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Slashback: What Dell Knew, China's Fusion, Vista
from the sony-batteries-power-exploding-chinese-tokamak dept.
Dell knew of battery flaw last year. digihome writes, "Dell pinpointed the problem with faulty Sony notebook batteries almost a year ago but only called for a 22,000-unit recall at the time because it believed the problem was limited in scope. Only later, after more customers reported incidents of Dell laptops overheating or catching fire, did Dell realize that millions of its notebook PCs, not just thousands, could be at risk, according to government records and interviews with Dell spokesmen."
GNU/Linux to gain from Vista WGA crackdown? An anonymous reader writes, "Linux is set to take on the Desktop PC market with gusto. It is a well-known fact that most proprietary software companies lose a significant amount of their revenue because of illegal copying of their software. By deciding to clamp down on piracy in the forthcoming Vista OS, Microsoft is sending a clear message to pay up to use the software. The article suggests that a sizable group of people — especially in emerging countries — who do not care about the ideology of free software but expect the software and OS to be free will be swayed to embrace GNU/Linux."
China's fusion test was a hoax. dptalia writes, "On September 28th, China claimed to successfully initiate a fusion reaction. It has come out that the announcement was a hoax. In fact, no attempt to generate fusion was even made."
Vista startup chime will be optional. Seier writes, "Microsoft looks to have had a change of heart regarding its start-up chime. Weeks ago it was learned that the company was considering locking the startup sound down so that it could not be turned off. Ars Technica reports that Microsoft has added the option to disable the sound in the control panel. Meanwhile, Microsoft has still not revealed the startup sound, which will reportedly based on the guitar work of Robert Fripp."
Name that tune! (Score:3, Funny)
Trust me, it's going to be so popular that cell phone users will add it as a ring tone.
No wait! Someone will make DJ trance/tecno remixes of it.
OMG, I can't wait!!!
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Actually, a bit closer to the "ambient" subgenre, I have to admit I really do like the XP post-installation music. Not enough that I'd add it to my normal playlists, but I do let it play through to the end (far longer than necessary) when I have occasion to do an install.
As for Vista - Good move on MS's part to leave the startup sound changeable, considering that VERY few people actually do change their sounds, while I can think of no better way
C:\WINDOWS\system32\oobe\images\title.wma (Score:2)
ARTIST = Pink Martini
GENRE = ROCK
ALBUM = Sympathique
TRACKNUMBER = 2
DATE = 1997
COMPOSER = Jacques Marray
And did you know: OOBE stands for "Out Of Box Experience", not "Out Of Body Experience"
There's a bunch of weird little installer-type things in there.
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You need to be bent over a gun and caned! Apparently you haven't had to do all that many post install setups! Especially not on laptops whose volume controls don't enable until the post install is finished and you get to suffer through it at whatever arbitrary volume it decides to play a
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The sad thing is.... (Score:2)
Vista, Meet Linux (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems like a common theme, and not just because of piracy. Yesterday I switched to Ubuntu after trying Vista RC1; I haven't used Linux in almost 9 years. I even blogged [kennethpike.com] about it a little. Basically, Vista took too much control of my machine--moreso even than XP, which to this point hasn't really bothered me.
But I still had to use command-line interface to install programs. I didn't mind, and I love Ubuntu plus Beryl, but until that command line is 100% optional, the masses will not accept Linux, period. They'll use hacked copies of Vista, if necessary.
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Well, both of you could learn from each other (Score:2)
Yes, I now have to click "ok" 19 times to overwrite a file in C:\Program Files\, I had to disable three services just to activate my copy of Acrobat Professional, a bunch of apps can't write to same, and I'm generally being treated like a baby.
Go over to the other side, and wow, it's fast, and the desktop looks familiar, it's easy to see how to run an app, write a l
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If it's like any other Linux distro, it should fail with "Permission denied." There's no reason for normal-user code to write to /usr. Installing/removing apps (which is what brings about most changes to /usr) is up to root.
Besides, "random application" could well mean malware for all we know, and that's exactly the kind of crap you don't want getting installed.
Re:Vista, Meet Linux (Score:5, Insightful)
Not sure why you needed the CLI, as Ubuntu has Synaptic. Plus now there is EasyUbuntu [freecontrib.org] to get multimedia stuff working.
That said, I don't think "the masses" have the strong anti-CLI bent that geeks like to suggest they do. Many people who fit into "the masses" once used text-based programs--remember WordPerfect? Lotus 123? Just a few years ago all the students at my university used Pine for email, and nobody whined about how hard it was to use--maybe because it wasn't hard to use! Library catalogs all used to have text-based interfaces. Even now, many people use computer systems at work (ever heard of BPCS?) that have text-based interfaces. I've seen law librarians use the old text-based interfaces to Westlaw and Lexis.
If "the masses" hate CLI, why do they use Google? That involves formulating queries, typing them in. Why didn't they prefer the old Yahoo Directory way of picking from a menu of choices?
"The masses" have the same realization that geeks do: many GUI programs are designed for newbies. The problem is that you're not a newbie for long, but the GUI keeps you stuck in newbie mode. Long before I was a geek, I was frustrated when public libraries switched to GUI catalogs. GUI and web-based catalogs are easier to use when you're new, but you're not new for long, and after you're experienced clicking around with the mouse is very frustrating. That's why the law librarians use the text-based Lexis.
I often find CLI based programs to be easier to use, and I don't think "the masses" are any different.
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I really don't understand this point of view. I had an Atari ST - a GUI only beast and I didn't know what to do with a command line. Once I got hold of an application (gemini) which gave me a command line a lot of other things became easier. Quickly finding known text on your computer in an unknown location is difficult without some sort of text commands to let your computer know what to look for. There are alternatives to going through a maze of twisty menus
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There's still things you can't do on XP without invoking a dos shell. Doesn't seem to have kept the Great Unclued from adopting it in droves.
Requiring the userbase to learn bash syntax and the whole Unix/Gnu command set, that would be a barrier to adoption. Having the occasional job that can't be easy done without a command line? They're used to that.
Signed Drivers (Score:3, Interesting)
My biggest problem was that I downloaded the 64-bit version. The signed driver requirement turned out to be much more of a problem than I thought it would be. It's just one problem, but it literally made 20% of my favorite software packages uninstallable.
Apparently I've learned F8 on boot can skip this, but what a hassle...
Additionally the prompts for permission to perform various administrative tasks were extremely annoying, they happen in Ubuntu too but much less often and the timing just feels more
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Drivers==No Problem (Score:3, Informative)
Yeah, I don't know about drivers--I have not had any difficulty with drivers whatsoever, which is more than I can say about Windows. Of course I'm only one person. But Ubuntu didn't need any help from me to make all of my hardware work. Software packages, on the other hand, require me to drop to terminal most of the time. Like I said, I don't mind, but that's flat-out too much for most users to handle.
If Linux as an OS is going to remain a specialty OS for geeks, well, that's not all bad. But if we'r
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> providing a viable alternative to Microsoft, the command line has to go.
the gui seams equal to MS XP, in most linux flavors.
IE when troubleshooting networking in XP I always hit the command prompt in windows, you may be able to get the job done in a GUI (eventually), but their is no e
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Ubuntu has the easy to use Add/Remove programs, plus the more powerful Synaptic, and the ability to download
OpenSUSE is free, 10.1 has some problems but 10.2 should be great [opensuse.org]
I started with Ubuntu when Warty Warthog wa
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As a *nix n00b who has tried out a Linux installation on several occasions and succeeded only once, I think (1) the two problems you pick out are actually the same thing; and (2) you still haven't quite put your finger on it.
Yes, with Ubuntu the problem I had was with having to navigate esoteric driver names and
yeah right.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Sorry but yu guys misspelled FUD.
Microsoft became the king BECAUSE of piracy. the Dos and windows 3.11 days Microsoft products sucked. but they were the easiest to copy and spread like wildfire because free = better than buying it.
so get everyone using your products and guess what.... you get to be king.
500 kids using adobe photoshop = 500 new graphic artists that will want adobe photoshop at their job.
If you have the choice of the general populace using your product from piracy or a free alternative that is your competition, you bet your ass that you end up better off having all those people using your product.
Now, companies using illigit software? that IS a real damage to sales. as are the bootleg resellers.
not the 16 year old that wants to learn autocad, premier pro, SQL2000, or server 2003.
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Maybe if you'll study up on it a bit, you'll find that MS was expanding by leaps and bounds during that time, and they were doing it on sales of their software. They wouldn'
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Actually, it's probably more like 500 kids using adobe photoshop = 1 new graphic artist that will want adobe photoshop at their job.
Honestly. None of the people I've known with pirated versions of Photoshop (and I've known a lot) are on the path to being graphic designers or anything.
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Let
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Piracy is the convenient explanation. Microsoft's marketing is the convenient explanation. The truth lies elsewhere.
The IBM-PC and PC clone was an attractive and versatile platform, almost infinitely adaptable. The PC for the shop floor and the loading dock. The office and the den.
Everyone and his brother be
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Sounds like the tobacco companies. Any gas station or grocery store that reports a pack or carton of cigarettes stolen to their distributor can get discounts or free products to replace those that are stolen. The tobacco industry learned a long time ago that if a fifteen year old steals a pack of cigarettes, they may have lost one sale, but they've gained a life long customer.
Linux set to take on Desktop PC market with gusto (Score:5, Funny)
Isn't hoax a bit strong? (Score:5, Interesting)
"Actually, it was successful in getting plasma, usually called "first plasma" in the field. I had heard it was 200kA for 1.2 seconds. I'm would be shocked if they actually were using tritium in the system at this early stage, but I could be wrong. I'm betting that was the result of the scientist media interface."
I heard an early report of their first plasma being 200kA for 1.2 seconds. Sounds like they finished up the first go around at a bit higher current and twice the discharge length. There is also NO FUCKING WAY that they put tritium in the first week of operation. I think actually most machines don't even run with deuterium at first (which is the normal operating gas) but instead use plain old hydrogen. I don't think ITER is going to have tritium for the first 3 or 4 years of its operation. And yes, even if you are running just a deuterium plasma, you can still get DD fusion reactions.
I personally think "hoax" is a bit strong. Someone in the press got the story wrong and miscommunicated some facts. Sounds like to me China really has got their stuff together and they mean business. Hoaxes don't fit into that.
And before someone says some stupid shit about all tokamaks are going away for fusion research because z-pinches generate such hot plasmas...
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One of the first articles about this fusion reactor test appeared here english.people.com.cn [people.com.cn].
(They often copy from xinhua, maybe they are linked...)
It clearly says: During the experiment, deuterium and tritium atoms were forced together at a temperature of 100 million Celsius.
and : The first tests lasted nearly three seconds, and generated an electrical current of 200 kiloamperes, Wan Yuanxi, general manager of EAST, told Xinhua.
I would expect this website to rectify the story!
Common Hyperbole (Score:2, Interesting)
No.
The accurate statement is:
It is a well-known fact that most proprietary software companies lose some undetermined percentage of their potential revenue because of illegal copying of their software.
If it's revenue, they've already made the sale. To actually lose their revenue, you'd have to steal the money from
The Chinese Fusion report was still usefull to me (Score:3, Interesting)
"I was at a dinner tonight where one of my colegues was irritating our Chinese guests by making comments about the lack of a power grid in China, the chinese gentleman was getting rather defensive. I remembered this article and mentioned it is a positive light. It seems that he was very aware of, and proud of, the test. It saved the dinner party. So, this, even if it might not be a great scientific advance, was usefull to me."
I do find it interesting that while, here in China, evryone heard aboutt eh successfull test; no one seems to have heard about this correction. It seems to be, very much, a mational pride building thing. It comes as no supprise, looking in retrospect, that the initial report was released a week before the national week of celebration (the first week of October).
This is not a criticism of China. All people hear reports and news and twist it to meet what they want/hope/expect it to say. I was hoping it would be true, However, I doubted that it was. It was still a usefull thing to drop at a dinner to make the Chinese feel better.
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If bullshit is detected, the story gets posted.
If the bullshit is not detected, then the story is either sent back to the revision team, or it is deleted.
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They do, but they're sneakier than Microsoft about it.
Disclaimer: I read this on a Mac Blog
Instead of WGA & secret phone-home features, Apple sends out Leprechauns riding Unicorns and flying pink Elephants (for the overseas markets) to sneak into your house and check up on your licenses. When unlicensed software is found, the Leprechauns call in the Gremlins (who arrive astride Dust Devils) to plague your computer.
Reality distortion field?
You mean Ste
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Compatibility with Windows apps.
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In Vista, it is not a feature. It's an essential capability. (must... resist... saying... bug...)
It wouldn't sell at all without it.
And there is still Wine. And CeDeGa for gamers.
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God, you must be really scared of Vista if your arguments against it have descended to "It'll injure your genitals".
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OK, as long as laptops still have EVERY STINKING MOUSE GESTURE enabled by default, and as long as the settings for that crap are buried in some obscure place that's always proprietary to the laptop manufacturer. I mean, we have to have *some* time to waste when setting up the new machines.
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Not initially. But remember, they didn't know Windows at one point, now they prefer it because of experience with it and because of the network effects... so long as it is free (as in pirate). But if Microsoft actually succeeds in forcing them to buy it and they simply can't afford it then they try plan B, Linux. No they won't give a rats ass about Free vs free vs open source. But if we c
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And still make a profit. And keep their vendor lockin.
Look at gasoline/petrol around the world. the price per barrel is t
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There is a way to change it. I know for sure since I've been falsly accussed of
changing the startup sound to something that lasts around 90 seconds. In addition, I know that a "damaged" startup sound did get repaired on a reinstallation of MacOS X.
There's no information on how he changed it, or even if he stuck with an official version of the MacOS X system. However, there was difficulty in muting the sound while it was playing -
Re:Random passwords (Score:5, Funny)
()_£5-_I_9\_-4-{\-QQZ1?|420`_-]D66Ad\_PKe_`-__-
ptTt78TNk1FK6I1RYL3By7ymQNpKBK9OHcjuf96150rcaF9aD
D2X5Nj1eg3Dyh9yS2xf71DbvWn6j6dXkN2fYU3f7187vEsJaC
4kyOu67mBV6cxrEzp9RJmahO4HXG8o88cNE12PPK7nu05y7Pn
That's the same combination I have on my luggage!
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