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Slowly taking form again. OK, form is there, noz waiting for content.
2008-10-31 ^:
Weather - -
. (25°C ^_^ 32°C)
Wurk - -
Self - -
News - -
Not counting wages, less often is better. There are advantage to going topless with servers
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/30/rackable_cookie_sheet_servers/ )
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Not counting wages, smaller is better. 32nm, 22nm
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/30/intel_amd_at_iedm/ )
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Cloud computing is handy for scalebility but when suddenly your nicely overcast and cloudy sky turns blue you realise you shouldn't have based your business on something as nebulous as clouds.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/30/another_flexiscale_outage/ )
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Microsoft is focused on improving the time it takes for Windows to start up and shut down Haven't we heard that sentence just before every Windows release since W98 and WinNt. Ten years of focusing and improving we are still not booting up fast. Now I don't doubt Win7 will be reasonably good. Mainly cause its more an updated Vista than a new system.
( http://news.cnet.com/windows-7-a-better-vista/?tag=nl.e433 )
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Intel invest seriously in Linux. Nothing new there but people tend to overlook it.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/30/intel_moblin_enabling_center_taiwan/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-30 ^:
Weather - -
Freezing again. But that's OK, after a couple of kilometer on my bike I am warm (except for my right foot, damn iceblock). (0°C ^_^ 17°C)
Wurk - -
Self - -
News - -
The Intel Inside days aren't over. I am not sure whether Intel still pays add funds to get it's chips inside boxes. That would be a nice surplus for HP, but I guess the Atom is a bit better than the VIA C7 at the moment.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/29/hp_launches_netbook/ )
One note is that although everybody pushes out netbooks these days all that competition isn't driving prices down. Rather the opposit almost no one has beaten the 250€ that Asus used on the original EeePc, most stay at around 400€ now with higher end models clocking up to the 600€ mark. Low end fill scale notebooks drop below this 600€ so unless portability is high on your requirements list a normal notebook may be a better option.
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Data centers and cloud computing is hot but getting real data about it is hard.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/29/dell_does_azure_servers/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-29 ^:
Weather - -
More ice and a cold ground. But also lots of sun once the day has broken good. (0°C ^_^ 14°C)
Wurk - -
Self - -
News - -
The early netbooks were bland and cheap. The new generation gets more stylish. And more expensive.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/28/asus_eee_1002ha_appears/ )
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Just en entry server. Quite nice box. And a rather big price for just en 'entry' box.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/28/sun_fujitsu_m3000/ )
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Big and fast. The new drives are interesting. Not intended for netbooks. More is better of course but ...
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/28/review_storage_hard_drive_wd_caviar_seagate_barracude/ )
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Kitty computer. Still a long way off but they are up on the board.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/28/ibm_cat_brain_podule_scoop/ )
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MS seems to be reacting to competition. Maybe the Windows 7 turns out good. Not everything is perfect about it (hey, still talking about MS) but it looks less of a bolt on and stack high thing.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/28/windows_7_vista_lessons/ )
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/28/windows_seven_review/ )
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MS Web Office. It should be interesting. Could be. But it's being packed with the regular Office. Sounds like it's not going as a web-service but rather as a local install.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/28/microsoft_office_web/ )
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Checkup. AMD pushes new chips while spinning off fabs. The chips should be popping up by now, at least in sample volumes, not on the street. The fabs are going but not yet gone.
( http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10054038-64.html?tag=nl.e703 )
( http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10054038-64.html?tag=nl.e703 )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-28 ^:
Weather - -
Ice. Yep, car is frozen over. Not thickly though and the ground is still warm. (3°C ^_^ 15°C)
Wurk - -
Self - -
News - -
Ubuntu seems to be an a safe road with a clear future.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/27/shuttleworth_ubuntu_commitment/ )
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" target="news">Dell doesn't often come with interesting new products, they tend to follow the market. But this 12" note is interesting. Dubious but interesting. Basically the same specs as a recent Netbook thing but with a 12 inch screen. The extra size doesn't buy you more pixels. So you gain nothing? Well, for some the real netbooks with 10" and smaller screens get a bit small on the eyes so a bigger screen will find plenty of customers. A slightly bigger keyboard will also be appreciated. Eye and finger comfort
You do loose a bunch in portability and apparently they didn't take advantage of the size to increase battery life.
The price is up into the low end notebook range. ( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/27/dell_launches_12in_netbook/ )
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Not all netbooks go with an Intel Atom. The VIA V7 in this Apricot is not an Atom beater, certainly not when running Windows.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/27/review_netbook_apricot_picobook_pro/ )
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SABAM's lawyers admitted they had misled the court Yep, doing as their American brothers doesn't hold up here.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/27/scarlet_isp_belgium_reversal/ )
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Silverlight 2 is out. But this is MS so you might want to keep off untill 3 hits down.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/27/silverlight_two_review/ )
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All terrain. StarWars comes a step closer, with emphasis on step.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/27/darpa_ls3_bigdog_enhancement/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-27 ^:
Weather - -
Nicely overcast and wet. An almost drizzle. But around noon clouds break up to torture us with blinding rays of sun. (8°C ^_^ 16°C)
Wurk - -
"Could you please change the printer for the documents for the rushes for hall-16 to PRTMLA4L2. They now print on PRTMLAHJ12?
Nicely asked for once but we have about a 50 different lists. So I ask which list.
And I am barked off by a user who is sure I know what she means so there is no need for her to actually say it.
Sure
IT is magic so IT-ers are magicians.
Self - -
News - -
Military fighter jet? Sorry guys but the Alpha Jet is build as a training aircraft. Sure, a military training craft so it can carry weapons. As long as they are of the very light training caliber stuff. To slow and sluggish for being a fighter.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/25/nasa_on_google_jets/ )
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Microsoft starts budget-cutting operations. Not a good sign really. Either the economy is really going down or MS is making the wrong decision. Again. They started late, as usual, but put in a huge effort to get even with the top runners. And now, just before closing the gap, they cut down.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/24/microsoft_datacenter_spending_cuts/ )
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Small and cheap computers. Dell sees the cheap part differently. Typical really, when aimed at business most computers (and other gear) go for twice the price at least.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/24/dell_readies_vostro_a90/ )
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Crash and burn. Ok, the police must investigate but what must be investigated more is the wild reaction of financial traders. Any bank that doesn't look into this is playing with fire.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/24/sec_jobs_heart_attack_probe/ )
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Robot packs on the hunt.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/24/every_friday_is_robot_rebellion_friday/ )
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Buying companies is cheap now. And keeping money in the bank is not profitable
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/24/rackspace_bulks_up/ )
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Linux got a start on the low power scene and it's not slacking off. More and more companies see the advantage of going without being tied down by MS.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/24/gos_netbook_moblin/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-25 ^:
Weather - -
Still warm. The clouds and mist are still blanketing us but in the afternoon the mist is all gone end the clouds are thin showing some blue, like a worn threadbare shirt. (5°C ^_^ 15°C)
Self - -
We switch back to Winter-time.
That means switch clocks and timers and alarms and stuff.
It also means that I switch on the heating. Of course that leads to a garage filled with smoke. It's just the same story as every year, started after a long wet summer and a humid start of autumn the chimney doesn't "pull". After a couple of hours stoking up the house, the chimney is dry and back into working order.
Self - -
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-24 ^:
Weather - -
Reasonable warm. Thanks to a big, fat cloud cover. (6°C ^_^ 15°C)
Wurk - -
Self - -
News - -
People aren't buying extra storage for growth these days. they just buy what they need.
( http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/10/23/seagate_quarterly_earnings_slump/ )
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Electric cars need batteries. And with the electric cars set to move from experimental stuff to the real street batteries is a good market to be in.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/23/toshiba_ev_battery_plan/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-23 ^:
Weather - -
Ideal biking weather. No wind and dry and cool. Well, at work I passed a few iced cars though at home everything was just dewy wet. (4°C ^_^ 16°C)
Wurk - -
Self - -
News - -
Ha yes. If the greens don't understand it it is bad. Well, they don't understand wind energy either but that's OK because ... heu ...
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/22/fusion_greenpeace_no/ )
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Swijsen.vla ... doesn't sound better or worse. OK, good to know they spend their parliamentary time on such important issues ....
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/22/flemish_toplevel_domain/ )
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Microsoft black-screens? Auch. Oh, well, suing is fine and if it doesn't help you can still switch to something else. Like Linux. Or ...
( http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/10/22/china_fury_microsoft_wga/ )
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... switch to OS X. Yes it requires a bit of work now but the result is interesting and I suppose things will get easier in the futures.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/20/macosx_on_a_pc/ )
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How can the installation being to complicated if you buy it pre-installed? Unless the Apricot techs who set up the installation did it wrong.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/22/apricot_ditches_linux_netbook/ )
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A nice Cost and Value picture.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/22/what_is_linux_worth/ )
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Cheap mainframes. Actually yes. rather cheap on the mainframe scale and with a sweet deal included..
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/22/z10_mainframe_wheeling_dealing/ )
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The IBM BladeCenter is an interesting system and apart from IBM quite some manufacturers have used it in custom setups (quite a lot in the military). Opening it up more may attract more mainstream suppliers.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/23/ibm_open_blade_specs/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-22 ^:
Weather - -
Grey and hazy but it's not raining. (6°C ^_^ 14°C)
Wurk - -
Self - -
News - -
Yawn. yet another batch of blade-servers. But Sun does put a lot of memory capacity in. And memory is important.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/21/sun_new_blades/ )
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Blades are hip, People are more likely to look at blades than at classical servers. But Rackable shows you can stuff quite a lot in a normal 2u server
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/21/rackable_2u_server_rev/ )
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Lots of memory for desktops is also welcome so this is another interesting thing.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/21/review_motherboard_asus_p6t_deluxe/ )
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Hmm, low-end dinosaur update. Of course low-end still means a lot of cash flowing into IBM even thought they cut the price deeply. With lots of memory you may notice a trend here.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/21/new_ibm_entry_mainframe/ )
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2
( -- )
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2009. I wonder why it takes so long to get urban taxis switching over to electricity. They should have been driving electrically for ten or twenty years by now.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/21/london_leccy_cabs/ )
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The anti-God campaign. There is no truth in advertising so why does truth need advertising?
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/21/dawkins_athiest_bus/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-21 ^:
Weather - -
Autumn rain. Well I don't know how it's different from Winter or Summer rain of course, it's just cold and wet and miserable. But I like the grey skies, no blinding low sun . (8°C ^_^ 15°C)
Wurk - -
How do you do testing an application?
According to the guys doing the testing here you run the programs trough your whole test-data set and then start checking the results. then you notice a problem on the first order in the set and demand that IT correct the whole set before you can ruin it again.
And if IT suppose you run a test on one order and check the result before testing others orders, you nod. And ignore them, cause what does IT know, Bha. Bunch of stoopid nerds.
Test plan? Yes we have it but you don't need it, you're IT, you don't run the tests so you don't need to know the plan.
Self - -
News - -
Nice bill of rights. But who is following it?
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/17/stardock_revises_gamer_bill_of_rights/ )
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Booting problem at Hubble. Maybe they should send up an IT tech with a floppy and a screwdriver ^_^
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/20/hubble_trouble/ )
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Linux base moving up a release isn't big news. Important news but not big.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/20/linuxsb_4_beta/ )
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It seems reasonable to help catch fraudsters. But it also show how though a stand Google takes. Not that is.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/20/dutch_court_orders_google_to_reveal_gmail_user/ )
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Nice and silent. Not that I ever like the Mini style, not even before BMW grew it out. But still electric cars are popping up all over the place suddenly. I am waiting for FIAT.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/20/bmw_e_mini/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-20 ^:
Weather - -
Another beautiful day though there are a bit more clouds. (7°C ^_^ 17°C)
Wurk - -
Self - -
News - -
AMD is cutting losses but profit is still not in sight. Maybe when the de-fabbing operation is done it's time to check again.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/17/amd_q3_2008_earnings/ )
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Guide to Linux for new netbook owners. It certainly is needed for people who don't know Linux inside and out.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/17/netbook_linux_guide_1/ )
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Maturing of virtual server market? More like a bit of a downturn in the sales of big boxes. Virtualisation runs best on big hardware with plenty of cores and, more importantly tons of memory. So small servers with a just two or four cores and a couple of gigs in memory are not likely to be loaded with a costly vitalisation layer. The cheap, free and beta versions typically go on lighter hardware but I bet those are not counted.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/17/server_virt_stats/ )
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The new MacBooks are better and faster than the old ones. But while every other company fits that type of performance increase into the same price bracket as the old box Apple ups the price seriously. As if they are afraid to get to much market share. The price isn't extravagant for what you get but in a slow economy it's hiked up out of the budget of a huge section of possible clients.
What Apple needs if they want to raise their market share is cheap step-in models. Like an ultra-portable. Not a high-style Air like thing but a no-nonsense 10" MacBook at around $300. Using some of the high performance 2 core Atoms and enough memory to run XOS it could be a winner. Or a low end MacMini, I remember buying my Mini at around 200€, a perfect price point to get introduced to the Mac world.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/17/review_laptop_apple_macbook/ )
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MS will of course keep pushing on with it's Web-2 strategy. Probably putting a lower profile up for the time being while doing some real work. I expect some evolution like the X-Box. Version-1 came out with big headlines and unattainable targets and flopped in the market with huge losses. Now the X-Box is a big success and making a profit.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/18/microsoft_online_services_cuts/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-17 ^:
Weather - -
Nice autumn weather. With lots of sun so the trees can show off their new found colours best. (5°C ^_^ 15°C)
Wurk - -
Self - -
News - -
Bumpy ride for the IBM server business. Going down a bit. But with big migrations from one system to another.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/16/ibm_q3_numbers/ )
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I wish they stopped pre and re announcing fuel cell stuff and actually produce the stuff.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/16/tosh_fuel_cell_timeline/ )
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Yep, some Mac porn. The "new" Macs have hardly hit the market en the insides are there for all to see.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/16/ifixit_macbook_autopsy/ )
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Backup and restore operations are so boring and unexciting. Doing them remote is a bit more interesting. Remote and wireless makes it notable. Add to it that you do it on a 10 year old computer. And cope with a timelag a seconds. Yep Hubble-reboot.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/16/hubble_back_up/ )
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Auch. If Google doesn't like you it can kill your phone. Probably after snatching you data off off it.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/16/android_kill_switch/ )
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Windows 7 will be better than Vista. Sure. but if MS starts to use "Integrated coding and testing teams?" it's not going to improve the quality. It may cut costs and time-to-market but it isn't the way to fight bugs.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/17/windows_seven_no_vista/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-16 ^:
Weather - -
Bouts of heavy rain. Never long but often quite hard. Oh, and we have two outbreaks of sun. Also short and hard. (8°C ^_^ 18°C)
Wurk - -
Messy stuff. Our company changes name. Nothing drastic, the E. group consisted of a series of daughter companies bundled together. Now some administrative and legal changes occur. Some names get dropped. As of Monday (the 13th) everything is changed and the old names cannot be used anymore.
We got informed that this would happen more than a month ago but we didn't get dates or names or specifics then. Just a policy notice, "Due to consolidations the separate companies in the group will change. Nothing to worry about."
So we don't worry.
Now on Friday we get the notice that "as of Monday the new structure is in effect."
And, on friday we got a notice at IT that all the lists and headers and mails en stuff need to be adapted, the old name must be replaced. All before Monday of course. But they don't give a list of replacement values, the real name is to long for many places.
Fast -or slow- forward.
We finally get a list on Thursday morning with the replacements that should have been implemented on Monday.
Self - -
News - -
The DMCA boomerang hits back at politicians and it hurts.
Begging to be different
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/15/mccain_campaign_wants_youtube_dmca_special_treatment/ )
Denied
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/15/youtube_responds_to_mccain/ )
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Spinning disk drives will reign for some time still.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/15/wd_on_flash_and_cloud/ )
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Fiber is getting cheaper and picking up the market, it is now providing a solution all the way from disk to server. And running over old -cheap- Ethernet cable when needed. iSCSI is an interesting and working technology but it's losing it's lead.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/15/fcoe_io_kill_iscsi/ )
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There is future in those Sun chips.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/15/sparc_roadmaps/ )
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Updates, betas, ... software rain.
Mozilla 3.1
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/15/firefox_beta/ )
OpenOffice 3 Mac
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/15/openoffice_native_mac_lands/ )
( -- )
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Rotary engines have always interested me. And running them on hydrogen looks interesting. Not a superb break trough for everybody, but still.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/15/mazda_hydrogen_car_norway/ )
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Grin. World war in action.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/15/clash_of_claws/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-15 ^:
Weather - -
There is plenty of rain. Never really heavy but rather drizzly all day with a couple of short hard showers. (8°C ^_^ 16°C)
Wurk - -
Self - -
News - -
Buying power equates in saving power. Running hotter means less cooling and so you push down the bill for cooling. Or raise the density in your server 'room'. It does put all the components closer to their operational limits though so when some cooling units fail Google may run into trouble. The CPUs will keep going but chip sets and disks are up for a meltdown sooner.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/15/google_and_intel/ )
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Cheap NAS controllers from IBM. It isn't really cheap but it does put the stuff within budget ranges for smaller companies.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/15/ibm_entry_level_svc/ )
If you got a fatter purse IBM has another toy for you.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/15/ibm_ssds_for_servers_and_storage/ )
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Atom against Arm. Good points, Arm won't go away but I doubt it's going to sell better than Atom. If it does Intel will likely cut a new version of the Atom.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/14/arm_vs_intel_umd_biz/ )
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Going IPO was the word of the day just a couple of years ago. Now things could move the other way.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/14/taking_it_players_private/ )
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Selling more doesn't necessary increase revenue.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/14/intel_q3_2008_earnings/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-14 ^:
Weather - -
The weather turns. No huge turn. It's just that the mist is gone and the sky is a light grey. It's also a lot warmer in the morning but without sun the day's top is much lower. (9°C ^_^ 17°C)
Wurk - -
The old tape library has a problem. If you cut power to it it fails. Of course, and that is not the problem. If you turn on the power again, it fails again. And that's a problem.
Fail one is that it powers up but doesn't look for a connection, or checks once sees nothing and turns off the adapter. So when the As400 comes up later the tape drive doesn't respond so you got to turn the software-drivers.
Fail two is that on powering up after a power interruption the actual drive spits out the tape but the robot-arm doesn't pick up the tape, so there is a tape loose blocking up the while machine. You have to reach in and put the tape back in the drive or remove it from the box.
So when you turn off the power in the computer room you got to do it right and make sure everything powers up correctly.
...
Some work on the power lines was needed this weekend. So our IT manager shuts off the power, and after the work turns on the power again. And -I suppose- he checks whether all the servers come up. Who cares about the backup units and tape stuff. Yep, he doesn't care and doesn't check. If the power-led is up it will be ok.
Self - -
News - -
So Mac notebooks get real graphics. Finally. Again.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/13/apple_drop_intel_for_nvidia_rumour/ )
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After playing with names and extensions MS turns back to the real brand name. Though how they come up with 7 is a bit misty. As far as I can count they are a bit further,I remember 1 (yes, I have seen that), 2, 3, 95, 98, Millennium, 2000, XP, Vista so we should be looking out to version 10. But maybe MS admits now that some of those releases were not real releases but just names fixes or named down grades (hello, Mil.). Which begs the question how much of a release is number 7?
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/14/windows_seven/ )
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Quit interesting Sun boxes. Perfect upgrades for the old Sun stuff.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/13/sun_four_socket_sparc_t2/ )
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If you want your phone to do everything, take a look at this Samsung. Warning: it runs Windows.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/13/review_smartphone_samsung_sgh_i900_omnia/ )
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Security products aren't really. They help a lot but just like walls on a medieval castle were useless when not manned so those security products are useless when not patched well and 'manned'.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/13/secunia_security_suite_tests/ )
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We got a general IT meeting/show and of course the licencing problems of Office were mentioned. Again. Maybe OpenOffice would be a good option option.
( http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081013-openoffice-3-0-released-amid-fears-of-development-stagnation.html )
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Not really. Playing your headphones to loud doesn't make you stupid. You have to be stupid to do it in the first place. OK, it may increase the level.
( http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081013-eu-reminds-us-to-lose-the-distraction-turn-the-volume-down.html )
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After talking for 20 years about super conductivity we slowly start to understand what it actually is. Not useful yet
( http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081013-superconductivity-with-a-switch.html )
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That Citroen Cactus won't sell because of it's good looks. But Eco minded people may be interested.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/13/citroen_cactus_electric_eval/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-13 ^:
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Still summery weather though it doesn't get as hot. (6°C ^_^ 32°C)
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Telco fighting against the commons. They could try copyright infringements as yet another delaying tactic. Of course it won't stop progress but any delay is good isn't it? And suing your customers is hip anyway.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/10/minnesota_public_broadband_ruling/ )
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Energy saving at a cost.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/10/lowenergy_light/ )
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I can see this type (though not maybe this style) of box gaining a good foothold on the bottom of the market. I mentioned often enough that I love silent boxes so I am quite interested. But it does need a CD or other media interface. To bad it's with XP preloaded. Better than Vista but I would have preferred Linux, I guess it would make a perfect light weight X-windows terminal (Or Citrix client in the Windows version) .
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/10/review_desktop_pc_asus_eee_box/ )
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Oh? Did we need another language? M from mistake?
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/10/dial_m_for_microsoft/ )
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AMD isn't selling off its cabs. It is a pure financial construction thing. But still it could be a big step forward for AMD as a chip designer. First step was when it bought AMI, it didn't start baking the AMI chips, it left that part of the job to the other foundries ATI had been using for years. Now it sets the stage for outsourcing it's own designs.
( -- )
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The future of chip making doesn't even sound simple.
( http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081012-low-flying-rings-may-hold-key-to-sub-32nm-lithography.html )
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Wait for part-3 ??
( http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/future-of-driving-part-2.ars )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-12 ^:
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Cool and misty in the morning but once the sun gets trough that we're up to summer temperatures. (5°C ^_^ 24°C)
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( -- )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-10 ^:
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Lots of mist again along with a nice drop in temperatures overnight. Though it's only the night temps that go down (3°C ^_^ 19°C)
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Microsoft has lots of money in the form of stocks which is good. As the market drops banks all over the place they have to place their money somewhere. MS is concerned though about their licence-income.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/09/microsoft_washington_mutual/ )And no recession for IBM yet either.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/09/ibm_quarter_good/ )
They will probably feel the crisis next year when clients have to renew contracts.
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Patching time again. PS notice that Linux is not mentioned. No reason to be triumphant. If you see what's patched for Apple you see common Linux programs. Yep, the Linux horde needs patching to.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/10/apple_and_microsoft_patches/ )
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Old licence can bite.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/09/intel_serious_questions_about_amd_foundry_company/ )
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Toshiba never made cheap notebooks. But they are always good quality. Competing nicely with the MAC and Sony. Compared to the MAC air you get a CD built in.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/09/r600_portege/ )
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If one of those new 'netbooks' is to big and heavy for you you can use something in this range. Palm-top sized. Well, if you want to surf on that size and can't afford an iPhone it looks interesting.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/09/datawind_unlimited/ )
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Blue-Ray disk are set to grow in capacity again. And that's without exotic new media of data storage tricks, just by a stronger laser.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/09/sanyo_4_layer_bluray_laser/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-09 ^:
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It became a nice day. Once the mist clears up. And the clouds disappeared. Of course by evening the mist is back. (5°C ^_^ 20°C)
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Riding a bicycle in the darkness is a bit more difficult and dangerous. Riding in the darkness with dense fog is a lot more difficult and dangerous. Car drivers simply don't see you even if you got lights on and reflectors all over. And they turn on extra lights so you get blinded completely. Uch
News - -
Spam cases. We want more. Not more spam but more convictions.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/08/mom_and_pop_spammer_judgement/ )
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Crazy patent. Not only is it incredibly late but it includes standard behaviour
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/08/apple_patents_osx_dock/ )
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The dinosaurs aren't dying. Nope, they keep evolving.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/08/unisys_clearpath_kickers/ )
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AMD Fusion. Not the chip thing with CPU and GPU on a single die but the software version. It is a curious concept actually turning the PC into a gaming console, Performance gains are minimal to nonexistent (but it's a first release). Even the over clocking isn't special. Maybe there is some real gain to be had once the Fusion chips come into the picture.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/08/review_utility_components_amd_fusion_for_gaming/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-08 ^:
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It's raining again. But still rather warm (9°C ^_^ 18°C)
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The web can be a dangerous game. And it doesn't have to be a game. Basically any site that uses Flash of Java or another scripting thing can do the clickjacking. It just has to be enticing enough for you to visit. You don't play games? You don't visit doubt full sites? Well, it's doubt full that your bank is spying on you but your government? That tech site you often visit? That news site (Register?) that you go for to stay current? OK, none of those are going to spy and manipulate you with the intention of duping you out of your money but they all have reason to spy on you.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/07/clickjacking_surveillance_zombie/ )
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Just about doubling the capacity in IBM boxes. Nice to have. Still to expensive for hobbyists but their competitiveness will increase sharply this way.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/07/ibm_power_midrange/ )
PS for people with a PC only background, I work on a i6 system (ex AS400). We got one four core box carrying the whole company -running an average of 2000 jobs at any time- and it is not processor limited. Performance is IO bound.
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Better batteries are welcome. But the Silver-Zinc type is not a cheap wonderful type poised to replace the Li-ion generation. A bit better, a bit more expensive, a bit easier to recycle. But all those little bits don't make it a big success in the market. It just has a chance now because the fuel-cell stuff is not getting out of the labs.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/07/zpower_major_laptop_design_win/ )
What I still wonder about is why vendors haven't standardised on a set battery formats yet. Just being able to pop in a set of AA batteries would be great. Well it wouldn't have to be AAs but I mean standard cells. Almost all notebook batteries are based on standard cells and (almost) no notebook maker makes the actual cells. And I don't think they make a profit on batteries.
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Oh, and while you weren't looking India developed a space program. Not on the same scale or potential as the Chinese one, more like a me-to thing. Still, it's probably getting crowded on the moon soon and the low earth orbits that are already crowded with discarded rocket and satellite crap aren't going to get prettier anytime soon.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/07/india_moon_probe/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-07 ^:
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It is strangely warm. Not warm like summer but after a lot of night flirting with frost it suddenly stays up close to 10. (09°C ^_^ 16°C)
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Should I say that IBM has its head in the clouds or that clouds a moving?
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/06/ibm_cloud_service/ )
PS, wasn't there a Blue Sky initiative some years ago?
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The rise of a giant. The best part of the Acer strategy is that it is not bragging about and throwing annoying adds around. It just got it's products an all possible shops at good prices which means it's visible, anyone looking for a PC is likely to see them.
( http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/10/06/acer_plans_for_world_domination/ )
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Sumo. Converting fat into electricity the idea of powering your phone or even notebook with energy tapped from your own body sounds appealing. No more need to recharge your phone. Notebook running down? Just grab a hamburger. Power your MacMini with a McGiant. ^_^
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/06/pseudo_electrocyte_tech_proposal/ )
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Yes, growing has it's advantages. A better keyboard and more storage. Yes bigger screen can be an advantage to, but you won't see more on it, just bigger character. Which is a bonus if you work on it for a longer period or if your eyes are not in their prime.
All very good to get more variation and choice but ignoring the portability is a hard price. The difference between an 8.9 and 10.4 screen isn't big yet very notable if you are used o just dropping it into any bag or pocket you like to take along. And if you are going for bigger why not go for the Mac Air format. 12 inch is just an other step up still but you gain useful bit of screen and power. Those bigger notebooks fall into the real-notebook category with more powerful chips more memory and disk space.
I just hope the sub-10 inch segment remains cause I like to take my netbook anywhere.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/06/review_netbook_asus_eee_pc_1000/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-06 ^:
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Rain still reigns in the morning. But at noon the clouds are tired and empty. To tired to retreat as well. The wind slacks off a bit as well but it doesn't lay down completely. (7°C ^_^ 14°C)
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AMD plans a quick cut-over to 45nm with new 4-core chips and a 6-core chips to follow (and probably some 5 core deviants as well ^_^). And they won't make the Barcelona mistake again. Well, they can't afford to.
( http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10054038-64.html?tag=nl.e703 )
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Pushing back a beta-release. Nothing wrong with that is there? Well, actually there is. The main reason why they push it back is because it isn't ready yet. But alpha and beta releases aren't expected to be ready. Shouldn't be expected to be ready. But things have moved. To many people just don't wait for a release but jump on beta products and using those as if they are true releases. Who cares they are running a company on beta software.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/03/thunderbird_3_schedule/ )
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No wonder we have bank-crises these days if you get stock markets going crazy just based on baseless rumours. the pressure to make a quick buck is to high and the time to short to check reality. For most stock brokers the market is just like a virtual game world, they loose and gain money they will never see.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/03/steve_jobs_heart_attack_rumor/ )
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OpenSource has a different taste if it comes from Redmond.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/03/codeplex_licenses/ )
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An outbreak of democracy? Nope. Well not a real outbreak, just a pin-prick, democracy is locked up again so everything is safe. But it is actually a serious hit against the press.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/03/the_bailout_and_the_pundits/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-03 ^:
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Nice and very windy. At least it's dry (3°C ^_^ 12°C)
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Music is breaking free. There are still money-grabbing road blocks, most of them not paying up to the actual artists, but things are moving, changing.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/02/nokia_comes_with_strings/ )
And
( http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081002-nokias-comes-with-music-gets-handsets-release-date.html )
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It is a bit curious how game consoles stay unchanged for quite a long time while the rest of the computer business changes over completely almost on a yearly basis.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/02/nintendo_dsi_launched/ )
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How many different EeePCs are there? Actually?
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/02/eee_900_ha_appears/ )
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AMD seems to be on a release spree. Bringing out new graphics stuff every couple of weeks.
( http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/09/30/amd_launches_radeon_4550_4350/ )
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There is an interesting point here. Real security pass points, like airfields or station checkpoints can easily pick out modded RFID cards. But by getting several hacked cards you are quite likely to confuse any ID-theft attempt.
( http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081002-rfid-passport-hack-has-scanners-seeing-visions-of-elvis.html )
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Telling what everybody -except the RIAA- knows.
( http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081002-five-years-of-failure-eff-says-riaa-must-embrace-new-model.html )
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Yep. Computers are like cars. People buy 200+ bhp cars but seldom use more than a quarter of the available power. People go for quad-core systems with enhanced graphics, to run a web browser en text processor.
( http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200810.ars )
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Competing in the disk market is hard so it wouldn't be surprising that Fujitsu pulls out.
( http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/10/02/fujitsu_selling_hdd_biz_to_wd/ )
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More on less. Disk capacity keeps going up.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/30/hdd_areal_density_improvements/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-02 ^:
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Wet and windy. Our first real autumn storm raging out. (5°C ^_^ 14°C)
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You can't say the government doesn't listen to it's citizens. Cause surely it does. It actually listens in to every conversation.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/02/skype_surveillance_in_china/ )
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New chip tech is getting closer. In stead of future and near future, actual years are cropping up on the 32 and 28nm process fabs.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/01/tsmc_ibm_chip_plans/ )
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Yep, more storage options for blades. IBM chipping this time.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/01/ibm_blades_san/ )
(Mail Remarks about words)
2008-10-01 ^:
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It rains, and not a little bit. Pouring down all morning. Well not actually pouring down, it's drizling all the time en about every ten, fifteen minutes a heavy shower passes by. Almost never lasting more than a minute. (7°C ^_^ 21°C)
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Got a day off. So I actually work for just an hour or four.
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I do get a load of bricks for the glass house we are building. And I cut my finger on one of them. A very nasty cut. Small and not painful, nothing but a but of scraped skin, but on my left index finger. I only notice i by seeing bloodstains on my clothes. The nasty thing about it is that it's just on the sport where I touch the keyboard with that finger. Apart from bloodstains on the keyboard that is rather painful as well.
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( -- )
(Mail Remarks about words)
A day you don't learn something is a wasted day.
A day you don't teach something is a lost day.