All-in-One PCs

On 2/2/2016 11:25 AM, Whisky-dave wrote:
On Tuesday, 2 February 2016 16:00:23 UTC, Neil wrote:
On 2/2/2016 10:12 AM, Sandman wrote:
In article , PAS wrote:

Eric Stevens:
"no malware"? That's a myth.

Sandman:
Nope.

Really?

http://www.macworld.com/article/2923...-viruses-wait-
what.html

Yeah, really. There have been a number of reports of malware that has been
developed for the Mac, but none reported "in the wild" or affecting end users.

So far, if you use a Mac, there is exactly no need to worry about malware.

Oh?

http://bgr.com/2015/10/21/mac-malware-increase-2015/

Why is this ng so impervious to facts???

Strange that these so called facts are hard to find anyone that's actually been infected. or seen by anyone in the real world.
Trojens aren't virusus either.

If one's "real world" is limited to the folks one knows, most everything
will escape their attention. OTOH, the way most malware is found is by
someone who is affected (not necessarily *infected*) by it. That is also
fact that should adequately address your skepticism.

--
Best regards,

Neil

On 2/2/2016 12:36 PM, PeterN wrote:
On 2/2/2016 10:23 AM, PAS wrote:
On 2/2/2016 9:48 AM, PeterN wrote:
On 2/2/2016 9:27 AM, PAS wrote:
On 2/1/2016 5:09 PM, Savageduck wrote:
On 2016-02-01 20:44:57 +0000, dorayme said:

In article ,
Tim Streater wrote:

In article , PeterN
wrote:

On 1/31/2016 10:16 PM, nospam wrote:
In article , PeterN
wrote:

Our main TV is a Sony XBR. It was a floor model I bought, I
think in
1989. The CRT is starting to degrade, but is still usable.

where 'usable' means 'can't be used as a tv anymore because it
can't
receive digital tv signals'.

Wrong again. It works just fine with the cable box. But there you
go,
just being a jerk again, while ignoring the point.

What's a cable box when it's at home?

It's a TV tuner that is in a separate box and connects to your
TV. Had
a cheap one (talking $30 or so nothing bucks here!) for years, work
well. In my case eventually did not actually need it for a new
digital
TV. But a similar one had a PVR function (you can record live TV via
it) and it proved useful addition to the inbuilt tuner to the
digital
TV. It also gives the ability to watch one program and record
another.
Some such boxes can record more than one program at a time.

Nowadays, there are excellent and much dearer boxes which market
mainly as TV recorders with internal HDs. Mine is pretty classy
and I
should have let the moths fly out of where I keep my dough
earlier. It
not only records reliably more than one station but is on my WIFI
network and can see all the catchup free to air TV programs
available
as well as get onto such as Netflix and other providers.

Now, quite a few TVs have PVR recording built in, but a quality
dedicated HD recorder has many advantages (the least of which is the
actual internal HD).

Too much information? I'm sorry Tim. I just can't help typing
uncontrollably before breakfast.

The cable boxes provided by the Cable TV companies, or owned outright
by the cable service subscriber are a little more than "just a
digital
tuner". In the US, generally, they are the gateway to your premium
channels, OnDemand, & Pay-per-view. To get those services you have to
have a cable box (I have a Scientific Atlanta), or for digital TVs
which have a slot, a CableCARD, or a combo DVR/digital tuner.

For years, the cable company here on Long Island had Scientific
Atlanta
boxes. The DVR boxes were nothing but trouble. I had to have them
replaced at least once a year. I was thrilled when the company
switched
to Samsung boxes and the built-in DVR was no longer used, the
recordings
were now on the company server. My "thrill" didn't last long. The
software used by the Samsung boxes was not ready for prime time.
Switching channels took about five seconds. That may not sound like a
long time but a five-second lag is a long time to wait for a
channel to
start playing. Bringing up the channel guide took far too long and it
wouldn't display properly. There were always problems with recorded
shows. It seemed like the cable system's clock wasn't synced to the
network's clocks. Shows would either start recording after they began
or finish recording before they ended. I had to set each show to
begin
recording one minute before the start time and end one-minute after
the
end time to make sure the whole show recorded. Recordings on the
server
sometimes would not play, there were problems on the server end. I
switched to DirecTV and haven't looked back.

Some of my neighbors have satellite TV. At times they have issues with
snow interfering with the signal. I have not had bad switching delays
with Verizon. I did find that Optimum was an arrogant company, who
kept nickel and dimeing me. (not that Verizon isn't arrogant, but at
least they make some effort.) After I switched to Verizon, they sent
me offers to come back, that had they made while I was a customer, I
might have reconsidered.




If you stand firm with Cablevision, you can call their retention people
and negotiate a better deal. I did that a few times and a co-worker has
done that numerous times. Every time his "Deal"expires (usually after
12 months) he calls back and gets another deal.

I know. At the time of my switch I still had POTS, and wanted to lower
that bill. Verizon had just made a deal to be allowed into our
community and their rates were substantially lower than Optimum. I
wanted to give Optimum one more chance. On the day I tried to call
them the entire Optimum phone system was down, for over six hours. The
decision was easy.



I decided to switch to
DirecTV after having to deal with the new cable set-top boxes and, more
importantly, after a retention rep wouldn't lower my bill to keep my
business. Verizon FIOS is not an option in the Town of Brookhaven.
Verizon has stated that the are not interested in bringing their service
here.

Next time we meet for ice cream I will tell you the reason

I'm willing to bet that there is more to it than simply "we have no
interest in offering our service".

On 2/2/2016 1:31 PM, Tony Cooper wrote:
On Tue, 2 Feb 2016 12:37:32 -0500, PeterN
wrote:

On 2/2/2016 10:25 AM, PAS wrote:
On 2/2/2016 9:38 AM, Tim Streater wrote:
In article , PAS wrote:

On 2/1/2016 5:57 PM, Tim Streater wrote:
In article , nospam
wrote:

what they call tvs have built-in tuners and do *not* require a cable
tuner of some sort. that's the whole *point* of having a tuner built
in.

you don't have to use the built-in tuner, but the fact that it has a
tuner makes it a tv.
And having a tuner makes you liable for the annual licence fee. If you
have screens without tuners (aka monitors) then you can watch tv
programmes on catchup but not as they're being broadcast. A bit angels
on pinheads-ish (like this whole ****ing thread) but there it is.
What, may I ask, is the annual license fee for a TV? My sister lived
in London for a number of years and I didn't initially believe her
when she said she needed a license for a TV.
About £145 IIRC. But yuh gotta remember that the BBC employs more
people than ABC, CBS, and NBC put together. At least that was the word
in the 80s.

Wow, that's a bit steep, IMO. ABC, NBC, and CBS are privately operated
businesses, unlike the BBC. However, IMO, the BBC has far better
programming. I am a regular viewer of "BBC America".
BBC does indeed have some really good programming.
Tonight's BBCA offerings include several showings of "Ramsay's Kitchen
Nightmares US", and they are a product of ITV. The UK versions were a
product of Channel Four Television Corporation, not the Beeb.

However, I do like and watch some BBCA programs.

i have to confess that I like the types of shows like "Ramsay's Kitchen
Nightmares". When the US version of that show launched, the first
episode took place on Long Island. In another episode, a restaurant I
had gone to with my parents when I was young was featured. I record
Ramsay's shows and watch them. I do prefer Food Channel's "Restaurant
Impossible".

In article , PAS wrote:
On 2/1/2016 5:43 PM, Sandman wrote:
In article , PeterN wrote:

Lewis:
Stores do not sell CRT televisions anymore.
They sell devices they call TVs, nearly all of which require a cable
tuner of some sort. Therefore, according to the phony logic given,
they are not selling TVs.
While I agree with you on that tangent (i.e. a "TV" doesn't magically
become a
"monitor" just because the tuner it was sold with is incompatible with the
transmission in the specific part of the world it currently resides in),
doesn't most/all TV's in the states come with built-in tuners?

Pretty much all TV's we have here have both DVB-C, DVB-S and DVB-T tuners
and instead of buying a cable box you get a cable card that you put in a
card slot in the TV, which decodes the TV signal (cable, terrestrial or
satellite) and that's it.

Maybe it's a european thing?

Sure sounds like a European thing and a nice system. In the USA, every
cable company and satellite company have their own tuners made by third
parties. What you have is standardization and we don't have that here,
for whatever reason.

Yet! There was a news item last week about a new US law being worked on
that would require every box to be able to used with any broadcaster
(as long as the user had an account obviously).

In article , PAS wrote:

On 2/2/2016 9:38 AM, Tim Streater wrote:
In article , PAS wrote:

On 2/1/2016 5:57 PM, Tim Streater wrote:
In article , nospam
wrote:

what they call tvs have built-in tuners and do *not* require a cable
tuner of some sort. that's the whole *point* of having a tuner built
in.

you don't have to use the built-in tuner, but the fact that it has a
tuner makes it a tv.

And having a tuner makes you liable for the annual licence fee. If you
have screens without tuners (aka monitors) then you can watch tv
programmes on catchup but not as they're being broadcast. A bit angels
on pinheads-ish (like this whole ****ing thread) but there it is.

What, may I ask, is the annual license fee for a TV? My sister lived
in London for a number of years and I didn't initially believe her
when she said she needed a license for a TV.

About £145 IIRC. But yuh gotta remember that the BBC employs more
people than ABC, CBS, and NBC put together. At least that was the word
in the 80s.

Wow, that's a bit steep, IMO. ABC, NBC, and CBS are privately operated
businesses, unlike the BBC. However, IMO, the BBC has far better
programming. I am a regular viewer of "BBC America".

The BBC (as far as I remember) also has no adverts, other than promos
for their own shows.


Here in New Zealand there is no TV "license", but the main Freeview
channels available to everyone do have adverts.

The main channels / networks we have a

- Television New Zealand (government owned)
runs channels TV One and TV 2
Also Radio New Zealand owned by the government which has a few
different stations

- Media Network (privately owned, Canadian owners last time I read)
runs channels TV3, Four
Also runs some radio stations

- Prime TV (privately owned by Sky TV, but is free-to-air)
runs channel Prime

- Maori Television (privately owned)
runs channel Maori TV

- Choice TV (privately owned)
runs channel Choice

plus a pile of useless minor channels (Asian channels, religious
channels, shopping channels, etc.).

In article , PAS wrote:

On 2/1/2016 5:57 PM, Tim Streater wrote:
In article , nospam
wrote:

what they call tvs have built-in tuners and do *not* require a cable
tuner of some sort. that's the whole *point* of having a tuner built
in.

you don't have to use the built-in tuner, but the fact that it has a
tuner makes it a tv.

And having a tuner makes you liable for the annual licence fee. If you
have screens without tuners (aka monitors) then you can watch tv
programmes on catchup but not as they're being broadcast. A bit angels
on pinheads-ish (like this whole ****ing thread) but there it is.

What, may I ask, is the annual license fee for a TV? My sister lived in
London for a number of years and I didn't initially believe her when she
said she needed a license for a TV.

"License" is the wrong name since it's really just another tax.

On Mon, 01 Feb 2016 16:24:45 +1300, Your Name
wrote:

In article , PeterN
wrote:
On 1/31/2016 9:47 PM, Your Name wrote:
In article , PeterN
wrote:
On 1/31/2016 4:36 PM, Your Name wrote:

snip

Unfortunately most people are incredibly stupid and fell for the "throw
away" mentality con-trick by manufacturers. That's why they do
unnecessarily buy a new computer every couple of years, and new car
every few years, a new mobile phone every other year, a new TV to get
the latest useless gimmick, etc. when the one they've got is still
perfectly fine.

Our main TV is a Sony XBR. It was a floor model I bought, I think in
1989. The CRT is starting to degrade, but is still usable. As for cars,
I have a 2006 station car. The other car gets replaced about every three
years. I like the features on the new cars, and am willing and able to
pay for them. Yes, it's a perceived need. So is going out for a lobster
or steak dinner. When my wife and I fly, we fly first class. I guess
that too puts me in the asshole category,
It is ridiculously judgmental for anyone, other than my wife to tell me
how to spend my money. I earned it, and how to enjoy it is non of
anyone's business. I do not preach my lifestyle to others, and will lash
back when others try to tell me how to live.

I never said you couldn't do that ... just that it's a waste of money,
as well as clogging up rubbish landfills and fulfilling corporate greed
(and laziness - rather than coming up with a new product to sell, they
simply tack on a new unnecessary gimmick).

Ever hear of Styrofoam, not recyclable containers, plastic garbage bags,
etc.

There was an item on the BBC tech-news show "Click" that I watched last
night about a German company working on biodegradable electronics. So
in 10 years time or so you may well be able to easily throw out your
"old" mobile phone and get a new one, without clogging up landfills.

Everything is biodegradable. It's just that we are impatient.
--

Regards,

Eric Stevens

On Mon, 01 Feb 2016 08:38:00 -0500, nospam
wrote:

In article , PeterN
wrote:

Our main TV is a Sony XBR. It was a floor model I bought, I think in
1989. The CRT is starting to degrade, but is still usable.

where 'usable' means 'can't be used as a tv anymore because it can't
receive digital tv signals'.


Wrong again. It works just fine with the cable box.

exactly the point. you need an external box, ...

You always did, with cable.

... and not only that, you
can't see hd content no matter what you do.

But there you go,
just being a jerk again, while ignoring the point.

projection.
--

Regards,

Eric Stevens

In article , PAS wrote:
On 2/2/2016 12:13 AM, Your Name wrote:
In article , J.
Clarke wrote:
In article , says...

What happened to you when we got about two feet of snow here on Long
Island on the 23rd - 24th in January?

I got about a half an inch.

I got none at all ... not really surprising since it's the middle of
summer and it doesn't even snow here in winter either. Unfortunately it
is stinking hot instead! :-(

In the winter, we complain about the cold and snow. In the summer, we
complain about the heat. We're never happy.

Not me. I detest the stinking heat of summer. I never complain about
the cold and rain in winter (no snow where I am ever, but is further
south). The cold doesn't affect me - I rarely even bother wearing a
jumper / "sweater" and still wear short sleeved shirts.

In article ,
nospam wrote:

In article , PAS wrote:


i can change my oil in about 10 minutes. sometimes i let it drain a
little longer to get the last few drops, as that's the dirtiest, but
sometimes i don't really care. 15 minutes tops.

I used to turn the engine on for a second or so when the oil was at
the non-flowing and hardly dripping stage to get just a bit more out.
Please don't tell anyone, it is not a practice novices should ever
attempt.



...

--
dorayme