Slashdot Mirror

There's no catching Microsoft when it comes to bloat. ArsTechnica says that the full install of Longhorn comes in at over 5 GB. That's 5 gigs! Count 'em, five!!

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,1368460 ,00.asp

I'd love it if this meant that MS is working functional concepts into its mainstream software.
Check this out:
Microsoft F#

ExtremeTech F# Writeup

Now that the FCC is involved I'm convinced HDTV will go the way of DAT.

One of the few multitasking benchmarks I've seen recently is at ExtremeTech. The Pentium 4 did much better than the Athlons, presumably due to HyperThreading.

Clicky, clicky.

Is Steve Bennett still Intuit's President and CEO? The same Steve Bennett who said, "Now, for a small but very vocal group of people, product activation is a crusade. But for the vast majority of our customers, it's a non-issue. And for Intuit it's a big opportunity," and then continued, "One of the things I think is important here for all investors to understand is that despite all the nervousness they hopefully see what we see, that it's not having much if any impact on our business. There's a lot of people out there that have agendas that are different than just pure consumer agendas. I think one of these things that we're looking at hard is who are some of these people that are saying these things about product activation and it's not all just straight consumer feedback, so there are some good consumer feedback and there are some other people who have other agendas on these boards. So I think it's important that for investors to see through some of this and what's really going on."

I'd throw that heavily in the "Intuit really doesn't care what customers think about this issue" camp. It was a smug, unrepenatant, and ignorant stance for the company to take. It took nearly a year for them to finally eat Bennett's words and apologize. And they don't even have the decency to send me a letter doing it, either, supposedly out of fear that I might not open it.

The statistcs proved that for every copy we gave out, it was the same copy that at least 15 other people had already used.

For this matter, I'll take Intuit's president's word over yours: "Last year, we got paid for only about a third of the... federal returns prepared and filed on TurboTax desktop products." Three is much smaller than fifteen, and much more beleivable.

(All quotes from this article)

In one demonstration, Otellini played back an episode of "The Simpsons" on a prototype Vanderpool system while Louis Burns, general manager of Intel's desktop products group, played a 3D game. After shutting down the game, Burns rebooted the partition while the video streamed on uninterrupted.

Ark Linux www.arklinux.com is an apt-get based red hat derivative linux that is very desktop oriented. its in its late alpha stages right now but is very stable. If you run debian testing its probably more than stable enough for your needs.. here is a link to a review of arklinux at extremetech ... It is very KDE-centric and uses the keramik/geramik theme sets to make kde and gnome look similar. I've been using it for months and its by far the best linux distribution ive ever used (and ive used them all)

You wouldn't be too far wrong either. While I don't have the specific numbers, Microsoft have been using these sorts of fast booting techniques for Windows XP.

According to this ExtremeTech article about this cpu, its L3.

The gaming-optimized Pentium 4 contains 2 Mbytes of level-3 cache, and will work with existing "Springdale" and "Canterwood" chipsets, Burns said.

You are right, and Microsoft is beating us to it. The next generation MS Windows desktop will be fully 3D -- as in all objects are 3D objects and the text, or images or video will be "rendered" on to the object's surfaces using the video card's 3D engine, even if most objects are effectively 2D.

This move to all 3D all the time is partially implemented today in their latest API for doing video, called something along the lines of VMR9 (video mixing render 9 I think) that obsoletes the idea of a video overlay and instead uses the texture units of the 3D engine to render and scale the video on screen on one or more 3D surfaces. VMR9 let Nvidia catch up with and maybe even surpass ATI in terms of video rendering quality - their overlay implementation was always subpar, but their texturing is top notch.

The IBM trackpoint (eraser head) mouse is by far the best thing I've ever used. Especially for data entry or having to move between interfaces and continue typing. I never have to take my hands off the keyboard. To all those trackball users who say they avoid carpal tunnel and save their arms, I say, try the trackpoint.

Typing is a breeze. The only problem I have is that I keep going home where I don't have the keyboard and am eternally confused as to where my mouse is.

I don't know how the performance would be in gaming. I think fps gaming might be tricky to master.

Extremetech did an ok series on keyboards and mice a while ago too.

...such a test.... the results are here third graph:

And that's really not so hard to do!

And remember, if you think it's hard for a stranger to get hold of your fingerprints, what do you think you leave behind when you use a fingerprint scanner?

Yes, there are significant problems with biometrics over the Net. Most of these problems can be alleviated by adding a trusted human being to the equasion, someone to stand by the biometric reader and make sure nobody does anything obviously hinky with it. (In this case, the teller serves that function.)

Yep. Those keyboards and mice with zero moving parts are really nice. Ok, I guess they could all use button-less touchpads, but I've yet to see a usable keyboard without any moving parts.

What about those keyboards that display an image of a keyboard onto a surface and then track your finger movements to determine what keys you are pressing. I can't find a good link for this, but here is one. They are probably still in development (vapor?), but they don't have any moving parts.

Think no moving parts like a PDA (which these virtual keyboards are designed for).

In the article on Extreme Tech, guess which industry has given their approval, on the last line yet?
"'Initial customer feedback from the entertainment industry in general has been very favorable,' Eades added."
It is obvious who they are playing to.

Previously, the company said it was a "trial program". Now that the "trial" is over, activation will be appearing on all of Symantec's consumer software. That includes Norton Antivirus, Norton Personal Firewall, GoBack Deluxe, Norton SystemWorks, Norton Ghost, PCanywhere, and WinFax Pro.

Previously, the company said it was a "trial program". Now that the "trial" is over, activation will be appearing on all of Symantec's consumer software. That includes Norton Antivirus, Norton Personal Firewall, GoBack Deluxe, Norton SystemWorks, Norton Ghost, PCanywhere, and WinFax Pro.

As alarming as many of the recent seemingly "invasive" technologies are, the response to consumer anger from some of the organizations which employ those technologies has been a bit comforting. Before we have seen the termination of serial numbers on Pentium 3 CPU's, the removal of DRM in TurboTax software and even Microsoft allowing OEM's to omit product activation with WindowsXP.

All of these were the result of massive consumer backlash and lack of benefits for the producer. With Gillette's action added to this, it seems that Palladium/TCPA/etc. might not be in for a very warm reception, and possibly a very quick withdrawal. And it seems that some corporations care more about consumer feelings than it seems at first.

Links:

PC Mag
Extreme Tech

"The Antaur also ships with Via's "Padlock" feature, a random-number generator that actually produces "true" random numbers by measuring random components of the thermal energy produced by the chip, according to its designer, Glenn Henry. RNG generators can be used to develop true randomized cryptographic keys."

Apparently not, it says over at ExtremeTech. Of course, the microprocessors will likely be different as well.

Maybe they are dropping it because users wont accept advertising in their email client (OE did for 1 version but was quickly dropped perhaps people complained?) but if its on the web (in a browser) they can advertise all they like (look at the mess that what they call hotmail now)
then they can get advertisers to focus on associating users email accounts with user names and all that lovely personal information (courtesy of your "msn wallet(TM)" and "msn passport(TM)", tie that to your machines GUID and msn's cookie stealing exploits (notice hotmail.com does not exist anymore and is now a msn subdomain) and voila , you have WindowsXP 2004 marketing machine where you are not the customer any longer, you are the product and you will even hand over 299$ (cost of XP) for the privilege while assigning all your IP rights to them and their "partners".

Microsoft isnt a software company, its a marketing company that creates software.

not that it will affect me or you but you have to feel sorry for the sheep that have no idea whats going on.

cheers

Alot cheaper than the Etymotics ($150-700 price range depending on model?). Probably not as good as the Etymotics, but they sound pretty darned good to me. Slightly less bass but much better midrange and treble response and much cleaner than the Sony Fontopia MDR-EX71SL Headphones.

The advantages of the in-ear designs: increased bass response, more precise sound reproduction, greater driver efficiency, and greater sound isolation from ambient noise (ie. great for airplane use) that results in your not needing to turn your music up nearly as much thus preserving your hearing. The downside is that you shouldn't really use them in situations where you would need to be able to hear some of what is going on around you (ie. jogging outdoors, cycling, driving, skiing, etc). The rattling of the very stout cables does transmit some noise to your ears if you're doing something very active (like running/jogging) so I like these less for when I'm doing cardio, but they are just fine for other less impact/jarring activities at the gym.

Review at Extreme Tech.

DaveC

you mean kinda like this? I think it might be interesting, also somewhat along the same lines of wacky ergonomic keyboards.

Anyone else got links to weird "ergonomic" input device experiments?

Is this marketshare in units or dollars?

Regardless of which measurement is used, that same report showed that AMD's market share is much lower than in Q3 2001. While its nice that their situation seems to have stabilised, what counts is whether X86-64 takes off. If it doesn't, they're screwed.

For most of US history, music piracy was not possible on such a wide scale like it is today. The law needs to adapt to the times.

First of all I don't see how "wide scale" has any bearing on whether something should be civil or criminal. If we have "wide scale slander" does that mean slander should become criminal too?

Secondly criminal penalties were first added before the internet existed. They were merely twisted with a redefinition of terms in response to the internet.

you *can* walk into a mall and buy an MP3 player.

Good point, I never noticed the connection before. The Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA) should have killed MP3 players as well. I had to do some google research to find out why it didn't. Turns out that MP3 players are designed to slip through a loophole in the law.

it was a loophole in the AHRA that helped set the stage for today's battles over MP3 files, handheld players, and CD rippers. Devices like computers and portable digital-music players are exempt from SCMS and royalty requirements because they're not designed solely as "digital recording devices"

From the Apple iPod site: The iPod now lets you do a whole lot more in addition to maintaining your contacts, calendar and to-do lists. iPod now includes Solitaire , Brick and Parachute... iPod also includes a notes reader that lets you download text-based information and read it on the screen"

They include minature PC functionality exempting them from the AHRA, otherwise MP3 players would be a yet another technology KILLED by the AHRA. First it killed DAT, then it helped kill Philips Digital Compact Cassette and Sony's original MiniDisc.

So there was ZERO advancement in home recording technology up until they found a loophole in the law allowing them to introduce MP3 players. If the RIAA had it's way they would-have / still-will kill MP3 players.

Irrational overreaction

Apparently the people involved didn't consider it irrational. I think they are quite rational. The DMCA makes it a criminal act to discuss a variety of research.

I imagine this is a link to some illegal material

It was a newstory providing links to other webpages. The story and the links were newsworthy. The sites happened to have DeCSS somewhere on them. That is like forbiding the New York Times from printing the address of a building where where "some illegal material" is available. That is a standard and integral part of reporting. What happened is called a "prior restraint on the press" and it is a major violation of the first amendment.

They threaten murderers with the death penalty in hopes they'll settle for life.

Copyright infringement wasn't supposed to be a criminal matter in the first place. And even if you argue it should be criminal the max terms for minor offences are so insanely out of line as to be abusive. You don't allow a maximum sentence of ten years in prison for speeding to make it easy to get speeders to accept a lower plea bargain.

I don't remember [the PRI case] well enough to comment.
I generally don't buy the "it's not a bong, it's a water pipe" defense.

He made a mini-Google. It scanned all available files on the campus network. You type in a search term and it pops up a list of links. JUST links. If you click the link then your computer goes to that person and gets the file. The "problem" was that many of the files OTHER PEOPLE made available on the college network were MP3's. He had no knowledge or control over what files were/weren't legal. It was an automated scan that indexed everything - over a million files. The RIAA sued him for a hundred BILLION dollars. Yes, that's a B. $150,000 for each MP3 that OTHER PEOPLE had available.

-

> but the NiMH (1900mAH) lasted two weeks.

That's probably because of self-discharge. NiMH batteries suck for low-drain long-time applications. Rechargeable alkalines are supposed to be good for that, but their ideal situation is to be recharged back to full after every little bit of use. If you're going to be recharging them all the time anyway (for things you use regularly, not like a flashlight that you just need to be ready, without often using it), you might as well be using NiMH. I've seen at least one poster on this story claim that rechargeable alkalines worked fine for him even after regularly draining them almost completely, but I don't know about that.

A mouse with a charger cradle would be perfect, like this.

Since it seems to be slashdotted (about pages say "Temporarily Unavailable"), there's an in-depth article over at ExtremeTech.

Has there really been a court-case in Germany which stopped SCO from unproven claims about copyright violation in Linux - on the grounds of law against unfair/untruthful marketing?

Yes. A court ordered SCO not to make these claims against Linux until they could be proven in a full court case. To avoid a public court case in Germany, SCO signed a contract saying that they will pay 250.000 Euro if they continue such claims and took their German web site off-line.

A German article with Babelfish translation, another English article.

Several people submitted this story at the time, but somehow it got rejected.

DVD-RAM may be crap, but if you REALLY want it all you've got to wait for the Iomega Super DVD All Format 4X

Other, more reputable hardware sites:
ExtremeTech (broke the story on nVIDIA 3dmark2k3 cheating, uses good benchmarking methods with the GameGauge)
FiringSquad (good mainstream site, quicker more casual reading before getting into the really in-depth stuff)
ArsTechnica (excellent for info on more fundamental aspects of hardware)

3DMark2003 added unfair optimizations to their program to make the nvidia card seem better than ATi's

3DMark2003 (or rather Futuremark, since I doubt the program is advanced enough to program itself) did no such thing. nVidia did it all by themselves, and Futuremark conducted an investigation confirming the "optimizations" (cheats i.e. static clip planes inserted by nVidia) and denouncing them. Google for more.

HardOCP's coverage of all this is disgraceful. When Extremetech originally broke the story, HardOCP practically accused them of making it up, and said they had "motives of their own" for writing the article outlining the problem. Instead of investigating on their own, apparently the procedure at HardOCP is to question the findings of the other, more competent, tech sites.

Then, when the fix is posted, they write "This is in response to the news item we posted last week."

... As if _they_ broke the story. As if _they_ are responsible for causing a patch to be posted. No apology to Extremetech, either (in fact, no mention of them at all)

And now, they're making unfounded accusations that 3DMark is taking bribes to skew the benchmark results? WTF? Why doesn't HardOCP just hire Jayson Blair to write their "articles"? At least then, they'd have less spelling errors.

" Installed a high performance, single threaded malloc library. This library implementation is geared for speed rather than memory efficiency and is single-threaded which makes it unsuitable for many uses. Special provisions are made for very small allocations (less than 4 bytes). This library is accessed through use of the -lstmalloc flag during program".

Did anybody else notice the roll of paper towels next to the computer? And to think, he let his own mother type on that keyboard.

Based on this picture, his mom appears to be about three feet tall. Obviously a fake! ExtremeTech are shills, as this "review" is clearly the product of Lindows' advertising department.

No wonder she had trouble hitting those little buttons on the keyboard...

Save yourself
[next page -->]
some time and
[next page -->]
click on the print version
[next page -->]

on extremetech they say that

Legacy PCI slots will exist on their own, and will sit adjacent to native PCI-Express connectors.

So, no, you can't plug old PCI cards into express slots.
Also of interest:

It will be possible to "up-plug" smaller PCI Express cards into larger slots, but not vice-versa. Down-plugging is not allowed-- there's no fallback mode for larger link-width cards to operate in smaller slots.

As you can see here, x8 and x16 connectors will still have a good number of pins, so the connector will not actually be any smaller than the current AGP connector.

I think a pay-per-view model like the one IBM described, available here would somewhat alleviate the problem. I'd be happy to accept spam if I was paid, say, $0.01 per email received. Perhaps something like a tax on the ISPs, so Joe's ISP can send out 100 emails a day per user, any more is taxed at $0.01 per email. So each user gets the 100, if they need more, then they either pay a little bit, or maybe even get a license for unlimited. I wouldn't mind paying a TINY bit for a solution to the spam problem. As long as these fucktards use open relays (run by fucktards), I'm never going to be able to tell the penis enlargement mailing lists I REALLY sign up for from the spam.

needs thumbs?

I read the original Extremetech article which details them using the beta version of 3dmark2k3 to "stop" the demo and move the camera outside of the normal rendered path which revealed that nvidia played with their drivers to take a load off the card by not fully renedering everything seen "outside" of the normal view. I would no consider this a cheat, but an optimization. who cares what is not seen by the camera? I give nvidia a pat on the back for this.

On the other hand when you enable the 8x aniso filtering and the driver deliberately reduces image quality to gain a few more marks, I would consider this unfair cheating. If I ask for 8x aniso you better damn well give it to me.

Lastly I think it's stupid for anyone to rely on any single benchmarking program to gauge the performance of a card, that's why I always read THG articles when I want to know how hardware performs, Tom uses 3dmark as one of many applications that he benchmarks new hardware with. and frankly I don't really care about 3dmark scores, I always look at the scores for real games.. I wanna see how my gaming is going to be affected, not how sum st00pid benchmark runs.

An English article about the injunction order can be found at ExtremeTech. If you wish to submit the story as well, think about linking the English site instead, as the Slashdot editors seem to refuse articles with too many links to German Heise articles and Babelfish translations.

Why has nobody mentioned that SCO lost their courtcase against LinuxTag?

Well, the court case they lost was actually not the one by LinuxTag, but another one by Univention. Uninvention only requested the German SCO branch to be ordered to stop spreading FUD (hence only the German website is offline), LinuxTag also requested SCO itself to be forced to stop spreading FUD in Germany. I haven't heard anything about this case, so it is probably still running.

I submitted this story already.

I also did so yesterday. Anyway, even if the events in Germany are less interesting for other countries than I expected, for the discussion in Germany it is really great that SCO has been ordered by a court to stop spreading FUD.

Yes, there is an increase in speed, but there was also a degradation in quality in the test. See here.

That's the whole issue...

A commercial branch of BT could be packaged up nicely as a spyware free alternative to things like kontiki which companys like gamespot.com use to send large files to non paying users but avoiding the bandwidth costs.

I think that there are so-called chords for most modifer keys, so you won't have to reach for the fn- or the shift key. (Not sure if that makes things better or worse...)

Personally, I'd go for the iGesture Pad. It might not be usable on a plane, but it's most probably easier to master gesture-mousing than gesture-typing.

Then again, the TouchStream ST has scored excellent reviews.

Considering my budget, however, I'll most probably never get my hands onto either one... :-(

(No pun intended.)

From the article (page 3):
"Despite--or maybe because of--the OrbitTouch's similarity to the female anatomy, it's very comfortable to use. Your hands rest very naturally on the twin domes."

Those two lines don't even need a comment...