Joan Rivers

This truly memorable appearance left many viewers bemused by her mask-like face and demeanor as much as by her wooden reading of asinine comments. However, most modern mid-range laptops have integrated WiFi, so only require a wireless router to connect to the internet; or a wireless hotspot. Together with Melissa, she appeared in a special feature on the recently released season one DVD set of "The Golden Girls", commenting on the sometimes odd fashion styles in the popular show. The growth of Metropolitan area networks may render a constant connection possible in the future. Whilst touring in the UK, Rivers appeared on BBC Radio 4's Midweek programme and became involved in a heated on-air argument over the issue of race with broadcaster Darcus Howe.BBC News Transcript. This is possible via Wi-Fi or related technologies, but most laptops do not maintain a constant connection to the Internet. Today, Rivers is a proud and involved grandmother to Edgar Cooper Endicott, who was born in 2000 during her daughter Melissa's brief marriage (1998-2003) to John Endicott. This is a myth perpetuated by many commercials, where a person is shown using the company's website from a laptop with no wires plugged into it.

Rivers also appears regularly on television's QVC, selling her own line of jewelery under the brand name, "The Joan Rivers Collection," which in fact is one of that network's best selling lines. Some computer novices assume that laptops are constantly connected to the Internet, even (for example) while located on moving vehicles. She is also an avid collector of jewelry. The word laptop is often spelled incorrectly as "labtop," "lab top," or "lap top.". During her second appearance she wanted to invest in a post-surgical health spa. It is sometimes preferable to use a laptop on a desk. During her first appearance she wanted to find out what she would look like without all the plastic surgery she has gotten, and was horrified by the result. Despite their name, using a laptop on one's lap can be both unpleasant (due to heat from the computer, particularly from its CPU) and possibly even dangerous to the laptop, as it may overheat.

She appeared in two episodes of Nip/Tuck during its second and third seasons. This still existent difference in performance continues to be minimized. Rivers is an avid and unapologetic user of plastic surgery to enhance her looks and as so often is the case with other surgical frequent fliers, a somewhat Asian look now plays about her eyes. While desktops continue to outperform notebooks at the high end, both types of systems generally offer sufficient performance for the mainstream. In a 2005 Channel 4 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, she was voted amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. These new technologies take time to tranfer over to the laptop market because of its smaller package. When in New York, where she lives, she appears weekly in workshop productions at the small venue The Cutting Room; she donates proceeds to the charities God's Love We Deliver (for which she is a board member) and Guide Dogs for the Blind. Desktops have outperformed mobile computers because new technologies expend more heat.

In the movie Shrek 2, she cameoed as a computer-generated version of herself, hosting the parody ME! Medieval Entertainment Television channel. Laptop performance has been inferior to desktops for the same price. She previously worked for the E! Entertainment Television network in a similar role. There is not a standard for A4-size laptops. As of 2005, Joan Rivers is a host for the TV Guide channel, often cohosting red carpet specials before awards shows with her daughter, Melissa Rivers, from whom she was estranged briefly after her husband's suicide. Outright replacement of faulty parts can include the display screen, drives, daughterboards, modem, storage devices and other components, but repair costs can be high, even when feasible (low upgradability). Joan Rivers has been awarded the 1975 Georgie Award as "Best Comedienne", the Clio Award for "Best Performance in a TV Commercial" in 1976 and 1982, and the 1990 Daytime Emmy Award as "Best Talk Show Host". Because nearly all functions are integrated into the proprietary-design mainboard theoretically to save space and power, laptops are difficult to repair and upgrade.

We still play 'catch me, catch me!" but now we walk." Rivers candidly wrote about her husband's passing in two autobiographical, motivational best-selling books published in the 1990s, entitled Enter Talking, and Still Talking. Many laptops also include a MiniPCI slot inside, however it is usually not intended to be utilized by the end user. A Rivers favorite was: "When Edgar and I were first married, we'd play 'catch me, catch me!' and we'd run around the house. Often the CPU can also be replaced, and sometimes video card modules are upgradable too. Joan's enormous stock of bored husband jokes could no longer be used. Upgradability is severely limited: typically only the RAM and hard drive can be upgraded. Joan was devastated by the loss, but eventually returned to television with a daytime talk show of her own, The Joan Rivers Show, which ran from 1989 until 1993. Performance is usually lower than that of a comparable desktop because of the compromises necessary to keep weight and power consumption low.

Not long after, Rosenberg committed suicide. Laptops generally cost more than a desktop computer of similar specification. A suit was filed against "Hacker", who turned out to be author and future game show host Ben Stein. Some parts for a modern laptop have no corresponding part in a desktop computer:. Rivers then went public with the news, saying in tears that a "Ben Hacker" had fabricated the story with what she called "vicious lies". Many parts for a laptop computer are smaller, lighter, or otherwise adapted from the corresponding part in a desktop computer:. According to the interview, Rivers was reported to have commented, "...I think things are just about finished with Edgar", and referred to her former boss at the Fox Network as "Barry (expletive) Diller". The pricing goal is to start at $100 and then steadily decrease.

Soon after the cancellation of her series, Rivers saw a published interview claiming that her husband, Edgar Rosenberg (who was a producer on Rivers' show) had tried to drive her insane during his illness. Ad-hoc wireless mesh networking may be used to allow many machines Internet access from one connection. The two never reconciled before his 2005 death. These machines will be rugged, Linux-based, and so energy efficient that hand-cranking alone will generate sufficient power for operation. When he answered, Rivers talked to him, but Carson hung up on her. The laptops will be sold to governments and issued to children by schools on a basis of one laptop per child. Rivers reportedly tried to call Carson on the phone personally. The aim is to design, manufacture, and distribute laptops that are sufficiently inexpensive to provide every child in the world access to knowledge and modern forms of education.

Carson was so upset by her decision to leave without discussing it with him, that he banned her from his show, even after Rivers' show failed. In 2005, faculty members from the MIT Media Lab including Nicholas Negroponte introduced the $100 laptop as part of the One Laptop Per Child project. When it began, Rivers had already become the permanent guest host for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. Among them were:. The show lasted about a year. Several developments specific to laptops were quickly implemented in their design, improving their usability and performance compared to desktop computers. In 1986, she hosted her own evening talk show, The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, on the then-fledgling Fox Television Network, one of the launch shows for the new network. As technology improved during the 1990s, the usefulness and popularity of laptops increased while prices went down.

Rivers continued to gain acclaim on television as she would often be brought in as a guest host of the Tonight Show throughout the 1980s. Later PowerBooks introduced the first 256-color displays, first true touchpad, and first built-in Ethernet networking. Rivers also recorded a popular record album of her live standup act entitled "Can We Talk?". The following year, IBM released its Thinkpad series, offering similar miniaturization. Rivers then became a headliner in her own right to standing room crowds continuing into the 1980s. The Apple PowerBook series, introduced in 1991, heralded many changes that are now standard on laptops, including ergonomic improvements such as the placement of the keyboard at the back of the machine, thus creating a palm rest, and the inclusion of a built-in pointing device (a trackball). Rivers was the opening act for singer Helen Reddy on The Las Vegas Strip during the '70s. In the absence of a true Apple laptop, several compatible machines such as the Outbound Laptop were available for Mac users; however, for copyright reasons, the user had to supply a set of Mac ROMs, which usually meant having to buy a new or used Macintosh as well.

The avant-garde movie about a man who gets pregnant bombed at the box-office. Another "luggable," rather than laptop, the Mac Portable was praised for its clear active matrix display and long battery life, but was a poor seller due to its bulk. In 1978 she directed and wrote the film Rabbit Test starring her friend Billy Crystal. The first Apple Computer machine designed to be used on the go was the 1989 Macintosh Portable (although an LCD screen had been an option for the transportable Apple IIc in 1984). One notable appearance on The Carol Burnett Show had Rivers spoofing Valerie Harper in Rhoda instead as "Rhonda" to the delight of the audience. Truly the size of a notebook, they had hard drives and standard-resolution screens. In the 1970s, Rivers appeared often as a guest on various television comedy and variety shows. The first notebook computers with standard drives were the Compaq LTE series, introduced toward the end of that year.

Later in that decade she made a brief but notable appearance opposite Burt Lancaster in the film, The Swimmer. She was a regular gag writer and performer on TV's Candid Camera show. The NEC Ultralite, released in mid-1989, was perhaps the first notebook computer, weighing just over 2 kg; in lieu of a floppy or hard drive, it contained a 2-megabyte RAM drive, but this reduced its utility as well as its size. In the 1960s she made television appearances as a comedian on the popular shows The Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show, as well as hosting the first of her several talk shows. By the end of the 1980s, laptop computers were becoming popular among business people. in English and anthropology. Although it anticipated the future miniaturization of the portable computer, as a ROM-based machine with a small display it can — like the TRS-80 Model 100 — also be seen as a foreruner of the PDA. She graduated from Barnard College in 1954 with a B.A. About the size of an A4 sheet of paper, it ran on standard batteries, and contained basic spreadsheet, word processing, and communications programs.

Rivers was born as Joan Alexandra Molinsky to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Westchester County, New York. Another notable computer was the Cambridge Z88, designed by Clive Sinclair, introduced in 1988. A typical Rivers joke about her unattractiveness: "I used to stand by the side of the road with a sign, last girl before freeway.". These also introduced the now-standard "resume" feature to DOS-based machines; the computer could be paused between sessions, without having to be restarted each time. Like the ground-breaking Phyllis Diller before her, Rivers' act relied heavily on poking fun at herself. Although limited floppy-based DOS machines (the operating system was stored in ROM), the Toshiba machines were small and light enough to be carried in a backpack, and could be run off lead-acid batteries. She is known for her brash manner and loud, gruff voice with a heavy New York City accent. Among the first commercial IBM-compatible laptops were the IBM PC Convertible, introduced 1986, and the Toshiba T1000 and T1200, introduced 1987.

Joan Rivers (born 8 June 1933) is a United States comedian, talk show host, and celebrity. Initial specs included 8 kb of RAM (expandable to 24 kb) and a 3 MHz processor. The Last Guy on Earth (2006) (currently in pre-production). It weighed less than 2 kg (4 lb) with dimensions of 30 x 21.5 x 4.5 cm (12 x 8.5 x 1.75 inches). First Daughter (2004) (Cameo). Due to its portability, good battery life (and ease of replacement), reliability (it had no moving parts), and low price (as little as US $300), the model was highly regarded, becoming a favorite among journalists. Shrek 2 (2004) (voice). With its internal modem, it was a highly portable communications terminal.

Hip! Edgy! Quirky! (2002). The computer was not a clamshell, but provided a tiltable 8×40-character LCD screen above a full-travel keyboard. The Making and Meaning of 'We Are Family' (2002) (documentary). The Tandy's internal programs, including a BASIC interpreter, a text editor, and a terminal program, were supplied by Microsoft, and are thought to have been written in part by Bill Gates himself. Whispers: An Elephant's Tale (2000) (voice). The machines ran on standard AA batteries. The Intern (2000). Although it was at first a slow seller in Japan, it was quickly licensed by Tandy Corporation, Olivetti, and NEC, who saw its potential and marketed it as the Olivetti M-10, NEC PC-8201, and [1] Radio Shack TRS-80_Model_100_line or Tandy 100.

Goosed (1999). 1983 also saw the launch of what was probably the biggest-selling early laptop, the Kyocera Kyotronic 85. Napoleon (1996) (voice). Both had LCD displays, and had optional printers that attached to their cases. Serial Mom (1994) (Cameo). Like the GriD Compass, the Gavilan and the Sharp were housed in clamshell cases, but they were partly IBM-compatible, although primarily running their own system software. Public Enemy #2 (1993) (Cameo). The Gavilan was notably the first computer to be marketed as a "laptop." It was also equipped with a pioneering touchpad-like pointing device, installed on a panel above the keyboard.

Look Who's Talking (1989) (voice only). Two other noteworthy early laptops were the Sharp PC-5000 (1983) and the Gavilan SC, announced in 1983 but first sold in 1984. Spaceballs (1987) (voice only). GRiD Systems Corp was later bought by Tandy (RadioShack). Les Patterson Saves the World (1987) (Cameo). The GRiD company subsequently earned significant returns on its patent rights as its innovations became commonplace. The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) (Cameo). military, and was used on the Space Shuttle during the 1980s.

Uncle Scam (1981) (Cameo). However, it was used heavily by the U.S. Rabbit Test (1978) (Cameo) (also director and writer). It was not IBM-compatible, and its high price (US$ 10,000) meant that it was limited to specialized applications. The Swimmer (1968). The computer could be run from batteries, and was equipped with a 320×200-pixel plasma display and 384-kilobyte bubble memory. An Audience with Joan Rivers (UK) (2006). Enclosed in a magnesium case, it introduced the now familiar clamshell design, in which the flat display folded shut against the keyboard.

The Joan Rivers Position (2004-present). However, arguably the first true laptop was the GRiD Compass 1101, designed by Bill Moggridge in 1979, and released in 1982. Another World (cast member in 1997). While it was made to be used upon one's lap, it weighed 150 pounds, and therefore could not be deemed truly portable. Tears and Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story (1994). Another claim to be the "first laptop" was made by a novice programmer Thomas Kelly in 1982. Lady Boss (1992). (IBM's own later Portable Computer, which arrived in 1984, was notably less IBM-compatible than the Compaq.).

How to Murder a Millionaire (1990). Although scarcely more portable than the Osborne machines, and also requiring AC power to run, it ran MS-DOS and was the first true IBM clone. The Joan Rivers Show (1989-1993). A more enduring success was the Compaq Portable, the first product from Compaq, introduced in 1983, by which time the IBM Personal Computer had become the standard platform. The Late Show (host from 1986-1987). However, it was not possible to run the Osborne on batteries; it had to be plugged in. The New Hollywood Squares (1986-1989). The Osborne was about the size of a portable sewing machine, and importantly could be carried on a commercial aircraft.

Joan Rivers: Can We Talk? (1986) (canceled after a few episodes). This and other "luggables" were inspired by what was probably the first portable computer, the Xerox NoteTaker, developed at Xerox PARC in 1976; however, only ten prototypes were built. Joan Rivers and Friends Salute Heidi Abromowitz (1985) (also writer). Although it was large and heavy compared to today's laptops, with a tiny CRT monitor, it had a near-revolutionary impact on business, as professionals were able to take their computer and data with them for the first time. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (regular guest host from 1983-1986). The first commercially available portable computer was the Osborne 1 in 1981, which used the CP/M operating system. The Electric Company (cast member from 1972-1977) (voice only). Before laptop computers were technically feasible, similar ideas had been proposed, most notably Alan Kay's Dynabook concept, developed at Xerox PARC in the early 1970s.

The Hollywood Squares (semi-regular from 1970-1976). . The Joan Rivers Show (1969) (canceled after 2 months). In addition to a built-in keyboard, they may utilize a touchpad (also known as a trackpad) or a pointing stick for input, though an external mouse or keyboard can usually be attached. Laptops usually have liquid crystal displays and use SO-DIMM (Small Outline DIMM) modules (rather than the larger DIMMs used in desktop computers) for their RAM. Laptops contain components that are similar to those in their desktop counterparts and perform the same functions but are miniaturized and optimized for mobile use and efficient power consumption.

Laptops are capable of many of the same tasks that desktop computers perform, although they are typically less powerful for the same price. Laptops usually run on batteries, but also from adapters which also charge the battery using mains electricity. Terms for subtypes of notebooks (and related computer types) include:. A laptop computer (also known as notebook computer) is a small mobile personal computer, usually weighing from 1 to 3 kilograms (2 to 7 pounds).

Zyrex. Winbook. Voodoo PC - Envy. Rock Direct.

Relion. Toshiba - Dynabook, Portege, Tecra, Satellite, Qosmio, Libretto. Tadpole - SPARCbook. Sager - NP series.

Sony - VAIO. Samsung - Sens. Panasonic - Toughbook. Packard Bell - EasyNote.

NEC - VERSA. Medion. Linuxcertified - Linux laptop. LG - XNOTE.

Lenovo - IBM ThinkPad. iQon - Qompanion. Hypersonic. Hewlett Packard - HP Pavilion and HP Omnibook.

Gericom. Gateway. Fujitsu Siemens - Lifebook. ECS.

Dell - Inspiron and Latitude. Compaq - EVO, Armada, LTE, and Presario. Clevo. Bacoc.

Averatec. ASUS. Apple Computer - iBook, PowerBook and MacBook Pro. Alienware - Area 51m, Sentia and Aurora m series.

Acer - TravelMate and Aspire. These devices weigh about 500 g (about 1 lb) and often take the name "power brick.". Most laptops are powered or recharged from an external AC converter that usually takes the form of a plain black rectangular box. Docking stations may be used for expanding connectors and quickly connecting many components to the laptop, although they are falling out of favour as laptops' integral capabilities increase and USB allows several peripherals to be connected through one plug.

Batteries gradually degrade over time and eventually need to be replaced, depending on the charging and discharging pattern, from one to five years. Typical battery life for most laptops is two to five hours with light-duty use, but may drop to as little as one hour with intensive use. Current models use lithium ion batteries, which have largely replaced the older nickel metal-hydride technology. At one point, the Pismo G3, at up to 500 MHz, was faster than the fastest desktop G3 (then the B&W G3), which ran at 450 MHz.

However, the PowerPC G3 and G4 processor generations have been able to offer almost the same performance as their desktop versions, limited mostly by lower performance in other parts of the system bus bandwidth and peripheral units) in Apple's notebooks; recently, though, with the introduction of the G5s, they have been far outstripped. Generally, notebook processors are less powerful than their desktop counterparts, owing to the need to conserve electricity and reduce heat output. Motorola and IBM develop and manufacture the PowerPC chips for Apple notebooks. Notebook processor: There are a wide range of notebook processors available from Intel (Pentium M (with Centrino technology), Celeron, Intel Core Duo and Centrino Duo) and from AMD (Athlon, Turion 64, and Sempron).

Modern laptops can often handle sophisticated games, but tend to be limited by their fixed screen resolution and display adapter type. Display adapters and sound cards are integrated. Internal hard disks are smaller—2.5 inch (64 mm) compared to the standard desktop 3.5 inch (90 mm) drive—and usually have lower performance and power consumption. Most modern laptops use an active matrix display with resolutions of 1024 by 768 pixels (XGA) and above, screen sizes 10 inch (250 mm) or larger, and have a PC-Card expansion bay for expansion cards, formerly called PCMCIA.

Internal modems and standard serial, parallel, and PS/2 ports on IBM PC-compatible laptops made it easier to work away from home; the addition of Ethernet networking ports and, from 1997, USB, and from 1999, Wi-Fi, made laptops as easy to use with peripherals as a desktop computer. Improved interconnectivity. As thin, high-capacity hard disk drives with higher reliability and shock resistance and lower power consumption became available, users could store their work on laptop computers and take it with them. Early laptops had only floppy disk drives.

Improved hard disk technology. Improvements in production technology meant displays became larger, sharper, had higher display resolution, and could display color with great accuracy, making them an acceptable substitute for a traditional CRT monitor. Early laptop screens were black and white or grayscale passive-matrix LCD displays prone to heavy shadows and blurry movement (some portable computer screens were sharper monochrome plasma displays, but these drew too much current to be powered by batteries). Improved liquid crystal display design, in particular active-matrix display technology, and increasingly, color screens.

While laptops in 1991 were limited to the slower 80286 processor because of the energy demands of the more powerful 80386, the introduction of the Intel 386SX processor, designed for the specific power needs of laptops, marked the point at which laptop needs were included in processor design. Power-saving processors. The heavy lead-acid batteries were replaced with lighter and more efficient technologies, first nickel metal hydride (NiMH) and then lithium ion and lithium polymer. Improved battery technology.

Computers larger than PDAs but smaller than notebooks are also sometimes a called palmtops. Powerful laptops (often heavy) designed to compete with the computing power offered by a typical desktop are sometimes known as desktop replacements. Notebooks weighing around 5 kg are sometimes termed desknotes (desktop/notebook). Notebooks smaller than a A4 sheet of paper and weighing around 1 kg are sometimes called sub-notebooks or subnotebooks.