Well first of all, I have a feeling the telecoms give themselves preferential treatment already. So STFU, AT&T. Secondly - Good! Governments are supposed to give contracts to the lowest bidder. They're supposed to try to get the most out of our tax dollars. If they can save a few bucks from a government-run ISP, then good! They're spending enough of our money to build it, there better as hell be an upside to it. Because really, the government is paid for by the citizens, so them getting better access means we get better taxes. At least in theory. Once we pay off the massive construction costs.
Difference here is that they get something out of it. Something tangible.
Personally, I'd do it. As long as it's not too limited in the features. I'd even accept longer ads for longer calls...like maybe 15 seconds for a local call, a minute for long-distance. If you think about the price of a phone plan, it's cheaper than working for the money. Or at least it would be for me. And knowing Google, they'd find some way to target the ads, which would be quite useful. I've actually used the ads on the main Google search many times. Great resources when you are actually looking to buy something.
Oh yea. 1.0, 3.1, 95, 98, 2000, ME, XP, Vista...real coherent scheme there. Goes from small decimal numbers to large two digit numbers to four digit numbers to two letters to words.
As for Linux being unstable...dude, have you ever even seriously used Linux? Hell, if you don't fuck with it, it'll run for YEARS. Funny story - Freenet, with default configuration, crashes Windows XP on my computer in under half an hour. Not even kidding. Just murders the bitch. Now take the exact same program (It's Java), put it on Linux, runs fine. Runs for weeks without a problem. Remove the bandwidth caps, change max allowed connections from 200 to 750, increase the data store size by 40 gigs, and remove the limits on allowed known routing nodes...and it still runs fine. for weeks. Windoze would die in under 10 minutes from the load my Linux box idles on.
My girlfriend just switched from MacOSX to Mandriva. She became so exited at how easy everything was...she actually told me that, after using OSX for so long, she had learned to block out all the things she couldn't do with it. Only problem is all her music is still locked up in iTunes, but we're working on that. It's amazing that, after 4 years, she still couldn't manage to upload things to FTP or figure out her local IP address (and I couldn't help her either since OSX, while trying to be Unix, lacks most of the key parts)...both of which I taught her to do on her new box in about 5 minutes.
See, I noticed the link from Microsoft, but I'm not saying it should be possible, I'm saying I've done it. Many times actually. It works perfectly. If an meteorologist told you the sky was orange, would you then say it must be because a reliable source said so? Not unless you're blind.
meh. depends how you got them, it may not be that ridiculous. I personally would never spend $300 on a music player...or even $200...or even $100. ($50 CD/MP3 FTW!) Yet I have 3. The first one was 'broken', I bought it for $15, and managed to repair it quite easily, as it was only a software problem. The second was a nano with a cracked screen, that I bought for $20 and paid $60 for a new screen. The third I was given for free and was also broken, sadmac icon and stuck buttons, but I just pulled the entire thing apart, put it back together, and it worked fine.
I actually had a friend who bought Vista shortly after it was released hoping it would fix some computer problems they were having, read about it online some, and returned it. Good thing too, turned out the problems were just poor webcam drivers. Woulda been a shame to waste all that money.
Well that's why you get a proper adapter. I believe the main problem with them is that the Model M uses an unusually large amount of power. Have you tried the officially supported one from clickykeyboards.net? Might need a converter instead of an adapter.
That's BS. Everyone I know uses Verizon. Therefore, they get free calling to everyone on Verizon. Yet most people pay extra for unlimited text messaging, because that's all they use. The only person I ever call is my girlfriend, when I expect it to be a long conversation that would make texting too expensive (I, unlike most people, don't have unlimited texts). For everything else I just text. It's faster and easier. Voice communication is not only way too hard to understand usually, but it's a lot less private and interrupts/distracts/annoys people around you.
So yes, as a 17 year old myself, I can say that myself and most of my friends REALLY prefer sending messages to talking. When you were young, you didn't have text messaging. And I have a feeling not everyone could type 70WPM minimum then...where now, that's pretty much a requirement. And with predictive text, it's not that hard to type quickly on a phone either.
Well, I don't refuse to read the books...I read the first 4...but gave them up pretty much when I left elementary school. I never really noticed anything lacking in her writing style, I just find them rather...childish I guess. That, and I don't really read fiction anymore...though Fear and Loathing was pretty good...
I call bullshit. I've worked with 300GB Fat32 drives before. Doesn't cause a problem. I actually only use Fat32 when I'm making windoze partitions, because it's so much easier to work with from Linux. Even if it's someone else's computer, I know they'll fuck it up later, and I know I'll probably be the one they ask to fix it, so I want my liveCDs to be able to work with it without any hassle.
They already have quite a few of those. I knew if you actually buy Norton anti-virus (not that anyone ever would...horrible software...I've had to fix so many computers that it totally fucked), the CD will boot to a virus scan. Problem is there's no real way to update the virus definitions.
Great analogy there with the 'it's safer than standing outside on a sunny day'. Yea. It'll burn me and give me skin cancer then?
First of all, with those kinds of speeds, I'm not sure this will be a very low power device. I admit I didn't RTFA and didn't look into how it works, but I'm thinking it's gotta use many frequencies. Sure, one 60 watt bulb might not hurt you, but a large group of them could cause some problems. Plus, if it is low power, that has it's own problems. When you get hit by a large dose of radiation, there are many things your body does to protect itself. When you get slowly cooked by a continuous small dose, none of that happens. Your body doesn't protect itself against low levels of radiation.
Basically, I wouldn't want to be around these things. But then, I don't trust my cellphone much either after seeing studies linking cell phones in pockets to testicular cancer.
Oh, and I'm not sure about other countries, but in the US safety regs for radiation are based only on heat produced by the waves, when there are other ways they cause damage. Studies have shown cells can be damaged by waves 60 times weaker than what the government says is safe.
I was actually shopping for an Ubuntu laptop for my girlfrind last night and noticed this, but as of this morning they are offering the upgrades on the Ubuntu version as well.
She's gonna be getting a vista one anyways and just reformatting it though. The only available 15" screen with Ubuntu doesn't give you any decent hardware to choose from.
That's actually a damn good point. I've had the same session of Google homepage running for...about 14 days solid now. Of course, I'd say the total time I've spent on the site is about 5 days solid...I do sit there refreshing it a lot...but not while I sleep!
"There's also a particular cablemodem (has a big blue "sleep" button on top) that has serious problems with high packet rates and connections (ie, BitTorrent crashes it.)"
There's a lot more than one. I've gone through two with that exact problem myself. Neither had the big blue sleep button. And it was pretty much hell to get them to replace it...called, they sent a guy to check it, he said nothing was wrong. I had to dig around online and pull up a few references showing that it was a known problem with that model of modem before they'd replace it. I have a feeling they just took the old one and gave it to someone else.
Give me the battery and I'll replace it for $5. Doesn't look that hard. Someone who is experienced with this and has the right tools could probably replace one every 5 minutes, if not faster. Apple assumes liability. Big deal. First of all, the people they have doing this aren't gonna screw up that often. I would bet if the person bricks one out of every hundred iPhones they work on, they'd most likely be fired pretty damn quickly.
Of course, apple could just do what they did with the older iPods and actually have a replaceable battery. Then you could do it yourself easily for $20. But then they don't get an excuse for their over 300% profit margins.
I would argue that banning things makes the problem WORSE. For example, if you ban guns, then obviously only criminals would have guns. But if guns are banned, the criminals don't have to worry about getting chased out of the house with a shotgun. Guns are easy enough to get and keep that banning them only ensures that nobody can defend themselves. The threat won't change, but the defense will become weaker.
Slashdot Mirror
Well first of all, I have a feeling the telecoms give themselves preferential treatment already. So STFU, AT&T.
Secondly - Good! Governments are supposed to give contracts to the lowest bidder. They're supposed to try to get the most out of our tax dollars. If they can save a few bucks from a government-run ISP, then good! They're spending enough of our money to build it, there better as hell be an upside to it. Because really, the government is paid for by the citizens, so them getting better access means we get better taxes. At least in theory. Once we pay off the massive construction costs.
eh, yea, I know Java sucks. a lot. but point is, exact same code runs fine on Linux, but the load kills Windoze nearly instantly.
Difference here is that they get something out of it. Something tangible.
Personally, I'd do it. As long as it's not too limited in the features. I'd even accept longer ads for longer calls...like maybe 15 seconds for a local call, a minute for long-distance. If you think about the price of a phone plan, it's cheaper than working for the money. Or at least it would be for me. And knowing Google, they'd find some way to target the ads, which would be quite useful. I've actually used the ads on the main Google search many times. Great resources when you are actually looking to buy something.
Oh yea. 1.0, 3.1, 95, 98, 2000, ME, XP, Vista...real coherent scheme there. Goes from small decimal numbers to large two digit numbers to four digit numbers to two letters to words.
As for Linux being unstable...dude, have you ever even seriously used Linux? Hell, if you don't fuck with it, it'll run for YEARS. Funny story - Freenet, with default configuration, crashes Windows XP on my computer in under half an hour. Not even kidding. Just murders the bitch. Now take the exact same program (It's Java), put it on Linux, runs fine. Runs for weeks without a problem. Remove the bandwidth caps, change max allowed connections from 200 to 750, increase the data store size by 40 gigs, and remove the limits on allowed known routing nodes...and it still runs fine. for weeks. Windoze would die in under 10 minutes from the load my Linux box idles on.
My girlfriend just switched from MacOSX to Mandriva. She became so exited at how easy everything was...she actually told me that, after using OSX for so long, she had learned to block out all the things she couldn't do with it. Only problem is all her music is still locked up in iTunes, but we're working on that. It's amazing that, after 4 years, she still couldn't manage to upload things to FTP or figure out her local IP address (and I couldn't help her either since OSX, while trying to be Unix, lacks most of the key parts)...both of which I taught her to do on her new box in about 5 minutes.
See, I noticed the link from Microsoft, but I'm not saying it should be possible, I'm saying I've done it. Many times actually. It works perfectly.
If an meteorologist told you the sky was orange, would you then say it must be because a reliable source said so? Not unless you're blind.
Goddamn, will people stop saying this?!? I've formatted a 200GB hard drive as FAT with the Windows XP installer. There is no 32GB limit.
meh. depends how you got them, it may not be that ridiculous. I personally would never spend $300 on a music player...or even $200...or even $100. ($50 CD/MP3 FTW!) Yet I have 3. The first one was 'broken', I bought it for $15, and managed to repair it quite easily, as it was only a software problem. The second was a nano with a cracked screen, that I bought for $20 and paid $60 for a new screen. The third I was given for free and was also broken, sadmac icon and stuck buttons, but I just pulled the entire thing apart, put it back together, and it worked fine.
I actually had a friend who bought Vista shortly after it was released hoping it would fix some computer problems they were having, read about it online some, and returned it. Good thing too, turned out the problems were just poor webcam drivers. Woulda been a shame to waste all that money.
Well that's why you get a proper adapter. I believe the main problem with them is that the Model M uses an unusually large amount of power. Have you tried the officially supported one from clickykeyboards.net? Might need a converter instead of an adapter.
Yes! I love all my Model Ms. I will never go to USB! well, without buying an adapter first :)
I wish more people would understand the specifics of quantum physics.
That's BS. Everyone I know uses Verizon. Therefore, they get free calling to everyone on Verizon. Yet most people pay extra for unlimited text messaging, because that's all they use. The only person I ever call is my girlfriend, when I expect it to be a long conversation that would make texting too expensive (I, unlike most people, don't have unlimited texts). For everything else I just text. It's faster and easier. Voice communication is not only way too hard to understand usually, but it's a lot less private and interrupts/distracts/annoys people around you.
So yes, as a 17 year old myself, I can say that myself and most of my friends REALLY prefer sending messages to talking. When you were young, you didn't have text messaging. And I have a feeling not everyone could type 70WPM minimum then...where now, that's pretty much a requirement. And with predictive text, it's not that hard to type quickly on a phone either.
Well, I don't refuse to read the books...I read the first 4...but gave them up pretty much when I left elementary school. I never really noticed anything lacking in her writing style, I just find them rather...childish I guess. That, and I don't really read fiction anymore...though Fear and Loathing was pretty good...
I call bullshit.
I've worked with 300GB Fat32 drives before. Doesn't cause a problem. I actually only use Fat32 when I'm making windoze partitions, because it's so much easier to work with from Linux. Even if it's someone else's computer, I know they'll fuck it up later, and I know I'll probably be the one they ask to fix it, so I want my liveCDs to be able to work with it without any hassle.
They already have quite a few of those. I knew if you actually buy Norton anti-virus (not that anyone ever would...horrible software...I've had to fix so many computers that it totally fucked), the CD will boot to a virus scan. Problem is there's no real way to update the virus definitions.
Great analogy there with the 'it's safer than standing outside on a sunny day'. Yea. It'll burn me and give me skin cancer then?
First of all, with those kinds of speeds, I'm not sure this will be a very low power device. I admit I didn't RTFA and didn't look into how it works, but I'm thinking it's gotta use many frequencies. Sure, one 60 watt bulb might not hurt you, but a large group of them could cause some problems. Plus, if it is low power, that has it's own problems. When you get hit by a large dose of radiation, there are many things your body does to protect itself. When you get slowly cooked by a continuous small dose, none of that happens. Your body doesn't protect itself against low levels of radiation.
Basically, I wouldn't want to be around these things. But then, I don't trust my cellphone much either after seeing studies linking cell phones in pockets to testicular cancer.
Oh, and I'm not sure about other countries, but in the US safety regs for radiation are based only on heat produced by the waves, when there are other ways they cause damage. Studies have shown cells can be damaged by waves 60 times weaker than what the government says is safe.
I have Comcast. And Linux. And of course Firefox. It hasn't yet caused any problems at all.
I was actually shopping for an Ubuntu laptop for my girlfrind last night and noticed this, but as of this morning they are offering the upgrades on the Ubuntu version as well.
She's gonna be getting a vista one anyways and just reformatting it though. The only available 15" screen with Ubuntu doesn't give you any decent hardware to choose from.
I personally love Gimp's interface. What I can't STAND is Photoshop's. Takes me forever to find the shit I want on that piece of junk.
That's actually a damn good point. I've had the same session of Google homepage running for...about 14 days solid now. Of course, I'd say the total time I've spent on the site is about 5 days solid...I do sit there refreshing it a lot...but not while I sleep!
"There's also a particular cablemodem (has a big blue "sleep" button on top) that has serious problems with high packet rates and connections (ie, BitTorrent crashes it.)"
There's a lot more than one. I've gone through two with that exact problem myself. Neither had the big blue sleep button. And it was pretty much hell to get them to replace it...called, they sent a guy to check it, he said nothing was wrong. I had to dig around online and pull up a few references showing that it was a known problem with that model of modem before they'd replace it. I have a feeling they just took the old one and gave it to someone else.
ya do realize Jolt lists it on the bottle, right? 220.
Give me the battery and I'll replace it for $5. Doesn't look that hard. Someone who is experienced with this and has the right tools could probably replace one every 5 minutes, if not faster.
Apple assumes liability. Big deal. First of all, the people they have doing this aren't gonna screw up that often. I would bet if the person bricks one out of every hundred iPhones they work on, they'd most likely be fired pretty damn quickly.
Of course, apple could just do what they did with the older iPods and actually have a replaceable battery. Then you could do it yourself easily for $20. But then they don't get an excuse for their over 300% profit margins.
I would argue that banning things makes the problem WORSE.
For example, if you ban guns, then obviously only criminals would have guns. But if guns are banned, the criminals don't have to worry about getting chased out of the house with a shotgun. Guns are easy enough to get and keep that banning them only ensures that nobody can defend themselves. The threat won't change, but the defense will become weaker.