Any one planning on buying a new Ivy Bridge Ultrabook or Win8 Tablet?

[meadbelly]

^I've been pleasantly surprised by win7's handwriting capture and training software. My handwriting is really bad; capture easily gets 95% now. I've used a lenovo thinkpad x61 tablet for about two years now for daily handwritten notes. And I loooooove MS OneNote.

I've tried handwriting capture on my friend's ipad, and had similar experiences to yours, markshot.

What I don't know is if it's software and/or processing power that delivers what I'm getting from the X61. I think the DRM processors may provide the weight/capability intersection I'm looking for.

[MarkShot]

He he he ... after almost 50 years, I found out that my penmanship is poor and problem.

I kept saying, "What is wrong the fre*king thing!  Why can't it recognize 'd's!".  I looked up 'd' on the Internet and realized that I was writing it wrong.  It doesn't simply do OCR, but it actually matches strokes.  So, if you don't write your letters correctly than you are scr*w*d.  :)

[MarkShot]

I read an interesting technical paper from Apple yesterday on iOS written for IT Security Administrators.  One of the amusing things I found out is that what I consider to be some iOS' greatest weaknesses are actually intentional design elements of the security model.  :)  {They are not head bashing frustrations.  They are features!}

[MarkShot]

"35 New Ivy Bridge-powered Ultrabooks Coming Over Next 30 Days"

http://www.pcworld.com/article/256854/35_new_ivy_bridgepowered_ultrabooks_coming_over_next_30_days.html

[Con]

I am keeping an eye out for some reviews of the Asus UX32d model that has an integrated Nvidia graphics card.

Looking for a PC that can play games (I would like it to be able to play CMBN with the options turned down).  I need something since the work laptop is now verboten for any non work applications (ie gmail youtube etc).

Con

[MarkShot]

That s*cks!

So, they make you carry the laptop home with you and provide off hours support, but restrict what you can do with it?  (meaning they invade your home life, but it would be a misuse of company property to put a game on it)

Do you work for one of those companies that require you to turn over you Facebook password?  I don't have a Facebook account, but I think that kind of thing is outrageous.

Man ... I used to love outwitting corporate IT.  They started scanning user PCs for software on logon to the network.  I simply installed my unsanctioned programs to a separate partition.  Once the server logon script ran, it would launch my personal one and mount the partition with my stuff on it.  :)

One day this guy Dan (our newly appointed Security Administrator) came over to tell me that he had tightened up security.  For example, after three failed logon attempts you would be locked out of your logon account.  He was so proud of himself.  So, during lunch, I sat down at his terminal and using his ID intentionally failed three attempts to logon.  Sure enough, when he came back from lunch, just as he had said, he was totally locked out of the system.  He was p*ss*d, but it was really funny.

I love administrators ...

[Bison]

^That is a hilarious story Mark.

[MarkShot]

Most people think I am a very serious guy, but I am bit of a clown.

Back in the 90's, I was a VP in charge of Data Warehousing (Commercial Bank) for one of the USA's largest banks.  (still in business)

During my tenure, I built a new system.  Now, it was supposed to be a serious corporate decision support system supplying the bank executives and board with multi-dimensional access to data from many lines of business.  However besides getting fed by a lot of transactional systems, there were also many spreadsheets that needed to be collected.  I really hated having to process comptroller and accountant XLS.  So, I named the new system SUCS (Spreadsheet Upload Collection System).  Well, the executives didn't appreciate the name and called it Delphi (as in the Greek usage).  People get very stiff when they wear a suit.

---

I left the bank to become CTO of an 80 person startup that served up banner ads to the very new Internet.  At one time, we served up ads to 13% of the Net.  (BTW, I hate advertising and always block it.)  We paid royalties to those who displayed our ads.  I had a two hour meeting with the owner, Mike, telling me about the many thousands paid out each month ... the vast sums.  Finally, I couldn't take it any more.  I said, "Mike, it is only fair to tell your that the monthly rounding errors for XYZ's Data Warehouse far exceeded the total capitalization of your business here."

---

So, I am not so serious.  I just seem to be when it comes to the written word.  :)

[LongBlade]

Great stories, Mark.

[MarkShot]

Alright since this my thread, I guess I can detour a little bit.  The working World was full of laughs long before I got to corporate America.

I quit college after two years ... just didn't know what I wanted to do or study.

So, here I am interviewing at McD's (one of the largest in Brooklyn, NYC).  Charlie, the GM, knew how to really ask tough questions.  "Like here is an order 'blah blah blah'.  Now, repeat that back to me."  Lastly, he asks me one of those very introspective questions that I would later find is so popular with corporate HR types.  "Mark, what do you think qualifies you for this job?".  After some careful thought I blurted out the naked truth, "I am unemployed.".  And yes, I did get the job.

Funniest moment at McD's was one day in the lobby.  Normally, for breakfast I used to work hot cakes or scrambled eggs, and lunch/dinner the quarter grill.  But I really liked getting sent out to the lobby.  The pace was slower and you could interact with the customers (females).  Sometimes, immigrants/tourists would actually leave a tip on the table.

So, I am working the lobby this one afternoon with Eddy, a pretty funny guy.  One of the Assistant Managers, Norma, is working the "bin" (boxing the food and watching the registers).  Now, as you all know, if any food is returned at McD's, they'll replace it.  So from time to time, people send stuff back.  (This was in the age of Styrofoam containers.)  So, Eddy walks up to the counter and tells Norma that a customer wants to return this quarter pounder.  She asks, "What's wrong with it?".  Eddy says, "I don't know.".  He opens the cover and lifts the bun off the burger.  There sitting on the beef patty is half a finger in either some blood or ketchup.  Norma nearly had a heart attack.  Eddy had stuck his finger up through the bottom of the container and laid it on the patty.

---

So, back to ultrabooks ... how long does a new machine need to be out before you can trust the reviews and know that it has been adequately vetted by the consumers?  2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months?

[MarkShot]

And then there are the ultrabook/tablet combos now known as "sliders":

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/MSI-Ultrabook-Windows-8-Touchscreen-Laptops-Convertible-Tablets-Slider-S2,15892.html

[meadbelly]

And then there are the ultrabook/tablet combos now known as "sliders":

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/MSI-Ultrabook-Windows-8-Touchscreen-Laptops-Convertible-Tablets-Slider-S2,15892.html

Well at least now there's an "official" term for what I'm looking for. Thank you Tom's and Markshot!

[meadbelly]

That s*cks!

So, they make you carry the laptop home with you and provide off hours support, but restrict what you can do with it?  (meaning they invade your home life, but it would be a misuse of company property to put a game on it)

Do you work for one of those companies that require you to turn over you Facebook password?  I don't have a Facebook account, but I think that kind of thing is outrageous.

Man ... I used to love outwitting corporate IT.  They started scanning user PCs for software on logon to the network.  I simply installed my unsanctioned programs to a separate partition.  Once the server logon script ran, it would launch my personal one and mount the partition with my stuff on it.  :)

One day this guy Dan (our newly appointed Security Administrator) came over to tell me that he had tightened up security.  For example, after three failed logon attempts you would be locked out of your logon account.  He was so proud of himself.  So, during lunch, I sat down at his terminal and using his ID intentionally failed three attempts to logon.  Sure enough, when he came back from lunch, just as he had said, he was totally locked out of the system.  He was p*ss*d, but it was really funny.

I love administrators ...

I would fully support a "Corporate Shenanigans" thread, particularly if Markshot and others continued to share gems such as these.

[Bison]

A slider to me is a really, really greasy cheeseburger.

[MarkShot]

Yep, with bacon, fried onions, and some cheddar cheese!  So, greazzee that it runs down your face when you bite into it.

Boy, that sounds good!  Oh sh*t what I am talking about?  I'm a vegetarian now.  -27Lbs in 4 months now.  He he he by the time I get to Taiwan, I can talk about those obese Americans like I never was one myself!  :)