Re:Current I/O devices work just fine
on
3D Window Manager
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· Score: 1
I rather think a spaceball would be a better input device than either a mouse or VR gloves (ugh). Especially since it was designed for 3d in the first place.
Why is this easier? First of all, with Window Maker, the wharf is always there. App windows won't cover it. This means that when he needs to start a program, the button is there, in easy view, not hidden in the start menu. The wharf icons don't drag around, so they're always in the same place. When you try to restart an app that's already running, the current window pops to the front; another copy does not start. (This is very important for a user who does not understand the paradigm; how many times have you had to close six copies of Word or some such because the user kept opening a new one every time?)
Windows apps are not significantly more consistent than unix apps, if you're looking at just two or three. What do netscape, Word, and Outlook share, besides the basic look-and-feel?
I think that a small install of Linux or *BSD would be perfect for this use. It's not a general-use computer, you can consider this to be more of a kiosk-type application, where you want it easy, you want it simple, and you want it not easily breakable. This is not easy to do with windows, despite what a lot of people say. It can be done, but IMHO, it would be much easier to do on a unix machine.
Not every Mac comes with the standard MacOS. MacOS X Server has been available for some time, and somehow people are overlooking it and saying things like, "when MacOS X comes out". Now, I know OS X and OS X Server aren't the same thing, but they're very close, and - most importantly - they're not MacOS in the traditional sense. They're Mach-driven BSD. What I'm concerned with is that these machines, which, when used as a server, will probably be running OS X Server. If the MacOS is offsetting the problem with the CPU like this article says it is, then it follows that running OS X Server on this same CPU may not be entirely stable. (especially if this problem is indeed RF-related, as someone else indicated. Most servers sit in a machine room with lots of other RF-emitting equipment.) This could be a very bad thing. (I know *I* don't like getting paged in the middle of the night and being told that one of my servers is down.)
::Using a few little tools, you change the MAC address of your card.
And that helps you how? If you dial in, your MAC address is irrelevant, and if you have something like a cable modem, the cable model suddenly stops recognizing your NIC and you are cut off from the net until you change your MAC back.
No cable modem I've ever used has been keyed to a MAC address. If it was, and I had to change out a bad NIC, I'd be extremely upset. As it is, I can change cards all day, and the cable modem doesn't care.
Hmm... here's a legitimate reason for being able to download mp3s. You are allowed to make a backup copy of your original media. Now, say I have a cassette, and that cassette wears out and breaks because I played it too much. Now, if I had a backup, I'd be fine, I would just listen to that. (And make a further backup, because I'm legally allowed to have two copies of the material. Let's also ignore degradation here, this is theoretical.) But if I don't have a backup, I can either buy new media, or I can obtain it elsewhere, and still be within my implied licensing terms. (because I don't see an explicit license on any music I've ever bought.) So I download an mp3 of my favorite song from the internet. Cool, I don't have to go buy a new tape.
Now, I could make these mp3s on my own, or I could download them. Where they come from is immaterial. The fact that I am allowed to have two legal copies of any music I own is what matters here.
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I rather think a spaceball would be a better input device than either a mouse or VR gloves (ugh). Especially since it was designed for 3d in the first place.
I don't recall having ever seen an AGP 486 board before. Can you tell me where to get these? :P
Why is this easier? First of all, with Window Maker, the wharf is always there. App windows won't cover it. This means that when he needs to start a program, the button is there, in easy view, not hidden in the start menu. The wharf icons don't drag around, so they're always in the same place. When you try to restart an app that's already running, the current window pops to the front; another copy does not start. (This is very important for a user who does not understand the paradigm; how many times have you had to close six copies of Word or some such because the user kept opening a new one every time?)
Windows apps are not significantly more consistent than unix apps, if you're looking at just two or three. What do netscape, Word, and Outlook share, besides the basic look-and-feel?
I think that a small install of Linux or *BSD would be perfect for this use. It's not a general-use computer, you can consider this to be more of a kiosk-type application, where you want it easy, you want it simple, and you want it not easily breakable. This is not easy to do with windows, despite what a lot of people say. It can be done, but IMHO, it would be much easier to do on a unix machine.
Errata is and has been the term used to describe issues with a CPU (or other piece of hardware).
Not every Mac comes with the standard MacOS. MacOS X Server has been available for some time, and somehow people are overlooking it and saying things like, "when MacOS X comes out". Now, I know OS X and OS X Server aren't the same thing, but they're very close, and - most importantly - they're not MacOS in the traditional sense. They're Mach-driven BSD. What I'm concerned with is that these machines, which, when used as a server, will probably be running OS X Server. If the MacOS is offsetting the problem with the CPU like this article says it is, then it follows that running OS X Server on this same CPU may not be entirely stable. (especially if this problem is indeed RF-related, as someone else indicated. Most servers sit in a machine room with lots of other RF-emitting equipment.) This could be a very bad thing. (I know *I* don't like getting paged in the middle of the night and being told that one of my servers is down.)
And that helps you how? If you dial in, your MAC address is irrelevant, and if you have something like a cable modem, the cable model suddenly stops recognizing your NIC and you are cut off from the net until you change your MAC back.
No cable modem I've ever used has been keyed to a MAC address. If it was, and I had to change out a bad NIC, I'd be extremely upset. As it is, I can change cards all day, and the cable modem doesn't care.
Hmm... here's a legitimate reason for being able to download mp3s. You are allowed to make a backup copy of your original media. Now, say I have a cassette, and that cassette wears out and breaks because I played it too much. Now, if I had a backup, I'd be fine, I would just listen to that. (And make a further backup, because I'm legally allowed to have two copies of the material. Let's also ignore degradation here, this is theoretical.) But if I don't have a backup, I can either buy new media, or I can obtain it elsewhere, and still be within my implied licensing terms. (because I don't see an explicit license on any music I've ever bought.) So I download an mp3 of my favorite song from the internet. Cool, I don't have to go buy a new tape.
Now, I could make these mp3s on my own, or I could download them. Where they come from is immaterial. The fact that I am allowed to have two legal copies of any music I own is what matters here.