Apparently, the Vista launch wasn't as big a deal as Microsoft had hoped: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070130/D8MVNU800.html

On the electrical side of things, it should be easy to design a hot-pluggable peripheral by simply building out the ground connectors further than the other connectors, so that the device gets connected to ground first before anything else gets connected. I believe this is at least similar to how USB hot-pluggability works (any correction would be welcome). The real problem is the software to handle the event. You would need to watch the voltage on the connectors to alert the subsystem when a connection/disconnection event occurs, so that it could properly respond.

For anyone who wants to hear it without commentary,click here.

@plus4

My comments, as cut and pasted from the form:

I currently use MacOSX and Linux at home and Windows at work (no choice), and used to use AmigaOS (computer no longer works). Ethics MUST play into my choice of OS. There is only one OS maker who, because of their OWN ACTIONS and CHOICES, is nearly constantly under the scrutiny of the federal government: MicroSoft. In situations where I have the choice, I want NOTHING to do with their products, no matter how utilitarian those products might be. Linux presents problems for those who are not techno wizzes; particularly if your Linux machine is not connected to the Internet, updates are a nightmare. Other than that it just works. MacOSX also just works, and is elegant while it does so. According to my remembrances, however, when it comes to ease, EFFICIENCY, and usability, none of them stacks up to AmigaOS.

@Adept

Lately I've taken to doing the mailbox trek about once a week. That way I get my bills on time and I don't have to weed through the junk every day.

@AmiKit

They might have been upgrading the servers. My host did that recently, and took everybody that they were hosting down (even their own sites) while they were doing so. Scared the bejabbers out of me until I found out what was up.

@Severin

Is ps2pdf available for OS4?

if so, then someone could do an alias something like:

Quote:

Of course you would modify the PAPERSIZE option to fit your own paper, and the syntax to work with OS4's terminal/shell.

I use it on my Ubuntu machine to make PDFs of my writings because I have niggling problems with OpenOffice2's PDF export function (it won't include characters entered through the insert character dialog in the PDF output, but it will include them in the postscript output; go figure).

I used to have a DOS script that I used to back up my A1200 when it was still working. It copied everything over to a special partition that I used to burn CD-R back ups. Worked a treat, but obviously, I don't have that close at hand right now.

@AmiGame

I've heard a bit about your weather, but it seems that we are both getting waves of it. The only thing really missing here is the hurricane force winds.

@Helge

It gives a certain peace of mind. I no longer have to wade through all that trash, though I do scan quickly through the "from" fields for the occasional person who gets stranded over there (normally from a mailing list I'm part of, but those are easy to pick out because they identify themselves fairly easily; nothing a computer would recognize, mind you, but humans are far more intricate than any computer will ever be).

@Outcast

Oh, for that one little letter!

@Helge

That's where Earthlink's lovely little suspect email folder comes in. If they aren't in my personal address book, they don't get in my inbox.

No problem. Just be watchful and be careful, and if you shop at any of those stores check your statements with a fine-toothed comb.

@Billsey

I know that there are people here from the UK, so here is a story about hacking that might concern some here as your information might have been stolen as part of the hacking.

According to this AP story, spammers are using a new trick, so keep your eyes peeled and be careful.

@mailman

Well, that makes it at least "near topic" then.

@mailman

What is the competition? Also, what do they win?

I was able to put together a mosaic of arial photos of PageStream's new abode, although I caution that I am not at all sure how accurate the star is. All I can say is, ?Got your fishin' pole ready?? Look at all those lakes and ponds!

@Atheist

Well, I'm not certain he could legitimately build The Hobbit into two great movies, but The Silmarillion could go on for a while. That one covers from the creation myth all the way up to the time of The Hobbit, including a tale about the rise and fall of Numenor.

@acefnq

Link?

@Atheist

I would prefer The Hobbit myself.