around -20F(-29C) in this area, the truck runs fine even then (though the heat doesnt have much effect).
Now my dad on the other hand, he has a 2004 Gmc Sierra pickup truck, with the same options as my truck (yes he even custom ordered it with roll down windows + non power locks). The ECU in his truck is rediculously complex, controlling everything from headlights to complex engine tuning settings. Last winter on one of those days where it was -20F he went to leave for work and it informed him 'CHECK BRAKE BOOSTER MOTOR' and would stall when he stepped on the brakes. The cause? the sensor was too cold and wasnt reporting the correct data. In addition, dad has this thing about buying a certain brand of battery (dont ask) so he charged the battery and swapped them. guess what? couldnt drive the truck more then 10mph without it stalling... somehow managed to get it to the dealer (first time we have ever brought a vehicle to a dealer for _ANY_ sort of work) and they basically said 'you disconnected the battery, it reset the computer and we had to reprogram it'.
Honestly i would never want a vehicle that i couldnt work on, Whats more is i do not trust a computer to have more control over my vehicle then i do.
Just my $0.02
I got a 95 GMC Sierra ... 1st engine ... 1st alternator (!) 1st everything except the exhaust manifold and the water pump. 188,000 miles. It was used as a work truck before my dad gave it to me :). The computer in it is very simple ... so simple that you cant even tune the engine with it, you can only read sensors with it. It runs perfectly
The point being its not a zip file to begin with. its simply disguised as one.
Nope ... its showing a bum certificate for me too ... both in firefox and on my friend's comp with IE6.
Already exists -- to some extent... http://www.aolcheckout.com/aol-pc/aol_02.asp "Of course, the AOL Systemax PC runs on the award-winning Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition operating system for incomparable performance and stability." I guess its not AOL OS but from the screen shots ive seen they did some work with the UI ... prolly added spyware or something heh.
Sun's OS has had the ability to do this for a very long time as well. CDE (the window manager that was used in the -OLD- sun machines) allowed for 4 virtual desktops if i remember right. My sun sparcstation is probably 10 or 11 years old...
But the real question is... how many fps can the baby get, and can it be overclocked?