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  1. Mercutio

    Something Random

    I'm a trainer, not a teacher. "Teacher" implies some sort of background in education and all the things that go with that, like developmental psychology and not wanting to murder the deliberately obnoxious.
  2. Mercutio

    Recommend a Laptop / Notebook (v. $800 / 14" 16:10 screen)

    Yeah. I brought a customer an SL510 last month to replace a Thinkpad R40 only to find that they wanted the R40 back because it had a 1024x768 screen.
  3. Mercutio

    Low power server solutions

    The router/access point for my apartment is built on a high-end ARM CPU, 512MB RAM, some Mini-PCI slots, a 2GB Compact Flash card and Linux. It does all those low-power server tasks pretty well. I suspect it would be acceptable for mail duties for a small number of users as well. I spent more...
  4. Mercutio

    Something Random

    I taught what will probably be my last-ever kid class today. I hate teaching 18 year olds. I hate kids. I don't relate to them. Today I had one who was trying to talk over me all morning. Eventually I told him "Shut up, and by shut up I mean that I want to smell your burning flesh before I hear...
  5. Mercutio

    Recommend a Laptop / Notebook (v. $800 / 14" 16:10 screen)

    I really do wish the SL-series Thinkpads came with 16x10 screens.
  6. Mercutio

    Recommend a Laptop / Notebook (v. $800 / 14" 16:10 screen)

    I've not read the entire document. I remember looking at it when it was released and I found their methodology and reporting flawed (as Stereodude said, they don't even break down product lines between ODMs). Unless their methodology and that document have been substantially revised and more...
  7. Mercutio

    Recommend a Laptop / Notebook (v. $800 / 14" 16:10 screen)

    I like the Lenovo T410. That's what I'd buy for myself. That study suggests that Toshiba notebooks are reliable. This is contradicted by reality and all of my experience. In fact, this roughly sums up my opinion of that study:
  8. Mercutio

    Recommend a Laptop / Notebook (v. $800 / 14" 16:10 screen)

    The Squaretrade study is based on machines that are sold on Ebay. So we're talking about lease-returned business machines that are probably a few years old being compared to brand new systems, without any weighting or identification between business and consumer models, new or used or weighting...
  9. Mercutio

    iPhone syndrome

    I'm not sure. I've only ever done it on iphones, crackberries and WinMo. Reviews I have read say it doesn't, but as far as I know it's not available yet for anyone to buy yet. I usually get parts from cellphoneshop.net. They do a good job of having cheap phone accessories.
  10. Mercutio

    Something Random

    No. Not locally on any of my systems nor remotely on either Gmail (where I believe the messages originated) or Yahoo. Does that mean whatever attacked was smart enough to delete the sent items, or does it mean that the thing that attacked just harvested my contacts list along with my email...
  11. Mercutio

    iPhone syndrome

    There's supposed to be an extended capacity battery. It doesn't seem to be available yet. Also, it's a good idea to turn off crap you aren't using. If you're being served by 4G, you don't need the 3G radio or 802.11. You can probably turn off Bluetooth, too. You should also set your phone to...
  12. Mercutio

    Something Random

    I'm not exactly sure. Google has had some site-level vulnerabilities. Maybe I got zapped in some cross-site scripting attack.
  13. Mercutio

    Something Random

    It appears that my gmail account was hacked. I had a strong password and there's no evidence of malware on any of my systems but everyone on my gmail contact list was sent a message containing a random link to a viagra spam site using my default address for sending mail (which is actualy a yahoo...
  14. Mercutio

    Cheap unlocked processors?

    It'll probably lead to another decent bump in clock speeds if nothing else. More than anything else I suspect these new unlocked chips are a counter to AMD's $200 - $300 six (physical) core Phenom IIs.
  15. Mercutio

    When to Build New System

    It can still be activated. You can obtain it through downgrade rights on Open License purchases of Windows 7 Professional and there are still OEM copies floating around the retail channels. Until the beginning of the month it was possible to exercise downgrade rights on OEM and Retail copies of...
  16. Mercutio

    Cheap unlocked processors?

    Maybe they're waiting to roll out 32nm because they don't have yields yet? Or maybe the refresh somehow offers enough of a performance increase that they're holding it off while they sell out 45nm stuff?
  17. Mercutio

    Most Home Broadband Users Don't Know Their Speed

    I was in New Albany, immediately across the river from Louisville, for a month. It was crappy there. And I could stream video from home when I was in the office where I was working, but not in my hotel room with the sucky wireless connection and no active ethernet ports.
  18. Mercutio

    Why I don't use Linux, or haven't....All I wanted to do was install Java on Firefox..

    If you just want to play games, get Dosbox and be done.
  19. Mercutio

    Cheap unlocked processors?

    I think he has 1336 stuff. I just bought four i7/860s. These weren't available last week and I needed to get those machines built, but I'm really curious what I could do with one of those.
  20. Mercutio

    Hybrid Drive

    I don't keep an optical drive in my notebooks. I keep an extra battery. And I want capacity. I already have one notebook with an 80GB X-25M. I really prefer to store a decent collection of my personal data on a machine, rather than having to connect to a file server for everything. And yes, I...
  21. Mercutio

    Most Home Broadband Users Don't Know Their Speed

    I can play video files with no lag or dropped frames over a VPN connection to my home file servers, if the internet connection where I happen to be is fast enough. :D
  22. Mercutio

    Most Home Broadband Users Don't Know Their Speed

    Youtube does offer 1080p streams, ddrueding.
  23. Mercutio

    Why I don't use Linux, or haven't....All I wanted to do was install Java on Firefox..

    I'm installing FC13 right now on vmware server 1.0 directly from the source .iso. It's working just fine for me.
  24. Mercutio

    SSDs - State of the Product?

    Short of games, I don't see how you people use that much space for non-OS software.
  25. Mercutio

    Something Random

    No snow implies California or some redneck shithole. Are there any other options? Honestly, I don't think it matters very much. "Home" is where my stuff is and all the outside is to me is the twenty feet of space between my car and someplace I actually want to be.
  26. Mercutio

    Something Random

    I've been in BP's North American Crisis Response center. One of the things I remember is that the guys who had diplomas hanging on their office walls in that area had degrees in Economics and Psychology, and that there were lots of MBAs. What I thought was striking at the time was that they...
  27. Mercutio

    Ubuntu 10.04 issues

    I can attach the same /home to multiple Linux installations if I so choose; I haven't done that for a while, but it used to be nice to switch between SuSE and Fedora on the same machine. I can segregate user data on an entirely different drive (yay!) for ease of administration, in particular...
  28. Mercutio

    HTPC build

    I don't think that's an exactly ideal set of parts to work with. That's probably overkill in the video card department, for one thing. I'd probably look at something I could fit in an Antec NSK-2480, for starters. My current HTPC just has a simple Gigabyte G31-based motherboard and an E5300...
  29. Mercutio

    Hybrid Drive

    I'm willing to buy one. If it makes my non-SSD-having Thinkpad faster, that can only be a good thing.
  30. Mercutio

    Something Random

    I support my brother. That's not the same thing.
  31. Mercutio

    Something Random

    Just something on Sunday. Most of this weekend, I'm helping my parents pack for their move to one of those states where they still fly confederate flags and haven't discovered shoes yet. My parents are moving to a home that cost three quarters of a million dollars and my dad still won't pay for...
  32. Mercutio

    Ubuntu 10.04 issues

    When I install Linux, I always separate /home and /var from everything else. It makes a lot of sense to me to be able to make user data, logs and email distinct from other OS data.
  33. Mercutio

    Is it paranoia to consider using a VM OS, and browser, all the time, for surfing?

    Why not just use Linux as your day-to-day machine for doing work if you're really concerned about viruses and malware?
  34. Mercutio

    iPhone syndrome

    I'm looking in to registering as a Sprint Small business customer rather than an individual. That will let me get an EVO with service for $45/month instead of $80. Unfortunately, other than some statements by the Small Business Service, no one at Sprint seems to be able confirm that price point.
  35. Mercutio

    Something Random

    I've never played Pac Man either. Getting to go to an arcade was a very rare treat when I was little and Pac Man didn't have any space ships or explosions, and therefore seemed a poor use for a precious quarter.
  36. Mercutio

    Something Random

    I suspect I'd be equally miserable anywhere else that is not my apartment. This is why I do not take vacations.
  37. Mercutio

    Something Random

    I hate Louisville with the passion of a million exploding suns. I have seen Iron Man 2 nine times and Robin Hood twice.
  38. Mercutio

    Opinions on Google Chrome? APPS?

    In non-design fields, just having your resume in a non-Word format is reason enough to reject it.
  39. Mercutio

    Recommend a Laptop / Notebook (v. $800 / 14" 16:10 screen)

    I think the main reason high resolution notebook screens are hard to come by is that baby boomers don't like wearing their reading glasses.
  40. Mercutio

    $@!! DVD burning software

    Turning things into discs is something I gave up on quite a while ago. You could always try stealing a copy of a prosumer package like S*ny Vegas or the like and trying that. I have to think that if you've been at it this long, a couple hundred dollars for something that actually works is...
  41. Mercutio

    Rumor - 4TB hard drive from Hitachi

    My needs would presently be best met with an LTO changer of some sort. Sob.
  42. Mercutio

    Rumor - 4TB hard drive from Hitachi

    What use is four measly terabytes?
  43. Mercutio

    Something Random

    I sincerely hope you have some plans for moving forward. Maybe it's 'cause I'm living in 15%+ Unemployment-land, but right now I have to think a steady paycheck is worth a hell of a lot of aggravation. One way or the other, I hope stuff works out for you. I'm pretty sure my own job isn't going...
  44. Mercutio

    Videoconferencing?

    I did say "apparently." Presumably it's a bug they'll work out at this point.
  45. Mercutio

    Watercooling

    That seems like a lot of money and a lot of work. What I found out when I got my system noise to satisfactory levels was that there was nothing I could do about the noise from my fridge, from the road outside my apartment or from the train tracks a few blocks away. Also, since I've had a...
  46. Mercutio

    Videoconferencing?

    Also the new version of Skype apparently supports group video chats.
  47. Mercutio

    Videoconferencing?

    I do some work with Polycom telepresence systems. They're really, really nice if you want to put something together that's more serious than a $60 webcam and a copy of Skype. Entry-level camera setups are maybe $1000 but Ebay has them for more like $300. On the other hand, a $60 webcam can look...
  48. Mercutio

    iPhone syndrome

    Best Buy is offering the EVO for a flat $199 with a contract signup. No rebates or crap to fill out. And yes, I am, and there's no way it makes financial sense to give it up, jesus phone or no.
  49. Mercutio

    Opinions on Google Chrome? APPS?

    It's not my fault that Adobe is gunning for status as the worst technology company on Earth. Those twunts really, really, really need to get some religion on the idea of making secure software. It needs to happen yesterday, and then they need to perform an apology in the form of a single-stroke...
  50. Mercutio

    Rumor - 4TB hard drive from Hitachi

    Anyone think it's possible that they'll release those beasts at a sub-$250 price point?
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