Domain: blogspot.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to blogspot.com.
Comments · 20,258
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Has Orwell's '1984' Come 22 Years Later?
Must be dejavu? I seem to remember making a very similar statement on my blog several days ago. Check it out, it was my first post " Ranting about Bush's Veto of the Stem cell Bill..." last paragraph on CybreLync Chattering blog. CybreLync
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Re:So much for security...
Aww, you must feel so left out. How about the memory corruption bug instead which neither Firefox nor IE suffered from. Feel better now?
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Newton Advantages
I wrote a bit about this before. The Newton does a lot of things well as it was designed from the ground up to be a hand-held device. As a consequence it's still seeing use, still seeing third-party development, and still more usable than some devices currently getting produced.
It's not ideal, either; it could definitely use a diet to shed some weight, and these days features like wireless, bluetooth, etc. shouldn't have to be added via cards. An evolutionary development of the Newton platform could easily beat almost any other device on the market today, though.
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Re:more than diff
So if I read it will I have to open source my brain?
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Clown Car Discounts -
Re:To everyone making critics out there...
Oh, please. OLPC is just one more academic boondoggle cooked up by an egomanic with visions of Nobel prizes. It's a near complete waste of time. A. The Indian government is right: laptops are unproven as an instructional method. Based on my experience teaching with laptops in some of the worst schools in the US, I believe that they are capable of delivering educational value. But the evidence is not there yet, and there needs to be good, reasonable experiments with this before stapped governments shell out millions on unproven technologies. B. The problems OLPC are trying to address are so great that no amount of open-source idealism and techno-utopist hard sell will get you past them. The problems need smart economic incentives and realistic entrepreneurialism to begin to be solve. And they will be solved. But not by a bunch of academics subsidized in the fantasies by rich, paternalistic foundations. C. There is no way on this planet that Dell, Apple, Lenovo, Microsoft, etc. will let some academic flash-in-the-pan undercut the next huge market for their products. These companies know that the big margins in the next ten years are in emerging markets. And they will offer fully functional (unlike OLPC) laptops and computer to the developing world at $100 and less before MIT. Here's the kicker: they will do a better job in this space than any NGO. Kudos to the Indian government for acting like adults when it comes to the education of children. More on this on my blog: http://vicsedblog.blogspot.com/
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Re:We've heard that before.
Nice. Except Moore's law will kill you unless you grow the factor exponentially. Here's what I recommend: unsigned int ramWastingFactor = myTm->tm_year > 100 ? (int)pow(2,(myTim->tm_year - 100.0)) : 1; --- Clown Car Discounts
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firefox -safe-mode &
i always run firefox in safe-mode. i know that extensions cannot be loaded, but the only important firefox extensions i used to use are now replaced by web proxies. for example, i used to use livehttpheaders, tamperdata, and modifyheaders. with burp, suru, webscarab, and xss-proxy, these extensions lack the significance they once had. for people that are heavy into extensions and themes, maybe you should first ask yourself why, and then weigh the benefits versus the drawbacks.
i also change a few settings in options->content and about:config to prevent javascript from doing anything but the basics. since i'm always bouncing back between windows xp, linux, freebsd, and mac os x - it's nice to be able to acheive such consistency and still know what my baseline for browser security posture is.
there is worse spyware out there these days anyways. see: http://theinvisiblethings.blogspot.com/2006/06/int roducing-blue-pill.html -
Re:Obligatory Bash.org
Read the link, and you'll see your concerns are justified.
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Re:I'd just wish that, someday,..
The RIAA's argument is that merely 'making something available' is in and of itself a copyright infringement. I.e the only people known to have accessed the shared files folder are the RIAA's own investigators. If this rationale is accepted, it would mean, e.g. : -I write a story and license you to publish it on your web site but not to sell reproductions or reprints; -You publish the story on your web site as your are licensed to do; -I then go to your web site and make a copy of it; -I then sue you for copyright infringement because, due to your publication of it, I was able to make a copy.
The subject of how the RIAA's 'making available' argument would, if accepted by the courts, shut down the internet, is explored in depth and with great cogency and urgency in the amicus curiae brief submitted by the United States Internet Industry Association and the Communications & Computer Industry Association in Elektra v. Barker in Manhattan federal court.
They argue
Computer & Communications Industry Association and US Internet Industry Association ("Amici") file this brief as amici curiae to address an issue of critical importance in copyright law, the scope of the distribution right in section 106(3) of the Copyright Act, 17 U
.S .C . 106(3), that extends far beyond the particular facts of this case . This brief has been prompted by Plaintiffs' argument that there is a general "making available" right under U .S. copyright law . See Plaintiffs' Opposition to Motion to Dismiss at 15-22 . Plaintiffs offer a misguided analysis of the section 106(3) distribution right . Plaintiffs' argument seeks to expand the concept of "distribution" to incorporate an overbroad concept of "making available" in order to challenge Defendant for having sound recordings on her computer in a "shared file folder" available to others over the Internet via a peer-to-peer file sharing system .. Such an expansion would allow Plaintiffs to avoid having to allege or prove that Defendant actually distributed anv copies or phonorecords of copyrighted works to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending as required by the plain language of section 106(3) . Amici do not take a position on whether Defendant is liable for copyright infringement in this case . Nor do they take a position on whether Plaintiffs have stated a cause of action for copyright infringement . Amici focus, instead, on the Plaintiffs' effort to expand the section 106(3) "distribution" right of copyright owners under the Copyright Act . Such an expansion of the section 106(3) distribution right would both ignore the plain language and structure of the Copyright Act and distort copyright law in a way that would threaten varied interests across the American economy and society.and
Plaintiffs' proposed expansion of the distribution right would sweep into the reach of copyright law many activities not now covered by copyright law . Under such an elastic interpretation and ill-d efined standard, the Internet connections and equipment that members o f S Nor was there any indication that the Second Circuit relaxed a requirement of actual dissemination of a copy or phonorecord for a violation of the distribution right under section 106(3) . To the contrary, when the court of appeals cited section 106(3), it referred to actual transmission of a material object, not a mere offer to transmit . See Agee, 59 F.3d at 325 . 10 NY:1 0 13415
.1 Amici furnish may render them vulnerable to accusations that they "make available" a variety of content, including copyrighted materials, to users . Such activities, e.g., providing Internet connections, however, do not constitute distributions within the scope of section 106(3) . If a vague conception of "making available" we -
many money markets are currently above 5%
I just had a similar situation where I have money in the back now but come the start of the school year, I will probably need it. I found a blog called, strangely enough, Bank Deals that keeps track of all the best rates in money markets and CDs. Many of the CD specials are from local credit unions that most people don't have access to, but many of the internet-only banks have some pretty good interest rates on money markets right now. I put most of my money in one that was running a 5% and $50 bonus special (since expired). I'm thinking about some short term CD's but from following the blog I notice the rates ahve been inching up so I'm biding my time.
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Re:Pics
No, it's an unhealthily overweight woman.
Apparently you think that "Mildly Obese" is the same thing as "unhealthily overweight". You must be one of those people who was highly offended by the Dove Soap advertisements? I'm sure you would have just died trying to find a woman skinny enough for your tastes a hundred years ago. Never mind that they were naturally bulkier than the unnaturally skinny women you apparently so covet. Medical science (read: the mob-rule) has decided that bucking nature is again the best bet for fitness!
Honestly, the way guys react towards women these days is disgusting. Unless the women actually are at an unhealthy weight (which is to say, too skinny to survive into their 30's) they're branded as "fat". I see plenty of thin women like that walk down the street here in Chicago, and I just want to puke. They're so skinny that there's practicly no muscle attached to the bone. I've seen some women with arms and legs having a radius of barely 2 inches. 2 INCHES! And I just know that these women aren't going to survive long, or will have to go through serious therapy if they do. And it's all because society keeps telling them that they're too fat. How does it feel to be encouraging women to die from painful conditions like anorexia and bulimia? Hmm?
Is there a problem with obesity in this nation? Yes, but that photograph is NOT IT. Especially if you understand that any photograph automatically makes the subject look heavier. (Why the hell do you think that super-models are so skinny?) As it so happens, she will probably lead a long and healthy life. Unfortunately, it's difficult to say the same for the women in these photos. -
Re:you got it backwards
Mormonism wouldn't really change very many laws at all. [...] As for homosexual acts, consensual acts between people that don't impinge on human freedom can't be illegal. I'm comfortable with that.
Well, you say one thing, but the actions of your fellow Mormons speak another language. For example, consensual sodomy has remained against the law in Utah, one of the small minority of remaining states, until the US Supreme Court finally overturned all sodomy laws in 2003. And as recently as 1997, the Utah legislature even rejected a law to decriminalize sodomy between spouses.
Having spent some time in Utah, I think it's pretty clear that Mormons restrict many behaviors that are not restricted elsewhere, and that those restrictions are made to make others conform to Mormon standards of good behavior, not just trying to ensure that each resident can act according to their own conscience without interfering with the rights of others to do so.
As usual, general Mormon attitudes temper the severity with which many of these rules are imposed, and positions more tolerant of other religions and views can probably be reconciled with Mormon theology, but right now, that's not how Mormons act at the ballot box and in the legislature. (This blog post addresses some of these issues.) -
It gets worse...
We have these ads in Planetside. Not only are they disruptive and annoying (They have included ads with SOUND! ARGH!) They are non-destructible. I have seen fights in buildings where an entire wall is COATED in bulletholes and blast marks, but the damn advert and it's frame are squeaky clean!
Fortunately, there is a way to block them, at least for now. You can modify your HOSTS file in Windows and blackhole the advert servers. This kills off the ad generating process that normally starts with the game, and the ad panels in-game will display a pre-fab neutral background.
You can find full blocking directions on my blog , http://wearyman.blogspot.com/
I think that we as gamers need to ensure that we block ads for any pay to play game. Freebie games like AO, ads are OK, it's how the company stays profitable. But for Pay2play games, As we are already paying a subscription fee so the company can make thier profits, there is no reason to subject ourselves to this type of insult.
Block the ads, and then MAKE SURE the game company KNOWS you are blocking the ads either via e-mail or the game forums. If enough of us make the small effort to prevent the ads, the companies will drop them as unprofitable, and we can get back to pure ad-free gaming. -
Re:Independence Day!
The true revelation of the Contract With America was that the American electorate doesn't really care about trimming government, and therefore does not reward politicians who truly do so; they merely want lower taxes. (See also Dick Cheney's attributed comment that "Reagan proved that deficits don't matter.") Talk about trimming government makes the politician sound like less of a spendthrift, and therefore a responsible choice in the voting booth, but the unspoken implication or inference (depending on whether it comes from the actual speech, or selective hearing) is that it is some other fellow's stuff that will be cut, and the voter will be unaffected. ...said conservatives never actually trim the government...
This is the arrival of Tytler's observation that:A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury.
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Re:BSD's fault.
I read that as the sabotage of FreeBSD by their own license, although in hindsight I can see it the other way as well. Original author is welcome to clarify his point.
You (Ryel) have my intent. That said, though I didn't intend it, I do see their point about my seeming to blame Apple for Linux. In an extreme sense, I suppose I'm suggesting as much, though that's hardly my intended point of emphasis. I'm blaming, as you say, BSD for FreeBSD's exploitation and, contrary to my title, blaming Apple for being, well, capitalist. I find it difficult for think the latter demands much of a reprimand, however. Apple's always been pretty clear on that point.
Open source tries to appropriate copyright within the context of consumerist capitalism to create a subversive counterforce -- no, to create a true alternative to capitalism from within a capitalist framework; GNU/Linux is an alternative to capitalism built with capitalism. I *really* dig that. The BSD license simply doesn't do this sort of work. OpenDarwin's troubles show it. GNU/Linux is a better alternative, imo, as its [hypothetical and arguably wholly impractical] possible adoption by something like OS X would include true collaboration from the paradigm it hopes to replace [as the dominant]. I'm not, however, for GPL or against BSD. I believe there is a nice middle ground out there somewhere that's even better, as I try to detail on my blog at that earlier link. I doubt we'll find -- or at least implement -- it.
I do wonder what the background is of the people who assume that I, Mr. "I <3 VB", am a GNU/Linux zealot. Are they Windows users? Mac users? BSD users? Linux users? And what is the purpose of FreeBSD, if its supporters get upset when Apple acts like a conventionally incorporated entity living in the US trying to make a buck, bless its heart, but these same upset FreeBSD folk want to retain the option to release code in what is, let's say, an "extremely" altruistic fashion? If FreeBSD contributors hoped that entities like Apple would, out of common courtesy, seriously enter into an active or even passive partnership with them, I believe we now know that's not so likely to happen. I, too, appreciate idealism and a positive belief in our fellow humans, but things like Apple & FreeBSD have turned me into a much more hardened, well, "realist" is the word, I suppose. I think Apple should have felt an obligation to return the favor to the FreeBSD community. Just like IE and Mosaic, it hasn't happened.
By the way, how can I find the proper attribution that OS X uses BSD code? If I use the terminal daily and don't see it, how many semi-technical users do?
P.S. Also sorry that I didn't properly format part of my other reply wrt the "Apple surely wouldn't have used Linux, even if FreeBSD wasn't there..." paragraph. That was obviously from the previous post, and wasn't my material. Anyhow... Should have used the Preview button again, I guess. -
A good read actually - Googles Omnibus Response...
The last link is actually very good, and an easy read. Surprising for a legal document. It is "Googles Omnibus Response to Objections". I suggest giving it a read (PDF) http://googleblog.blogspot.com/pdf/objections_res
p onse.pdf
It is basically a response to the objections of a grand total of 51 people in "the class". An incredibly small number of objections.
From the document:
"The assertion that Google has done nothing wrong was echoed by advertisers that opted out of the settlement."
"Unlike Retailers, Pay per click advertisers can limit the money risked for each click and for each day...Businesses should treat pay-per-click advertising like any other advertising...If it's costing more to advertise than your resulting profit, STOP ADVERTISING."
And, regarding the "click fraud detection", there is only a small portion of this document that mentions the review process by Dr. Tuzhilin. It does mention that the click fraud detection methods by Google were confirmed to be reasonable.
And finally, it was interesting to see read the jabs taken at the lawyers who brought the class action lawsuit to begin with...and the copy-cat cases from California, obviously a bunch of ambulance chasers. -
There is a report... That was the wrong pdf
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/pdf/Tuzhilin_Repor
t .pdf This actually has a lot more meat and information since this is the actual report. -
Statistics about click fraud shown to Adwords user
Google is (as of yesterday) now showing statistics about how many invalid clicks an adwords account has recieved. You can read all about it in the adwords blog
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real link to report
this is the correct link, the other one is just legal blahblah:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/pdf/Tuzhilin_Report .pdf -
Re:where's the tech?
If you want to know more about MS Research results, you just have to look in any ACM proceedings.
Yes. As you and other posters noted, there is some great stuff that MSR does behind the scenes. Lookin online a bit reveals that google researchers also do a lot of research that can be called scientific. Their lesser know research blog show some quite interesting stuff. -
BSD's fault.
Look, not to get too preachy, but that's the problem with FreeBSD and projects with other, equally open licenses, like MIT, etc. As I said in my not-so-tongue-in-cheek blog to the audienceless ether years ago...
These licenses [X11, BSD, MIT] don't do enough to protect the contributions of the people that made the code -- they essentially enable legalized plagiarism. It's certainly one's right to make code that's this unregulated, but these licenses are from nearly overly altruistic motavations.
I'm using OS X right now. I'm happy FreeBSD enabled its creation. I'm posting from Safari. I'm happy Konq's code helped Apple build this very fast, mature browser. Without totally free and open licenses like the ones I wrote about, above, we wouldn't have this OS X.
Yet at the same time, this happiness doesn't change that I wish Apple would have partnered with GNU/Linux. We'd see a very different OS X and a very different collaboration (some would argue a "collaboration" would be a new thing, and I believe I agree) between Apple and the GNU hacker community today. Linux has not yet come close to hitting the tipping point on the desktop for the typical semi-technical user. With Apple's help, it would be much closer. With BSD's sabotage -- the license -- that help and the FreeBSD code has been thrown into the closed system of consumerist capitalism. -
Re:Prediction
When that happens, and they dont get crushed by the **AA, give
me a call.
Till then, I stand by what I said. I am truely in awe of this
legal protection racket, and the **AA will come out stronger, whether they win
this particular suit or not.
Note that there was a woman who did exactly this. She didn't really
win though - just got the case transferred to her daughter.
(see here and take extra note of #15.) -
Unconstitutionality
The case in this post deals with the defense of unconstitutionality of the statutory damages: http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/200
6 /07/lindor-motion-to-amend-answer-to.html -
Re:Prediction
For anyone interested, Recording Industry vs The People keeps an eye on many of the RIAA cases in progress.
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Re:And in the first week of August...
Against my better judgment, I'm going to respond to this, even though you've once again descended into being a rude asshole.
Dell ranks near the bottom for customer satisfaction, support surveys, and hardware reliability almost every year, significantly worse than even HP or Gateway... Independent testing and surveys from a company who makes it their only business and whose reputation is their only real asset say Apple machines are better quality. I'll put that above your random guess.
Not true on both counts. Unlike you, who decided to reference a study and then not provide a material link to it, I actually did your work for you and found the latest Consumer Reports statistics here and here. And you'll note in both studies that Dell is either at the top, or neck-and-neck, with all of the other major players in the PC arena., with regards to their technical support. (The major players here being HP, Lenovo, Gateway, and Compaq.)
As far as quality, reliability, etc. goes, the only mention of this I can find is that those surveyed claimed to have to submit their Apples machines for repair "much less" than those who had Windows PCs. I don't see any numbers, and more importantly, there is no mention of what constitutes a repair. I have worked for Dell as a hardware technician, and I know for a fact that their techs get called to do "repair" on software-related issues all the time. This does not prove Apple machines fail less--it proves that for whatever reason, Apple machines are sent in for repairs less frequently. I'm glad you know little enough about statistics that you think the two are equivalent, but they are not.
Further, the next time you reference a study--ANY STUDY--either back it up with a link or don't bother. Your method of argument makes the baby Jesus cry. I'm not going to take your word on anything, especially not when you have the arrogance of beginning your reply by truncating my points to "blah blah" like some smug asshole. I did a point-by-point comparison of two equivalent machines, and I did not leave out "dozens of hardware features." I took exactly what Apple shows you when you go to their site and choose to buy a Mac, and CUT AND PASTED. If this leaves out "dozens of great features," take it up with them, because I didn't do any selective editing. I fully admitted that Apple's software suite is more robust than the Dell's. Any value you seek to add to one or the other is purely subjective until you can link a study that proves otherwise. You think the Macbook Pro is higher quality? Fantastic. You like OSX more? GREAT. It doesn't matter. In the end, people buy what they like. Trying to justify it objectively is pointless; Apple hardware is more expensive than the equivalently-configured PC, in almost all cases, end of story. The severity of that gap varies, but it is always there. It's just a fact, and to act like it doesn't exist, or that the price difference is magically made better by X-that-is-not-quantifiable is stupid and pointless. If you like Macs, buy a Mac. I will buy a Mac Mini and possibly a Macbook (non-Pro) myself soon. But I'm not kidding myself--I'm buying them because I like Apple's style, not because of some falsely-objective points that I desperately cling to in order to justify the price.
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The pot doesn't even know what a kettle is!
For what it's worth, I have ZERO faith in CA. My one brush with their products has tarnished my opinion of them forever. I think they're completely inept.
While writing an article comparing small\medium business spyware solutions I installed a trial of eTrust Pest Patrol Corporate. Their crappy demo detected spyware (that none of the 4 other products detected, suspiciously) but informed me that only the pay version would remove it. I uninstalled the product but the eTrust right-click dialogs remained in Explorer. I called their tech support and they said they don't support product demos. I eventually found the registry key pertaining to the Explorer extension, emailed the info to them, and chewed them out.
I suspect CA is in the business of FUD, including spreading FUD about its competitors. Then again, nearly the whole antivirus industry is that way. Free clients ftw!!
If anyone cares, I blogged about the history of Norton\Symantec and how they've made a successful business with their increasingly inferior products. -
Re:Big Oil
I think that's a little naive. A lot of money has been invested in hydrogen power, and not much to show for it. Not to mention any technology that involves the mass deprecation of existing internal combustion engines is not likely to be cheap to roll out, or popular in most quarters (not just Big Oil). Why would you expect that they would invest in something outside their expertise anyway? We (the people) really have to take the initiative and mandate research with funding.
That's why things like bio-diesel really have the largest ability to help us on the tail end of peak oil. It's suitable as a drop-in replacement in a lot of environment (for diesel engines), and can be mixed with petrodiesel in colder environments where the viscosity is insufficient. People might want to check out http://i-r-squared.blogspot.com/ or http://www.theoildrum.com/ for more in-depth discussion. -
Re:Actually
i'm not a student of science, and i heard about light cones for the first time in this post, and then followed the wikipedia link to read about it. from what i understood, it seems to me that once the light reaches us, the event will then be considered to be in our past light cone (and therefore in our past, according to parent). and since the light of the preliminary signs have already reached us, those signs are definitely already in our past light cone. so are we saying that what came before the signs that preceded the supernova are already in our past, but the supernova itself is not? hmmm, physics is hard. - t. -- cogito, ergo es. visit my page at http://inconsistent-journal.blogspot.com/
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Re:I knew that already...
The snake in Genesis is called "Nachash" or, "keeper of secrets" among other things. Link (middle of page.
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Re:Tetra and quinta? chromatic humans
These colors definitely don't exist in monitors
You may find the Eclipse of Mars illusion interesting because it tricks your eye into seeing true Cyan, instead of the washed out version that most monitors produce. -
Re:Missing something?
Full length episodes of the above mentioned "Saved by the Bell: The College Years", "Firefly", and "Sports Night" were all on YouTube at one point. They have since been removed over copyright concerns. I think YouTube is missing out; there's a huge market for full length TV Shows, Cartoons, and Movies online. The image quality isn't great, but the convenience is. Here's an index of 500 full length cartoons on YouTube (all links are still active). From that page you can also find 3,800 other full length TV shows, movies, cartoons, music videos, and anime, although most have since been removed by YouTube. If only they could make it legal to provide them, imagine having on demand access to all of those shows - it would be like having a video jukebox. I think they should throw in some commercials and talk to the studios about hosting copyrighted material - it would be a lot more exciting than watching the general population make asses of themselves.
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Re:If only others would follow
As the developer of Rapidweather Remaster of Knoppix Linux, I would want to try and run my livecd linux on any machine, to turn it into a linux box. Problems would be partitioning an existing Windows XP hard drive, so I can have a swap partition, and a partition to do "knoppix tohd=/dev/hda3" for instance. I have QTParted, but have not tried it on a XP filesystem. Might work, might fowl XP up, don't know.
The other problems might be just getting the sound system to work, on many machines I have no problem, on some laptops, no sound. Strangely, I can plug in USB headphones, and I get sound.
I have stayed with the 2.4 kernel, so I can run on many older machines. I note that 3% of my website visitors still run '98. They need to try my knoppix remaster and use that instead if possible, for security reasons, viruses, trojans, etc. being a problem with '98.
I have a HP Pavilion 6330 with 128 MB RAM, and that box does just fine, sound, etc. all working with linux. Tried Slax, it has the later 2.6 kernel, and is very slow, to the point of being almost useless.
With a desktop computer, one can change graphics and sound cards, and get linux up and running very well indeed. No so with a laptop.
All sorts of strange problems can come up, I have a Toshiba 4015CDS machine, and my linux will boot on it, and run with the "tohd" cheatcode, but the second time around, it will not run from that "tohd" setup. Why, I don't know. Linux folks often won't talk about little problems like that, I don't see why I shouldn't let that be known.
The PCMCIA modem in the Toshiba works perfectly, I do use dial-up almost all the time, but do have one machine around here on a Comcast cable modem. I use that to download the competion, and see how they run. Lots of suprises there, some just won't run on many boxes, others are not well put together with useful applications. I have to write a lot of my own applications to get things done the way I want. Eventually, that pays off, and that is the beauty of linux as compared to Windows.
Windows computers are successful because the engineers work out all of the software/hardware issues, and you just buy it, and turn it on, and there is your desktop, ready to go.
I have some screenshots in the signature below, I have a time keeping them up to date with the changes I am making. For instance, I do have seven mouse cursor themes now, built-in, these are kde-look.org cursor themes, and one can switch from one to another in seconds, in the default IceWM window manager. The screenshot shows only 6.
The Getting Started Guidehas 147K of details, that document is hosted on geocities, they provide a sniffer so I can see the OS's, browsers, screen resolution, etc.
I do note that most use 1024x768 now, so my wallpapers match that.
Three of the wallpapers can download from rapidweather.com server, so I can change those from time to time.
I have a wallpaper control center that handles downloaded wallpaper images in a livecd linux setup, allowing easy placement in the "configs.tbz" restoration tarball if need be.
I have moved on from just getting my remaster to run on various computers, to adding applications, and getting them to release /ramdisk memory once the app is closed.
I want to be able to run the machine for hours, using each of the three web browsers, and be able to do "df" and show that I have returned to my starting /ramdisk use. If I am not using an application, I don't want leftovers hanging around. That's hard to do, but I am getting very close.
Guarddog Firewall? On by default, and pre-configured so the user does not have to use the Guarddog interface to set it up.
We say Linux is more secure than Windows, and we need to be able to provide an OS where "online banking" can be done much safer than on Windows. So, even livecd linux needs a firewall.
-- Rapidweather -
Since we're on the subject... not so shiny writing
Writer Beware's blog linked recently to "Opening paragraphs of recent PODs that yielded an abbreviated read".
...all this makes me wonder why there's no Emergency Editor Squad (operating under the Language Police). =)
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Her own recreation of the blog post...from her other blog:
Waterboarding is Torture, and Torture is Wrong
Not to mention ineffective. Econo-Girl has serious doubts as to whether European lives were saved.
Econo-Girl's purpose in writing this blog is to start a dialog on the Geneva Convention, since it now applies to the Department of Defense again. Guess it's not quaint anymore, eh?
Over the next few weeks, Econo-Girl would like to post articles about the Geneva Convention, like its origin and major provisions. Legal analysis is not the magic some would have you believe.
If the grunts and paper pushers are knowledgeable, the anti-torture infrastructure will be strengthened.
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Re:This is surprising why?For instance, he would like to ban stem cell research, abortion, and gay marriage because they conflict with his notion of Christian values.
Just go read The Rude Pundit regarding Bush's "Christian" values pitch at the NAACP convention yesterday. Yes, such Christian values the man has:And then there were the usual absurd feints at religiosity, statements so self-evidently lies that somewhere up above, St. Peter gently held back Jesus's hair while he puked into the Ark of the Convenant (why not?). Said the President, "My faith tells me that we're all children of God, equally loved, equally cherished, equally entitled to the rights He grants us all." Somewhere, in a secret prison in Crazystan, Eastern Europe, a captured Afghani getting his nuts power-drilled by a CIA agent is awfully happy to hear that Bush's faith guides him in such a strong moral direction.
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Re:Wrong all aroundIf you go to her blog and read her version:
I had a blog called Covert Communications on a kind of classified Internet. I wrote a version of the above post and classified it so that only Americans with clearances could read it. You couldn't even get to the blog if you had less than a Top Secret and above clearance anyway.
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She has an outside blog here...
http://econo-girl.blogspot.com/
from the BoingBoing story a day or two ago.. -
Re:She can't recognize a computer?!?!?
"Ok, maybe she hasn't used a computer before.. Thats fine, but unless this person is uncontrollably stupid "dusted near the parts that she believes are a computer." How many people in a normal society would even be able to recongnize a computer! I think this person is playing extra stupid as part of her defense."
What TFA article doesn't mention is that Beckermen is her lawyer. And yeah, he's exagerating the hell out of the situation for sympathy. Which is what he's expected to do as a lawyer, so I have no problem with that.
Beckerman has a blog on the case. The equally valid explanation (but not nearly as glamorous as her lawyer paints it) is that somebody else in her house is the P2P fiend, and the ISP bill just happens to be in the defendant's name. That's an extremely common scenario; the RIAA often sues parents on behalf of their kids.
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How can you not see the point?
Don't you listen to the press releases and product pitches for all the RIAA's music? DRM manages your access to music and stuff.
I remember, back in the dark times before DRM, how I would frequently find my access running amok through the house, soiling my curtains etc.. On one unforgettable day, my access to John Coltrane Live at the Village Vanguard started poking my 4-year-old son with a pointy stick for no reason at all!.
I was in dire straits, I assure you. Thankfully, George MacDonald (no relation to George MacDonald) came by with some XCP software for me. I only wish I could repay him for this fantastic gift. -
Try "DVD PODBLAST"
They're a few months old, but they already picked several appropriate movies to blast: Catwoman, Fantastic Four, Gigli, and others. The problem is that you have to actually be seen renting these turkeys.
http://dvdpodblast.blogspot.com/ -
Re:Don't forget, kids...
Do you think being on an international call during a time of war should somehow be protected from surveillance?
We're not a war. Congress has not declared a war on any person or nation.
I have a problem with this. While you are technically correct, I don't think it should matter. You're accepting the parent's argument that, sure, if we were in war, Americans should be expected to give up rights. Maybe you agree.
But I don't and I'm tired of seeing backtracking from this ridiculous assumption. No, Americans should not be expected to give up rights, even "little" rights like privacy, just because we're at war. In America's history, war has always been used as an excuse to remove a few rights here and there. The early 20th C sedition and espionage acts come to mind. Japanese internment comes to mind. These things should not be acceptable to real Americans. The fact that many Americans, probably a majority, accept the idea that their rights are temporarily granted to them by the state, and revokable in "times of war" shows just how far we've fallen.
As a proud liberal Democrat I say to everyone: your rights are yours, not the Government's, and you need to know them and defend them at all times.
War shouldn't happen. It's barbaric, uncivilized, and ideas of "wartime ethics" make it worse, not better. Whether we're actually at war or not, to use it as an excuse to abrogate your rights is fundamentally offensive and repugnant. It's bad enough that most Americans nowadays seem to be easily appeased with 24-hour cable news war porn. It's throwing salt on the wounds to accept the "revokable" view of our rights. -
Reduce firefox memory requirements!
Hi, Well, i am a big fun of firefox but i always had a problem with firefox memory consumption... until stumbled upon this http://pc-tunning.blogspot.com/
...its sure worth to check out! -
Re:Good idea but...
Well, there's Wag the Movie but they're so-so and audio only. Dumb college kids.
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Re:Did anyone RTFA ?
Did you even read http://princesskimberly.blogspot.com/ which is an American writing about how she's "bored"? Not a mention of Muslims there! (I know
/.-ers would like such blogs banned forthwith, but that's carrying a joke too far)
Even otherwise, hinduunity.org etc publicize organizations like the VHP and Bajrang Dal in India. Now, I don't like these parties (hoodlums mostly) but if they are legal in India then their beliefs oughtn't be blocked from the 'net.
> And while India is not a declared Muslim country like the ones in the middle east
WTF does that mean? Yeah, there are a lot of Muslims in India. Only Indonesia has more. But India has a constitution too (unfortunately it doesn't protect free speech as rigidly as the US constitution does) and Indians are going to have to decide how much free speech's worth to them.
Thankfully, most Indians I know have been appalled that an anonymous bureaucrat can secretly, silently order ISPs to block URLs. They can't even claim the fig leaf of "national security", blocking exposingtheleft.blogspot.com and princesskimberly.blogspot.com give the lie to that. If they're blocking innocuous blogs today, what'll they block tomorrow? Would you like it if they did it to the press? If not, where's your outrage when they're doing it to the printing presses of the 21st century (websites)? Is this really the country you want to live in? -
Re:IE7
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Re:Did anyone RTFA ?
I am NOT a network engineer. So how exactly are the isps
going to block http://blogspot.com/badguy with out blocking all
of blogspot.com? -
But Is censorship justified...?
Even though Govt of India ordered to restore acess to blogspot, The 18 sites that Govt decided to ban is still banned. But for most of those sites & blogs I cant findout reason to block. Still ministry is silent on it. It again the duty of bloggers community to file Right to information Application to know why this ban. The news came on Indian Express Newspaper addresses this issue in some amount. Are Bloggers are happy after removing the threat to their own blogs? If they can block a blog like http://princesskimberley.blogspot.com/ they can block any of the blog site. Is there Govt have a justification for blocking each & every site? why a website talking about dalit nationalism ( i didn't seen any hate content on http://www.dalitstan.org/ ) is blocked in a country that addreses diversities...? so Indian bloggers must move on this way to ask the reasons for the censorship.
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Re:Google logo archive...
There is an interesting story behind the Dilbert thread, that is cataloged at the Ex-Googlers blog. They approached Scott Adams as a similiar counter-culture spirit to do some logos, but then his original submissions had to be revamped, reduxed, and taken to the pointy-haired bosses within Google.
Part I, Part II, and Part III.
It may be the reason Dilbert took numerous pot-shots at Google in some recent strips. -
Re:Google logo archive...
There is an interesting story behind the Dilbert thread, that is cataloged at the Ex-Googlers blog. They approached Scott Adams as a similiar counter-culture spirit to do some logos, but then his original submissions had to be revamped, reduxed, and taken to the pointy-haired bosses within Google.
Part I, Part II, and Part III.
It may be the reason Dilbert took numerous pot-shots at Google in some recent strips. -
Re:Google logo archive...
There is an interesting story behind the Dilbert thread, that is cataloged at the Ex-Googlers blog. They approached Scott Adams as a similiar counter-culture spirit to do some logos, but then his original submissions had to be revamped, reduxed, and taken to the pointy-haired bosses within Google.
Part I, Part II, and Part III.
It may be the reason Dilbert took numerous pot-shots at Google in some recent strips.