PhoenixFire

I like reading about hurricanes, especially from the discussions from National Hurricane Center. However, there's one part I don't understand: Initial Motion or Motion. For example, At one point, Hurricane Issac's motion was 310/07 KT. I'm assuming the 07 is Knots. But what's the first number? Thought it was degrees in a unit circle, but that doesn't make sense (since the hurricane is moving northwest). Just curious. Thanks!

Our association currently uses a Mac OS X server. It's primarily used for running backups (using Retrospect) and as our shared drive. However, the entire staff uses Windows OS's (both Vista and XP) on their computers. While all the computers have access to the server, the Vista machines don't get backed up due to Retrospect's incompatibility with Vista.

Besides, the benefit of being able to backup the Vista PCs (as we MAY move everyone towards Vista), are there any other benefits that stem from the OSX to Windows server switch? Cons? What Windows server OS would you recommend?

Please provide straight and honest answers; I don't need Apple Fanboys telling me how stupid I am to think about a switch because Apple is just so awesome and Microsoft sucks. Thanks.

In 2010, my family is coming together for a reunion. We're trying to vote on a destination. Destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean seem popular.

Can anyone give me a rough estimate of costs to vacation for a week in Puerto Rico against Cancun, Mexico? How about Acapulco or Cabo San Lucas? Dominican Republic? Anywhere else?

We're looking to vacation in mid-July/June and stay for 6-7 nights. All-inclusives (and I mean everything,including alcohol) are being highly considered.

Thanks!

I'm thinking about selling a desktop computer that I built last summer. I'm heading to college and just a bought a new gaming laptop so I don't really need the desktop that much. Anyway, here are the specs:

- COOLER MASTER Elite 330 RC-330-KKN1-GP Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Case

-ASUS M2N-E nVIDIA nFORCE 570ULTRA CHIPSET

-AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Windsor 2.4GHz

-3 GB DDR2 RAM (2x1GB OCZ PC2 6400 + 2x512MB Hynix PC2 5300)

- (Diamond Viper) ATI Radeon X1650 Pro PCI-E 256MB

- 160 GB PATA HD (will probably replace with an equivalent SATA)

- DVD-Writer/CD-Writer Combo

-Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit

Everything in this PC is about a year old, except the harddrive (which will probably be replaced with a new SATA). I paid about $700-800 for all the parts.

So what do you guys think? Thanks for your help!

Hi, I'm totally new to car rentals (having just turned 21 a few months ago). I'm planning on getting a car from Dollar Car Rentals. I have auto insurance via AAA and I know that if I use a major credit card, there's some coverage there as well.

Am I required to purchase insurance through Dollar, or am I able to use my own? What about the credit card coverage?

Thanks!

I've trying to find a "gaming-oriented" laptop and have been looking at various builders. I have a budget of about $2000. I'm also trying to stave off obsolesence with this new rig (I'd like to get through at least three to four years before replacing it).

Right now, I'm looking at this build from HP:

*HP Pavillion DV9700t Series Customizable

*Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit

*Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo Processor T8300 (2.40 GHz, 3 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)

*17.0" diagonal WXGA+ High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1440 x 900)

*4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)

*512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS

*Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection (No Bluetooth)

*240GB 7200RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive (120GB x 2)

*LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support

This build will cost just over $1600 w/o taxes. Also, the games I'll probably be running are CS, EVE Online, The Sims 2, WoW, WC3, HL2, possibly CoD4.

Suggestions? Other places to look?

I'm thinking about getting a new gaming laptop and am thinking about selling my current one.

Here are the specs:

HP DV5000 Pavillion Notebook (2 years old)

AMD Turion 64 (ML-34) 1.80 GHz

2 GB DDR2 Ram, 1MB L2 Cache

120GB (100 GB) Harddrive

16X DVD/RW/CDRW drive

Win XP Media Center

ATI Radeon Xpress 200M 128MB (Discrete/Dedicated)

B/G WiFi & 10/100 Ethernet

15.4" WXGA Glossy with BrightView (1280x800)

New (2-month old) 12cell Li-Ion battery

Everything on this notebook works. Nothing is broken. The outside has some blemishes, but for the most part looks good.

And ideas? Thanks

I'm working on a calc project, but I'm stuck. Here's the question:

"Assume y(x) s the function that models the path of a landing plane." Assume the end of the runway is at the origin of the coord system and the plane is approaching from the left and the distance from the airport when the pilot begins the descent is L miles. Assume X and Y are in miles. Find expression for the coefficients of y(x) in terms of n, m, and L."

n = 35,000

m = 1,026

L = some negative number

Can anyone give me some pointers on where I should start? I have no idea where to even begin...

Thanks!

For a typical commercial airline jet (such as a Boeing 747), what is the max vertical acceleration when landing?

Trying to do a Calculus project, can't seem to find this answer anywhere...

I currently have a Student Visa from a major bank. I've been trying to lower the interest rate, but they keep telling me that because I'm a student my rate can't be lowered, regardless of my nearly perfect history with this card.

The credit counselors at the bank recommend that I pay off this account, close it, and open a new card with lower rates.

However, this student card is my oldest at three years. Will that affect my credit history? Also, while this card does not have my highest limit, it's still a relatively high one. This will obviously affect my total available credit and credit ratio. How does that affect my credit history? And what guarantee do I have that I'll be offered the same amount with a new card? None!

So in the end, is it worth closing out? Ors hould I pay it off/Transfer the balance and just leave it open?

Thanks!

I thought about this as I was driving home in this mess. Yahoo! Weather says its currently 28°F in my area, but if water freezes at 32°F, then how is it raining? Shouldn't it be snowing or something?

Thanks!

My girlfriend just turned 18 and wanted to check out the dance clubs. Aside from Radius in Olathe (and Liquid in Lawrence and the other college towns), are there any? Thanks!

I need to learn how to use Microsoft's new Expression Web for both work and for personal use. I've been looking around B&N and Border's but I'm not sure which ones are good.

What books have you read? Which do you recommend?

Please include the name and author, and if possible the ISBN.

Thanks!

I have a widescreen 19" monitor that is hooked up to my notebook. I want the ability to have the 19" display fullscreen games and apps while my notebook screen has other windows (a browser or whatever) open.

I can do this if I extend the desktop across the monitors. However, if the 19" is running a fullscreen app and the notebook screen has some other windowed program open and I happen to click on the notebook screen, the fullscreen app minimizes.

Does anyone know how to fix this?

Thanks.

Or is that just a stupid idea? I have some old 128Mb sticks that I was thinking about using so I don't have to buy new RAM. Will this even work? If it does work, will it be super slow?

Thanks.

My girlfriend and I are celebrating our two-year anniversary in a week and a half, and I want to take her to a nice restaurant (preferably around the Plaza area, but downtown, Westport, and Crown Center is alright, too).

However, as a college student, I have limited funds. If possible, I'd like to keep the total for the two of us at no more than $50.

We've already tried P.F. Changs and Bucca di Beppo (both very good!). By the way, we're kinda picky, so anything that's really exotic is probably out. And we're both under 21, if that helps.

Thanks!

I'm a short guy. But I love to shop at Abercrombie, Hollister, and the like. However, their idea of a "small" is not anywhere close to my idea of a "small" (their "small" looks like a "large").

Anyway, I want to shorten my shirts to better fit me. Is there a certain way to do this? Do I need any special threads? Will a regular sewing machine work?

I'm interested in setting up a RAID 1 on a desktop computer (WinXP Home). I want to just attach it to a router and let it sit there for backups/storage. There are only 3 other computers in my home network. Should I use hardware or software raid? Should I use XP Pro or Windows 2000/2003 or just keep XP Home on it? I'm totally new to all this RAID stuff. Please help! Thanks!

I have an HP Pavilion dv5000 notebook (only 3 months old). Lately, I've been having rare instances of Caps Lock/mouse problems. When Caps Lock is on, the type is in lower-case, and when Caps is off, the type is upper-cased. Regardless of the case, the top row of numbers types only the symbols. It's as if the computer is in a constant shift mode. This happens regardless of what I'm doing: writing html code, e-mail, forums, etc.

My mouse is acting strange as well - left-clicking doesn't (one click will select everything in a folder/page/document. The mouse wheel isn't scrolling up or down, but acts as back/forward in a browser. Right-click works fine, though.

Restarting the PC fixes it, but I don't want to run into this problem again. Any help would be appreciated. (I called Tech Support and they only directed me to do things I already knew how to do).

I might not have a co-signer for my college loan. I'm 19 and have two credit cards (one since May 2005 and the other since Jan 2006) and a Cell Phone (since Feb/Mar 2005). I've never been late on any of my payments. Is there anyway I can get a loan on my own?