It's like with a car. If you drive your old car for a couple of years and the new one has the AC knob in a different place will you sweat? If you're dumb and ignorant you will because you refuse to learn how to work the new thing. If you're smart you'll realize that stuff needs to be operated no matter how it looks.
Awesome car analogy... But with Linux, in some cases, there is no A/C knob at all. There is an extra step of finding the A/C knob and figuring out how to install it.
Some things that the average user needs, like Adobe Flash, DVD decoding, Skype, etc, require some un-intuitive steps to get working. Even with Ubuntu, my mom couldn't get the programs above working if she tried. Yet she was able do just that with Mac OSX on her MacBook. A Linux distro such as Ubuntu will be ready for the desktop as soon as they figure this out.
No but it comes with a complimentary copy of "Hooked On Monkey Fonics". If your monkey arrived in the box dead, call 1-800-555-4500 to get a new monkey. Ready? Let's begin."
You do pay for your Public Radio/NPR listening pleasure don't you? Through donations? Don't you?
After listening to the 2008 candidate race, I don't know why I would... Since December of last year the only two Democratic candidates that got more than 30 seconds of time were Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. If they're so unbiased why can't they give equal time to Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel, and the rest? On the Rep. side, Ron Paul wasn't talked about much either. You think the donation scheme would keep them honest but I'm not so sure anymore.
I've been using mine for GPS-assisted hypermiling (i.e. take your foot off the gas when the display says you're 0.4 miles away from the next stop sign or intersection. I can eek out another 5-7 mpg doing this compared to my normal driving habits... and it's easier on my brakes as well). Also its built in features, namely the compass and altimeter, saved me a few hundred bucks on my ultralight airplane. They're also great for running/jogging, boating, hiking, etc. The GPS receiver is truly a multitasker.
The only thing I miss when I'm running Windows is the Gnome desktop. Sure I can re-skin the windows and switch to the Ubuntu startup sounds, but it's not the same.
Compiz Fusion for XP or 2000 would also be pretty cool.
No it doesn't have a real mechanical keyboard, it doesn't have IM (yet), the screen isn't as big and the browser doesn't support Flash. Thanks, you just summed up the reasons I bought an Eee instead of an iPhone.
however if you don't always carry it with you it doesn't really matter. And yes, I always carry my Eee around with me everywhere I go, except the shower. And if it were waterproof, it would probably go there too.
but neither one can just be shoved in your pocket as you leave the house. Both of them require some kind of backpack or shoulder bag to bring with you. I wouldn't exactly bring a full-size laptop with carrying case out to a restaurant but it's no big deal with the Eee. You just pick it up and carry it around like a small book. Not once in my 6 months of owning it have I ever had to stick it in a bag of any sort.
Heck I've even dropped it onto the concrete a few times, while it was in the middle of video playback, and I laughed. I just knew it would be okay, and it was. The last time I did that with my Dell 8100 it didn't survive.
There is no reason for OS Designers to make an OS that will run on your 486 or Even systems 5 years old. You must be new here... The Linux 'OS Designers' were able to do just that. The latest version of Ubuntu will run on a 486, but also happens to run great on my dual-core workstation.
In fact, at the risk of having my geek card revoked: I don't even go into advanced mode anymore. As long as you make use of the Easy Mode Editor, or of course edit the XML by hand, you can hang on to your card:)
Out of interest, how do you carry your Eee around? There are a few laptop bags made for the Eee, but they look more like a lady's purse than an electronics organizer:) I don't have a bag, I just pick it up and carry it around. It goes to and from work every day, plus to any bookstores, restaurants, or other places that offer free wifi.
For the sites that do give you trouble at 800x(600|480), there's several things you can do.
1) Run Firefox in full-screen mode
2) Write a greasemonkey script for the particular site
3) Use Compiz's Shelf plugin and resize Firefox to 1024x768 (I need to figure out how to automate this with a script), then scale it down to 800x480. Composite window managers rock.
4) If you need to get some real work done, you can always connect a desktop LCD to it temporarily and do your work at 1280x1024.
I see it as more of a big chunky PDA than a small portable PC Exactly, it's an uber-PDA. I own an Eee for exactly this reason. It boots in 10 seconds, and I have my Google calendar, docs, e-mail, etc. Why would I want to surf the internet on an iPhone when I can use Firefox with AdBlocker, Greasemonkey, and the rest of my plugins? Plus if I need to do some real work, I can simply plug it into a keyboard/mouse/LCD and I have a real computer running Xubuntu/Compiz at 1280x1024.
I use mine daily and don't think the 800x480 is such a compromise. Once you implement some tricks to optimize your window manager and web browser, it's not bad at all. I run web apps like Google Docs, Mail, Calendar, Reader, etc.
I'm not exactly sure what a 'full blown' internet application is, but I've never ran into anything and been like 'damn, this is totally unusable'.
how well does it function as a "portable thin client"? Very well although it would depend on your specific use. It really shines when you need something between a PDA and a notebook computer. The small keyboard, for example, is harder to type on than a notebook computer, but easier than tapping words out or using OCR on a touchscreen.
Can I reinstall it to get rid of the easy mode programs and turn it into a simple portable xterm? Yes. It will run almost any distribution if you know your way around a command prompt. I would recommend you install eeeXubuntu and run xterm from there.. that way you can goof off and play Gnometris or surf the internet when you have a free minute.
I really don't think that any distro has watered down Linux. You obviously haven't seen the default OS that ships with the Asus Eee notebook -- a dumbed down version of Xandros. You'd better hope that you can find the applications you need in the collection of huge 2" icons, because that's all there is. You don't even get a normal desktop until you install some packages from an added repository.
Remember that George HW Bush was vice-president for Reagan, so even if you remembered Reagan, it's still an era with a Bush in power. So, there has been a Bush or Clinton in the White House since 1981. My god you're right. A Bush or Clinton has lived in the white house since before I was born. And people want Hillary to have for another 4-8 years. Go figure:(
To be fair, most of the people buying into this have a difficult time distinguishing 24 from reality. Very true. I said that same thing after the 1/31/2007 Mooninites bomb-scare. Personally I think the Boston Police need to watch a little less TV.
[...] and find myself having trouble being excited about any candidate.
Sounds like you have a case of Electile Dysfunction -- The inability to become aroused over any of the choices for President put forth by either party during an election year.
I'm sure this has been said before, but if Clinton hypothetically wins two terms, that would be 28 years of Bush/Clinton dynasty. Basically 1/3 of the people in this country wouldn't have lived under a president besides a Bush or a Clinton. Heck, I don't even remember Reagan as a kid, so I'm currently a part of that statistic.
I don't think it's exactly a conspiracy, I think it has more to do with the recognition the second candidate gets from the first. Similar to advertising, people find themselves asking "<insert name of no-name candidate> who?"
Hillary is the last candidate I would ever vote for because of this. The founding fathers decided against a system of Kings and queens, princes and other royalty.. Not to get too idealistic, but I think that there are other people out there, with new ideas that deserve a shot at running the country.
If you think I'm wrong, name one application area where you think Windows is ahead 3D solid parametric CAD for under $1000. LinuxCAD, VariCAD, and other AutoCAD clones just don't cut it for real design work. I'm forced to run Windows because the only program that fits my needs, Alibre Design, is windows-only. The ironic part is that the whole thing is written in Java... Their decision use Direct3D instead of OpenGL is unfortunate. It leaves no path for a Linux port.
That's actually not universally true. I've sat in a lot of meetings with very senior, very well paid people (and their associated lawyers) and have heard them literally say "we wouldn't be breaking the law, but it wouldn't look good in the press". Many companies value their image and reputation extremely highly and doing something which leads to the company being embarassed, even if it's 100% legal, would be a firing offence. Still, companies like AT&T, HP, and others do very despicable things, even going as far as breaking the law (AT&T's cooperating in warrantless wire tapping, HP 2006 spying scandal). Somehow they're still doing well, with double-digit profit numbers in some cases.
I think this is because most people don't care about the news, unless it involves a celebrity in rehab or something equally stupid.
Flashing and animated web ads are the worst for me. One of my favorite sites years ago got so obsessed with flashing ads I couldn't read the stories I was logging on for. Protip: When you come across a site with annoying flashing ads, press the escape key. At least in Firefox, this will stop any/all animated GIFs on the page.
I also recommend NoScript for getting rid of Java/Javascript ads and script-based tracking tools. AdBlock is another nice tool that could be helpful.
the most widespread consumer gps chipset is sirf star II. it doesn't support dgps.
only the latest generation of consumer gps chipsets (sirf star III and alike) does support it. and it doesn't work well on the ground so pilots and navy are pretty much only ones who can use it. Sure, I'll give you that, as long as we're clear that the the problem isn't the WAAS system itself. Whether or not consumer-grade receivers ever implement a fully-compliant receiver is anyone's guess... 2-3 meter accuracy is possible if they ever get around to it.
he biggest issue with WAAS being that those of us in the central area of North America may have both satellites very near the horizon. If you are on either coast one satellite is high enough above the horizon to be clear line of sight past most ground obstacles. exceptions being large nearby buildings, or mountains. There's not one area of the contiguous United States that can't see at least one WAAS GEO. I can prove this pretty easily.. Read through the WAAS Performance Analysis report for October 2007 and see the graphs for yourself. Also the WAAS GEO footprintpage is pretty helpful too.
I have been out in the field with GPS equipment, and watched my accuracy go to hell because there were not enough satilites above the horizon. Maybe that was the case 10-15 years ago, but definitely not today. Not only do they have 31 out of 32 possible satellites in use, but there are even a few backup satellites up there in case something happens. On average you can expect 10+ satellites visible at any given time. Don't take my word for it though, you can easily load the current almanac into a viewer program and see for yourself.
If you're still having problems with your GPS receiver, maybe it's time to get a new one..
by ground based infrastructure you mean egnos/waas? only the most modern gps receivers support differential gps... Sounds kind of troll-ish, but I'll bite... Wouldn't want your misinformation to be spread around Slashdot.
If by 'only the most modern', you mean 'the majority of the GPS receivers made in the last 10 years', then yes. WAAS wasn't around back in the days of GPS infancy, but most new receivers have it, and yes
... and most times it doesn't work anyway Now that's just wrong. The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) designed WAAS to allow aircraft to shoot approaches into airports. I help design aircraft GPS systems for a living, so I can tell you a thing or two about GPS/WAAS integrity. I'd trust my life to it, as do the pilots that use it daily. There are many systems in place to ensure that the position given is accurate (ionospheric correction, signal degradation parameters, step detection, etc), and other systems that ensure that all the satellite signals are doing what they're supposed to (RAIM, FDE, etc). Please read up on WAAS when you get a chance, you'd be surprised how well it works.
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It's like with a car. If you drive your old car for a couple of years and the new one has the AC knob in a different place will you sweat? If you're dumb and ignorant you will because you refuse to learn how to work the new thing. If you're smart you'll realize that stuff needs to be operated no matter how it looks.
Awesome car analogy... But with Linux, in some cases, there is no A/C knob at all. There is an extra step of finding the A/C knob and figuring out how to install it.
Some things that the average user needs, like Adobe Flash, DVD decoding, Skype, etc, require some un-intuitive steps to get working. Even with Ubuntu, my mom couldn't get the programs above working if she tried. Yet she was able do just that with Mac OSX on her MacBook. A Linux distro such as Ubuntu will be ready for the desktop as soon as they figure this out.
No but it comes with a complimentary copy of "Hooked On Monkey Fonics". If your monkey arrived in the box dead, call 1-800-555-4500 to get a new monkey. Ready? Let's begin."
You do pay for your Public Radio/NPR listening pleasure don't you? Through donations? Don't you?
After listening to the 2008 candidate race, I don't know why I would... Since December of last year the only two Democratic candidates that got more than 30 seconds of time were Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. If they're so unbiased why can't they give equal time to Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel, and the rest? On the Rep. side, Ron Paul wasn't talked about much either. You think the donation scheme would keep them honest but I'm not so sure anymore.
GPS certainly has its uses.
I've been using mine for GPS-assisted hypermiling (i.e. take your foot off the gas when the display says you're 0.4 miles away from the next stop sign or intersection. I can eek out another 5-7 mpg doing this compared to my normal driving habits... and it's easier on my brakes as well). Also its built in features, namely the compass and altimeter, saved me a few hundred bucks on my ultralight airplane. They're also great for running/jogging, boating, hiking, etc. The GPS receiver is truly a multitasker.
The only thing I miss when I'm running Windows is the Gnome desktop. Sure I can re-skin the windows and switch to the Ubuntu startup sounds, but it's not the same. Compiz Fusion for XP or 2000 would also be pretty cool.
it doesn't have IM (yet),
the screen isn't as big
and the browser doesn't support Flash. Thanks, you just summed up the reasons I bought an Eee instead of an iPhone. however if you don't always carry it with you it doesn't really matter. And yes, I always carry my Eee around with me everywhere I go, except the shower. And if it were waterproof, it would probably go there too.
Heck I've even dropped it onto the concrete a few times, while it was in the middle of video playback, and I laughed. I just knew it would be okay, and it was. The last time I did that with my Dell 8100 it didn't survive.
For the sites that do give you trouble at 800x(600|480), there's several things you can do.
1) Run Firefox in full-screen mode
2) Write a greasemonkey script for the particular site
3) Use Compiz's Shelf plugin and resize Firefox to 1024x768 (I need to figure out how to automate this with a script), then scale it down to 800x480. Composite window managers rock.
4) If you need to get some real work done, you can always connect a desktop LCD to it temporarily and do your work at 1280x1024.
I'm not exactly sure what a 'full blown' internet application is, but I've never ran into anything and been like 'damn, this is totally unusable'.
Sounds like you have a case of Electile Dysfunction -- The inability to become aroused over any of the choices for President put forth by either party during an election year.
I don't think it's exactly a conspiracy, I think it has more to do with the recognition the second candidate gets from the first. Similar to advertising, people find themselves asking "<insert name of no-name candidate> who?"
Hillary is the last candidate I would ever vote for because of this. The founding fathers decided against a system of Kings and queens, princes and other royalty.. Not to get too idealistic, but I think that there are other people out there, with new ideas that deserve a shot at running the country.
I think this is because most people don't care about the news, unless it involves a celebrity in rehab or something equally stupid.
I also recommend NoScript for getting rid of Java/Javascript ads and script-based tracking tools. AdBlock is another nice tool that could be helpful.
If you're still having problems with your GPS receiver, maybe it's time to get a new one..
If by 'only the most modern', you mean 'the majority of the GPS receivers made in the last 10 years', then yes. WAAS wasn't around back in the days of GPS infancy, but most new receivers have it, and yes
... and most times it doesn't work anyway Now that's just wrong. The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) designed WAAS to allow aircraft to shoot approaches into airports. I help design aircraft GPS systems for a living, so I can tell you a thing or two about GPS/WAAS integrity. I'd trust my life to it, as do the pilots that use it daily. There are many systems in place to ensure that the position given is accurate (ionospheric correction, signal degradation parameters, step detection, etc), and other systems that ensure that all the satellite signals are doing what they're supposed to (RAIM, FDE, etc). Please read up on WAAS when you get a chance, you'd be surprised how well it works.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_Area_Augmentation_System