Slashdot Mirror

.

http://users.tpg.com.au/meglet/nS09b.jpg

When I'm not using Linux, I use Windows 3.11
It's the most stable version of Windows I have ever used. And I have tried most versions...

;-)

Managed C++ has less features than ISO C++, namely templates and multiple inheritance.

You cannot mix code from the two in many ways, like having a class from one inherit from another.

Sizeof of managed classes is impossible. Managed classes cannot use const or volaitle.

Managed objects cannot be passed by value; only references or value types. (ISO C++ objects are structs that can always be passed by value)

Operator delete doesn't work if no user-defined destructor exists in a managed object.

Managed classes cannot override operator& or operator new.

A managed object cannot be used as a member in a union.

Managed c++ does not use unions; instead a complicated field offset system.

Pointers to objects cannot always be casted in managed C++, pointers of the same size can always be casted in ISO C++.

Data in managed C++ is zero-initialized. Data in ISO C++ has arbitrary values unless explicitly initialized.

Managed C++ adds certain members to all classes (as derived from Object), like GetType; all classes derive from System::Object. ISO C++ classes can have no parent class.

Static sized arrays are illegal in .net

C-style multiple parameters are not supported; use param array instead

Normal c++ supports static-only typing. Managed c++ requires dynamic typing, at least to some extent.

Pointers to members are not supported in any way in managed c++; delegates replace them.

Normal C++ makes absolutely no library requirements on outputted code; not even the startup library is necessary. Managed c++ requries the entire .net runtime, and requries you to include mscorlib.

Classes cannot be defined inside of functions in managed C++.

Any class can be derived from in normal C++. Sealed classes cannot be derived from in managed C++.

Conversion functions are always static in managed c++. The naming convention is different.

RTTI is not supported in managed c++.

Only public inheritance is supported in managed c++.

Normal c++ explicitly has no garbage collector as part of the language; if you want one, use a library. Managed c++ requires you to use .net's GC.

The layout of members in a class or struct in normal c++ can always be known at runtime. Managed makes them permanently opaque.

Removing anything from C++, espescially something as important as templates or multiple inheritance, makes managed C++ a distinctly different language. And this is just a list of some of the things that normal c++ has that managed doesn't. The list of extensions is much longer.

http://users.tpg.com.au/slark/jesus_666.jpg

Dynamic Instrumentation of Production Systems - this paper was presented at Usenix, and describes how Dtrace is actually implemented.

Dtrace user guide.

A collection of Dtrace scripts

The Zaurus is a tiny linux box. A powerful, tiny linux box. The first thing you should do when you get a Z is wipe the OS and instead install the excellent OpenZaurus (OZ). OZ is better than the original Linux install in nearly every respect. Don't think of your Z as a PDA, it's more like a tiny laptop. Some of the things I do with mine:

email: I recently compiled Mutt with a IMAP header cache patch. One of the most powerful email clients in the palm of my hand :-)

wireless sniffing: As you know, Kismet rules the land of wireless sniffers. Pop a wireless card in your Z (or get a 6000 :-) and your neighbours will never be safe again :-)

mp3/ogg playing: Using either Opie-Player2 or the excellent tkcplayer. Unfortunatly, I can't use the tkcplayer on the very latest version of OpenZaurus, not because it won't run (because it DOES almost start up when using "runcompat" but then tells me it can't run on this platform-- which it CAN otherwise it wouldn't be able to tell me that :-) TKC are you listening? Remove the check please :-)

Video playing: using a port of the best linux movie player mplayer. I've encoded a bunch of movies down to ~200MB with great results. You can pop a couple of these on a 512MB card for those long flights :-)

Coding: Of course, I've got gcc and perl loaded on the puppy. Hell, without perl I wouldn't be able to run Chaosreader, makes those long hotel stays much more interesting :-)

Exploit testing :-) Since perl and gcc work fine, I really haven't run into any common exploits I can't compile or run properly.

A couple of hints and tricks:

1) If you want to extend your battery life while doing things like mp3 playing or wardriving, grab something like Qoverclock and use it to UNDERCLOCK your Z. Turn down (or off) the display as well. Poke at it a bit and realize you can easily make a shell script to do without the GUI.

2) To maximize your space on root, ram, sd and cf, the single best thing to use is UCLX which works just like UPX. UCLX/UPX are executeable file compressors-- you compress your executable and when you run it it decompresses (to ram) on the fly. The compression it uses is AT LEAST as good as gzip (or better) and the decompression is very fast. When using slower media like SD (or even CF) you'll find that executables will run FASTER compressed then they would uncompressed-- the CPU can decompress much smaller exe faster than the much larger uncompressed exe could be loaded from media and run.

3) When choosing a root/ram disk size for OpenZaurus, it's a good idea to pick a small root with a much larger ram disk. If (when) you need more ram, you can simply make some ramdisk swap files.

4) While you can run gcc right on the Z, it's also nice to us a cross compiler on your (much faster) desktop and then just cp the binary over. If you're too lazy to do cross compiles (or don't want to set up a ton of additional packages like ncurses, etc), you can also just ssh into the IPAQ development cluster and compile your code there. Typically it will run without issue-- sometimes you may want/need to statically link your programs or just grab the libraries from the ipaq and throw 'em on your Z. I haven't found a single thing yet I couldn't get to run.

5) Assuming you grab the required libraries, you can run basically all of the sw in th

This is the best one :)

similar deal here in australia, where we have a nutjob Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts who thinks that pornography is one of the major reasons why there's been a high take-up rate (of broadband) in South Korea and uses this (and a belief that kids only want broadband access to play games) as a reason to not fund, or agitate for, improved broadband access here in Australia.

You pay through the nose for a shitty service, and until they fix that, both in price and reliability, I'll stick to abusing my work bandwidth and stay with the trusty old agravatingly slow, but unlimited bandwidth, 56K dialup for home net access.

At least with a dialup deal, I can set up bulk downloads of whatever (no i'm not a p2p junkie) and leave the auto-redialer on to re-connect when i get disconnected. i'd rather that than have to pay A$80+ for a decent home broadband connection.

Mmmm... an Oz-centric article for once.

Just to point out that there are alternatives. Personally I'm very satisfied with TPG's dialup connection for A$50/quarter and I'm thinking of switching to their A$70/month 128/64 ADSL once my current account expires.

As far as I know, they're established pretty much all over the continent, they provide no-bullshit services. Not only that, but unlike that annoying blue bird with the annoying pie-eating chubby guy that's pestering the telly, this is not the 'tastiest' but the cheapest deal out there. At least if my survey of about 50 different ISPs in the area is anything to go by.

Oh and they better hire me as a sales representative now!

I borrowed the inlaws telstra cable connection to download mandrake 9.1 isos. They mirror files on their file server!

Inlaws have 500meg data cap. They don't care, they like the 'always-on' aspect. Didn't cost them a cent for me to 'leech' on their connection.

At home I have Optusnet. NO FREE DOWNLOADS FOR ME! The only advantage I can see Telstra having over Optus is that they do offer free traffic. The only free traffic on Optus is checking how much data you've downloaded so far this month. And considering that they cap traffic speed to 3k/s after you go over the limit, I check it at least twice a day.

Not only 'leeches' go over their limit. We would love to play games online on our connection (the ping to some NWN servers in Aus is fantastic) however there are 3 of us in the house, and if we all did a few hours a day in addition to what we normally do with the connection, the cap would kick in about a week into the month. Sometimes it does anyway, like when my brother was viewing movie trailers online and didn't realise that they were over 50meg each. Or when my brother re-installed his OS and then downloaded all the updates to it without checking whether I'd mirrored them locally. Whoops!

I envy you that you can happily go back to dial-up. We're looking at getting TPG Unlimited 512/128. The catches are:

a) Have to pay on credit card; and
b) Have to pay quarterly in advance.

Other than that, it looks great! We have it on good authority from Telstra that our line can get ADSL (and the exchange is across the road so we'd better be able to!). We're willing to pursue it if our application is knocked back. (Anyone who won't put in a complaint when their ISP is told one thing by Telstra and then Telstra is willing to hook them up on the spot is a fool.)

As for your new Estate not having ADSL capabilities, if Telstra is to be believed, you should have it in the next 12 months. They're testing new equipment that'll allow RIM and PG systems to get ADSL. How nice that they didn't bother to do it until the nasty backlash recently. Still, shouldn't complain, they might change their minds.

My 1500/256 Nella Networks FlatRATE ADSL service came online today. It's using the Comindico IP Network and is a truly unlimited service. Aardvark were even offering cases of Red Bull to those who download the most! That said, I do pay AUD240/month for it (opting to avoid the slower unlimited services which start at around AUD90/month). You can get 'always online' service from TPG starting at AUD19.95/month, with the first 400mb costing ~AUD80, then capped to 10Gb and reasonable rates thereafter. Meanwhile, my 3G NEC e606 mobile handset from three gives me 3000 minutes per month of voice calls for AUD99 - significantly better than the AUD300-500 I was recently giving Optus for around a third of the airtime. I guess this makes me one of the lucky few well connected Aussies. If it weren't for me living in Sydney and being able to justify the expense I'd be putting up with an overpriced, flaky Telstra service like everyone else! I'm still perplexed as to how they have managed to hang onto the Telstra Rewards program for so long - would have expected the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to have raised an eyebrow over this some time ago.

...regular users don't need anymore than 3Gb per month. Unless you're a techie and downloading a lot of Linux ISOs or watching independant movies, 3Gb per month will get you a long way

However, you will notice that the people complaining about the 3GB limit are ususally those who were sucking 10GB of warez a month. The "normal" consumer in Australia hasn't even considered ADSL yet.

Admittedly, some people do have a legit claim - Telstra sold their service as "unlimited bandwidth", and then imposed a limit. However, now that limits are here, I for one expect them to stay.

Perhaps it's time for ISPs to charge per megabyte? There's no such thing as 'unlimited' or 'free'.. you end up paying in the end. So why not charge per megabyte, which will force users to consider what they're actually downloading.

There are already some ISP's in Australia doing just this. TPG for instance charges A$26.95 per month, plus 15c a meg. Note - this is not intended as an advert - I know nothing about their quality of service, or their terms and conditions, just their pricing scheme.

US$0.01 per megabyte sounds fair.

Sounds fair to whom? I don't know about the rest of the world, but here in Oz, whenever paying for bandwidth gets mentioned, the same figure of $0.15-0.18 per meg gets mentioned (eg, this figure was always mentioned at uni whenever volume billing was suggested to a department).

That said, I notice that TPG sells high levels of bandwidth at 5c/meg - I have no idea where their figures come from.

It may be fair for the consumer to pay 1c/meg, but not if the supplier is paying 1+Xc/meg, X>0...

Russ %-)

There are a few companies making desks primarily for digital music workstations that have racks built in. If you've got the money, I imagine they would work real well. Check out this site

If it's in a capital city, then there's heaps of competition. Every phone company has an ISP on the side (Telstra, iPrimus, Dingo Blue, etc.) So you'd better not be planning on competing with those sorts of people on price, because they've got good access to phone company equipment, and good economy of scale.

There are still some opportunities to set up in country towns; look at kisser, for example. If this is the sort of thing you're into, then you need to be looking to someone who is running such a service for advice.

As to equipment, you have three choices: UNIX, Microsoft, or easy-to-admin embedded boxes. (Cobalt are a good starting point for these.) OK, so I'm simplifying a little. My point is that you have to decide what you're most experienced with, and then keep it simple, stupid. Don't mix Windows and UNIX. Yes, they can be made to play nice, but no, you don't want to double your learning curve.

One of the really fun bits in Australia is dealing with the phone company. 56k modems, at the non-customer end, don't reside on the ISP's property; they reside in the phone company's local exchange. (One of my friends was bemoaning the loss of huge racks of modems covered in cool flashy lights that used to impress the hell out of visitors.) That means that you hae to deal with Telstra, and since they are still all but a monopoly (particularly here in W.A.), they aren't particularly interested in dealing with you. The result is likely to be a nightmare. I dumped my previous ISP simply because the dialup I was using sucked -- the modem at the phone company end couldn't hear me clearly, and my modem couldn't hear them clearly, and the result was dropped connections galore. Of course, if you want to stay down in 33.6k land, then you can put rack modems on your own premises (and you could probably pick up some cheap secondhand from other ISP's).