Topic: Desktops 2011

[-<WillyP>-]

It is not about efficency, or bandwith or server load, it is about promoting thier service by getting a link back.

[SaladBadger]

Can you really not hotlink an imageshack image without a link back? I've done it before

Then again, these days I tend to avoid imageshack like the plague -- they've been doing some very annoying things lately, like forcing certain regions to register (likely paid if I remember correct) accounts to view images, heh.

[Crash]

Agreed about promoting the service (esp. with a view to advertising revenue).
Hell with them. Getting some decent hosting or setting up a little server for personal use is usually pretty inexpensive. Then you can do what you want.

[TechPro]

My newest "Desktop" ... yup, it's an iPad2

[NUMBERZero]

I have to say that I hope you didn't pay money for it.

[VANGUARD]

I hope not as well, most wallpaper is free  

[TechPro]

Wallpaper is from InterFaceLift.com (which is free).

My job got the iPad for me, and I gotta say ... it is very nice to have on hand (and handy).  

[Insert off-topic comments...]

With this thing I can (while away from my desktop or laptop computers, or at them):
1. Do multiple email accounts (I'm checking 4 currently, though I have around 14 accounts)
2. Surf the web (duh) and while Safari isn't the greatest (sorry Steve Jobs, you and I disagree) it actually does a pretty decent job.
3. Multiple Calendars (can be calendars tied to you email accounts)
4. Take notes anytime/anywhere (probably one of the best all-time uses for this thing) and in a I.T. job that is worth a lot.
5. Most wireless based network activities (ping, traceroute, telnet, packet analysis, signal strength, subnet tools, network speed tests, on and on ...), VNC, RDP, 5250 Terminal, SSH, etc.  (yes, I can easily remote control my Win2008 R2 servers with this device)
6. News apps, and info feeds, streaming, RSS, you name it.  Lots of these.  USA Today, BBC, MSNBC, PBS, NPR, Engadget, CNet, on and on...
7. Social networking.  Facebook, LinkIn, MySpace, Twitter, IM apps of all kinds, SMS messaging, Digg, StumbleUpon .... again, LOTs of stuff here.
8. Media (video, music, pictures, etc)  YouTube, GoogleVideo, Movie Trailers (Apple.com and others), IMDB, Pandora, iTunes (of course), MP3, and much more, including Google Earth.
9.  File handling.  Despite the opinion many get right off, it does do file handling, especially the the Internet "Cloud" by way of many apps (including Google Apps).
10. Video Conference.  It has two cameras (in front and in back) making it easy to snap pics or use as a web cam.  I got the WebEx app (for those of you who are familiar with WebEx video conferencing).
11. Read books.  Lots and lots of books.
12. Games.  Yes, we shan't skip that.

To give you a "peek" ... here's some additional pics.  One shows me reading the News through the BBC app, another shows the latest news of HP and Dell through "Flipbook", then a pic of me switching between apps (yes, it runs multiple apps at the same time), and lastely a very informative Weather app.  You don't get stuff this in-depth or immersive with the much smaller iPod Touch (I have one of those, too).

[... return to thread topic now]

[Crash]

Why do you have 14 mail accounts? Is life too long for you or something? I don't mean that nastily. I just read it and was like, Eh?

I think they should have called it the "Why?-Pad". I got a 5" android tablet that is a good size for browsing, has Flash for a start and makes a pretty good job of all the above. I've had it ages. It has a really good camera and it's built like a brick s***house too. It's pretty pocketable, makes calls and it was free with contract.
Apple really are the kings of marketing if they can get so many people to *pay* separately for a larger and maybe less-functional product. I say that with particular reference to the first IPad.

[TechPro]

You'd be right about the original iPad.  As for Flash ... I find I don't miss it that much.  Fewer and fewer sites are using Flash, and with good reason (but that's for another thread if we wish to go there).

14 email addresses... My "home" email accounts (I have 3, long story), email accounts for IM services (msn, yahoo, aim, icq) at home, email accounts for the same IM services when at work, work email account, 2 email accounts for printing and scanning services I maintain at work ... That's 14 and I have't even mentioned my "junk" accounts for when I sign up for stuff online (thus avoiding spam in my 'active' accounts).  

Yeah, my email is very compartmentalized...

[Crash]

I dunno, after all Flash has much higher runtime performance than HTML5 but HTML5 is obviously still in its infancy. Flash certainly has its uses and I think it will long into the future as well if my experiences with HTML5 are anything to go from. Certainly, for in-browser games you can't really beat it.

I hadn't considered all the instant messaging addresses that you pick up in life. I just use Windows Live but I'm dissatisfied with its reliability and the amount of advertising. I feel that when you pay well over £100 for the 'ultimate' version an operating system, you shouldn't have to be exposed to advertising when you use programs that ostensibly form part of it. Obviously, I understand that the Live Network costs money to run, which has to come from somewhere, but it does come as a slap in the face.

[karx-elf-erx]

HTML5 has bad performance? Quake online runs in HTML5 afaik ... bad performance? Don't think so.

[Crash]

I don't think so either.
I didn't say it had "bad performance".  Where did I say that?  Maybe you can look back and find where I said that because I can't find it.
If there's one thing I dislike, it's being misquoted or misrepresented. Could I has cheeseburger/apology?

What I did say was that "Flash has much higher runtime performance" and that's all I said.  That statement can be backed up by evidence and I did say that things would likely even-up once the technology matured a bit.
There are published demos and experiments right there on Youtube for you look for, done by people far more qualified than me that show that Flash has far superior performance to HTML5 in terms of handling large numbers of objects (ie. impressive particle effects and whatever) although I grant you that I saw those some time ago and things have likely improved. Large numbers of objects is one big thing that you need for online games development. That's why I said it was ideal "for in-browser games".

I don't draw many conclusions from that fact that "Quake Online" *might* run in HTML5 ... , AFAYK.  I can find something called "Quake Live".  According to Wikipedia "Quake Live" runs from a browser plugin that has to be downloaded, so I'm guessing it doesn't run ... in HTML5 although it doesn't seem to run in Flash either.  Aside from that, it is based on Quake III Arena and that game is 12 years old. I should know. I was too young to purchase it without my parents being there to lie about my age when it was released. Mind you, it was a good game and I got a *lot* of mileage out of it.

All I'm saying is that Flash has its uses. Now, Google seems to have got Quake II working in HTML5 but that game requires 90MHz worth of CPU time and no hardware acceleration in its original form. It is a product of a nobler era.  I don't know at all if the same is possible in any way with Flash, not having that much experience working with it but it looks as though the only reason this was done by Google was just as a "Haha, look. Mine's as big as yours." exercise. I wonder if poeple thought "what's the point" when it came to porting it to Flash and ported it to Windows Mobile or... whatever instead.

I can understand why people think Flash is a bad idea. I can think of quite a few reasons for that but I don't appreciate the way you try and slap me down based on "AFAIK" information that turns out to be completely wrong as far as I can tell.

I'm sorry if I come across as overly aggressive but I've kinda had my faith in humanity shaken by a certain argument that I unfortunately got tied up in at TorrentFreak.

[Darkflamewolf]

[Scyphi]

I've seen that pic before! It's a nice one.

[Crash]

It is awesome. I have a friend who runs the Sonic of Convention here in the UK. He was grateful for the original.
Tineye.com is a really useful website.