Posts by Herby 3058 publicly visible posts • joined 14 Dec 2007
They thrashed the Telsa around on their track, and it barely survived a day. Of course, they were trying to set a course record. The problem they had was the battery died or some such.
So much for LapTop batteries.
Me? I just like the 356 (1962 model year). Vintage, and very nice with the top down at 90+ MPH. Unfortunately it is a ticket magnet at that speed (*SIGH*).
I can name a few:
1) WalMart. Look EVERYTHING at WalMart is CHEAP. They insist on it. If they didn't have the laptop at 1Gb, with minimum configuration, WalMart wouldn't have sold it.
2) Vista: Enough said.
3) Class Action Lawsuit. Just another money grab by a lawyer looking for plaintiffs. While it might be a good thing, the net effect of this is that the ones that actually were "harmed" will get some silly coupon for another purchase (that will expire in 30 days), while the lawyers (and the "lead plaintiff") will rake in the dough.
4) 1Gb of memory. Time was when this was a large hard drive. Yes times have changed, but the real fault is that the operating system and environment needs this much ram just to boot the thing. The fault is that software expands to fill up the space available, and then some more for good measure. While ALL software suffers from this, it seems that operating systems from Redmond are by far the biggest offenders!
So, we wait for the legal process to wind its way through the courts, and nobody will win in the end (almost, the lawyers will make a buck or two). Life will go on and eventually W7 will appear, with more lawyers getting rich. (*SIGH*)
If "possession" is the crime, then what happens to the depictions that are scratched in the stalls of public (or no so public) bathrooms? The "owner" of said bathroom would be the "possessor"of such items. To continue, if these depictions are in the nice parliament building then won't the members of parliament be the guilty ones?
This goes into the category: "Be careful for what you ask for, you may just get it!"
HUH? I thought those were called "LAPTOPS". In fact they show adverts on TV for one here for $499 or so, and that includes a screen. Oh, you want to connect it to a display? Most Laptops I see (and use) have a nice VGA connector for just that purpose.
Am I missing something here?
Oh, these "Keyboard PC's" are also portable and battery operated. How about that!!
Look, if you watch any crime TV show here in the USA, you surely must know the standard Miranda warning "...anything you DO or SAY can be used against you in a court of law...". Well, to me "entering a password" is something you DO, so you don't get me to do it.
Of course, if you offer me immunity for all prosecutions related to my actions (like the stuff on my hard disk!) I might give it up. Until then, don't talk to me.
In a simple test, I entered "pentagon, arlington va" into Yahoo's mapping service. It gave me a nice map of the point that is commonly referred to as "ground zero", the center of the structure. As I understand it, it was the place where the Soviets had a missile targeted during the cold war. In addition I understand there is a hot dog stand (or similar) there (called "ground zero cafe", as I understand it) that the "locals" take lunch breaks. From the looks of it it is a nice sunny patio.
No I have never been there.
Of course, when the Mac first came out, its map "desk accessory" had the coordinates for "Area 51" in it. They were asked kindly to remove that point. They kept the "middle of nowhere" point though!
Being Friday, the sponsor for the great BOFH. Look, it is the only reason I started reading ElReg. Of course the wonderful content is the reason now. I often surprise my wife when she reads articles in the Wall Street Journal about technology, and I tell her the whole story.
So, El Reg is one of the best sources for tech news. The bonus is that we can comment on the articles like this one.
...make my word processing and spreadsheets work better?
I don't think so. As others have said, it is one of those "gee-wizz" items and a nice toy for my 2 year old grand nephew, but not too practical.
The only "table-top" computer I saw that actually made sense was one of those Pac-Man games in a bar.
Maybe that is what Microsoft has in mind: Insert $1 (inflation) and you get another interval of time to figure out what you are going to do.
In general: Not too useful!
G(enerous) M(otors)s Corvair (my aunt had one in the 60's) was really a good vehicle IF (big if!) you actually knew how to drive one. Almost as good as an early Prosche, which one can very easily slide around corners (yes, I've done it, and even got a ticket for doing it). Just back off on the gas and the rear end lets loose. Accelerate and all is well with the world.
The problem with the Corvair (and C for that matter) is that the problems are usually with the "driver". Please note that the problems the presidential candidate found were fixed (anti-sway bar) before the book was published. Oh, you can roll just about any vehicle (I should know, I've done it twice!).
and I tell you no lies!
When they require the data retention on bribe payments in government, then I might comply. So I have an open WiFi connection. I don't care. The router has no record keeping anyway. Yes, it has logs, so I might send them over to my local congress(wo)man. They have recording keeping don't they?
Yeah, that's the ticket. Send my logs to congress!
With all this moola bouncing around, someone will ask the proper question: What is the banks take. Given that these are a lot of small transactions, the monopoly bank (there must be only one for it to work most of the time), what are they going to charge?
Right now PayPal (which is a similar service, but a different market) charges 1-2% (I don't have the exact figure) of the money transfered. So, getting a piece of the action is a "good thing", and I'm sure that Bill & Melinda won't mind that their service nets a cent or two on every transaction. I surely wouldn't!
Well, we always called those underground projects "Swiss Navy Projects". I always wondered if the Swiss actually HAD a navy hidden out somewhere, ready to launch something from their submarine or some such.
The Navy here does lots of things inland. Then again, the US Coast guard patrols Lake Tahoe since it is in two states (California and Nevada for the map challenged).
I have a nephew that flies as first officer (right seat) for a major AAmerican AAirline. He has a nice iPhone. On at least ONE occasion he has used it to get weather information to allow his plane to depart. One of these days someone will get some common sense about cell phones. The problem (as stated above) is NOT the airplane, but the cell sites. They don't like being "lit up" in vast multiples from cell phones in the sky..
Oh, the (jesus) iPhone does have an "Airplane" mode for those concerned.
Is close to "stone age" or some such. A nice machine in its day, but not now. I still have Word 5.1 on it for those occasions it might be necessary. Back in those days, you could have 64 megs of memory and it would actually be quite a machine. Boy are those days long gone.
Now days 1 gig or so is necessary to just boot. Added functionality? Marginal!
But for a 68k Mac, it was a screaming machine. If Motorola/Freescale (and Apple for that matter) kept with the 68k things might have been different.
Oh, well off to the real "vintage" list....
The most likely problem with the time element (over 60 years) is most likely a budgetary one. Nobody has the dollars/euros/pounds to spend on this thing.
I will note that the idea is not new. The Germans have been attempting to do this for about 60 years anyway. Never got far off the idea stage.
Just make IE8 ONLY render according to published standards. Then have it the only browser for Vista/W7 (or whatever they will call it). If your web site doesn't work with IE8, TOUGH. Make your users go back to WinXP for compatibility. Oh, WinXP isn't available for new machines TOUGH. Versions of IE before 8 aren't available for Vista/W7? Sorry not my problem. Sue Microsoft for having a non-standards compliant browser in the first place. Then make your site work with standards compliant browser (personally I'd suggest FireFox).
So it will be a burden for those idiotic web sites that aren't compliant. My heart bleeds. Then people will understand the power Microsoft has and do something about it!
Your site should say: "Works with a standards compliant browser"
User: I have a problem with my Robot
Tech: Can you switch the power on then off (supposedly the first question asked)
User: It is a little difficult, but I'll try.
Tech: Ok, What version of Windows are you using?
User: Ahhh, it isn't using windows, it runs Zxcvb.
Tech: Then you're going to restore the operating system from the backup partition, and get the updated drivers. Do you have a high speed internet connection?
User: No, my internet connection isn't high speed, and I don't think I've got a backup partition.
Tech: Then you will need to ship it to us at Customer support. Can you do this via UPS, or FedEx?
User: It is a bit difficult to ship, can't you just tell me what to do?
Tech: I'm sorry we aren't allowed to give hardware troubleshooting information over the phone. Goodbye.
User ARGGGGGGGGG
I had a friend who actually worked for WD. He (hi Dave) commented that often there are resonances in the drive and they vary the speed a bit to "tune these out". I suspect that on the factory line they tune the speed of the drive to have the minimum amount of resonance while the drive is running. This can lead to quieter drives since they won't shake rattle and roll. I suspect that this is the "dynamic" they are talking about. This variation in speed is just ONE of the many "tricks" they do in making large capacity drives.
Now if they made it in wide SCSI it would be even better!!
I can go to the local Radio Shack (Tandy store in UK) and get a "universal" remote that my wife (who isn't that technical literate) can understand. The current setup I have includes a "head-end" for the TV stuff upstairs and a universal remote that communicates with it downstairs while she is in the kitchen. It all works quite well and can be had for about $30 or so (I think it was less actually). Unfortunately they don't sell the RF remote any more (it is erratic at times), but when it is functional it is quite nice.
TiVo in all rooms of the house is quite nice.
Yes, I would hardly refuse one if given to me, but... it hasn't. It might prevent my wif from having "clickeritis" as she clicks to find a channel without a commercial (*SIGH*)
The Bill Cosby doorbell. He wanted one that would say "SOMEONE IS AT THE DOOR" with proper volume, when the doorbell button is pressed.
For me, I'd just get a simple "annoy-a-tron" (http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/8c52/) and make it make the "click" sound at random intervals, and leave it in a dressing room (after the bill goes into effect!). Then wait for the fun to begin at the department store.
My current problem is that the new camera I just purchased for Christmas won't lock on the flash for all pictures (for fill lighting), but that is another story.
Including those (bi-pedal, upright) carbon based life forms that take in Oxygen and produce CO2.
This is junk AlGore science. Let's be consistent ACROSS the board.
Yes, I do drive a nice big SUV thank you (even in California, where they are limiting nice fireplace fires).
Why you could have blown me over with a feather.
Later that day, virus writing HQ:
"Say Joe, we're going to have to be more sophisticated and write a better virus. Everyone won't have IE and we will need to find new loopholes in non-Microsoft code. It won't be as easy as before!".
Flip off the TV by being disgusted with the content? The only assumption is that the gestures are deemed obscene by some culture somewhere in the world.
Now if it would transmit the gestures back to the originating studio so I can get involved in the events of the day (or those of next Tuesday [USA only]).
Another thought: What happens when you stick your tongue at it, giving it your personal "raspberry"?
Another solution: Get a "Clapper!".
Have the "central control" send a message to self destruct. If the security guys know where it is going to connect, just have a domain name waiting that has the proper destruct sequence. Then add in a nice patch that inhibits further infection.
Am I being to obvious here?
If the security researchers understand the worm correctly, use it against itself. Hopefully sooner than later!
Just run a wire from Point A to Point B. Look it is pretty cheap to do (cost less then the BT Vision Kit!) and if you can't run the wires then TOO BAD!
When the complaints come from the Military Radio people when a terrorist attach happens, they MIGHT listen. We can only hope so.
Of course, the fallback position is two tin cans and a string. Works quite well. Could even be considered "wireless" (but not "stringless").
We can see how all these things are supposed to work in some episode. I'm sure the politicians refer to the TV program for proper methods.
Oh well. Better luck next time. What did we do before cell phones?
Try two cans and a piece of string. Works for me!
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