Posted by Stephen Waits
Thu, 04 May 2006 04:54:47 GMT
Ok.. I’ve waited now, basically a year for the MBP’s. They got here, then I decided I’d wait for a) some kind of bonus check from work (still waiting) and b) for the details of the new MBP to shake out. Well, I’ve now come to the decision that this iteration of MBP just isn’t for me.
Why would I wait? Here are a few reasons why..
- Many of the MBP’s where making weird noises …
- And overheating like mad - I went and felt one at the Apple Store and it actually burns …
- And battery life is no improvement over the previous generation, and I’m a battery life nutcase …
- And sometimes the fans aren’t working …
- And trackpads have been flakey …
- And screens are unevenly backlit …
But probably more important than all of those (except maybe the heat thing), is that Intel’s Merom is due out this Fall. With Merom, we should get about the same, or maybe slightly less performance (though still plenty), at a considerable power savings. That should fix the battery life and heat problems.
For now I’ll stick with my Mini and my crusty old Laptop, now sporting Kubuntu. Since Cathy’s got her own laptop now, that eases things on me a bit, and I can get by just fine. After all, for most of what I do I just need Opera, Thunderbird, and a text editor, along with various compilers and interpreters - and I’ve got all of that on all three of my personal PC’s.
Cathy just says, “you’re being very patient”.
Posted in mac | no comments | no trackbacks
Posted by Stephen Waits
Thu, 04 May 2006 04:18:35 GMT
I fucking hate Best Buy. Therefore, I love this mission to mess with the Union Square Best Buy. I liked how they didn’t do anything wrong and the stupid security people flipped out, and how the cops had to finally give up because there was nothing to be done. I also enjoyed reading through all of the individual agents’ recaps. My favorite quote:
A little while later, an older woman with a handful of products walked past me at one point muttering to herself, “Everyone in this goddamned store is wearing a blue shirt and nobody knows a thing!”
That one hit my funny bone..
Turns out this group has pulled off a bunch of funny missions, including the recently circulated Meet a Black Person in Aspen.
Posted in videos, humor | no comments | no trackbacks
Posted by Stephen Waits
Thu, 04 May 2006 03:51:59 GMT
Popsci.com is running a piece about John Koza, inventor of genetic programming.
Genetic programming is what got me interested in the entire realm of evolutionary algorithms. In 1997, my coworker and friend Francois loaned me a copy of this weird book, “Genetic Programming” (Koza). I still remember the excitement of reading through the Santa Fe Ant problem and GP solution! Thanks to Francois - that opened doors to a massive world for me; that of stochastic search and optimization. I love this stuff.
Since then I’ve played with all sorts of stuff, and applied it to real work many times. It’s really great, and I encourage any programmer nerd freak to check it out.
Posted in programming | no comments | 1 trackback
Posted by Stephen Waits
Thu, 04 May 2006 03:30:25 GMT
Check out this mostly non-metal “assault” weapon. The whole calling them “assault” weapons is fucking retarded. Even Schneier seems to have fallen for this politically-charged name.
Guns rule.
Everyone should have them.
Via Schneier on Security.
Posted in security, politics | no comments | 1 trackback
