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1. Comment - MS Explains WinFS, Releases Beta 1

   (Aug 29, 2005 - 11:09 PM)

   frankly I like the traditional hirearchical file system. It makes it easy to keep things organized. The idea of everything being in a jumbled mess that you have to sift through with a search tool makes me rather nervous. What if you downloaded a video file that had the wrong extension, and was misidentified by WinFS as something other than a video file? Who knows where the heck it might decide to store it. It might not show up in a search of "video files". It might get lost in the "sea of data". When I store something, I want to know exactly where it is, even if I have to get at it *outside* of windows if need be. A place for everything, and everything in it's place as the old saying goes. Lets hope MS really knows what they are doing by completely changing a basic file organization system that has worked rather well for many years.

2. Comment - Shuttle's Heat Shield Repaired In-Flight

   (Aug 4, 2005 - 10:01 AM)

   Well I don't know about anyone else, but my car *is* powered by a controlled explosion. One in each cylinder, several times per second. Although the Mach 8 top speed is a tad difficult to reach. ;-)
   
   Seriously though, the gap filler bits that are loose came loose after liftoff. Thus the pre-launch inspection would not have revealed any problem. The shuttle goes through some truly astonishing environmental dynamics throughout liftoff, and entry into orbit. Massive vibrations, air pressures at mach speeds exceeding every other flight vehicle, and massive temperature variations. That something like this happened isn't necessarily shocking. It's a very risky activity. Something could be said for improving the adhesive used to stick the strips between the tiles, much like the foam insulation issue with the main tank. The heat shield tiles themseleves are mounted on a felt-like backing material and glued to the orbiter belly with a very rubbery flexible adhesive, presumably to allow a certain amount of tile expansion and movement from heating up so much on re-entry. That would also explain the gaps present between the tiles. The need for expansion room. The fabric gap fillers merely are there to help prevent the tiles from chattering together on liftoff, which induces lots of vibration throughout the entire vehicle. The gap filler strips have already done their job.

3. Comment - Toshiba Battery Charges in One Minute

   (Apr 4, 2005 - 11:05 AM)

   what most people seem to miss when arguing "U.S. Vs. Europe" fuel prices, is that our respective economies are structured around what our energy costs are. Sure the US pays much less for gasoline/Petrol than the UK. But that is what we are used to paying, and that cost structure is built into our overall cost of living, budgets, pay scales, etc both in individual households, and commercial business. So when we see an over 50% rise in prices in a relatively short span of time, it hurts just as much as when those in the UK go from paying $7 per gallon to say, $9 per gallon. Gradual increases in energy prices are tolerable. Large spikes in energy costs are harmful to all industrial economies. As for the new battery, yes it will be a boon to the hybrid car industry. But pure electric vehicles suffer from a big problem aside from long charging times. That is the fact that the energy to charge the vehicles comes from a power plant burning fossil fuels for the most part. If we were to switch our reliance from oil refineries to electrical generation plants for powering the hundreds of millions of cars in the US, think of the massive increase in the number of fuel-burning power plants it would require. We already have little reserve capacity in our power generation grid as evidenced by the rolling blackout problems in various states over the last few years. Whatever we do in the area of powering vehicles, it must not merely exchange one inefficient, polluting and fossil fuel consuming power source for another.

4. Comment - Naked Wife Virus Spreading

   (Mar 9, 2001 - 11:44 PM)

   Heh, heh. Sorry I jumped all over you about that. At least you got it corrected quickly, so people who read the article will be watching for the right thing. Mistakes happen.

5. Comment - Naked Wife Virus Spreading

   (Mar 9, 2001 - 11:42 PM)

   Well, being a PC technician, retailer, and business owner, I have a good deal of experience with John Q. Public couputer user, and I can tell you that it is simply the "it can't happen to me" syndrome. Kind of like people who don't wear their seatbelts. They just think that since they have never been burned by a virus, that the risk is low, or they have some 3 year old antivirus program that they falsly assume will protect them against everything out there. I have customers that send .EXE attachments back and forth with their friends all the time. They love those little "joke" files, and think that it's all harmless fun. Until....they get hit with a bug. That usually shocks them into reality. With some folks it takes more than once, or at least a really nasty bug before they quit opening those things. I used to be a nice guy and would walk some of them through removing the easier bugs over the phone, but it seems that some folks don't take it seriously until it costs them a bit of cash to get it taken care of. As much as I hate to admit it, the Navidad worm made me a bit richer last year in having to remove it from so many systems. I try to make my customers as informed as possible about the dangers in opening certain kinds of attachments, even if it seems to be from someone they know, but a few never seem to get it, no matter what.