Category Archives: YukYuks

a collection of found humour

Reviews, YukYuks

Dell ‘Vista-Capable’ PCs great for just booting the OS

The Portable Consultant has been reading all the Christmas ads for PCs and noticing that the vast majority of desktops and notebooks are labelled “Vista Capable”… which means what, exactly?

What I had heard was that “Vista Premium Ready” means the unit will actually run Vista in all its glory while “Vista Capable” means it will run fine as long as you don’t choose to use the new GUI in all its glory… in other words, a more simple interface will run fine but the prettier Aero Glass GUI probably won’t work or, at the very least, will slow the system down to unacceptable levels.

None of the advertising flyers I’ve seen this season explain this – not even the ones that promote and explain the Express Upgrade to Windows Vista for those buying certain XP systems.

Perhaps the industry is rushing to rid itself of old stock and parts before Vista becomes the default OS on new systems.

Be that as it may, I was astounded to see a chart on Dell’s site that seems to indicate that “Vista Capable” means a Dell PC that is…:

Great for…
Booting the Operating System, without running applications or games

I suppose that’s what Microsoft would refer to as a “core experience.”

Dell wins The Portable Consultant’s 2006 Award for Dubious Truth in High-Tech Advertising.

Cheers,
-pmh

netcasting, podcasting, YukYuks

Leo Laporte receives “Mitch Miller” award for long term contribution

TORONTO – The Portable Consultant last night awarded Leo Laporte, creater of the TWIT.tv media conglomerate, with an impromptu award at the “Inside the Net” Taping & Meetup held at Liberty Village’s No Regrets restaurant and lounge.

The award was in recognition of Mr. Laporte’s long term contribution to both Old Media and Podcasting Netcasting and for being such a fine example for those over the age of 32 40 45 who enjoy listening to his shows in order to work up the courage to become podcasters netcasters themselves.

A pre-owned copy of Mitch Miller’s Fireside album was presented after the taping. The award was contingent on the understanding that Leo will share it with Steve Gibson of Security Now. “That’s funny”, said Laporte.

The Portable Consultant, seated in a one-man Peanut Gallery behind people who had been hugged by Amber MacArthur, also took the opportunity to instruct staff at No Regrets in the finer points of selling Moosehead lager.

Cheers!
-pmh

YukYuks

Is that 12**9 or 12**12?… and does it matter?

The Portable Consultant’s current project wraps up next month, so I’m looking around of course. Well, this one caught my eye because I’ve never done a $12 BILLION project before (US billion or UK billion?… who cares?)

“…in search of an experienced Infrastructure Architect to join our client in Toronto, Canada. Our client is currently working on a $12 billion project which will allow TV streaming through your phone line using internet protocols.”

Now, since my home phone doesn’t have a screen I guess they’ll install one. So I suppose that’s where the high cost is coming from. 😉

Cheers!
-pmh