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Technical Difficulties at Times Square(pic)

yearinthelife.org — The largest BIOS screen you'll ever see.

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  • hpskid, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18I've always wondered why that Coke advertisement above it has the weirdly-shaped screen - it almost makes it look severely cracked. Does anyone know why it was made this way?
    • Madh2orat, on 10/12/2007, -50/+4The guy that made it must have been on crack.
    • wildfire, on 10/12/2007, -3/+56Not crack, coke.
    • isleshocky77, on 10/12/2007, -14/+6?? Have it was made that way to be a coke bottle...
      I don't understand what confuses you. Unless you've only seen the image that's up there now. But normally it's a full size coke bottle and the different screens make it look like it splashing in water.
    • Jozer99, on 10/12/2007, -1/+32Because industrial designers want to keep their jobs. Which sounds better:

      "You should make a dynamic, organically shaped screen full of exciting shapes that convey passion to potential customers. Now give me my $50,000 consulting fee."

      or

      "You should make a square screen, dumb@$$. Now give me my $50,000 consulting fee."
    • phmfthacim, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1@BlackAdderIII,
      please tell us why!

      THX
    • GopherChucks, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3No coke, only pepsi.
  • mvanhorn, on 10/12/2007, -163/+45Should have used a mac..
    • Velocity211, on 10/12/2007, -145/+30why are you digging him down? he's 100% right
    • pwill, on 10/12/2007, -57/+122No, he's not. Macs are bad as 24/7/365 servers. They should have used Linux/UNIX/BSD etc.
      You obviously know nothing about system administration.
    • Technopundit, on 10/12/2007, -34/+5Because he beat-out the first Linux comments.
    • titlesaysitall, on 10/12/2007, -32/+77 iamcitizen, OS X is built on Unix.
    • mitrovarr, on 10/12/2007, -3/+117Considering that it's showing the BIOS menu (as opposed to say, a BSOD) I suspect that this is a hardware problem, and the operating system is probably not relevant.
    • TenebrousX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+29It's not a problem; it needs to know which device to boot from
    • zdiggler, on 10/12/2007, -42/+8What? what if that stupid MAC got a Bad video card for hdd went kaput?

      Don't tell me that there is never a Hardware problem in MAC, Linux or what ever!!
    • NtHammer, on 10/12/2007, -3/+20it wasnt an error screen, they were just in the bios, who knows why.

      as far as you know they could be using windows OR linux (idk if a bios on a mac looks different or not)
    • dephrye, on 10/12/2007, -12/+3What? You mean Macs don't need boot media?!?!? Jackass.
    • skidogallard, on 10/12/2007, -3/+34@ zdiggler

      Please come to the realization that Mac is not an Acronym
    • gwalbridge, on 10/12/2007, -7/+19Why are you capitalizing "Mac"
      ??

      Edit: skidogallard beat me to it.
    • Sepeteus, on 10/12/2007, -16/+11Speaking of acronyms...

      Most Applications Crash, If Not Then Operating System Hangs
    • cdmarcus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18MAC _is_ an acronym, but it means something completely different.
    • RandomInsano, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2Bah bah bah! I don't like macs, but that's a halarious comment!
    • BlackAdderIII, on 10/12/2007, -6/+16"iamcitizen, OS X is built on Unix."

      I think iamcitizen is probably well aware of OS X's sort-of-unix nature, as are most of us.

      That doesn't really change the validity of what he said, to be honest.

      Don't get me wrong, you can put together a perfectly *passable* OS X server for all-day-all-year-long tasks, but it's not what anyone would call ideal.

      :-)
    • Rekutyn, on 10/12/2007, -13/+21Re: iamcitizen
      Offtopic, but:
      Mac OS X is UNIX/BSD so it makes a fine 24x7x365 server. Why don't you give your tripe advice to one of the many universities around the globe who use Macs in clustered server environments?
      As much as I LOVE FreeBSD, Mac OS X is a splendid OS.
    • robdazomba, on 10/12/2007, -8/+22> What? what if that stupid MAC got a Bad video card for hdd went kaput?
      >
      > Don't tell me that there is never a Hardware problem in MAC, Linux or what ever!!

      I spent a good 10 years of my life in IS/tech support for a couple of mixed platform companies and I can tell you that, from my experiences, the Macs are generally made from better parts and components than a similar PC. I'm not slamming PCs (hell, they're a good chunk of my livelihood) but Macs have a far lower rate of failure than a PC with similar specs. Apple charges more for their boxes because, I suspect, they're using better quality rated components while the commodity box makers are vying for the lowest price they can get out of a component manufacturer (which sometimes means getting second tier RAM and hard drives and whatnot.)

      BTW, if you think I'm just pulling this out of my ass, check out Consumer Reports or any number of objective sources on this. Macs have significantly fewer hardware failures than PCs. So, you're right. Macs have hardware problems but not nearly as often as PCs. Don't get defensive about it. It's just the truth.

      (Incidentally, MAC is an acronym for media access control. Mac is the name of the computer you're trying to refer to. It would help to know how to spell the platform in question before attempting to criticize it.)
    • colonelpanic, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8@NTHammer
      Macs don't have a "bios". They are zero configuration, and the closest thing you can get to it is OpenFirmware, which is a simple command line that lets you run a few hardware configuration commands.
    • turpenine, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13xserve people. xserve.
    • TheG2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10We use Macs as servers here all the time and they have great reliability. It makes a fine server platform. Hell anything that is stable makes a fine server.
    • turpenine, on 10/12/2007, -8/+8stop digging down robdazombie for having an opinion.
      and macs do have a bios-like setup. It just isn't the same as a pc though.
    • phmfthacim, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1iamcitizen, that was a very stupid thing you just said and you know it!

      how on earth is mac os x server on an xserve any less stable than any other POSIX based os that you mentioned???????

      PLZ EXPLAIN THX
    • christianw, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10as someone that uses macs, pc's, and linux boxes i can say that honestly, i love mac but id pick them last in that 3 man race for a server.

      the mac microkernel is DOG SLOW for server based apps. check apple's website when they are under heavy load, youll notice the "served on mac" or whatever it says at the bottom of the page isnt there, because under heavy load, they move the webservers to the linux backups that can handle it.

      security aside win2k3 server isnt all that bad really. Active directory isnt the greatest but hey its not the worst either.

      but nothing, and i mean nothing touches a pure linux box when it comes to server apps, especially apache and sql
    • pwill, on 10/12/2007, -6/+8Let me explain: Running a text-only operating system as a server is always more reliable. You don't have to worry about any graphical program crashing.
      Yes, I know that MacOS X is based on BSD, but the Mac doesn't have near the functionality of _real_ *nix server, and all of you Apple fanboys know it.
    • Topher06, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1Linux cattle, yeah, no LINUX box ever displays a BIOS setup screen like this. Also, if it was a Mac, then they would be seeing a big unhappy face icon instead of some form of options to recover from a serious error.
    • PhillyMJS, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5@iamcitizen
      "No, he's not. Macs are bad as 24/7/365 servers."

      Funny, I seldom have a problem with any of the Mac servers under my care at multiple clients. The ones that don't get inbound traffic from the public internet get rebooted about twice a year when I apply patches and do maintenance. And those are the OS X machines. I've got a Power Mac 8500 (that's right, a nearly 12 year-old computer) running Mac OS 8.6 running as a Cumulus server at one client. I took that client over from someone else 6 years ago, and that server predates me. It has only been offline three times since I took over the account-- twice to be physically relocated within the data center, and once when building power was to be shut down for a weekend for major electrical work. Other than that, it just runs, and runs, and runs.

      And now that I've said that, I'll probably find it dead on Thursday, my next visit to that client. :-)
    • Hypn0s, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3>No, he's not. Macs are bad as 24/7/365 servers. They should have used Linux/UNIX/BSD etc.
      >You obviously know nothing about system administration.

      YOU obviously know nothing about system administration. Linus himself prefers PowerPC for his Linux purposes, last I heard.

      Mac hardware doesn't mean you're limited to MacOS.
    • Slog, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Wow. Way for everybody to turn a picture of a BIOS screen into YET ANOTHER Mac vs. Windows vs. Linux vs. whatever debate.

      Morons.
    • t3hX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@iamcitizen
      >No, he's not. Macs are bad as 24/7/365 servers. They should have used Linux/UNIX/BSD etc.
      >You obviously know nothing about system administration.

      I think you obviosuly know nothing, and the Apple haters are here in full force digging you up. Not only is Mac OS X a unix and a BSD (two of the things you said they should've used), I manage several OS X servers that run 24/7/365.
    • t3hX, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1>Yes, I know that MacOS X is based on BSD, but the Mac doesn't have near the functionality of _real_ *nix server,
      >and all of you Apple fanboys know it.

      Oh yeah? You can comment out the end line of /etc/rc and have it boot to a shell. Then it IS a "real" nix server, and you can run anything 'nix can run. It doesn't have any less "functionality". I think you're just an Apple hater who has no idea what he's talking about, and probably hasn't actually used OS X for more than 5 minutes.
    • gm2net, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Why are we arguing about servers? The machine isn't a webserver, it runs a billboard.

      And anyway, of course OS X sucks as a 24/7/365 server because it has a proper calendar and can realise that there aren't 365 weeks in a year. You obviously cannot :P
    • BlackAdderIII, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hey, I don't mean to pee on the bonfire you guys are merrily roasting people on, but OS X, in pretty much every manifestation, exhibits measurably slower performance than Linux in equivalent heavy server situations, and can tend to get bogged down under heavy load for lots of tasks, not just serving HTTP pages.

      Now again, there's no reason in the world you can't run all sorts of perfectly good services on an OS X server, but someone expressing an opinion/preference that favours Linux or BSD or whatever, even on the same excellent hardware, is completely understandable.

      Even if the guy's a bit rude about it, there's no need to spin in the other direction, that just looks a bit bad. :S
    • tarball, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You're all talking crap. They should be running VMS!!!!
  • Reponere, on 10/12/2007, -1/+37OMG HAX.

    I understand this may not have been within their power at the time, but shutting down the displays before F-ing with the pc that runs all this would make more sense.
    • konspence, on 10/12/2007, -32/+1Pics or it didn't happen.
    • Dotcommer, on 10/12/2007, -7/+18@konspence

      Shut the ***** up you RETARDED MONKEY.

      I want to make sure that you fully understand that you are not funny. And spewing that over-used line is worthless and makes you look like a douche bag.
      Please shove an umbrella up your ass and open it.
    • myFriendDerrik, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Agreed. However that line can still be funny. It was used incorrectly in this case, a variation should have been used instead, something like: "Pics or it di-- Oh. I guess it happened." I admit, it's not funny, but it's funnier.
  • AndrewDB, on 01/10/2008, -16/+1Rofl...
  • Vinthian, on 10/12/2007, -40/+5Photoshop, maybe?
    • forchilli, on 10/12/2007, -5/+27if it was photoshop im sure they woud have centered the bios screen.
    • gamer31, on 10/12/2007, -1/+37That's what they want you to think...
    • RandomInsano, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I do find it sorta odd that they would design the system to only use chunks of the whole natural screen image. I mean, do they just have a program that displays adverts in the top and bottom left? It makes little sense to me.
    • Agret, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"I do find it sorta odd that they would design the system to only use chunks of the whole natural screen image."
      Well if you look closely at the pic you'll see the bottom screen continues from where the top one left off. They just align 2 images of the right width/height above/below each other and the screens will display them...
    • bradleyland, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Those screens 1:1 pixel mapping. If you send an image larger than its native resolution, it clips the rest. Simple as that.
    • TomFrost, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Actually, if you can bare with me being a geek for a second, this is due to something called the "framebuffer". The Framebuffer is a small chunk of your RAM whose contents map directly to the monitor. Your computer uses it from the time you boot it until an operating system initializes your video card and gets more active control over the display. So BIOS _always_ shows through the Framebuffer, and their monitors are apparently configured to look at certain chunks of that Framebuffer and map it to their display. Pretty simple system.

      ...they just should have turned it *off* before tinkering in the BIOS.
    • GopherChucks, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Oh this is clearly photoshopped. Look at the pixels. Trust me, I'm an expert.




    • yearinthelife, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I can assure you it's not photoshopped - because I took the photo!
      I took it in Times Square in mid-January of 2006, just before I flew back to London from my yearlong round the world trip, which is detailed on my site http://www.yearinthelife.org
      I posted it to Reddit.com yesterday on a page with another photo of a cash machine running Windows NT I spotted in Viet Nam: http://www.yearinthelife.org/amusingpics.php
      Thanks to linkedList for picking up my reddit post and digging this - hope it has raised a few smiles :p
      Now all I have to do is pay my bandwidth bill :O
  • bosox3125, on 10/12/2007, -21/+6 'get a mac.
  • deporitaz, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9This brings back memories of..... three years ago. :S
  • jackyyll, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Thats my b :x
  • daverp, on 10/12/2007, -18/+31Let's all blame Microsoft.
    • lucid270, on 10/12/2007, -1/+60don't see anything showing it was running windows...
    • Vibratic, on 10/12/2007, -5/+80You forgot to replace the S in Microsoft with a $. That's what all the cool kids do nowadays.
    • shinynew, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Wait I thought we were supposed to blame canada.
  • TalenKlaive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+10I've seen the same thing at Disney; the large screens that display ride and show times are all centrally controlled. I walked in to work one day to see a BSOD of all of 'em.
    • lalusr, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7thats not a bsod?
    • D3koy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17that is a BIOS screen, not a Blue Screen of Death...
    • paperhat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Bios Screen Of Death?
    • ahknight, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2It's blue. It's dead. The rest is just a technicality.

      (Mac fanboi; no kernel or boot issues for ... *ponder* ... wow, that long? Huh. Cool.)
  • quacker912, on 10/12/2007, -24/+0lol, microsofted!
  • fershizzle, on 10/12/2007, -18/+7i signed in JUST to digg this... very funny pic!!!!!!

    made my day
    • shooby, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21I honestly don't see how this can make someone's day. Though funny, not really a day-maker.

      Now waffles on the other hand...
    • nbcivic, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11......chocolate chip waffles you mean.......
    • fershizzle, on 10/12/2007, -10/+3it made my day because so far my day has been ***** (studying for exams) and i really dont care what you think.
    • sleepwalkers, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12Chances are we don't care that you logged in to Digg this, or that it made your day. Why the hell do so many people insist on posting the most asinine comments ever?
      "lol"
      "will it blend?"
      "M$ sucks"
      "Apple sux"
      I mean, come on. Do people just WANT to clog up the comments and post something that is neither enlightening or funny?
    • fershizzle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2yes they do
  • CaptHowdy, on 10/12/2007, -14/+22This looks more like a boot menu to me than a BSOD.
  • datcrazydj, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2I want to see the largest BSoD.
  • SLH06, on 10/12/2007, -25/+4Mac's BIOS screens or the equivalent are simple and beautiful. You won't get blinded by a stark blue screen with angry all caps letters. :-P
    • cnowacek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9What does that have to do with anything? does the Mac bios screen play the advertising content that the large displays are supposed to show? The point is that the advertisements weren't shown, it's a BIOS configuration screen... OOOOOOOOOH NOOOO!
    • Technopundit, on 10/12/2007, -10/+5Mac's: The kinder, gentler bios.
    • linuxwarz, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11Macs don't have a bios you moron. Blocked and dugg down for ignorance.
    • scogoth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Mac's don't have a BIOS screen. Macs don't have BIOS they use Intel's EFI and if your referring to the macs Startup Disk selection it's not that purty, its a grey screen. http://images.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/images/systemmanager20060405.gif
    • wilhoitm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Macs do have something similar to a BIOS. On the Intel Macs it is called EFI or UEFI.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensible_Firmware_Interface
    • SLH06, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Geez, its a joke people! What do you think the little :-P was for? Guess i forgot to put the tags in my comment!
    • dle5, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2The Windows people are really uptight these days.
  • grat2001, on 10/12/2007, -0/+24Too bad this didn't happen for Y2K!
  • kz26, on 10/12/2007, -13/+3I wanna see that system running Linux.
  • jeromey11, on 10/12/2007, -2/+28the guy was trying to install windows xp getting the boot order to CD-ROM so he could play some call of duty 2 on that huge ass monitor! its understandable.
  • PathDaemon, on 10/12/2007, -17/+2OK, is it REALLY that hard for engineers to make a screen display an animation or image without involving a computer??
    • cnowacek, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Yes, it is! I work in the dynamic digital signage industry and the only way to dynamically configure and push content to these screens is with a PC. There are linux powered alternatives, but they are sometimes not economically viable for the desired solution.
    • KiBLeSnBiTs, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Then it would be harder to change the text or update them.

      It's probably Flash or something.
    • wildfire, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Why? Just for geek pride or something?

      Computers are inexpensive and flexible.
    • Hexagram, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I'd like to see you display an animation otherwise.

      That'd be like, the world's LARGEST MECHANICAL FLIPBOOK. You could also use oldschool projectors, but nobody has one that big.
    • gharding, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2REALLY hard? Probably not. Easier to just use a PC? I'd certainly imagine so. Why waste time over-engineering stuff when a $300 Dell will work just fine.
  • gkordas, on 10/12/2007, -21/+0windows fan boys are so hostile. just sad.
    • Technopundit, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7If it were a Linux box, the sign would read "RTFM n00b".
    • 4UIDigg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1... or No init found.

      (my favorite)
  • Koray, on 10/12/2007, -1/+32Hey guys, BIOS != BSOD.
    • gotamd, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Completely true. It's still funny though :)
    • a0me, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Holly BSOD Batman!
      (Yeah I know it's not a BSOD)
  • Hexagram, on 10/12/2007, -15/+5BIOS != BSOD

    it needs to be said over, and over, and over, and over, and over.

    Sometimes I wonder when digg will turn 20 and grow up. It'd be nice if digg turned into the next fark.
    • kmonroe, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Although i'd normally back you, this pic != BSOD
  • wilhoitm, on 10/12/2007, -31/+3LOL! What can you expect it is a Windows machine!
    • Heat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7It...was the BIOS..
    • JeremyBanks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7You're missing a comma and a clue. There's nothing there to indicate that it's not running *nix.
    • Gatesophile, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9IT IS NOT A BSOD!!!!

      *rips hair out*
  • lozaning, on 10/12/2007, -5/+23im so ***** tired of all this "should have used a mac" and "thats why we run linux" *****. for all we know they swapped a hard rive and changed the boot settings. who is to say the damn thing ever broke, why couldn't this be planed maintenance.
    • Leofan7, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7I agree. Even though Linux and Mac are both stellar platforms, along with Windows, we're all wasting our valuable time bickering about what's best. Besides, as long as it make pretty pictures on those huge screens, who gives a *****?
    • diggamer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Except Macs don't use BIOS.
    • wilhoitm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Oh, I'm Sorry. If it was running Vista then everything would have been ok.

      http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2151778/microsoft-axes-bios-replacement
    • zdiggler, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2Yeah, if you use the mac you will see the puking mac or the bomb all the time i'm sure.

      Actually I worked on a G5's one with LCD and CPU in one package yesterday with a tons of apps and files. Apparently he got bad hdd or memory, application crashing every time the mouse get moved. All his iTunes where he spend like $800 on is gone, none of the songs will play, even the one I recovered won't play on windows itune. And all the headers are not the same as AAC files that work. I don't know how iTunes work but hopefully he don't have to rebuy them. Last week his ipod dies after he left it in extremely cold weather.
      It was pain to save all his data to memory stick then to a CD!
      I told him to send it back to apple to get it check out Hopefully he can just get a replacement drive for cheap.
  • Slacker101, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3LOLOL
  • Joshosh, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6What is a floppy?!?!?!
    • FormulaOne, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23It's that 1 inch vestige between your legs
  • FormulaOne, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2
    Hey, its fun with PhotoShop.
  • Neourotick, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6A little over a year ago i switched to Mac's. I hated Mac's my whole life then i started to use them with a little encouragement from my engineering professor. I now own two Mac's and two Pc's running Window's XP. I use the Pc's for programming classed and for a CAD program I use at work. They both have their uses......................but I use my Mac to play video to my TV......
    • zdiggler, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I had my PC connected to TV from Canopus VooDoo card with S-Video out back in 1996. That was before even Divx. I just wanted to use Winamp VIS plugin on TV for parties.
    • cbreaker, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1I have both MacOS and Windows on my beige box PC with the help of the hacked OSX DVD's, and I end up switching back and forth for various reasons, and staying in whatever OS I'm in for awhile. It really doesn't seem to make much of a difference to me. I can do almost everything in each operating system. It's proven to me that the OS is beginning to matter less and less these days, with a special thanks to software such as Firefox which is available on everything.
    • RandomInsano, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I'm happy for you. But... Why are you bringing it up?
  • epileet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1it just wants to know which device to boot from, no problem
    • mitrovarr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'm sure it's not standard procedure for whatever company runs this display to have it sit around and ask for boot advice. My guess is the hard drive is completely toasted and since it can't boot off that device, it wants to know what it should boot from instead.
  • TheFinestShadow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4That's awesome. Just imagine if something like that happened during Y2K though. That would kick so much ass.
    • MrObjectional, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1!=!=!=!= is is a quadruple negative or equal to.

      Wait, what?
  • RMoore08, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1sorry but does =! mean "not equal to"?
  • D3koy, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Jesus Christ, who knew no one on Digg knows the difference between a BIOS and a BSOD
    • RMoore08, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1GUYS BIOS = Basic Input/Output System not to be confused with BSOD = Blue Screen of Death
    • wilhoitm, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1We know the difference. BIOS is obsolete or should be. EFI is its replacement. That fact that the BIOS screen looks almost exactly like the BSOD, well, that is just priceless!

      http://www.intel.com/technology/efi/
    • Gatesophile, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3with some BIOS you can change the color. i have one that is pink on my mom's computer...
    • BlackAdderIII, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"""We know the difference. BIOS is obsolete or should be. EFI is its replacement. That fact that the BIOS screen looks almost exactly like the BSOD, well, that is just priceless!"""

      Speaking from experience EFI has nothing that specifically obsoletes BIOS in real life, despite the fact its design gives that impression.

      You might implement EFI if (as in Apple's case) you're implementing a new platform, but it's not the bootloader panacea that some imagine.
  • TruXter, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1lol

    cmos/bios*


    looks nice..I never really thought about what runs that.. probably a 386
    • BlackAdderIII, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've seen that network card mentioned before with intel-based rackmounts (servers). Can't remember where, but they were running RHEL
  • nbcivic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i bet people on the sidewalk walked by like nothing had happened.
  • DarkElf109, on 10/12/2007, -10/+4That's not BIOS, or a BSOD

    That's GRUB, the GRand Unified Bootloader

    The system probably runs Linux
    • RandomInsano, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Riiiiiiight... Someone's never pressed the delete key while booting his computer.

      Grub would have the OSs in the list. Not hardware
    • BlackAdderIII, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6No offense, but that's not grub.

      Although I understand why you say it - it looks quite similar to grub with the text at the bottom.

      It's not the standard BIOS setup screen either - that's the F8 BIOS boot device chooser. :-)
    • RaDiKaL, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1It is not running on Linux. BlackAdderlll is correct, it is F8 bios boot device chooser.
  • vhtrading, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1Looks Photoshopped.
  • RickyBennett, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2that is the ***** BIOS NOW SHUT UP ABOUT THE DAME BSOD *****

    o and i haven't seen the bsod in a long time on any of my 3 pc's 2 with win xp and 1 with win 98 just saying im done now lol
  • Haroldx, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1rofl.

    It isn't a BSoD like a lot of people are saying.
  • Rupes, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0hmm they bought their dvd-rom OEM
  • darlyn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Lol that must have been pretty funny to any bystanders who knew what it actually was...
  • computerguydk, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Only a Western Digital 80GB drive?
    • BlackAdderIII, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I was just thinking what a trashy hard drive that was myself - although if they're at BIOS, any drives listed could have been added for contingencies.
  • drummerman109, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1http://www.duggmirror.com
  • nytrogyn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I seriously think Apple paid to advertise this screen.
  • QuantumParadox, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Guys come on, they were in the BIOS to change the system date and time to 12/31/2099 so they can install a cracked copy of windows Vista!!!
    • uberkling, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Why would they do that? Advertisers would be pretty annoyed when it started downscaling their content.
  • aserer511, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Haha. To think, one central HDD, mobo and guy controls that...HAHA
  • mick6885, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i saw a similar screw-up on the big screen at the Port Authority Bus Terminal [cnr new 42nd and 8th].
    for a couple of minutes the start menu appeared in the bottom left and someone was cursoring around
    to find something. then they gave up and left the menu open. when i walked past the screen about 6 hours later
    that night, the start menu was still there...talk about a bad case of dead pixel and burn-in!
  • WilliamClinton, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The reason they use floppy drives is for security. Floppy drive traffic only travels over the "SneakerNet" as opposed to a normal network or Internet. This means that it's harder for someone to hack a device connected to the SneakerNet. As a network engineer myself I can tell you that you don't see that many floppies on the SneakerNet these days. Mostly the SneakerNet is USB based using high capacity/low cost USB flash drives.
  • Splynn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It looks like the system suffered either a power loss, or a watchdog timer rest it. The BIOS was pro bally set to enter the setup utility and go to the boot selection screen. Yes it's funny, but really not a big deal.

    @the EFI discussion, EFI has a number of things significantly different than BIOS. But, it is supposed to be relatively invisible to the user as BIOS in generally supposed to be now. From a developer standpoint, EFI is a totally different beast from BIOS.
  • shortarabguy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I guess that's a pretty good track record for something in Times Square... Although I would have expected the first SNAFU to involve some guy inadvertently opening porn or an e-mail or something while using that computer. I wonder how quickly they got back to the advertisement, though...
  • tinkertoy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1If you ever see an enormous Blue Screen of Death in Times Square--run for the hills, it's judgement day.
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