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06-09-2005, 08:19 PM
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#1
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 62
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Neat little software app
Check out this neat thing called Konfabulator. It let's you use all these cool little applications called widgets, all on one screen. And the screen can "stick" so that the applications stay up when all the other windows are minimized so it looks like they are on your desktop. Pretty cool. I'm attaching a screenshot of the set up I've been playing with tonight. I have no connection to these people. Just thought I'd share something I ran across. http://www.konfabulator.com/
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Re: Neat little software app
06-09-2005, 08:51 PM
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#2
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Losing my whump
Posts: 22,708
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Re: Neat little software app
Take that apple off that screen right now or i'm sending someone down there!
Oh yeah, we're all friends now
__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.
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Re: Neat little software app
06-09-2005, 11:41 PM
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#3
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 911
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Re: Neat little software app
Kapsules is another program similar to that.
Apple has made a lot of 'right' moves the past several years... Moving to x86 (ESP Intel) won't be one of them I think....
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Re: Neat little software app
06-10-2005, 09:09 AM
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#4
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: San Diego
Posts: 5,267
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Re: Neat little software app
Is that move meant to save production cost? Their products benefit from a stellar image of quality right now, why risk tarnishing that? It's like they are the BMW of computers, and they are considering a merger with Ford.
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Re: Neat little software app
06-10-2005, 09:24 AM
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#5
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oahu
Posts: 26,856
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Re: Neat little software app
Quote:
Originally Posted by BristolBane
It let's you use all these cool little applications called widgets, all on one screen.* And the screen can "stick" so that the applications stay up when all the other windows are minimized so it looks like they are on your desktop.*
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That might be a tool used by other websites too.* Our kid has the Harry Potter book-release countdown widget on our screen and we're probably going to have to tranquilize her in a couple weeks.
35 days & 18 hours to go-- buy Scholastic stock!
I can see a big market here in designing clever graphics for ER countdowns on countless cubicle monitors.* BMJ, Laurence, et al, feel free to use this Lazy Entrepreneur idea and remember me kindly when you sign your first $1M contracts...
__________________
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Co-author (with my daughter) of “Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence.”
Author of the book written on E-R.org: "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement."
I don't spend much time here— please send a PM.
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Re: Neat little software app
06-10-2005, 09:27 AM
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#6
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oahu
Posts: 26,856
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Re: Neat little software app
By the way, Bristol, congrats on your taste in classic rock. I'm currently torturing our kid with that CD in the car, but she knows that good behavior means we'll move more quickly from the David Lee Roth era to the Sammy Hagar phase...
__________________
*
Co-author (with my daughter) of “Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence.”
Author of the book written on E-R.org: "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement."
I don't spend much time here— please send a PM.
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Re: Neat little software app
06-10-2005, 11:26 AM
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#7
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Losing my whump
Posts: 22,708
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Re: Neat little software app
Quote:
Originally Posted by Laurence
Is that move meant to save production cost? Their products benefit from a stellar image of quality right now, why risk tarnishing that? It's like they are the BMW of computers, and they are considering a merger with Ford.
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Motorola/IBM processors simply lag behind Intel in pure performance and frequency of release. Now Intel has dual cores, dual cpu's on a chip, all sorts of extensions for multimedia, etc. Plus the price/performance ratio is definitely not motorola/IBM's strong suit.
As far as "bmw quality", there is nothing in a macintosh computer parts-wise that is any higher quality or anything special vs a similar high quality PC. My wife used to have an imac...about 4 years ago. Had a maxtor disk drive, the same 'winmodem' chip you might find on a $15 pci card, etc. I was sort of disappointed when I opened it up to replace the hard drive (which failed after 3 years, probably heat because they refuse to put a fan in the things) and saw the components used. I had bought a pile of marketing laid on top of a fairly ordinary hardware platform.
As far as it being a 'mistake' to change suppliers...there is bound to be at least a little software hiccupiness moving from one architecture to another. Apple did it once already when they moved from the motorola 68k architecture to the powerpc. There were problems. They werent horrible. As far as product quality, Intel cpu's have one of the highest reliability and longevity records in the semiconductor business. The estimated average life cycle of one of the original pentium processors was over 100 years.
I think that'll do...
__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.
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Re: Neat little software app
06-10-2005, 01:22 PM
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#8
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: San Diego
Posts: 5,267
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Re: Neat little software app
Hey I run intel myself, no complaints. I guess I bought into the marketing hype, thought they charged more because they were all hand built by master craftsman wearing wooden shoes or something.
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Re: Neat little software app
06-10-2005, 01:27 PM
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#9
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Losing my whump
Posts: 22,708
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Re: Neat little software app
Yeah, I think I spent $1200 on that machine when she asked me for it. She was doing a lot of digital photography (still and mini-dv) at the time. I was disappointed with the intel based offerings. You could buy a $2000+ Sony or a couple of other 'multimedia pcs' at the time and get something sort of decent. Mostly it was a bunch of cobbled together software products that didnt work smoothly with each other. I went and had a long talk with my counterpart in consumer/home marketing and told him I was being compelled to buy a mac because the software was just too well integrated and too smooth for me to spend extra for an intel based machine that wasnt as good. He agreed...apples ability to control the hardware, OS and much of the application software is a very strong advantage.
At the time, I could have gotten equal raw horsepower and features for ~$500-550 with an intel based machine vs that $1200 mac. But the mac was purty, had color matching peripherals, and she was able to learn to use it for what she wanted to do in a very short time. It was quiet and stylish. She liked it.
But on disassembly I was very unimpressed with the contents, although the build quality and design were very nice. But something that heats the hard drive to the point where it whines loud enough to hear in the next room requiring replacement isnt an engineering marvel from where I stand. Heck, the new one I put in there started whining a year later :P
__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.
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Re: Neat little software app
06-10-2005, 01:32 PM
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#10
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 524
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Re: Neat little software app
I heard about these guys. They got pissed-off when Apple copied their software (instead of licensing it or acquiring the company) in an OS-X release. Then they threated to move to Windows.
Apple's move to x86 is smart. I'd love to switch from Windows to OS-X on my white box. Funny thing is that Jobs was just touting the speed of the G5 and how important 64 bit is. Reminds me of all the talk of the silent mac (no fan). Talk about a flip-flop.
The 68K to PPC transition was painful for Apple. I expect this migration will be easier as there's probably a lot less assembly code in OS-X. Afterall BSD already runs on x86. I bet there's a team of engineers busily porting the Altivec code right now.
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Re: Neat little software app
06-10-2005, 01:37 PM
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#11
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: San Diego
Posts: 5,267
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Re: Neat little software app
I bet, it's Linux based, and I've set up linux on intel boxes myself, so imagine if you had an actual smart person do it.
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Re: Neat little software app
06-10-2005, 01:48 PM
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#12
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Losing my whump
Posts: 22,708
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Re: Neat little software app
Quote:
Originally Posted by JB
The 68K to PPC transition was painful for Apple. I expect this migration will be easier as there's probably a lot less assembly code in OS-X. Afterall BSD already runs on x86. I bet there's a team of engineers busily porting the Altivec code right now.
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Apples had almost all of their code running on x86 for some time now. They've had an active product development team in place since ~2000 by my lousy recollection implemented by poor intellect.
A floating alternative, if nothing else, was a nice tool to use against their existing suppliers to maintain product availability and reasonable pricing.
Apparently IBM/motorola decided to try calling their bluff, or missed the 'third warning' on product availability or performance.
And i'll say it again...64 bits on the desktop is a complete and total waste with the exception of maybe a few thousand people. However there is a dothan (I think) processor coming around for the desktop with 64 bit capabilities, so its there for marketing purposes if needed. The dothans smaller die pentium-m architecture would lend itself well to at least the smaller macs...low power, low heat, possibilities for some passive cooling if you use a really, really big heat sink.
__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.
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Re: Neat little software app
06-10-2005, 01:53 PM
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#13
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: San Diego
Posts: 5,267
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Re: Neat little software app
For the record, this was one of the most brutal and blatant thread hijacks I've ever participated in!
BristolBane, that is a cool tool, I would probably install it if I ever got around to getting a better video card and got two bad a** monitors connected to it. One screen for all the little things like music, headlines, ticker etc. and one for posting on this board handling the finances or other home tasks.
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Re: Neat little software app
06-10-2005, 01:55 PM
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#14
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Losing my whump
Posts: 22,708
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Re: Neat little software app
Quote:
Originally Posted by Laurence
For the record, this was one of the most brutal and blatant thread hijacks I've ever participated in!
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And the best part is, there is no additional charge for this service!
__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.
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Re: Neat little software app
06-10-2005, 04:16 PM
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#15
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: San Diego
Posts: 5,267
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Re: Neat little software app
http://biz.yahoo.com/weekend/appleintel_1.html
Long and short of it: consumers won't notice(?)
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Re: Neat little software app
06-10-2005, 04:25 PM
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#16
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Losing my whump
Posts: 22,708
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Re: Neat little software app
I'd agree with that. I'm going to bet that the vast majority of mac users couldnt tell you who made the processor in the one they own. They might know its a g3 or a g5 or the MHz but I'd bet thats about it.
__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.
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Re: Neat little software app
06-10-2005, 04:32 PM
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#17
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 4,459
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Re: Neat little software app
TH, do you remember IBM's secret PPC 615 project about 10 years ago? They reverse-engineered the Pentium microcode and built a chip that could run both PPC and IA32. It was pretty cool, but it got killed right around the time they were ready to go to silicon. I wasn't close enough to the team to get the real justification for killing the project, but I think it would have been interesting if they had gone to market.
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Re: Neat little software app
06-10-2005, 04:39 PM
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#18
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Losing my whump
Posts: 22,708
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Re: Neat little software app
Doesnt ring a bell. Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen though...
I did see some microcoded risc machines set to run an x86 instruction set. Slowwwwwly....
__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.
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Re: Neat little software app
06-10-2005, 04:54 PM
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#19
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 4,459
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Re: Neat little software app
Quote:
Originally Posted by th
Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen though...
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Perhaps, but this was IBM. They had lawyers sitting on the team to ensure it was clean. I heard performance was good. I think it came down to economics. They probably realized that the market for such a chip was some small intersection of Mac and PC users rather than the union.
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Re: Neat little software app
06-10-2005, 06:21 PM
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#20
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 62
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Re: Neat little software app
Quote:
Originally Posted by Laurence
For the record, this was one of the most brutal and blatant thread hijacks I've ever participated in!
BristolBane, that is a cool tool, I would probably install it if I ever got around to getting a better video card and got two bad a** monitors connected to it. One screen for all the little things like music, headlines, ticker etc. and one for posting on this board handling the finances or other home tasks.
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Oh, that's ok. I like to talk Macs too. Wish I could afford one! Maybe in a year or two.
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