>Ed,
>
>>Sure, would you prefer to talk about WinModems, video cards that rely on some amount of the system memory rather than video RAM of some sort, or the joys of flakey power line?
>
>Don't know what you're talking about. Have no problems with my cable modem and my GeForce graphics card.

WinModems are cheap analog modems that rather than having their own on-board DSP, use the system CPU for decoding the analog signal, saving a couple of bucks on a DSP chip but burying the CPU. A whole line of really cheap integrated video chipsets shipped a couple of years back that snagged a few meg of system memory for use as video display RAM, rather than having dedicated, high-performance video RAM like the GeForce. And anyone who doesn't run their computer on a UPS deserves whatever happens to them - around here, we refer to our local power company UI as Ultimately Infuriating instead of United Illuminating...

> Hm, flakey power line...that indeed can be a problem. In 2 out of 5 cases, when my wife irons my shirts at the same time I work, the 6 Ampère fuse can't take it. I hate that silence (and darkness) when this happens. That's the reason I'm buying only wrinkle-free shirts and I'm getting used to work on my notebook where my battery acts like a UPS.