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Ok, I don't know what ISP you work for (I have the feeling it may be AOL, don't know why) but why the hell do you not have access to network status.

My ISP Blueyonder (their web page sucks) has excellent tech support staff and they always know when something is wrong with the network, hell, they have messages at the start of the call if it is something major.

My suggestion to anyone using an ISP like this would be to dump them and go with one with decent support, before signing up to a test on their support!

Take care - RL

$OBSCURE_PORT_1 = obscure port # on your local machine
$OBSCURE_PORT_2 = obscure port # on machine outside firewall

On the machine where you have the shell account, download and compile the ucspi-tcp package, and micro_proxy. Put the tcpserver and micro_proxy binaries in your $PATH; throw everything else away.

To run the proxy:

From your local machine,
ssh -C -L $OBSCURE_PORT_1:127.0.0.1:$OBSCURE_PORT_2 -l [username] machine.where.you.have.shell.account.co.va
(or if you use some fancy Windoze SSH client, forward $OBSCURE_PORT_1 on your local machine to $OBSCURE_PORT_2 on the remote machine)

Once logged in, run tcpserver -DHlR 127.0.0.1 $OBSCURE_PORT_2 micro_proxy & on the remote machine

On your local machine, set your browser to use HTTP and HTTPS (IE)/SSL (Mozilla) proxies on host 127.0.0.1, port $OBSCURE_PORT_1

Surf to your heart's content.

How many window managers have I tried? Way too many. ;) Here are a few interesting/unusual keyboard config options.

A while ago I ran into Oroborus - it has an
optional component called 'Key Launch' that basically sits there and runs
commands based on key presses. This is completely separated from window
manager and desktop environment, and highly customizable.

The default GNOME window manager as you probably already know is sawfish, and there's a hack that lets you do smooth workspace scrolling with key commands, which is, um, smooth.

When all is said and done, though, I still usually wind up gravitating back to WindowMaker.

"I guess this depends on your definition of "3D" in games. I was under the impression that true 3D meant that passages and rooms could exist on top of each other, creating true multi-layer scenarios. This is something that Doom could not do, but that Bungie's Marathon did. By that definition, Marathon should get the honor of being the "first true 3D" game."

You are right that Quake wasn't the first true 3D-game, or even the first true 3D-Shooter. If true 3D means objects and world made of filled polygons, games like Driller would surely qualify. It might even qualify as the first FPS.

Marathon, however, used a technique called Raycasting for the environment, and sprites for the characters/objects, and this is also the case for Doom, Wolf3D, Duke3D etc. Raycasting works by having a two dimensional map(or several maps above eachother, as done in Marathon and Duke3D to create rooms above rooms), and then scan what is within the players field of view from his current position/direction.

A Very simplyfied explanation:
Imagine a chessboard where all the black squares exept a small rectangle in the middle of the board are replaced with white squares. You are in one of the corners, and are facing the oposite corner. The engine scans what you can see within your 90 degrees field of vision , and whenever it "hits" a black square or the walls of the chessboard, it stops and put a wall-texture there. White squares are ignored. What you would see from your position in the corner is a square room with a small stonehengeish rectangle in the middle of the room. Ofcourse, the Marathon engine is far more advanced, but the Wolf3D engine actually used squares with either an CLOSED(wall) or OPEN-state.

I'm not sure, but I think I have read somewhere that John Carmack was the first to use this technique in the game Hovertank (minus textured walls) that was released in May 1991.

I wish my english was better... This page has working code for a raycasting engine, and explains the consept far deeper than I am able to. :)

"I guess this depends on your definition of "3D" in games. I was under the impression that true 3D meant that passages and rooms could exist on top of each other, creating true multi-layer scenarios. This is something that Doom could not do, but that Bungie's Marathon did. By that definition, Marathon should get the honor of being the "first true 3D" game."

You are right that Quake wasn't the first true 3D-game, or even the first true 3D-Shooter. If true 3D means objects and world made of filled polygons, games like Driller would surely qualify. It might even qualify as the first FPS.

Marathon, however, used a technique called Raycasting for the environment, and sprites for the characters/objects, and this is also the case for Doom, Wolf3D, Duke3D etc. Raycasting works by having a two dimensional map(or several maps above eachother, as done in Marathon and Duke3D to create rooms above rooms), and then scan what is within the players field of view from his current position/direction.

A Very simplyfied explanation:
Imagine a chessboard where all the black squares exept a small rectangle in the middle of the board are replaced with white squares. You are in one of the corners, and are facing the oposite corner. The engine scans what you can see within your 90 degrees field of vision , and whenever it "hits" a black square or the walls of the chessboard, it stops and put a wall-texture there. White squares are ignored. What you would see from your position in the corner is a square room with a small stonehengeish rectangle in the middle of the room. Ofcourse, the Marathon engine is far more advanced, but the Wolf3D engine actually used squares with either an CLOSED(wall) or OPEN-state.

I'm not sure, but I think I have read somewhere that John Carmack was the first to use this technique in the game Hovertank (minus textured walls) that was released in May 1991.

I wish my english was better... This page has working code for a raycasting engine, and explains the consept far deeper than I am able to. :)

If you want some graphics and multiple windows, X11 is actually not that heavy-weight, although Gnome and KDE are. Consider running plain X11 with "twm", "fvwm", or Oroborus. Of those, "twm" is ubiquitous, while oroborus is a little more modern. For minimal graphical web browsing, consider the "dillo" web browser, although it won't work on complex sites. You could also download Opera, although it's commercial.

• ROX-Filer for the file manager. It manages desktop icons, and has a panel as well if you want one. It's based on Gtk+, but doens't involove any gnome.
  rox.sf.net
• Oroborus for the window manager. It's default theme is beautiful and it is amazingly quick. Uses only xlib for drawing.
  www.kensden.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Oroborus/
• FSPanel, for F*ing Small Panel. The whole app is only 10k under linux! Plus it works and includes a pager (optional patch).
  www.chatjunkies.org/fspanel/

I have to say that on the whole I've been very impressed with the service. Although there were a few throughput issues when I initially joined, I've been on the whole very impressed with the service. They even allow servers (with suitable resitrctions, max 10 connections per cable modem and it must be private, password protected), and the only limits they place on normal traffic is a transparent proxy for all port 80 traffic (which I am sure actually speeds up the service rather than slowing it down). I get a constant 64kb/sec transfer rate downloading where possible (and thanks to the transparent caches this is relativly often). The only thing I can say against them is that their mail server often (once a month or so) gets backed up and takes three or four hours to send emails - but they're running some Microsoft SMTP solution at the moment, so perhaps that's to be expected ;) Oh, that and they're part owned by Microsoft. But they don't mind that I only have linux boxen connected to their CM..

So basically, to all those who have replied 'well what do you expect, the economic model isn't viable!', I beg to differ.

i caught it with 20x120 binocs .. i was observing from quite a light polluted place in new delhi on 16/12. it was very high in the sky and made the observation neck breaking!

It was really some experience .. first hunting that quickly moving rock at the limit of binocs reach and then watch it move w.r.t stars .. and to know that before 2027, next such event (bright NEO) will only happen in 2004. :-)

i have put my observation log and a plot of moving wt24 and stars here. the log shows some of excitement i went through. not anything of scientific value though.

here are downloadable finder charts prepared using Guide 7.0 to make life a little easier.

here is a MUST SEE mpeg video made by compiling the frames from a 2 hour CCD run on WT24 by Nick James

here is great image showing 1 complete rotation of 1998 WT24

The Culture novels are brilliant, and, to my mind, should form a model for the future development of human society. For those of you who haven't read any Culture books, see the FAQ

You have obviously never heard of Oroborus. Also, ratpoison, wm2/wmx, etc.

There are window managers that do NOTHING but draw window borders, moving all of the other functionality into userspace.

Daniel

• I'm in favour of ISPs locking out infected machines that have demonstrated no attempt at fixing the problem

As an aside, Blueyonder, a UK cableco, have just cut my friend off for being infected with Nimda.

He's using Linux.

He spoke with a techie who claimed (I swear that this is true) that "Apache has an IIS component. It can be infected. You have to reinstall Windo- I mean Linux."

I'm sure that we all understand their initial actions, and that there will be some collateral from innocent people getting cut off, but the problem is that if comes down to you proving your innocence, it's a complete lottery to even reach someone with the basic technical knowledge to understand what you are saying to them.

As the final funny, he was emailed and snail mailed a letter referring him to a Microsoft security URL. You know, when he's running Linux, and they've cut his cable anyway. Sheesh.

"Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) arrived in the UK in 1997, when the City of London police installed cameras that scan the plates of every vehicle entering and leaving the Square Mile - a concept dubbed the ring of steel. "The cameras are very overt. It's all very open," says a police spokesperson. "We're not interested in monitoring people's movements, we just want to provide them with a safe environment."

"Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) arrived in the UK in 1997, when the City of London police installed cameras that scan the plates of every vehicle entering and leaving the Square Mile - a concept dubbed the ring of steel. "The cameras are very overt. It's all very open," says a police spokesperson. "We're not interested in monitoring people's movements, we just want to provide them with a safe environment."

Not too bad, 512/128kbps. When I initially signed up there were loads of problems, but now they're pretty good.

Oh, and when you sign up they might tell you you need to run Win9x/NT.. if you say in advance you're going to run Linux they'll probably be OK, but apparently some of their sales drones are clueless. Certinally the guy who came to cable the box in here was fine with me running Linux..

--

I found this free satellite tracking program for windows available here.

Well to be honest I am not that surprised.

There are a number of things that hold up broadband access in the UK but the main one is Local Loop Unbundling (the last mile from the exchange to people) if owned by BT. Now OFTEL, the regulator is working to undo this but even though it should happen in the next 12 months BT are still dragging their feet by saying "there isn't enough room" in the exchanges. It isn't however all doom and gloom. There are cable companies like blueyonder and ntl trying to get cable out. Also there are a few wireless companines. But if you are like me and live in the sticks there isn't much help. For someone outside the UK you can get a good overview at broadbandhelp.com. Even though there are now quite a few ISP's offering DSL BT is still providing the bandwidth and of course it is their best intrests to take their time :(

Apparently, my ISP recently moved from using squid to netcache, and my god it is useless. I am reduced to adding spurious query strings to force a refresh.

Telewest are installing their own equipment at the local loop and will have their service running in London / Croydon in November 2000.

Anyway The Blueyonder serice is oversubscribed. Between the launch of the 24/7 service in February and July, it has been immensely slow or totally unusable. It was fine for most of July and early August (at least for me; others milage apparently varied).

This past fortnight however, the service became abysmal. No more than 2K/s download speeds from pretty much anywhere, epsecially through ftp ports. And on Friday night, all routes to the US were compeltely lost for about 20 hours!

The webcaching system they use is totally shafted; often showing porn sites rather than the correct site, but fortunately for me, the dialup area I am covered by doesn't use transparent caches, so that saves me those problems

I would love to know whether any other ISP would completely take down the network for 2 hours like they did on Monday morning this week (it should be mentioned on their service page at status.blueyonder.co.uk:888. OK it was at 4am, but it does seem rediculous to need to take the whole ISP down.

It is a good deal on paper and yes I am satisfied overall, but the failures are incredibly numerous and I will not trust their e-mail service, considering how often it fails.

Anyway, for £10/month with min of £10 on call charges it is a very good deal and the 3.99/month second phone line is also a worthy deal. Just don't exect as good a service as you might have had with other ISPs

Strong data typing is for those with weak minds.

3D Porn (not strictly porn, just someone in a bikini).