Code on stone tablet deciphered

Subject: Macbook batteries have performance problems

I may have stumbled upon the source code for the Apple software patch to fix the swollen batteries. I am no programming expert, but this looks as though it may just work. It is labeled V0.1, and thus may only be a beta, so perhaps any real programmers reading this could improve on this early revision...

# OSX macbatterydeflatepatchV0.1

/usr/share/acpi-support/power-funcs
/etc/default/acpi-support

if [ `batterysize` == 1 ]; then exit; fi
if [ `batterysize` > 1 ]
then
for x in /tmp/.rootgod/*; do
issue_jcommand=`battery, this is your creator speaking. I, the spiritual leader of all things cool and shiny in the known universe,command thee to instantly comply with My will and cease causing this sleek pastel gadget to look obscenely pregnant. I COMMAND THEE TO REARRANGE THY MOLECULES AND REASSUME THE SIZE TO WHICH YOU WRRE CREATED TO BE.'
fi
done

else

with echo $x | sed s#/tmp/.rootgodindex/$$$`
getOSXuser;
if [ x"$JAUTHORITY" != < 100]; then
export MINDSET=":$reset"
/usr/share/-support/mindblank
fi

for x in /tmp/.rootgod/*; do
issue_silent_juserprompt=
you suddenly feel like just recycling your battery, but do not feel pressured by those heathen environmentalists who are not of our sect and call us the un-green...just chuck it it the trash and run like hell before it detonates so that you may live to purchase more applegadgets in the future. Get thee to the Appleshrine. You will speak these words to My servants there "I must have a new macbattery...here is my wallet...please add ten dollars to the bill for the stock option defense fund...thankyou, Apple is great, great is the Apple, Amen". Put the battery in your macbook, and reassume communion with the flock.
fi
done

Doc

Subject: $100 Laptop is JUST what they need (wink wink)

"Kids in developing countries will get a free Google email account and access to YouTube, which will no doubt be a great comfort as they lie starving to death while suffering from Aids, Malaria and Ebola."

Spot on. While a noble effort, the $100 laptop program is misguided. Plus, given all of the fetish porn, violent videos, and cruel hate sites available on the Net, it could be argued that we are just exposing new populations to levels of depravity that simply can't be good for the mind. And yet what concerns me most is this: if third world people are going to become computer users, which outsourced tech support number should they call for help?

Tuco

Subject: Amd's Debt - voodoo financing

I love it how tech pages seem to understand billion dollar corporations. While this is my favorite tech site by leaps and bounds, it really is lacking when it tries to explain or understand corporate moves like the one AMD did in going into 2+ billion debt.

I agree with the other article today that says that no matter of marketing, stock price, perceived financial opinion, etc., will truly ruin AMD. I always find it funny how things like buyouts, big cuts, whatever, that effect stock prices have absolutely nothing to do with the stock's price in the end. In the end, it is the sick assed chips that amd puts out that win them a lot of cash. Odd. A company who makes a good product makes more money. hm. Makes me wonder when M$ will fall.

Wakrather

Subject: The Inq on 3DMV DX10 Only

Hi Mike,

rather than complaining, I just want to check if this is how you guys really feel...since now that YouGamers.com is up and running we have been able to prove that we can correlate our database of 14 million benchmark results with PC Game Reviews and then help people get the correct hardware to play the games.

Cheers,
Oliver Baltuch
VP Sales and Marketing North America
Futuremark Inc.

Subject: Pirates of Canuckistan!

Yaaaaarrrgh, me hearties!

We pirates of dar North Atlantic (and Pacific) already be payin' booty to her Majersty dar Queen in the form of a 'recordable media levy'!

Such levy is supposed* to be shar'd and distributed amongst the actors, minstrels, and them singin' 'n dancin' ladies, enslaved as they are to dar mighty recordin' pigopolies.

They can takes me Dee-Vee-DEE recordin' device, down in Davies Jones' locker, when they pries it from me cold dead fingers!!!

Kind Regards, Your's Truly, etc,

A Canuck Pirate

Subject: aaaarrrrgggghhhh.... another bloody Andrew Thomas article

I have a few questions:

1. did Mr Thomas forget to place a link to whatever source he got his information because he didn't want people to find out that he's been distorting the information just a bit? Google search turned up a several likely candidates, such as (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070426/us_nm/usa_laptops_dc). Or have I terribly wronged Mr Thomas, and his article was in fact _the_ original? Nah...

2. $176 price is the base price, US price would be even higher. Has Mr Thomas taken classes in basic English comprehension past the primary school level?

3. "it needs only two watts of power as a result of using flash memory rather than hard disks"... the change from HDD to flash drive alone isn't going to account for the decrease from 40W to 2W, there's a boatload of other things that contribute to the power savings. Why is Mr Thomas writing for a technology news site?

4. "Kids in developing countries will get a free Google email account and access to YouTube, which will no doubt be a great comfort as they lie starving to death while suffering from Aids, Malaria and Ebola." This is just so ignorant on so many levels that I really should just leave it alone and hope that Mr Thomas's ignorance isn't contagious.

5. Why does Mr Thomas he has to disparage anything that does not conform to his limited sense of the world? I suppose I have made rather rude comments about him as well, but the difference between us is that, he is supposed to be a journalist, whereas I am just some nobody. He has a responsibility to provide and maintain certain standard in his articles that many many people will read.

Finally, Judging by the "something called Linux" comment and his previous "articles", I'd guess that Mr Thomas is just not happy that Negroponte's device does not run Windows. Well, Mr Thomas, don't worry, if you were able to dig around a bit more, you would read reports about that they have been working with Microsoft so that it will run some reduced form of Windows XP.

PPS Wang

Subject: Recent lack of R600 coverage.

You guys at the inquirer have had at least one article on the R600 daily fireing up the product. Since news articles hit the web with poor performance results I haven't heard a peep from your site about that. All coincidences asside, I was wondering when you anti-capitalist, cynical, ATI fanboy, disappointment wallowers (or nitpickers if you will) were going to publish news of results from the likes of anandtech.com.... or... are you just waiting for more 'official' results. (Unlike the gun your jumping on the 8800 Ultra). heh

And just for the record, I own an X1900XT and love my card... so no I'm not an Nvidian, I simply hate geeky favoritism.

Kane

Subject: Comment on AMD claims Barcelona K10 will knock Intel dead

Hello,

I would like to make a little comment about the comment of Sascha Krohn : (Speaking about AMD) "they are too greedy to spend money on it, thats why. they think they can save money this way. somebody should tell them that they should stop spending money alltogether, they would get to their goal much quicker, save a huge amount of money and then bankrupt the company."

I don't understand how someone that lives for free in an accomodation provided by AMD can make that kind of comment.

When you place yourself against something, why do you take advantage about it?

Midie Nnemi

Subject: Vista and Games

Just in case you don't know, I recently discoverd a game, which runs way better under vista than under xp: Rainbox Six Vegas!

On my machine, E6600, 8800gtx, 3,2 GB Ram, Dual Boot XP Pro and Vista Ultimate on one 500GB Harddrive, Dell 30" 2560x1600, newest drivers of course, Vegas is pretty much unplayable. On Vista it runs most of the time pretty smooth. I didn't do a benchmark, but we are probably talking here of 30 to 50 percent performance increase!.

(note: Widescreen patch from http://www.widescreengamingforum.com, R6 Vegas Version 1.04, Maximum video settings).

Alex K.

Subject: $176 laptops head for the US

"Kids in developing countries will get a free Google email account and access to YouTube, which will no doubt be a great comfort as they lie starving to death while suffering from Aids, Malaria and Ebola. µ"

Brought tears to my eyes for this morning. ^_^

Truth is, given the limitations of charity and even more limited resources, this program has due merits in being selective on pricing and distribution. In effect, though one can debate about it, charging higher for developed nations subsidizes the rest.

In my spare time I put together PCs from parts I scrounge up from friends and customers. You'd be amazed what an old P3 800E or K6-2 450MHz can do for people, let alone the "junk" Athlon64 3000+ we occasionally get from the good folks in Japan.

The problem as to why old PCs can't be so easily recycled for use in the developing world is largely the need to support using it (granted one has sorted out the logistics, set up and stuff).

Interestingly though it would be great to extend the OPPC project to an installable suite on other PC's so that the educational programs can be used on surplus hardware elsewhere.

Wilbert

Subject: Canada's branded as a "Pirate"

Being that I'm Canadian and have lived here all my life I have learned one thing about the government here. They are a bunch of backroom dealing crooks and to top it all off they are probably the most incompitent government in the world. Thanks to the good people in Canada this whole nation doesn't fall apart.

Now if the government are crooks do you think anything will be done... nope, even if they weren't crooks and really tried they would still get nowhere since they are so damned incompitent. Good luck IIPA but as long as it is the way it is Arr Matey!!!

:D
Dan B

Subject: $176 laptops head for the US

Dear Sir I am writing to you to correct your article on the SPCA50x Linux webcam driver.

Whilst Michel has been the main maintainer for several years on this project, I actually initiated the project and produced the first video stream from this camera chipset. You may confirm this by reading the source code history or looking at the README file in the driver distribution.

Michel's work has been very valuable and he has added a very large number of additional cameras to this driver, but omitting my contribution significantly changes the history of this driver. Michel's contributions have largely been adding additional camera support by tweaking the original framework implemented by myself. It is not a 'Lone' project, and I notice that appropriate credit was given to the other projects on which this work was based.

Thank you for your attention.

Joel Crisp (Da Cydergoth)

Subject: shista

coming form a background of previouly manufaturing excerbition stand machines for chimpzila, vole, ubisoft and samsung, i quite frankly find it hillarious to read about the ongoing vista issues, vista is the ropeyest peice of beta malware ever released, the only reason it was shipped in this state is becase it was over budget, late and preasure from the "STUPID" end users who demanded it and are now "B!tch!in" that it dosnt work.

put bluntly why would anyone in any frame of mind never mind their right one choose to replace the stability, performance and compatability that xp has and trade it in for an os platform that has none of this, and will not even come close until sp1.

what people have forgoten all to soon is that pre sp2 xp still wasnt right, best thing you can do with any new machine you buy is pull vista off it before it even boots to arrow desktop (or whatever its called) and degenerate back to xp, this is what al businesses are doing and have had to do since january when dell stopped shipping boxes with xp, all businesses have the right idea let all the "mug" home users,geeks and those keeping up with the jones have all the issues. i would rather have a pc that works and a stable network to support than upgrade all of our company workstations to a platform thats foundations have been built in quick sand

Lee

Subject: Best internet radio station online

I've got an excellent solution to the internet radio problem: CKUA (www.ckua.com), the oldest radio station in Canada (in which land Marconi demonstrated in 1901 the first trans-continental wireless telegraph, "radio"). For instance check here for International Marconi Day, which had just been held recently: http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/ns/marconi/activ/index_E.asp

CKUA, which was founded in 1927 on the University of Alberta campus in Edmonton, Alberta, is the oldest radio station in Canada and is planning to celebrate its 80th birthday in November 2007. It is the first educational radio station in Canada, the first public broadcaster in Canada, and one of the first in Canada to broadcast on the internet. Furthermore, they broadcast one of the most eclectic and esoteric mixes of radio anywhere, whether on-the-air or online, and derive next to no income from advertising: instead they rely mostly on listener donations. In fact the station is so beloved by listeners world-wide that they generate about 60% of their revenues from donations (commercials -- what few there are -- and sponsorships provide about 20%). Currently CKUA operates about 500 internet feeds and are well-worth a listen by anyone who misses the loss of whatever internet station they had listened to.

Another interesting story regarding the internet and CKUA: on March 20, 1997, when CKUA had been taken off the air due to lack of public funding, it was via the internet that the listeners organized together and set up the CKUA foundation to take back the station on April 14, 1997, from the government-appointed private directors who had run it into the ground financially. There was such a groundswell of grass-roots support that the station generated over $1 million of charitable funding by May 1997, and has survived, and thrived, ever since. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CKUA

Kevin Moorman, Inq reader & CKUA listener

Subject: Vista and Quicktime

May I recommend Shaun has a look at VLC (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/) which plays Quicktime (not Real though), and works in Vista without any problems.

AG