Posts by Herby 3058 publicly visible posts • joined 14 Dec 2007
...repurpose the box as a nice PC connected to a 1080p resolution monitor that can do some "real" work.
Then you get the cheap box, and forget about the silly game titles (which unfortunately make more $$$$$ than movie titles).
If it were only so easy. The console makers (can you blame them) make it VERY hard to get Linux on the console where some real work can be done. (*SIGH*).
Maybe the cops will write more tickets about the idiots that want to be distracted. It ought to be pretty easy to detect. Just measure the length of time from the cruiser's read light to the actual driver getting the message. If they were distracted, it will be a VERY (relatively) time.
Yes, more tickets for this type of thing. We may yet balance the budget!
In my earlier days (the early 80's) I worked for a company that provided computers for answering services. Yes, they DID exist.
With almost true regularity the nicest "voices" were the people (barely describes them) who were the most ugly people you would see. Usually VERY overweight and sometimes proud of it.
When me and my co-worker were out in the field, we would mention in passing "there goes another answering service lady broad". This continued for quite some time, as we observed the installations we worked on.
As for Friday. Simon is making them very enjoyful more and more these days. Wonderful to have BOFH weeks in a row!
There is a company flogging "convertible" laptops that double as both touch and traditional laptops. The babe hawking them is posed as a paramedic, and admits to needing a laptop for homework, but uses the touch for "XBox and Twitter. I didn't know that you could use a normal laptop for "Xbox". Maybe if they can use a laptop for PS4 that might have something.
It seems to me that as more and more things are going "portable", the need for dedicated game consoles is going down and down these days.
So, slowly the game consoles will be less and less relevant. It is already happening to desktops. Maybe the folks at Sony could make up a special SD card that you could plug into a laptop and make it a PS5 or some such. Of course it would make them lose control of the $$$ stream they get for the games published that use their game console, but...
p.s. I always thought gaming was a real poor thing to do on a computer. Then again I'm an old fashioned kinda guy (now where is that copy of Spacewar?).
Oh, spam isn't that bad, and virus's can't hurt you. Wait until it infects something in Parliament/Congress and lots of congressional staffers have to pony up. Then we might see something about blasting this type of thing.
Where is the FBI/Scotland Yard when you need them??
Now days the only thing English majors are doing is a little "You want fries with that?". Given that we have collectively dumbed down our understanding of language, we continually strive for the lowest common denominator and we get absolute junk. Sometimes it is a single piece of paper that is written in "Chinglish" that describes the older version of the software and us users need to extrapolate the next set of commands that will make it work. Other times it is "obvious" when the author of the software wrote it, and lucky you get to be Captain Obvious (which doesn't always work).
A well written manual is a joy to read, and you will find this out when you actually see one in the wild. Most are relegated to museums now days.
Then again, I'm reminded about my "Klopper" which although I don't have the item, I do have the Ikea-type instructions.
As for icons, pretty soon Unicode will have code points for all of them.
What is needed is a separate line item in your phone bill that is the "contract subsidy" value that you are obligated to pay over the (nominally) two year period. After that, you get discounted, and your unlock code. Even nicer would be an "automatic" feature that the provider sends to your phone when the time comes, and a note in your bill.
Takes the "customer service" reps out of the loop. A "good thing" in anyone's book. Not to mention saves some $$$ in the process by not needing people to handle the calls to do the unlock.
The kickstand is an encapsulation of the problem with the Surface thingy. A nice traditional laptop has its screen attached nicely to the base where the keyboard is located, and it hinges nicely all by itself. This works out fine for a device sitting on your lap (thus the name!). The kickstand on the Surface thingy implies that it should rest on a desk of some sort, not up at a nice angle like a laptop screen. Even with the nice detachable keyboard, it doesn't balance well.
On the other hand, the iPad lies flat on a surface or can be held in your hand. Rarely is it propped up and used "desktop" style as the kickstand would have you do. So, the iPad (and its Android cousins) are of a different breed. They are meant to be "held", not "propped". As a previous commenter mentioned this makes them a "Consumer of information" product.
The "market" that Microsoft likes to sell into is the "Generator of information" segment, and a laptop is the device of choice here. It can sit on a desk, or it can be used as a lap device. The Surface goodie is a poor intimation of a laptop in this segment.
So, all the dancers in the world can't make it any better, as there are other devices that have better functionality (and probably at a cheaper price). My wife for one is (in my estimation) a "consumer" and the iPad suits her just fine. The times she actually uses a keyboard are for entering her mailing address/credit card number to buy something. She doesn't need/want the complexities of an attached keyboard and composing documents isn't there. Why bother with stuff more complex than it needs to be.
It seems as though Microsoft is trying to do what Microwave Oven makers are still trying to do: Add more and more useless features to a pretty basic device.
From the looks of it, this "vacation" is a last minute deal. If you want a hotel, lets say, and desire to pay $400/night, then you get 10 days. A $400/night hotel is pretty pricey, even in Hawaii. I stayed at a nice condo place for "only" $200 a night (it may have been less, I don't remember the details as my wife made the arrangements). The Airfare of $2500 (assuming round trip from Seattle, next to Microsoft) for two people comes to $1250, which is approaching first class/last minute fares. If you did your planning correctly, you could use your frequent flyer miles which would reduce that to $10 per person (lots of miles needed, but you DO have them!!). The rental car of $500 is also pretty pricey. We rented a car (with a tank of gas!) for about $230 or so.
All in all, this is one of those "Luxury" deals (lots of margin for the operator), or somebody's big dream. For that money, I could do a couple of vacations, and have money left over.
So, it is typical Microsoft, in the "let them eat cake" category!
Yes, my trip to Hawaii was back in September, so I don't think the prices have gone up THAT much!
I just looked at my router and its signal is specified as 17dBm, or about 50mw. Given the conversion efficiency of 33% (or so) indicated in the article, that gets you around 17mw. One problem here is that the traffic (and thus the transmission) is at most 50% and more like 10% (on a good day), so that gets you down to a time averaged value of 1.7 mw. Now take into consideration the dropoff (inverse square law) for the signal, and if you are even a little bit away from the originating antenna, you will get (I'm being conservative here) maybe 25%, which gets you down to MAYBE 1/2 milliwatt. If you think that this is 'meaningful' power you are sadly mistaken.
Moral of the story: Spend the $$$ on a battery. If you use the same amount of power as this system delivers (1/2 milliwatt on a good day) the battery will last quite a long time, and probably cost less as well in the long run.
Here in the USA, we have this silly thing called the 5th amendment. All the TV shows recite silly Miranda warnings:
You have the right to be silent...
Word of advise: Use it!. Shut up
On the other hand, since us IT people go through drives, it may just be handy to have an older drive that has random numbers written all over it. Unplugged and all that. Let them try to find out something from that Rorschach test.
The article begs the question: How does the author know all of these things??
They included the star "Altair". Fitting for ElReg.
As for finding life...
I heard a comment that it may just be that when a civilization gets to the point where it can communicate its presence to "outsiders" it doesn't have enough sense to contain its internal conflicts, and will self destruct before it actually gets the chance.
As to this happening here on Earth, it was postulated that we are close to a decision point.
As always, YMMV (See store for details), etc....
In my youth (the 60's) I have a wonderful dog that would complain when the food we served him was too hot. Usually this meant that he would bark at the food until it cooled, which it did in little time. I always relate this story to people when the supposed "cure" has nothing to do with the "symptom".
Yes, "Fats" is no longer with us. He was a 1/2 Basset, 1/2 friend of Basset (later estimated to be part beagle, part springer spaniel).
It all comes down to "she who must be obeyed". No more, no less. So, I refrain from putting knives in the dishwasher, and use an oil stone to sharpen them at reasonable intervals. Between that, the steel works well.
Now, for a definitive answer one needs to try to get Mythbusters to do a complete survey on the subject. There ARE lots of variables: Water type, detergent, additives temperature, length of exposure, knife composition, just to name a few.
So, after you pay the Nordstrom's bill, keep them out of the dishwasher. Peace and domestic tranquility will follow.
...is like trying to have a conversation across a gabbing large room (or across a football (soccer) pitch). The only way you can do it (if you can do it at all) is by yelling quite loud. Fortunately cell phones don't have that much power, and the cell towers are telling the offending device to (as a previous commentard said) shut itself off.
The peace and quiet in an airplane is a welcome change of pace.
Maybe the "leftie" version is only sold in the UK, Australia, and Japan (and New Zealand, Simon!).
The big problem is that those of us advancing in age have this "feature" of the body called presbyopia which is ever advancing. There are problems with glasses being needed to read anything close at hand.
Then there is the problem of encountering a policeman who doesn't take kindly to being "watched/recorded" and invents interpretations of laws to give you a citation.
As for the citation: The same rules can be applied to having a TV turned off in your front seat. It IS a TV, and it IS visible by the driver, but it IS turned off (duh!).
You have to cut corners. No way around it.
If they had standardized on one second trade resolution (all the trades take place AT the second tick) they could have built a better system. The problem there would be that the "high frequency traders" would be left in the dust looking for penny differences that weren't there.
Probably be better for all of us.
I do have some bias in this comment, but I'll just leave it at that.
That were introduced with the first 5150 PCs. Of course they were later augmented by the AT's design as well.
These have their roots in IBMs design of the IBM1130 (the same team did both designs). On that machine the interrupts were dedicated and "really strange" (been there, done that!). I'm sure that commentators here could enumerate the flubs, but a few are:
Interrupts
Slot 8 (on the XT)
Using the 8088
Microsoft
8 bit data bus
640k (ought to be enough...)
Keyboard (on the XT/PC). Improved a bit on the AT. Then having weird keycodes for dedicated keys (Insert, Home, Delete, End, PageUp, PageDown, etc.)
Ctrl-Alt-Delete (maybe, maybe not).
(Add yours here)
"Harlow told us that Nokia also wished to differentiate itself with its bundled software"
I thought that the "bundled software" that came with a windows p.c. was the stuff you wanted to get rid of, not keep around. Usually vendors throw all sorts of self serving junk in the "factory installation" just to sell stuff users don't need.
In this case?? Time will tell.
Cue up the "buy a keyboard" application (with dancing drones at the board room table)
Find and leak secrets of those who really need exposing. I put such things as Iran and North Korea and Al Queida [sp?] in this regard. Those "secrets" would be especially helpful in these "interesting" times.
Sure, there are secrets some countries keep, but how about being an "equal opportunity leaker".
Fair is Fair!!
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