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Comments · 6,003

  1. Re:Facinating by etothen · · Score: 1 · on Opera Adds Gesture Navigation

    Fascinating but nowhere near new:

    This has been around since '95.

  2. Win Freeware Utility by gadwale · · Score: 1 · on Opera Adds Gesture Navigation

    There has been a windows freeware utility from a company called pointix that added mouse gesture navigation a loooong time ago. Pick it up here or do a search at downloads.com for 'Pointix'.

    Unfortunately Pointix does not support/sell/publicize this nifty utility anymore!

    Adi.

  3. Re:Other Samba News by stylewagon · · Score: 1 · on Samba 2.2.0 Released

    Yup, there's another version over on c|net as well. Tridgell and Allison are now on the VA NAS team. [ VA Systems press release ]

  4. well... by sllort · · Score: 2 · on The Myriad Ways of Wiring Your Home?

    Sharky's Home LAN Guide
    Gamecenter's "Build a Home LAN"
    "Configuring an Internet Firewall and Home LAN With Linux"
    The CNET home LAN guide (if you're not a /. reader)
    The Home LAN Project
    The do-it-yourself under 50 bucks home LAN guide

    whew. um... anyone got something that ain't covered already?

  5. Re:IPv4 Exhaustion? Where? by Cheshire+Cat · · Score: 2 · on A New Approach to IP Address Exhaustion
    Who has a real story of an IP address shortage? I mean, something like an ISP saying "Sorry, we'd like to give you a DSL line, but we've just run out of IP addresses".

    This hasn't happened...yet. However, it will occur not too far down the road. Actually, I should rephrase that. Unless IPv6 is used, increasingly cumbersome methods of increasing that available IP pool will need to be used.

    The growth of broadband, WAP devices and talk of such things as ovens, air conditioners and god-only knows what else being hooked up to the internet will rapidly drain this pool. This is why IPv6 is neccessary. For a really good article on it, check out this CNet story.

  6. Re:It's there by Chanc_Gorkon · · Score: 2 · on Red Hat Linux 7.1 Release Announcement

    Sparc's been discontinued with 7.0 (try looking for a 7.0 iso for sparc...ain't no such thing). The latesr sparc iso (from redhat anyway) would be 6.2. Here's a link.

  7. Re:"The market is softening" by jgalun · · Score: 1 · on Pentium IV As A Budget Processor
    How this gets modded up to 2, Insightful I have no idea. Intel neither created the recession, nor single-handedly destroyed investor confidence in the tech sector, nor lied about flagging PC demand. Anyone who has been following the tech industry and economy in the last few months has witnessed the following:

    A) A brewing recession, the causes of which it is far too early to pick out. Nevertheless, it is extremely unlikely that Intel singlehandedly caused the slump, because the economy is so huge and there are so many factors outside of Intel (GE, Microsoft, Bush, Greenspan, consumer confidence, investory confidence, etc.)

    B) The collapse of the tech stocks began well before Intel began to warn that the overall PC market was softening. Moreover, a warning by Intel would not have triggered a selloff of other tech stocks unless either people were investing based on psychology (and not the numbers) or the other tech stocks were fundamentally weak too. I suspect a little of both. Either way, Intel didn't create the tech selloff - investors and other companies played the major part. After all, if Intel had a bad quarter, but 3Com and Cisco's sales were still flying high, Intel should have had no affect on 3Com and Cisco's stock values.

    C) PC demand has been flagging, this is not an Intel invention. Apple, Compaq, Gateway, and Dell have all had brutal quarters, the growth in worldwide PC shipments has been relatively dismal this quarter, and US demand has stayed flat. The US market is glutted, people are worried about a recession, and, as Slashdot recently had a story about, people are finding that they don't need anything better than a two year old 400 MHz PC. As evidence:

    AMD missed earnings estimates last quarter and predicted that "first-quarter sales on processors will be 'no better than flat' compared with the fourth-quarter." (source)

    "Market researcher Dataquest on Monday warned of continued slow PC sales, with worldwide sales growing 10.7 percent this year, or about four points lower than 2000. Sales in the United States are projected to be downright dismal with--at best--flat year-over-year growth.

    Dataquest analyst Martin Reynolds said the researcher's predictions are based on 'the assumption sales in the fourth quarter will be better than the rest of the year. If this doesn't happen, things could be much worse.'" (source)

    Dell posted its first quarter-to-quarter revenue decline in 17 years (source. Apple got murdered last quarter. Gateway got murdered last quarter, had a round of layoffs, and is closing 10% of its Gateway Country stores. Compaq is predicting a bad quarter.

  8. Re:"The market is softening" by jgalun · · Score: 1 · on Pentium IV As A Budget Processor
    How this gets modded up to 2, Insightful I have no idea. Intel neither created the recession, nor single-handedly destroyed investor confidence in the tech sector, nor lied about flagging PC demand. Anyone who has been following the tech industry and economy in the last few months has witnessed the following:

    A) A brewing recession, the causes of which it is far too early to pick out. Nevertheless, it is extremely unlikely that Intel singlehandedly caused the slump, because the economy is so huge and there are so many factors outside of Intel (GE, Microsoft, Bush, Greenspan, consumer confidence, investory confidence, etc.)

    B) The collapse of the tech stocks began well before Intel began to warn that the overall PC market was softening. Moreover, a warning by Intel would not have triggered a selloff of other tech stocks unless either people were investing based on psychology (and not the numbers) or the other tech stocks were fundamentally weak too. I suspect a little of both. Either way, Intel didn't create the tech selloff - investors and other companies played the major part. After all, if Intel had a bad quarter, but 3Com and Cisco's sales were still flying high, Intel should have had no affect on 3Com and Cisco's stock values.

    C) PC demand has been flagging, this is not an Intel invention. Apple, Compaq, Gateway, and Dell have all had brutal quarters, the growth in worldwide PC shipments has been relatively dismal this quarter, and US demand has stayed flat. The US market is glutted, people are worried about a recession, and, as Slashdot recently had a story about, people are finding that they don't need anything better than a two year old 400 MHz PC. As evidence:

    AMD missed earnings estimates last quarter and predicted that "first-quarter sales on processors will be 'no better than flat' compared with the fourth-quarter." (source)

    "Market researcher Dataquest on Monday warned of continued slow PC sales, with worldwide sales growing 10.7 percent this year, or about four points lower than 2000. Sales in the United States are projected to be downright dismal with--at best--flat year-over-year growth.

    Dataquest analyst Martin Reynolds said the researcher's predictions are based on 'the assumption sales in the fourth quarter will be better than the rest of the year. If this doesn't happen, things could be much worse.'" (source)

    Dell posted its first quarter-to-quarter revenue decline in 17 years (source. Apple got murdered last quarter. Gateway got murdered last quarter, had a round of layoffs, and is closing 10% of its Gateway Country stores. Compaq is predicting a bad quarter.

  9. Re:"The market is softening" by jgalun · · Score: 1 · on Pentium IV As A Budget Processor
    How this gets modded up to 2, Insightful I have no idea. Intel neither created the recession, nor single-handedly destroyed investor confidence in the tech sector, nor lied about flagging PC demand. Anyone who has been following the tech industry and economy in the last few months has witnessed the following:

    A) A brewing recession, the causes of which it is far too early to pick out. Nevertheless, it is extremely unlikely that Intel singlehandedly caused the slump, because the economy is so huge and there are so many factors outside of Intel (GE, Microsoft, Bush, Greenspan, consumer confidence, investory confidence, etc.)

    B) The collapse of the tech stocks began well before Intel began to warn that the overall PC market was softening. Moreover, a warning by Intel would not have triggered a selloff of other tech stocks unless either people were investing based on psychology (and not the numbers) or the other tech stocks were fundamentally weak too. I suspect a little of both. Either way, Intel didn't create the tech selloff - investors and other companies played the major part. After all, if Intel had a bad quarter, but 3Com and Cisco's sales were still flying high, Intel should have had no affect on 3Com and Cisco's stock values.

    C) PC demand has been flagging, this is not an Intel invention. Apple, Compaq, Gateway, and Dell have all had brutal quarters, the growth in worldwide PC shipments has been relatively dismal this quarter, and US demand has stayed flat. The US market is glutted, people are worried about a recession, and, as Slashdot recently had a story about, people are finding that they don't need anything better than a two year old 400 MHz PC. As evidence:

    AMD missed earnings estimates last quarter and predicted that "first-quarter sales on processors will be 'no better than flat' compared with the fourth-quarter." (source)

    "Market researcher Dataquest on Monday warned of continued slow PC sales, with worldwide sales growing 10.7 percent this year, or about four points lower than 2000. Sales in the United States are projected to be downright dismal with--at best--flat year-over-year growth.

    Dataquest analyst Martin Reynolds said the researcher's predictions are based on 'the assumption sales in the fourth quarter will be better than the rest of the year. If this doesn't happen, things could be much worse.'" (source)

    Dell posted its first quarter-to-quarter revenue decline in 17 years (source. Apple got murdered last quarter. Gateway got murdered last quarter, had a round of layoffs, and is closing 10% of its Gateway Country stores. Compaq is predicting a bad quarter.

  10. Old News by Alien54 · · Score: 2 · on Pentium IV As A Budget Processor
    This price cut made the news during the day Friday over on the Register (here), and was even commented on here (Intel cutting prices soon) CNet also had a comment of this here.

    Probably got submitted a few times - The weekend crew must not read up on things during the week. although I can't blame them.

    Check out the Vinny the Vampire comic strip

  11. Re:"The market is softening" by Perdo · · Score: 2 · on Pentium IV As A Budget Processor
    Yeah, thought so.here here here here here here

    Responding to trolls... Just backing up my argument.

  12. Re:"The market is softening" by Perdo · · Score: 2 · on Pentium IV As A Budget Processor
    Yeah, thought so.here here here here here here

    Responding to trolls... Just backing up my argument.

  13. Summing it up.... by ageitgey · · Score: 2 · on Linux + Ipaq + MIT = Project Mercury
    So the current list of linux PDAs here or on the horizon now stands:

    Agenda's Palm Clone

    Sharp

    PalmPalm's Phone PDA

    VTech's Updated Version

    Samsung's Yopy

    Lernout & Hauspie's version with Speech Recognition
    maybe more?

    At this rate, I might as well develop one.

  14. Re:Yahoo Re:So what about by jvj24601 · · Score: 1 · on When the WIPO Is On the Other Foot

    Yahoo is already going to become a porn site.

    Nope, Yahoo has changed their minds.

  15. RAMBUS should cut too by c_g12 · · Score: 1 · on Pentium IV study
    C|Net story: The depth of the cuts, however, poses huge problems, according to some analysts. The Pentium 4 is a fairly large chip and expensive to make. Intel also continues to give PC makers rebates for each computer that includes Rambus memory and, for now, Pentium 4 systems work only with Rambus memory.

    I think it's time for P4 + DDR

  16. Better Description of the Problem by Detritus · · Score: 4 · on AFTRA Halts Many Radio Stations' Webcasts
    See this CNET article for a better description of the problem.

    Actors in radio commercials get paid more if the commercials are also broadcast on the Internet. The advertisers do not want to pay the additional fees if they never asked to have their commercials simulcast on the Internet. The radio stations could pay the difference in fees to the actors or delete the commercials from the Internet feed.

  17. How it happened by Diplomat73 · · Score: 2 · on AFTRA Halts Many Radio Stations' Webcasts

    Cnet has a similar article about this here. Basically The Web radio standoff that silenced hundreds of Internet audio feeds this week could be good news for companies that help stitch ads into streaming media broadcasts. So the reason all these web radios halted was because of $$ issues. As the article say Major radio corporations Tuesday, including Clear Channel Communications and Emmis Communications, temporarily halted their Web streams because of unresolved online advertising issues. Although that decision was a temporary setback for nascent Web radio stations, analysts said it could help ignite demand for so-called ad insertion technology, which can be used to get around disputed Internet advertising rules. The way I see it Tuesday's dispute among actors, advertisers and broadcasters over royalty payments could make streaming ads more attractive. Since advertising agencies have agreed to pay radio voice actors a higher fee if their commercials are used online as well as on air, they will likely seek alternatives such as ad insertion to control their costs.

  18. How it happened by Diplomat73 · · Score: 2 · on AFTRA Halts Many Radio Stations' Webcasts

    Cnet has a similar article about this here. Basically The Web radio standoff that silenced hundreds of Internet audio feeds this week could be good news for companies that help stitch ads into streaming media broadcasts. So the reason all these web radios halted was because of $$ issues. As the article say Major radio corporations Tuesday, including Clear Channel Communications and Emmis Communications, temporarily halted their Web streams because of unresolved online advertising issues. Although that decision was a temporary setback for nascent Web radio stations, analysts said it could help ignite demand for so-called ad insertion technology, which can be used to get around disputed Internet advertising rules. The way I see it Tuesday's dispute among actors, advertisers and broadcasters over royalty payments could make streaming ads more attractive. Since advertising agencies have agreed to pay radio voice actors a higher fee if their commercials are used online as well as on air, they will likely seek alternatives such as ad insertion to control their costs.

  19. FYI, MS will certify drivers by 1+inch+punch · · Score: 1 · on Windows XP to Target MP3 Files

    Remember that Microsoft will start to certify drivers for XP. Of course that means those hardware manufacturers of MP3 players are going to have a hard time getting their drivers certified. So the hardware manufacturers are going to have to bend over and take it up the ass. With these folks in their pocket, is there any good reason to encode in MP3?

  20. Re:NTP kicks ass! (not only for *nix) by jedrek · · Score: 1 · on Packet Radio On ISS Beeping Away

    I too love NTP, especially since my old (p133) computer would lose about 57s daily. But you don't need to be on Linux to take advantage of getting your clock synced on the hour. WinNT and 2K have NTP built in, letting you sync via the 'net.exe' tool, although I'm not 100% sure on that.

    The rest of the Win32 crowd can use on of many, many utils to synchronize their clocks. It's enough to search for 'synchronize' on download.cnet.com to find a bunch of them. I recommend Sync-It With Atom, but that's just a personal preference.

    jedrek

  21. The AP story explains the 4-yr. restriction. by eclarkso · · Score: 2 · on Educational Consortium Will Control .edu Domains
    Many have noted that there are lots of non-4-year institutions with .edu domains. The AP story at news.com explains:

    The .edu domain category has been restricted to four-year colleges and universities almost since its inception. But about a quarter of community colleges got .edu addresses before the restriction took effect. Educause plans to allow the rest of the community colleges to obtain .edu addresses.

    It also notes how Verisign does state that it was eager to give up the domain.

  22. Re:Your memory seems cloudy and inaccurate... by coolgeek · · Score: 2 · on Xbox As A Server Farm Commodity Box
    No shortage of inflammatory criticsim on slashdot, huh? Especially from morons who have no clue what they are talking about.

    Put this in your pipe and smoke it: http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-311875.html?t ag=rltdnws

    Here's the key excerpt from that article:

    Although it is removing the ten-user limit, Microsoft said last Friday that NT Server is still the best bet for running Web servers and that it will introduce a "compelling upgrade" for Workstation users that want to migrate to NT Server.

  23. Hm. by micromoog · · Score: 5 · on Windows XP to Target MP3 Files
    The Reuters article seems to blow things out of proportion a bit. Here is an article from C|NET explaining the technical details of the new Windows Media Player copy protection scheme . . . it's pretty scary, but doesn't affect MP3's at all.

    The only new information in this Reuter's article is that the audio recorder built in to XP will only allow the recording of low-quality MP3s. You can still use whatever you want to rip your CDs.

    True, Microsoft is trying to guide users away from the MP3 format, which is despicable, but this isn't some heavy-handed move to ban MP3s from XP altogether.

    By the way, here's another story from StreamingMedia.com that reports things very differently . . . according to this one, Microsoft has not yet decided (as of March 28) whether to include MP3 encoding abilities in Media Player.

  24. PGP by Diplomat73 · · Score: 2 · on Is Network Solutions Changing Your Guardian Settings?

    "while I had set up PGP as my Guardian scheme"
    Just so you know: PGP has a minor flaw in it so dont feel that since you have PGP as your guardian scheme your safe. Cnet has the full article here. Basically A flaw was found by two Czech researchers in the popular OpenPGP digital signature standard and is said to be real but relatively minor Phil Zimmermann says. From what I know Two Czech researchers said that they had found a hole in it.

  25. PGP by Diplomat73 · · Score: 2 · on Is Network Solutions Changing Your Guardian Settings?

    "while I had set up PGP as my Guardian scheme"
    Just so you know: PGP has a minor flaw in it so dont feel that since you have PGP as your guardian scheme your safe. Cnet has the full article here. Basically A flaw was found by two Czech researchers in the popular OpenPGP digital signature standard and is said to be real but relatively minor Phil Zimmermann says. From what I know Two Czech researchers said that they had found a hole in it.

  26. Re:Ah, paid advertising! by jeffsenter · · Score: 1 · on On The Future of ISPs, Both Large and Small...

    CNET has this article on the death of Northpoint and the migration of customers to other places that provides some clarity for what I am talking about.

  27. FireWire vs. USB 2.0 (resources) by webword · · Score: 5 · on FireWire For Windows XP, But No USB 2.0

    USB 2.0 versus FireWire (MacCentral Online) -- Solid article. Check it out.

    Face-off between USB and FireWire Flash Card readers -- "Translation: Do NOT expect the gap between FireWire and USB readers to close when USB 2.0 readers start shipping. Do expect FireWire to be updated soon to achieve 800Mbit/sec... possibly 1600Mbit/sec, Moral: Use FireWire any time the device can handle the speed." (Somewhat useful.)

    Will USB or FireWire connect with consumers (CNET) -- "In the end, FireWire may take the lead for storage devices, scanners, video cameras and consumer electronic devices, while USB continues to dominate mice, keyboards and other peripherals." (Comments: Some fluff, but useful.)

    USB 2.0 versus 1394 (Japanese) -- I don't read Japanese, but this is an article comparing USB 2.0 and 1394 . . .

    Tom's Hardware Comparison (via Google) -- "In the FireWire versus USB debate, currently it is no contest. USB is cheap and well suited for inexpensive devices like keyboards and mice, while IEEE1394 is far, far faster, more user friendly and a bit more robust, but is also a little more expensive to implement."

    SCSI versus IDE, FireWire, USB, etc. (Mac Buyer's Guide) -- "Indeed, Apple specifically recommends against FireWire drives, for use with its high-end video editor, Final Cut Pro." (Comments: Other interesting stuff is in this article. Check it out.)

  28. Where's the part by Fervent · · Score: 2 · on Apple: First to Latest

    where Linus calls MacOS X crap, which has been posted on every media outlet from here to Cupertino?

  29. 1-800-WEBHOST is their number by yttrbium · · Score: 1 · on Dealing With Bad Service From Dedicated Host Providers?
    Cnet has this article:

    Web hosting firm upgrades service, threatens eviction

    Which just goes further to point out what this company still doesn't understand: customer service is important.

    I would suggest that we all call them personally to ask about their policy on customer satisfaction. 1-800-WEBHOST. Or, maybe we shouldn't, since they do have to pay for every 1-800 number and we could end up costing them a lot of money. Yeah, forget I said anything.

  30. You can do it with linux too by Galvatron · · Score: 3 · on Indrema Dead in 30 Days?
    His point was that keeping a mid-tower next to the TV can be a little inconvenient. A nice little console that's completely hackable and totally compatible with his desktop would have been nice.

    As an aside, what's with all these windows lovers complaining about biases on /.? Yeah, we're fucking biased as hell, and always have been, so why go here when there are plenty of other sites that don't have our editorial slant?

    The only "intuitive" interface is the nipple. After that, it's all learned.

  31. ArsDigita by Diplomat73 · · Score: 2 · on Perens Looks For Payback for Open Source

    CNET has a story about similar to this here. Basically it talkes about how ArsDigita, an e-commerce company in the midst of layoffs and a major product overhaul, is bucking the trend of comrades selling open-source software. While other open-source companies such as Red Hat, Caldera Systems and VA Linux Systems work to shift revenue from products to services, ArsDigita is going the opposite direction. Instead of just offering services around the open-source ArsDigita Community System (ACS) software for setting up e-commerce Web sites, the company will begin selling proprietary software modules, said Dave Menninger, senior vice president of marketing. In addition, the company's latest version of ACS has been rewritten using Sun Microsystems' Java language instead of the previous TCL language. Very interesting read

  32. ArsDigita by Diplomat73 · · Score: 2 · on Perens Looks For Payback for Open Source

    CNET has a story about similar to this here. Basically it talkes about how ArsDigita, an e-commerce company in the midst of layoffs and a major product overhaul, is bucking the trend of comrades selling open-source software. While other open-source companies such as Red Hat, Caldera Systems and VA Linux Systems work to shift revenue from products to services, ArsDigita is going the opposite direction. Instead of just offering services around the open-source ArsDigita Community System (ACS) software for setting up e-commerce Web sites, the company will begin selling proprietary software modules, said Dave Menninger, senior vice president of marketing. In addition, the company's latest version of ACS has been rewritten using Sun Microsystems' Java language instead of the previous TCL language. Very interesting read

  33. Follow Up on "Changes" by ndrw · · Score: 1 · on MS Passport: "All Your Bits Are Belong To Us"

    Looks like the public criticism of the Passport policy is waking some people up. Check this post from cnet about this passport bs. Sorry if this is a dup, couldn't read all the posts.

  34. Somebody round up the editors.... by mblase · · Score: 1 · on "Extreme" Programming
    This Slashdot article on "Extreme Programming" points to ...

    ...a CNet article which points to...

    ...the home page for "Extreme Programming" which promotes...

    ...the book "Extreme Programming Explained" about the subject which is...

    ...a followup to "Planning Extreme Programming" which was...

    ...reviewed on Slashdot just five stories ago.

    This kind of reckless ignorance of Slashdot's own archives is bordering on obscene.

  35. Don't forget .NET is associated with Passport! by retrosteve · · Score: 2 · on MS Passport: "All Your Bits Are Belong To Us"

    If you think this is bad, just look at how dot-NET and Passport are tied together.
    If you use the new Windows XP, you are automatically a .NET (=Passport) customer!
    ...and therefore all your IP belong to us!

  36. Re:Didn't Steve Jobs Speak at MacWorld about.... by tim_maroney · · Score: 1 · on Another Look At OS X
    It's just that *Apple's* applications that perform those tasks aren't ready. Of course, that doesn't mean a third-party can't write software to do just that.

    Actually, it is just that. Please see http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-5423455.html? tag=mn_hd. Roxio cannot port Toast at the current level of the system.

    Tim

  37. Re:Didn't Steve Jobs Speak at MacWorld about.... by tim_maroney · · Score: 1 · on Another Look At OS X
    Today Roxio is reporting that it has been unable to port Toast to Mac OS X.

    "We've 'carbonized' Toast as much as we can," said Victor Nemechek, product manager for Toast, the popular CD burning software from Roxio. "You can get your CDs all ready to burn, but the final step--you can't do that." Carbonizing refers to taking existing code and moving it over to Mac OS X.

    Apple shipped Mac OS X without full support for CD-rewritable, DVD and DVD-recordable drives. Besides its own troubles, developers say, Apple also failed to deliver adequate tools for third-party software programs.

    "The I/O kit that Apple shipped in the release version of OS X is not quite complete," Nemechek said, referring to a computer's input/output system. This means companies developing software for CD-RW, DVD and tape drives are at a standstill in their development efforts, he added.

    Apple is expected to add CD-RW functionality to Mac OS X later this month, but Nemechek said that would likely not immediately solve the problem for Roxio or other developers working with I/O-dependent hardware.

    "There are some exciting things about OS X, but problems like this just validate my belief that there is no compelling reason for most people to go out and get OS X right now," Deal said.

    Apple declined to comment on the I/O kit.

    I consider these comments a validation of my original observation that the DVD and CD-RW features did not simply slip, but were due to deeper architectural problems in Mac OS X, which could not be outsourced due to their close coupling with the system.

    Tim

  38. Bluetooth and 802.11b (competition) by rtos · · Score: 1 · on Microsoft Shuts Windows On Bluetooth Support
    For the 100th time: Bluetooth and 802.11 are not competing technologies. They each have separate and complimentary uses.

    But... Bluetooth and the upcoming IEEE 802.11B (note the B) are going to go head to head. It doesn't have the cool name or logo, but it does have the backing of both IEEE and Intel. You may hate Intel, but they have a lot of weight to throw around.

    I must admit that I was really excited about the Bluetooth standard, but I would always choose an IEEE standard over an industry consortium. I'm still ticked off that USB has gained wide acceptance.

    Unrelated but worth noting: There is some chance of interference between bluetooth and 802.11.

  39. Bluetooth vs. 802.11b by rtos · · Score: 2 · on 802.11, Horizon Drop-Off And Range
    For the 100th time: Bluetooth and 802.11 are not competing technologies. They each have separate and complimentary uses.

    But... Bluetooth and the upcoming IEEE 802.11B (note the B) are going to go head to head. It doesn't have the cool name or logo, but it does have the backing of both IEEE and Intel. You may hate Intel, but they have a lot of weight to throw around.

    I must admit that I was really excited about the Bluetooth standard, but I would always choose an IEEE standard over an industry consortium. I'm still ticked off that USB has gained wide acceptance.

    Unrelated but worth noting: There is some chance of interference between bluetooth and 802.11.

  40. Re:Bluetooth and 802.11 are for different uses by decaym · · Score: 1 · on Microsoft Shuts Windows On Bluetooth Support

    I haven't seen anything about IBM shipping a USB Bluetooth adapter, but they are shipping a PC Card (PCMCIA) adapter. There is information (and pricing) for it on CNet. I ran across this product during my searces for support of Bluetooth under Linux.

    A quick hunt through IBM's website turns up the PC Card adapter under their wireless products section, but no mention of USB. My guess would be they don't have anything shipping yet.

  41. In other wireless news... by BadlandZ · · Score: 1 · on The Joys of Microwaves And Wireless
    Funny, I tried to submit a REAL news story about wireles a couple days back "2001-03-29 00:17:32 Color Cell Phones (articles,tech) (rejected)." Thought was still interesting, so I put the story on MU with a few references. It was announced by Sprint themselves Yesterday, and Yahoo, AND... cnet have already ran the story now too. PDA Buzz has mentioned it yesterday. And it's not like it's shocking news if you look at some of the cell phone stuff going on, like the PalmOS Samsung and the countless other PDA replacement cell phones coming out.

    But I guess it's not /. news until they can be sure to be the LAST to report it! Hmm.. Ya, but those wireless microwaves... Wooo doggy, uber geek, but... Ah, nevermind, it is sort of cool, just a bit more pointless. Just glad there are at least one or two other sources of Geek news than slashdot...

  42. Re:Dreamcast by cmilkosky · · Score: 1 · on Dreamcast Postmortem
    "Ummm..." right back at you. And tell me how many Dreamcast's were sold - total? Look at it from a percentage point of view real quick.

    Let's say that there are about 8 million Dreamcasts out there right now - giving you the benefit of the doubt that there could be less.

    And how many people are using the modems? I'll give you even more benefit of the doubt again and say there are 1,000,000 people worldwide using the Sega modem (and I'm sure that's stretching it quite a lot). That's 1/8 or 12.5% . Only 12.5%!!! Was the modem worth it? Nope - it should've been an optional accessory OR at the very least, a freebie given out if you signed up for SegaNet for a year. That way you'd only get the people who'd use it. They wouldn't need to produce as much.

    Ummm.... I don't think the modem should've been in it.

    Again - I'm not trying to bash the machine. In my non-expert opinion, it was poor decision-making on Sega's behalf. Did they really think that they were going to get enough people to use the modem?

    Chris

  43. It doesn't take a genius but... by deran9ed · · Score: 4 · on AOL vs. Open Source AIM Clones

    Your not the first developers to face this dilemna

    Wireless News Factor
    C|NET

    And the list goes on and on. One of the measures you guys should try to take, is follow on AOL's steps to make money on their client and offer some sort of revenue generating scheme for AOL in an effort to have them allow you to use their services (bandwidth ,connection to their servers, etc.), maybe your team should code an exact replica and allow AOL to pay you for the revisional code to allow *nix based clients to use the IM, this way AOL could continue to spam people with their messages, (banner revenue generation bs), and since its open sourced the typical geek would know how to chop this up.

    This way AOL is happy they continue to gain revenue by selling ad space via GAIM, FAIM, etc., while you guys continue to provide your products, and make some side money off of it. Don't expect however AOL to just sit by pay for your programs bandwidth, then lose money while they own the servers your clients to connect to. Its not feasbile in a business sense and downright stupid.

  44. A tale of two rulings by kzinti · · Score: 5 · on "Nuremberg Files" Decision Overturned

    Much as I despise these right-wing wackos, I love my First Amendment even more. So I'm pleased that the court would defend it.

    Something more that interests me is what happens when you consider this ruling in light of another one covered here on /. not too long ago in this story:

    http://slashdot.org/yro/01/02/26/1622248_F.shtml

    And the CNET article referenced from the Slashdot discussion:

    http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-4930756.html? tag=nbs

    The gist of the story is that the high school students published satire aimed at his high school principal on his own time, and on a web site entirely independent of the school. When the school district tried to punish the student, he sued and won. The court ruled that the school had no jurisdiction over the student's speech rights as practiced on his own time and his own equipment. And rightly so. You high school kids still have some speech rights in the eyes of the courts.

    Now consider today's case, in which the court said that the anti-abortion speech is protected, including the "hit lists", so long as the speech doesn't directly threaten to commit violent acts. Wow. Juxtapose this case against the high school case from some weeks ago and tell me what you see.

    How long is it going to be until we hear about some high school kid publishing a hit list on his personal web site? I thinking here of a list a teachers, administrators, bullies, and the like... of course, this kind of thing is probably happening already, but now it's protected. Are more kids going to start doing this kind of thing? How will the school districts react? Will they continue to suspend and expel... or will they just call the police?

    It's a fascinating situation. It's great that speech rights on the Internet are seeing some protection, especially for students, but I'm wondering how these new protections are going to be interpreted by today's high school kids, and what the repercussions are going to be when they start pushing the envelope with them.

    --Jim

  45. The Real Bill Gates by gvonk · · Score: 3 · on Windows Marketing Executive Doug Miller

    William Gates III is, no doubt, the most hated figure among geeks and at the same time can be revered and honored by the press/media for the innovations of the last two decades. While his popularity is dubious or at least dichotomous, his fame and fortune are unquestionable. My question is: What's it like working with the second richest man in the world? What's he like as a person? (man behind the mogul, as it were) Any personal anecdotes that you feel obliged to share? What does Mr. Gates really think of Open Source etc...?

  46. I agree by stylewagon · · Score: 1 · on Broadband from World's Tallest Building

    I can't believe it. This story has NOTHING to do with DSL and everything to do with Wireless Broadband access.

    as defined by c|net:

    Digital subscriber lines carry data at high speeds over standard copper telephone wires. With DSL, data can be delivered at a rate of 1.5 mbps (around 30 times faster than through a 56-kbps modem). Also, DSL users can receive voice and data simultaneously, so small offices can leave computers plugged into the Net without interrupting phone connections. Currently, DSL is expensive because specialized equipment--a splitter--needs to be installed at the subscriber's location

    From the article itself:

    "...We bridge the gap where DSL and cable can't go..."

    "...Being wireless, Sprint's system bypasses the phone network..."
  47. The record industry *IS* targeting ISPs! by NewtonsLaw · · Score: 1 · on Surveillance on Peer-to-Peer Networks

    The claims made in the 7amNews story referred to in the Salon article seems to have been verified by this story currently running on CNet. It looks like the recording industry is saving itself time and money by forcing ISPs to block file-swappers that the Media Tracker system has identified. There's also some extra stuff on the 7amNews.com site that answers more questions that are being asked.

  48. IBM's linux watch uses OLED's by JimRay · · Score: 3 · on Organic LEDs to Supercede LCDs?

    IBM's second generation (but still completely useless) linux watch uses an OLED for all the reasons mentioned here: bright display, low batter consumption, etc. Check out the CNet article.

  49. Re:I wonder about visio by chrispgh · · Score: 1 · on Crusoe To Power Microsoft-Based Tablet PC
    If you watch this video after Bill talks for a little they show a clip of the Windows tablet PC running visio.

  50. WMA smaller than MP3 ?! by rdpate · · Score: 1 · on CNET Reviews Windows XP Beta 2
    The new software plays DVDs and also rips CD audio into well-compressed WMA files (a proprietary format that combines good sound quality with smaller file sizes than MP3). --http://www.cnet.com/software/0-429669-8-5194258- 4.html
    Excuse me? WMA is (possibly encoded*) MP3 with copy-protection information. Windows Media Player, at least the one that came on this WinME paperweight, didn't specify many options (such as bitrate/sound quality) when encoding. I was surprised, since every encoder I've used before has given a plethora of options. So I looked at the files it saves--and they're ~2k bigger than the same songs as 96kbit MP3 files. (Since then I have found the option to change sound quality, 96kbit is the default setting for WMP.) Because it is a static amount for each file, I've come to the conclusion that WMA IS MP3 (possibly encoded*), with added bytes so the lawful owner of the CD--me--who has the rights to make and play these files, suddenly is subject to what Microsoft's software would like to allow.

    In short, MP3 will always be smaller than WMA, unless it is of better sound quality. Of course, its trivial to re-encode an MP3 file to a lower quality (even though not many programs are out there to do it--in most cases, why would you want to?).

    *I don't have that verified, just my opinion or something I think I might have read.