yea, probably cheaper in the short term, but add in the Windoze upgrade that'll probably be mandatory, add in the tech support (because you know how often pc users need tech support), add in a full-time admin because you know the librarian that's the pseudo-sysadmin will have no clue how to run a PC LAN, and then all those savings are for nil.
a mac lab is the easiest thing in the world to run. It takes minutes to get all the software installed, a few more minutes to cut people off from restricted areas of the hard drive, or you can even setup software such as Assimilator to make sure that nobody is adding unwanted software and to reverfiy the contents of the drive. Yes, a cheapy Dell will save you $200 to start, but then what's the machine worth in 30 days? about half of what you purchased it for whereas a mac lasts a few years.
why would you want to violate the memory of a person you loved by trying to replicate their personality with a cheap piece of software?
There are some limits to what technology can do, and one of those is trying to take an emotionally charged memory and put it into a cold emotionless computer with a monotone Fred voice and have it say the things someone you loved used to say.
Sometimes you just have to ask why people can't leave well enough alone and stop making software that sucks (unlike bbedit).
How do you feel about the competition among publishers relating to tech books (ie Computing for Dummies) and will their choices to distribute via e-books format influence your discision to go this route? Is there a level of competition among these authors/publishing co's?
Also, being into the cutting edge of technology and publishing, what are some books you've read non programming related that you've enjoyed?
rather than worry about whether or not Intel supports firewire and if in choosing not to support it, why not question whether or not AMD will support firewire?
Lately, Intel has been doing a couple of stupid things, and the company that has been the quickest to take advantage of those things has been AMD, especially with their new Athlon systems. I think that if AMD chooses to support Firewire in their next systems, as well as IBM supporting the technology, and maybe if Apple decides to stop being morons about it, this technology will prosper and make intel look like morons for choosing not to support it.
The only thing that Intel is doing by not supporting Firewire is limiting their machines and limiting the users that purchase them.
I have rats the size of small dogs living outside my apartment. now they want to give these rodents more brainpower? yippee. so when they escape just like the shark did in that movie that's out right now, I'll have huge smart rats running around INSIDE my apartment eating everything in site (maybe even my leg).
this is just another case of life mimmicking movies mimmicking life (sorry, stole that from Scream II, see what I mean?)
and how the hell can you really tell if a mouse got smarter? is it spouting einsteinian algorithms and theorums or just finding the cheese a little bit faster?
what if there's a problem with a heat sync or CPU fan and the thing heats up... then you have the inside of your furniture on fire or melting... imagine the stench... melting rubber, plastic, cotton, and poly-resin fibers. yummy (and probably toxic).
yea, computer furniture, brilliant idea from the intel department...next we'll have edible monitors.
actually, I do wonder about the value of this applied to degenerative diseases and neurological diseases like Multiple Sclerosis . if you find a circuit, fuse, or random wire to be on the fritz, could you just pop in and rewire it?
could there be a use, along with tracking the problem, to using artificial means to fix the problems?
what's wrong with making analogies between computers and the human brain? Neural networks, protocols, interface designer, etc are all designed based on comparrisons to the human brain. I agree that I don't want my kids' brains running the latest version of windoze (maybe they'll be better behaved and when they crash I can get some rest)...
if you study AI, you'll realize that all of that isn't based on hacking code, but on studying the brain and trying to mimick the way it processes info. so if we're to make advances in this field, get ready for much scarier stuff than just allusions to brains and computers.
Oh, I respect them, but they should also be punished. sorry I didn't make that clear. but then again, I'd rather be warned about a security flaw by something harmless than have it bite me in the ass on something important.
another case to make hackers look like the bad guys. I can respect people that hack sites to point out security problems and make a political stance, but hacking a site just to poster inappropriate messages on the splash page and so you can brag to your little prepubescent friends is just enough.
while the hack/non-hack of hotmail the other day was a welcome and necessary hack (I only use hotmail with PGP), this little turd who just wants the attention his parents didn't give him isn't worth the electrons that are flying at my eyes as I read what I'm posting.
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yea, probably cheaper in the short term, but add in the Windoze upgrade that'll probably be mandatory, add in the tech support (because you know how often pc users need tech support), add in a full-time admin because you know the librarian that's the pseudo-sysadmin will have no clue how to run a PC LAN, and then all those savings are for nil.
a mac lab is the easiest thing in the world to run. It takes minutes to get all the software installed, a few more minutes to cut people off from restricted areas of the hard drive, or you can even setup software such as Assimilator to make sure that nobody is adding unwanted software and to reverfiy the contents of the drive. Yes, a cheapy Dell will save you $200 to start, but then what's the machine worth in 30 days? about half of what you purchased it for whereas a mac lasts a few years.
why would you want to violate the memory of a person you loved by trying to replicate their personality with a cheap piece of software?
There are some limits to what technology can do, and one of those is trying to take an emotionally charged memory and put it into a cold emotionless computer with a monotone Fred voice and have it say the things someone you loved used to say.
Sometimes you just have to ask why people can't leave well enough alone and stop making software that sucks (unlike bbedit).
How do you feel about the competition among publishers relating to tech books (ie Computing for Dummies) and will their choices to distribute via e-books format influence your discision to go this route? Is there a level of competition among these authors/publishing co's?
Also, being into the cutting edge of technology and publishing, what are some books you've read non programming related that you've enjoyed?
rather than worry about whether or not Intel supports firewire and if in choosing not to support it, why not question whether or not AMD will support firewire?
Lately, Intel has been doing a couple of stupid things, and the company that has been the quickest to take advantage of those things has been AMD, especially with their new Athlon systems. I think that if AMD chooses to support Firewire in their next systems, as well as IBM supporting the technology, and maybe if Apple decides to stop being morons about it, this technology will prosper and make intel look like morons for choosing not to support it.
The only thing that Intel is doing by not supporting Firewire is limiting their machines and limiting the users that purchase them.
in the immortal words of Kurt Cobain:
"just because your paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you."
I have rats the size of small dogs living outside my apartment. now they want to give these rodents more brainpower? yippee. so when they escape just like the shark did in that movie that's out right now, I'll have huge smart rats running around INSIDE my apartment eating everything in site (maybe even my leg).
this is just another case of life mimmicking movies mimmicking life (sorry, stole that from Scream II, see what I mean?)
and how the hell can you really tell if a mouse got smarter? is it spouting einsteinian algorithms and theorums or just finding the cheese a little bit faster?
what if there's a problem with a heat sync or CPU fan and the thing heats up... then you have the inside of your furniture on fire or melting... imagine the stench... melting rubber, plastic, cotton, and poly-resin fibers. yummy (and probably toxic).
yea, computer furniture, brilliant idea from the intel department...next we'll have edible monitors.
actually, I do wonder about the value of this applied to degenerative diseases and neurological diseases like Multiple Sclerosis . if you find a circuit, fuse, or random wire to be on the fritz, could you just pop in and rewire it?
could there be a use, along with tracking the problem, to using artificial means to fix the problems?
damn "matrixian" loops...
you need to stop watching your pirated mpg of the Matrix, I think it's affecting your neural i/o
you gotta watch out for those smileys. see, I completely misinterpretted your sarcasm.
too bad the the smiley face was coopted by lamerz in AOL and IRC chatrooms for horney teens...
what's wrong with making analogies between computers and the human brain? Neural networks, protocols, interface designer, etc are all designed based on comparrisons to the human brain. I agree that I don't want my kids' brains running the latest version of windoze (maybe they'll be better behaved and when they crash I can get some rest)...
if you study AI, you'll realize that all of that isn't based on hacking code, but on studying the brain and trying to mimick the way it processes info. so if we're to make advances in this field, get ready for much scarier stuff than just allusions to brains and computers.
Oh, I respect them, but they should also be punished. sorry I didn't make that clear. but then again, I'd rather be warned about a security flaw by something harmless than have it bite me in the ass on something important.
another case to make hackers look like the bad guys. I can respect people that hack sites to point out security problems and make a political stance, but hacking a site just to poster inappropriate messages on the splash page and so you can brag to your little prepubescent friends is just enough.
while the hack/non-hack of hotmail the other day was a welcome and necessary hack (I only use hotmail with PGP), this little turd who just wants the attention his parents didn't give him isn't worth the electrons that are flying at my eyes as I read what I'm posting.