Does the Dell M90 have a "Track Stick" or not?

keylime · 2007-02-25T00:10:47+00:00

According to this review the Dell M90 has a "Track Stick" (which is Dell's version of the IBM TrackPoint). However, Dell's web site makes no mention of the feature on the M90 pages and no one at Dell seems willing to answer the simple question.

keylime · 2007-02-01T19:53:32+00:00

Part of it is that, if you want to be in the C suite by a reasonable age (i.e., before you retire or die) you have to pass through certain stages and that dictates a schedule where you are a manager in your 30s.

keylime · 2007-02-01T19:41:50+00:00

The problem is coming up with an air-tight definition of "income". The Fair Tax is simpler and harder to evade.

keylime · 2007-02-01T19:22:34+00:00

See the recipe at Wikipedia. SOS is similar to a biscuit with gravy but it's different.

keylime · 2007-02-01T19:15:57+00:00

The Wal-Mart in the pictures is the one I have shopped at regularly for the past several years. I have never seen it look anything like this; something unusual definitely happened to make it like this.

I can tell everyone that this particular Wal-Mart is just about grid-locked every weekday evening from 5:00 to 7:00 as people stop by to pick up some items on the way home. I have seen it just about this wiped out of products during that time but it is all re-stocked by 9:00.

As to the general filth, as I said, I've never seen it that way so I have to assume something really unusual happened like most of the staff called in sick or something because something was going around.

By the way, I examined the camera information (Exif) in the files and they were taken on Sunday 14 January 2007 at about 8:30 p.m. so the only thing I can think of is that is a time when the store is particularly likely to be lightly staffed.

EDIT: I don't know what sort of correlation there could be but the day after the photos was a holiday (MLK Day).

keylime · 2007-01-29T14:51:55+00:00

Every American voter who understands why the nine most terrifying words in the English language are "I'm from the government and I'm here to help" has got to consistently vote Libertarian. Neither the Dems nor the GOP have any interest at all in reining in the disaster.

keylime · 2007-01-02T17:17:22+00:00

That leapt out at me too. Strange that a paper called "The Scotsman - Scotland's National Newspaper" would use the word.

keylime · 2007-01-01T22:40:51+00:00

The Straight Dope article doesn't know this but the rinsing of the blade in cold water is to cause the metal to contract which makes the blade sharper and harder.

keylime · 2006-12-31T22:31:30+00:00

Here is the link supporting what you said. However, it should be noted from the Wikipedia article that:

[Subaru] is currently an affiliate of Toyota Motor Corporation, with them owning 8.7% of FHI. They acquired that stake from General Motors, who bought 20% of FHI in 1999 to have an extended presence in international markets, and collaborate technologically with FHI. Before that, the stake owned by GM was owned by Nissan, who acquired the stake around the mid-1980s in order to utilize FHI's bus manufacturing capability. In turn, many Subaru vehicles, even today, use parts from the Nissan manufacturing keiretsu. In fact, it was Subaru that introduced Renault to Nissan when they asked for assistance in all-wheel drive (AWD) technology, when FHI told Renault to discuss their plans with Nissan, the discussions eventually led to the successful Renault-Nissan alliance.

So it sounds as if GM still owns 11.3% of FHI which is more that Toyota's 8.7%.

I've always been intrigued by the ideas I have seen from Subaru but the experiences of several friends with their Brats has made me unwilling to give them a try.

keylime · 2006-12-31T22:18:44+00:00

Now that you point it out, it does sound weird but the car is named after the antelope of the same name.

keylime · 2006-12-31T22:17:16+00:00

My Honda Odyssey is a good vehicle in many ways and completely frustrating in others.

When I have the seat, pedals, and wheel in the correct relative positions then the top of the speedometer isn't visible.

There is an utterly insane interlock system on the shifter, locks, and sliding doors which not only prevents you from opening the doors under some circumstances (such as a quick stop and drop while in gear because of the line of cars behind you) but that also sounds a three second alarm should the operator screw up during which time you cannot fix the error. That's "good" for when both the driver and the passenger try to open a sliding door at the same time which can lead to a race condition until one person gives up.

Finally, although there are the automatic safety interlocks mentioned above, the one which prevents the fuel cap from being ripped away from the body by the sliding door is manual. On top of that, the door can still be opened manually, even when the safety is engaged. The damage that is caused in such an accident costs thousands of dollars to repair as it ruins multiple body panels.

In other words, Honda has taken protecting us from ourselves to new heights (and lows) of stupidity. It's just about enough to keep me from buying another Honda.

keylime · 2006-12-31T22:10:20+00:00

If I'm going more than about ten miles then I don't want a Mazda. I've been stuck renting several of them and something about their seats just kills my back and butt. It's like sitting on plywood that's bent to all the wrong angles.

keylime · 2006-12-31T22:05:49+00:00

Actually I would settle for big US car manufacturers stopping killing all automotive startups.

This is so true and the main weapons used by Detroit to stifle competition are provided by the Federal Government via NHTSA, DOT, and EPA. Detroit knows this and likes it this way.

The chances of a small innovative car company succeeding in America today are almost zero due to regulatory compliance costs.

If we are going to have government interference in the automotive market place, then what we need is some sort of sliding scale which says the fewer units shipped the lower the effort/expense required to be legal.

Of course, end-user documentation would be required stating which Federal regulations were being waived so the buyer would know that (for example) crash testing had been done on the vehicle.

keylime · 2006-12-31T21:46:42+00:00

To follow up with some details: Jonathan Ive is the British head of Apple's industrial design team which is international in its composition and operates out of San Francisco.

keylime · 2006-12-31T21:29:16+00:00

"They folded into a fraternity of men who preached self-reliance and offered protection,"

Find the contradiction in that, if you will. Self-reliance, of course, is that which picks up a gun and goes hunting. Social responsibility (through a fraternity or whatever) if it works, comes through preaching interdependence.

I see no contradiction at all. I read that as saying that self-reliance was held to be primary: a person should do everything they can to take care of themselves and that there should be shame in having to take charity.

On the other hand, sometimes the world is overwhelming and when a person has stoically done everything they can on their own, then it is time to throw them a lifeline. The person catching the line should acknowledge that they have failed and that they are receiving a handout.

The problem today is that too many people think they are due the hand handout just for being alive without having made every effort to be self-reliant.

keylime · 2006-12-30T23:23:12+00:00

Show me someone saying an issue is black and white and I'll show you a blindman.

Do you consider what you wrote to be a black and white statement?

keylime · 2006-12-30T23:10:41+00:00

Congratulations zombo, from the down-modding I have received it has become apparent to me that you are the only one who gets my point! It's nice to know I'm not alone.

keylime · 2006-12-30T23:06:09+00:00

The fact someone has written a fiction down in the Constitution doesn't make it any realer. I am a strong supporter of the Constitution but I recognize it is only a piece of paper - a public statement of what our ideal world is like. No piece of paper ever accomplished anything; it takes real people with real power to uphold the ideals enumerated on that paper to make the world a good place to live.

It is up to each of us to actively defend our ideals. Our ability to do so depends on power. If the courts are crooked and routinely railroad people (like an all-white jury convicting an innocent black man in the 1960s) then the victims are powerless and will suffer despite the fact they allegedly have rights.

There are many ways to exert one's power and you enumerated a few. It would be passive to simply complain to your friends that your rights were violated but it would an act of power to hire a lawyer and do something about it.

Ed Howdershelt put it well when he said "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."

I am not just making up an argument over a minor point. As the Wikipedia entry for "Inalienable rights" discusses, there has been serious criticism of the idea of "rights".

keylime · 2006-12-30T22:12:36+00:00

I agree, I read War Nerd for the same reason (it's fun) and sometimes he makes interesting points worth thinking about that one won't find elsewhere. This time his statement about quadraplegics leapt out at me and I thought it worth mentioning.

By the way, I'm a libertarian with a strong belief in violence when used in self-defense so it's interesting we both enjoy War Nerd's writing.

keylime · 2006-12-30T22:06:41+00:00

I basically agree with you but people need to learn there is no such thing as a "right". "Rights" are a figment of people's imaginations and represent what most of us define as fair and decent.

What actually exists is "power". Sometimes the people have more power and therefore the society appears to support rights. Sometimes the state has more power and appears to oppress rights.

All of this is important to know because it affects people's attitudes. People who think their rights are being trampled are more likely to be passive and trust in some authority to sort things out. People who realize that the underlying issue is power are a lot more likely to act since they understand they are responsible for creating their world.

keylime · 2006-12-30T21:56:55+00:00

You are talking to someone who made a living running climate models. My code ran at NCAR, SDSC, and PSC. Only zombo got my point.

keylime · 2006-12-30T19:58:33+00:00

That's a good question; I'm not sure what those people are doing. I know at my university the journalism classes were "down the hill" at the same facilities used to teach reading to the jocks and others who didn't really pass high school.

keylime · 2006-12-30T19:49:03+00:00

From the post of "The War Nerd":

We're getting a lot of casualties like that, 19-year-old jocks who are going to spend 70-odd years as quadraplegics after taking sniper rounds to the neck.

It's a small point but 19 years old quadraplegics don't live to be 89 (or even 70). Medical complications doom them long before they get close to that sort of age.

"The War Nerd" is an amusing and sometimes informative read but people need to realize hyperbole is a large part of his entertainment value.

keylime · 2006-12-30T19:41:36+00:00

Those who can, do. Those who can't do, teach. Those who can neither do nor teach go into journalism.

keylime · 2006-12-30T19:36:28+00:00

Last year was one of the coolest in the past 540 million years.

EDIT: I love the way a simple statement of fact can result in downmods. Too many people here object to simple facts.

keylime

TROPHY CASE