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Thursday Tosh

Search Me? Our new Dell PCs came with Windows XP Pro. While XP is very similar to Windows 2000 Pro, there are differences.

One of those differences is how long it takes to access other servers via Network Places. Clicking on "Add a network place" in "My Network Places" starts up a wizard that eventually asks for the Internet or network address of the server. If you use the browse button to search for the server, the Novell Netware servers pop up almost instantly. But to browse the list of Microsoft servers takes over 20 seconds just for the list to appear. Then you wait another 20 seconds while you select a particular server. And then another 20 seconds while you wait to log in. You probably spent less time reading this then it would take to get to the server and login.

Some solutions can be found at the Practically Networked site here. As with all changes to the registry, if you don't know what you are doing, don't do it. If you do, make a backup of everything before you attempt to edit the registry. You have been warned. I've tried only one of the suggestion (disabling the search for scheduled tasks) but that doesn't seem to have solved my problem. At some point, I assume MS will get around to fixing this, but until then, XP Pro really sucks pregnant dust bunnies through a collapsed straw when it comes to discovering MS servers on the network.

Does Size Matter? Awhile back there was a TV commercial in which a man is seen driving home from the electronics store with the newest Whizbang 6 computer in the backseat. The man is proudly looking around showing off his new purchase when he sees a billboard advertising the newer Whizbang 7.

So imagine the chagrin of someone who just installed the megabucks 60-inch (~1.52m) plasma display TV from LG Electronics when s/he finds out LG has released a 71-inch (~1.8m) model (see it here). Of course, if you have the money to buy a 60-incher you probably can afford the 71. By the way, it may not be a coincidence that the 71 is one inch larger than the 70-inch model rival Samsung recently announced.

Aloha!