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Of course, it's interesting to note that Hakon Lie has a vested interest in preserving quirks, because his company Opera has built its business on emulating IE (so called "IE5 bug-compatible") in mobile browsers.

So naturally, Opera would be opposed to any move by Microsoft to curb the chaos and make web pages easier to render. They couch this in terms of backward compatibility, and in fact Hakon Lie and other Opera employees event went so far as to found a new standards body to push their own agenda, and started with similarly threatened browser vendors as members. (Contrast this with the W3C, which invites both vendors and users of a technology to hammer out a standard that serves both ends of that economic stick.)

So, why support a Microsoft decision that seems so harshly standards supporting, as Joelonsoftware points out? Perhaps because a harsh position is unworkable, and perversely leads to delays in adoption of IE7 and IE8 with their new features and new implementations, thus leaving more time for Opera to milk the IE5 bug-compatible business, while they build up their new standards.

Oh, and it seems like the "backwards compatible" mantra has been dropped a bit, with all the hoopla over dropping "apparently unused" attributes such as "rel" from HTML5.

So McCain's asking us to elect an experienced septuagenarian with a history of skin cancer who will likely keep his inexperienced VP isolated and useless; should he not make it through his entire term, then what?

Recent bad health news on skin cancer here.

Obviously, there's not a whole lot of independent research out there, but here are some of the claims:

http://talkback.zdnet.com/5208-11408-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=39451&messageID=725468&start=0

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS7676844023.html

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9007518

Yes, you could do that, but I think that erasure and encrypting the whole drive will also accomplish this. I believe that there is still a possibility of recovering the data even if wiped over several times. You can find lots of information about this on 'the Google' if you like. Here is a link to a zdnet blog about it: http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=129

If you can simply smelt the drives, that is complete destruction. Anything else depends on the level of 'it's not there anymore' you need. Far too many people don't care or believe their data can be used from an old disk. They also don't understand that a format will not necessarily overwrite anything on the drive. sigh.

Encrypting the whole drive will scramble the bits fairly well. Follow up with low level formatting and it should be difficult enough to recover anything from the drive without the encryption password, never mind that the file system has been rewritten.

that Biden is a shill for the media cartels who also hates encryption and Net Neutrality? To wit: Joe Biden Loves RIAA Biden loves RIAA, FBI tech Biden: Pro-Copyright Friend of RIAA, MPAA

"Obama issued a statement saying the bill was the best resolution that lawmakers were able to reach. But with the vote so lopsided, Obama could have easily voted against the bill, confident that it would pass anyway. It comes down to a matter of politics. The political tea-readers decided that there was no political upside to being against enhanced government spying, and so a vote was cast. Pity." - Telecom immunity passes Senate, Obama votes yes

I do not want the Democratic party wasting its money on a partisan Operating System war by supporting a fringe OS that has less than 1% share of the desktop.

So you'd rather have them spend their money actively blocking it?

That would be Microsoft's money.

I clearly think censorship of any kind by anyone is just WRONG! That includes China. But why is there no criticism in Slashdot of Apple for their heavy-handed censorship of forum postings?

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=2173/

Slashdot hypocrisy is action? Go ahead and mod me down more. That's a form of censorship too!

http://talkback.zdnet.com/5208-11423-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=24298&messageID=456803&start=0

okay, according to this I remember correctly and incorrectly. The old Netscape cruft was rewritten, and then subsequently the interface was rewritten to become Firefox. So Firefox was the completion of the rewrite.

Because OpenDNS never had the flaw in the first place.

Because they've been having a stupid, annoying catfight for a while now. This precedes Larrabee, to be sure, but it's definitely more pronounced now.

Also, then you'd have a very difficult time finding an Intel motherboard that supports Crossfire. I don't want the PXX line to die ;_; - although the fact that any PCI-E 2.0 lane _can't_ support SLi is nVidia's fault.

Java is already installed on most OEM computers. And as I mentioned in the last sentence, Flash can be used to create a similar shunt. Flash has even greater market penetration than Java. It's not 100%, but it's about as close as you can get. As a bonus, most users without Flash would be savvy enough to be using FireFox anyway. (Given that one has to actively AVOID having Flash installed these days.)

I closed the demo window and Ctrl-C works as normal

Imagine that!

(BEWARE: If you click on the demo link, your clipboard is automatically hijacked and will only be released if the browser window is closed).

I know: Jokes about RTFA is sooo old, therefore I won't make any...

They did not.

http://government.zdnet.com/?p=3942

Impressive. Can the MBTA be sued for stupidity (or anything?)?

They did not.

http://government.zdnet.com/?p=3942

It may happen some day, but until then its RAID5/6+LVM+ext3.

Right, and that day better come soon, at last before 2TB drives become mainstream in RAID5/6 setups. read http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=162 about the chance of double failure on RAID5/6 growing with the size of the disk. Happened twice on my servers, exactly with RAID5+LVM+ext3. We need ZFS (or similar) on linux servers right now.

No, they use FUD to scare people. Linux and Open Office infringe on 238 Microsoft patents? They keep saying that but they have not named one patent that was infringed.

A lot of crap comes out of Ballmer's mouth. But look at what they do, not what they say.

Sometimes all that's needed is loud enough a noise level, look at SCO and how they scared some companies into paying for licenses.

history proved Microsoft was right -- a browser is an entirely proper and expected tool of a complete operating system.

Browsers have nothing to do with operating systems. That is, operating systems do not need a web browser built in. However that's not all of it. The original agreement between MS and the Justice Department was that MS would not include a web browser with Windows but MS did anyway. They then tried to say Windows needed Internet Explorer but that was shown false when someone else removed IE from Windows. According to Wiki IE 4 was integrated with Windows Explorer. CNet describes how IE can be removed from XP. And there are more of those.

On the other hand, Apple has been more monopolistic and anti-consumer than Microsoft ever dreamed of being.

In what way? Not selling the Mac OS to cloners? Apple makes money not just on their OS, heck the last tyme I looked at the price of a Windows upgrade it was something like $200 but I can buy Apple's new OS Leopard for $130. Apple also makes money on their hardware. Apple sales a compleat computer system that just works. Apple only prevents, er tries to prevent, people from installing Mac OS on non Apple computers. I can however install Ubuntu on a Mac, well maybe not me personally but Apple doesn't stop people from doing it. Apple even released a tool that allows people to install other OSes on Macs.

Maybe you mean the iPod and iTunes. However virtually any digital music can be installed on an iPod. And iTunes music can be installed on virtually any digital music player. iTunes makes it easy to burn music to CD even, and it can import any CD music. Or maybe you mean the iPhone. There I agree having to use ATT instead of another cellphone operator sucks, and I disagree with it but everyone who buys one knows this. Or maybe you mean Zune and Plays for sure, but those are from Microsoft not Apple.

If you read a little more in-depth, you'll see they are striving for NT compatibility, which is about 15 years old. XP/2003/Vista are just different versions of NT.

I search the front page and saw nothing about NT 4. Looking at the FAQ all they say about NT is that it is more stable. Okay, I see it on the about page. However why would anyone want to "re-implement NT?" My version, running on a DEC Alpha which was late to the game, is more than 10 years old. MS stopped supporting it in 2000. I know, I tried to run Windows Update but MS's update site said it was no longer supported. I ended up taking the Alpha to the Geek Squad, before Best Buy bought them, to have it upgraded. And paid almost $200 for it.

And how many lawsuits has Microsoft filed against the WINE guys? How about CodeWeavers, which allows Microsoft Office to run under Linux? How about the SAMBA guys?

Microsoft would be stupid to try to stop people from buying Office. However Microsoft did step on SAMBA's toes.

And I assure you, a significant number of people will be using XP for the next 3-5 years. Considering the vast majority of applications and hardware still run on Win2K, I don't think it'll be a huge problem.

And how long will they get support from MS? MS keeps extending support but for how much longer?

Falcon

Maybe nobody was watching:

Tom Steinert-Threlkeld has a great rundown of the numbers behind this weekend's Olympic coverage. The highest day of coverage was on August 10th and it saw about 3.42 million video streams with 66.7 million page views and an average time spent on the site of 15 minutes. Pretty good numbers but as the BTL piece notes, that's only about 2% of a typical YouTube day. So it didn't exactly take the world by storm.

reference

Oh my, evertying about LWUIT seems ugly. It is an ugly acronym, the screenshots look horrible (green text on a very pink folded person) and the rotating cube is unaliassed and completely unnecessary.

There is an article on ZDnet explaining the differences between JavaFX and LWUIT. It explains that LWUIT is a stop gap for people that cannot use JavaFX yet. But looking at the content of the LWUIT homepage I conclude that SUN could have better not release LWUIT at all.

As for phone GUIs, I'm rooting for Plasma. At Akademy last week I saw lots of EEE PCs and other small PCs, Nokia internet tablets, OLPC and OpenMoko machines all running Plasma. And it looks amazing and is easy to use and customize.

Dutch police have busted Shadow botnet: http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-216237.html

You got modded flamebait because your post was flamebait.

Check the moderation.

40% Flamebait
30% Informative
30% Overrated

In other words at least 3 people (and likely more) found what I said informative. It's just that jackass Apple fanboys like yourself can't fucking stand it when someone criticizes their pet company. It's pathetic. Truly pathetic. Happens every time I criticize Apple. It gets modded up then the zealots shoot it down. Grow the fuck up. Not every opinion that is contrary to yours is flamebait jackass.

You called the iphone technically inferior, said it is missing industry standard features, and implied that the only reason people buy it is because of brand loyalty (and that nothing can protect them from their stupidity).

Correct on technically inferior. Correct on missing DEFACTO standard features. Correction it's only this popular due to brand loyalty. If the same phone were sold by another company it wouldn't take off. I stand by what I said.

our main points weren't what got you modded flamebait. It was the fact that you didn't back any of them up. Is the iphone technically inferior? Is it missing 'industry standard' features? You didn't even bother to list the industry standard features it is missing. Are you lazy, or are you unable to back up your points? Back up your arguments with reality and you will do much better getting the mods to understand you.

Oh I'm sorry fuck for brains. I forgot that I was writing a thesis. Oh wait it's just an internet discussion. The irony of you calling me lazy (not even bothering to ask me for proof) is just sweet. Go google iPhone missing features. Too lazy? Look at my other followup posts. Too lazy? Pot. Kettle Black. Typical fanboy! Here then:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=1849 [zdnet.com]
http://red66.com/2008/06/7-missing-features-from-the-iphone-3g/ [red66.com]
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=390
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=iphone+missing+features&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

Would you like a rag to wipe that egg off your face? Or are you going to spout some weak defensive garbage about those not being industry standard features, or not being important to most people. (Catch cry of the Apple fanboy, if Apple don't have it, it's not important)

Your final point is going to be hard to back up, because it goes against a lot of people's practical experience. I don't have an iPhone (because I prefer very small phones), but it does everything I need it to do well (make phone calls, check email), and it looks cool and is fun to use besides. Frankly I have no idea why you like the Nokia 6220 classic. I suppose it fits your needs, which is fine, but some people want something different.

I already have backed it up. My phone has features the iPhone doesn't. I didn't need to hook it into a computer to make outgoing calls (fucking lame!!! a phone that doesn't make calls out of the box, but needs to be hooked up to a computer!). I can send MMS. I can take pictures at 5 megapixel which will make the iPhones 2 megapixel pictures look like ASS. I can record video without "jailbreaking" the thing. I can send a fucking MMS. THAT is why I like it.

So, personally, since I like the iphone, and I am not caught up in brand loyalty, therefor it is going to be hard to convince me that everyone who has bought an iphone did it because of brand loyalty.

Not enough to buy it. You don't even own an iPhone and you're defending it! Looks like fun my left nut. Why don't you just buy a turtleneck, tattoo the Apple logo on your forehead and be done with it.

Because you come across as a man who isn't con

You got modded flamebait because your post was flamebait.

Check the moderation.

40% Flamebait
30% Informative
30% Overrated

In other words at least 3 people (and likely more) found what I said informative. It's just that jackass Apple fanboys like yourself can't fucking stand it when someone criticizes their pet company. It's pathetic. Truly pathetic. Happens every time I criticize Apple. It gets modded up then the zealots shoot it down. Grow the fuck up. Not every opinion that is contrary to yours is flamebait jackass.

You called the iphone technically inferior, said it is missing industry standard features, and implied that the only reason people buy it is because of brand loyalty (and that nothing can protect them from their stupidity).

Correct on technically inferior. Correct on missing DEFACTO standard features. Correction it's only this popular due to brand loyalty. If the same phone were sold by another company it wouldn't take off. I stand by what I said.

our main points weren't what got you modded flamebait. It was the fact that you didn't back any of them up. Is the iphone technically inferior? Is it missing 'industry standard' features? You didn't even bother to list the industry standard features it is missing. Are you lazy, or are you unable to back up your points? Back up your arguments with reality and you will do much better getting the mods to understand you.

Oh I'm sorry fuck for brains. I forgot that I was writing a thesis. Oh wait it's just an internet discussion. The irony of you calling me lazy (not even bothering to ask me for proof) is just sweet. Go google iPhone missing features. Too lazy? Look at my other followup posts. Too lazy? Pot. Kettle Black. Typical fanboy! Here then:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=1849 [zdnet.com]
http://red66.com/2008/06/7-missing-features-from-the-iphone-3g/ [red66.com]
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=390
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=iphone+missing+features&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

Would you like a rag to wipe that egg off your face? Or are you going to spout some weak defensive garbage about those not being industry standard features, or not being important to most people. (Catch cry of the Apple fanboy, if Apple don't have it, it's not important)

Your final point is going to be hard to back up, because it goes against a lot of people's practical experience. I don't have an iPhone (because I prefer very small phones), but it does everything I need it to do well (make phone calls, check email), and it looks cool and is fun to use besides. Frankly I have no idea why you like the Nokia 6220 classic. I suppose it fits your needs, which is fine, but some people want something different.

I already have backed it up. My phone has features the iPhone doesn't. I didn't need to hook it into a computer to make outgoing calls (fucking lame!!! a phone that doesn't make calls out of the box, but needs to be hooked up to a computer!). I can send MMS. I can take pictures at 5 megapixel which will make the iPhones 2 megapixel pictures look like ASS. I can record video without "jailbreaking" the thing. I can send a fucking MMS. THAT is why I like it.

So, personally, since I like the iphone, and I am not caught up in brand loyalty, therefor it is going to be hard to convince me that everyone who has bought an iphone did it because of brand loyalty.

Not enough to buy it. You don't even own an iPhone and you're defending it! Looks like fun my left nut. Why don't you just buy a turtleneck, tattoo the Apple logo on your forehead and be done with it.

Because you come across as a man who isn't con

Please do tell me what your magic iPhone does that my cheaper inferior phone can't do?

Let me give you a list of things that I can do that you can't

Here's are a couple of lists of features you're missing "chap"
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=1849
http://red66.com/2008/06/7-missing-features-from-the-iphone-3g/

Feel free to google for more.

I must admit that of that list my 6220 classic doesn't do wi-fi, and that was disappointing, but not a deal breaker for me especially given the price point.

But go ahead, pay through the nose for it, and enjoy your missing features. A touch screen would be a welcome addition but since I learnt to use a keypad as a child, you can keep your touch screen interface which is probably the only significant advantage (not even worthy of being called an innovation) that the iPhone sports.

This trojan, called Asprox or Danmec, has been around for a few years. It was originally intended as a Spam distribution system but I believe that sometime in 2007 an SQL Injection tool was installed via its botnet. It has been doing the rounds every so often on the Internet since at least January.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1122
http://www.secureworks.com/research/threats/danmecasprox/?threat=danmecasprox

      -dZ.

You're completely wrong:

Windows XP adoption was below 10% (according to some) for the first year (Vista's being around 15%). It certainly wasn't anywhere near 20%. See Ed Bott's Windows adoption rates: a history lesson

But hey, this is /. so you get modded +5 for bashing Vista, even if it's factually wrong, and revisionist history. Yep, XP is the real failure here when you look at the adoption rate.

... a truly free country like Japan.

I'd qualify "free" as in "free-to-broadcast." While their TV networks tend to blow away US networks in terms of content quality, the content producers/distributors are even more paranoid about so-called "intellectual property rights". Note also the ISP's willingness to try to kill all P2P regardless of infringement just because of a series of darknet applications used solely for file-sharing.

Yup. Free, as long as you let the media 0wn you.

Sorry if there any errors, or omissions, I am trying to be accurate. A lot has happend in a little over a week.

The following takes place between July 29th and August 7th:

August 07, 2008:
Judge rejects student visa injunction sought by H-1B opponents
Tech workers don't have standing to fight Bush administration visa move
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9111963

August 07, 2008:
Jobless claims surge to highest level in 6 years
http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/07/news/economy/jobless_benefits.ap/index.htm?cnn=yes

August 06, 2008:
Bureau of Labor Statistics reports big drop in tech jobs
Almost 50,000 IT positions lost in last 12 months
http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/07/news/economy/jobless_benefits.ap/index.htm?cnn=yes

Aug 06,2008:
Yet another visa, this one allows 5000 Koreans to work in the USA each year
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200808/200808060014.html

August 06, 2008:
Apple sued over treatment of it's tech workers
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/06/apple-gets-sued-indentured

August 05, 2008:
Bogus diploma ring busted
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-diploma-mill-04-aug04,0,2164133.story

August 03, 2008:
July marks seventh consecutive month of job loses
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/46146.html

August 02, 2008:
Sun to cut between 1000 to 2500 jobs
http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/08/01/sun-us-tech-market-wont-shine-soon/

August 01, 2008:
Gartner's grim IT hiring outlook
http://blogs.zdnet.com/careers/?p=140

August 01, 2008:
Feds charges man for H1-B fraud
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_visa01.47edb3e.html#

Jul 31, 2008:
More than 3.7 million Americans had full-time jobs chopped to part time
the largest figure since the government began tracking such data more than half a century ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/31/business/economy/31jobs.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

July 31, 2008:
Layoffs set for 22,000 California state workers
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_10046324

July 30, 2008:
WTO Doha talks collapse
India's backdoor attempt to allow more H-1Bs into the USA failed, for now
http://www.economicpopulist.org/?q=content/why-you-should-be-thrilled-wto-doha-talks-collapsed

July 30, 2008:
NY gov slashes spending; state said in "recession"
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN3032764920080730?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

July 30, 2008:
China trade has cost 2.3 million U.S. jobs
http://www.reuters.com/article/politic

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=394
I get sick of all the stories claiming RFID passports were cloned but they never mention (or understand) the concept of a digitally signed hash that would become invalid the minute you alter any data. This latest story is suggesting that the system does not check the digital signatures when they say:

"But only ten of the forty-five countries with e-passports have signed up to the Public Key Directory (PKD) code system, and only five are using it. Britain is a member but will not use the directory before next year. Even then, the system will be fully secure only if every e-passport country has joined."

This doesn't seem very clear to me. Are they suggesting 35 of 45 countries don't even bother to offline check the hash to see if it's been signed by a legitimate entity? I'm wondering if this PKD system is some sort of online system that allows you to do a real-time check on passport revocations.

If that's the case, then a failure to check the PKD system would leave the system vulnerable to someone who at one time got a valid passport through an official source but the passport was later revoked, but they would not be vulnerable to a self-signed or hash mismatch digital passport. This article is suggesting that 35 countries have basically disabled any sort of cryptographic verification or failed to implement any chain of certificate authority trust which would be shocking if true, but I've been burned by too many of these stories written by gullible reporters who haven't a clue about crypto.

What you call the average user (which I would call the completely clueless user) will never buy a computer with Linux pre-installed, including an Eee PC.

You may not want to read the ZD Net article which mentions the demographics of the linux eeePC users in Taiwan, your AC head may just explode.

"Retailers and contract manufacturers in Taiwan say that novice PC users there, like students and housewives, tend to buy the Linux version of the Eee PC701, while geeks go for Windows XP."

And these non-average users who you suspect are pirates buying the linux boxes to I assume install a pirated copy of Windows, that is a stretch. The non-average user is going to buy the parts and build the box themselves as its cheaper and you end up with better hardware.

After years of people having to pay a Microsoft tax when they are going to buy a computer on which they will run linux its hilarious seeing people post about how the linux boxes will end up running Windows. What a hoot. :)

I asked you how many real dollars has gone to feed people; not some speculative price tag on people's donated time for source code. You can use the word shill all you like but you haven't answered a single question. As for the EC, I'm simply speaking the truth when I say they're making up the rules as they go along to extract maximum money http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=778.

After a couple changes for readability purposes:
Your cellphone carrier can update all of your cellphones firmware, whether [the phone is] on or off. If you think they can't turn on the microphone and listen as well, you're living in [a] dreamworld.

It's already happened.

Some phones do have the ability to have updates pushed down to them by the carrier. Generally speaking, phones with internet ability are more likely to allow this - the more "corporate friendly" the device, the easier it's likely to be.

Personally, I'm a (palm) Treo user - it doesn't have daemons listening which would allow the carrier to do this, even if I have internet access. Firmware updates are a big deal - it's not something that can be done remotely. Applications can be downloaded using the browser, but it's a manual process.

Windows mobile phones generally don't have this functionality, either - it would be difficult to hide, and there are too many things that could go wrong, as well as differences in hardware. Java-based phones make this easier.

The perfect example of this is the BlackBerry - they even Advertise this functionality.

It is written in the style of the Unix Hater's Handbook. So yes, its insulting and potty-mouth but it effectively draws the humorless and doctrinaire in, and those are the types with the least tenable ideas and attitudes about "Linux". LinuxHater makes mincemeat of them, showing what a sorry gruel of platitudes and excuses they keep dishing out. IMO he is doing us a big favor.

Check out the article on fonts... the author has his Linux chops and knows well of which he (angrily) speaks.

And really, who would bother to get so angry so often unless he loved something about Linux? Its clear to me and others that he hates it and loves it too.

Re: Adsense, I didn't see any ads on the blog, except the ones for LinuxHater t-shirt/mug things.

It especially takes more than 10 minutes of simply watching what someone else was doing instead of actually using the system themselves and forming an informed opinion. So these are people who had an opinion formed from ignorance against Vista, who now have an opinion formed from ignorance for Vista.

Microsoft only has less than a third of the people who watched a canned demo who came out impressed enough to be shown on video. The whole "experiment" is not representative of actual user experience with the OS. In short, Microsoft is scamming the technically less savvy and using their scammed results to scam the public.

Vista really isn't as bad as people have heard, especially with SP1. It is still worse in several ways, in my opinion, than XP or Server 2003. I haven't tried Server 2008 yet to compare. What shouldn't be coloring people's opinions, though, is unethical marketing chicanery presented as actual user opinion. It can't be user opinion, because these are not users they're bragging about converting. Whatever happened to actual testimonials from real people who have actually used a product?

What surprises me is that with all of us uber-wonks here on /., nobody seems to remember that THE FUCKING FCC CREATED THIS WHOLE FUCKING MESS IN THE FIRST PLACE BY NOT CLASSIFYING CABLECO INTERNET PROVIDERS AS COMMON CARRIERS! HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?!? /cruise control

Does anyone not remember the whole Brand-X debacle? If the FCC had just bucked up then...or would buck up now and classify Comcast, Cox, Roadrunner, et al., correctly, Net Neutrality and Congress sticking their nose where it absolutely does NOT belong wouldn't even be an issue.

Common Carrier: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_carrier
Brand-X: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/04-277.ZS.html & http://news.zdnet.com/2100-6005_22-143450.html

Agreed - comparing revenue per employee is meaningless since it doesn't equate to profits, market share, or employee salary (there are those things like costs).

Revenue for 4th Quarter 2007:

Apple: $904m ( http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/10/22results.html )

HP: $1.7b ( http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-150322.html )

And for 1st Quarter 2008:

Apple: $1.58b ( http://www.macrumors.com/2008/01/22/apple-1q-2008-results-record-1-58-billion-profit/ )

HP: $2.13b ( http://www.news8.net/news/stories/0208/497320.html )

But I'm sure some Apple fan will make up some arbitrary calculation to somehow make Apple come out better...

This zdnet blogger already gave it a spin on some commodity-like hardware (which it seems to me there might be a few here who will be so inclined) and has a nice write-up of the results as well as some good tips on how to avoid some trouble spots for those not fortunate enough to be putting this on enterprise level hardware.
 
Downloading the ISO does require creating an account with a ton of required fields - so there are a few minutes of typing involved. There is also the usual eula to agree too, which I need to go over before I do anything with the disc image I've downloaded.

The article complains that Sugar wouldn't need fast boot speeds once they get suspend working. Umm, that's still not working!?!?!?!

The article criticizes Windows XP for bad Wi-Fi client, but it doesn't mention the fact that the original Sugar GUI didn't even support WPA when shipped and users had to manually configure WPA in command line. The Wi-Fi Supplicant in XP works quite well and it's fully configurable in Group Policy for full automation.

The article says that video for the whole classroom should be done via mesh to point out XP's lack of mesh support. The fact of the matter is, mesh doesn't work. See http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=777 and http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=981. If the author has actually tried to stream more than 2 6 Mbps videos on a regular infrastructure Wi-Fi network, he would know how badly it works. Mesh cuts the efficiency of an infrastructure network down by at least half if there's only one repeater station and a whole lot more in real life.

Broadcasting video to a whole classroom using wireless technology actually requires multicast. You only want/need to send (broadcast) the movie once over the airwaves preferably without any acknowledgements and let all the clients pick up whatever they can. Using Unicast is a non-starter and using mesh is ludicrous.

The article complains that Sugar wouldn't need fast boot speeds once they get suspend working. Umm, that's still not working!?!?!?!

The article criticizes Windows XP for bad Wi-Fi client, but it doesn't mention the fact that the original Sugar GUI didn't even support WPA when shipped and users had to manually configure WPA in command line. The Wi-Fi Supplicant in XP works quite well and it's fully configurable in Group Policy for full automation.

The article says that video for the whole classroom should be done via mesh to point out XP's lack of mesh support. The fact of the matter is, mesh doesn't work. See http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=777 and http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=981. If the author has actually tried to stream more than 2 6 Mbps videos on a regular infrastructure Wi-Fi network, he would know how badly it works. Mesh cuts the efficiency of an infrastructure network down by at least half if there's only one repeater station and a whole lot more in real life.

Broadcasting video to a whole classroom using wireless technology actually requires multicast. You only want/need to send (broadcast) the movie once over the airwaves preferably without any acknowledgements and let all the clients pick up whatever they can. Using Unicast is a non-starter and using mesh is ludicrous.

1. It presupposes that most/all elderly are stupid

It is not stupid to admit that you are old.

That the days when you thought nothing of cracking open a 50 lb case to reset a video card are gone forever. That fighting the good fight for Linux doesn't matter to you any more.

2. It's easier to install the major Linux distributions than it is to install Windows of any flavor.

The OEM system install is the gold standard in the home and SOHO market. Service under warranty. In-home service. The-no-questions-asked return.

Chances are your DIY Linux install will be successful. If it isn't you are in deep shit.

That is how the game is played.

Most, if not all, Linux trojans need some sort of user interaction to work. One needs to deliberately shoot one's self in the foot for them to work

Which is simply another way of saying that infecting a Linux machine is more a matter of applied psychology, social engineering - as long as a user can be seduced into launching an executable the problem doesn't go away

- for all the Geek's talk of "Active Yecchs."

Microsoft to ratchet IE8 security another notch in Beta 2

A. Windows users think it's normal to wipe and reinstall every quarter

No they don't.

I've used an XP restore disk perhaps five times in five years to open the Recovery Console and run CHKDSK. I haven't found a reason for reinstalling Windows other than replacing an aging hard drive.

While I don't disagree with your assessment of prisons in the US, I think this guy is not a great case to cite. He was in a minimum security federal prison camp. From the original article:

Minimum security institutions, also known as Federal Prison Camps (FPCs), have dormitory housing, a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio, and are work and program-oriented. FPCs are generally located adjacent to larger institutions, where inmates help serve the labor needs of the larger institution.

He escaped by jumping into his wife's car, which gives you an idea of how relaxed these places are.

Hate to answer to myself, but seems that, though I had the idea of grilling him, somebody already did.

Click here to win a car, a wife, and a get out of jail free card that will enlarge your penis!

I had Best Buy tell me I wouldn't see it because they were a Microsoft-only shop. :P

That, I find odd after Best Buy is selling a boxed version of Ubuntu http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=2222 http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/105142/index.html

"The packages they place these items in have invariably been huge and wasteful."
Strange, then that there is no corroborating evidence of this, and that the shipping boxes for all of their computers are exactly the size of the retail boxes of their computers, which are uniformly SMALL.

Strange also that you seem to be the only person who received Leopard in a giant box.

Stranger still how none of the ample unboxing photos scattered across the Internet show any evidence of this practice, either.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/images/macbook-air-unboxing-02.jpg

http://www.unbox.it/galleryimg/data/2006/06/152677226_6fadf9c505.jpg

Hmm...

As their own site seems down, some more info here
http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1519

Hehe, good one - Too bad though, I will stick to using custom HOSTS files, due to this & others like it:

DNS Root Servers Attacked:

http://it.slashdot.org/it/07/02/06/2238225.shtml

&, more recently (bug in DNS that Mr. Dan Kaminsky discovered):

DNS Flaw in BIND:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1460

So, no thanks... I also don't need "javascript/iframes" poisoned attacks from badwebsites or bad adbanners either, per this example (1 of MANY like it the past 2-4 yrs. now no less, with even Microsoft & other notables falling victim to it no less):

http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1460

&/or

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2007/11/doubleclick

For just a couple examples thereof... there are FAR more.

Plus, I don't "burn time" calling out to DNS servers either (IP to URL resolutions) for access to my personal list of fav. websites (250 or so)!

I instead, act as my OWN "DNS Server" more-or-less, which is a heck of a lot faster too, than calling out to a potentially exploited DNS server (poisoned, myself being "man-in-the-middle" attacked (only helps some here though), etc. et al)...

PLUS - I do NOT see "adbanners" either (I block them - why on earth would I forego "HBO 'no commercials' Internetting" vs. otherwise? I pay for my linetime, sorry webmasters, & I don't want to get any poisoned adbanners either)...

(That alone is orders of magnitude F A S T E R, than calling out to DNS servers that may be compromised, & my app (noted in my last post) makes SURE their IP address to URL conversion is current (via the PING code I reused no less)... combined w/ NOT SEEING ADBANNERS? Hey - I fly online... even on "low speed" DSL (what I currently use)).

APK

Hehe, good one - Too bad though, I will stick to using custom HOSTS files, due to this & others like it:

DNS Root Servers Attacked:

http://it.slashdot.org/it/07/02/06/2238225.shtml

&, more recently (bug in DNS that Mr. Dan Kaminsky discovered):

DNS Flaw in BIND:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1460

So, no thanks... I also don't need "javascript/iframes" poisoned attacks from badwebsites or bad adbanners either, per this example (1 of MANY like it the past 2-4 yrs. now no less, with even Microsoft & other notables falling victim to it no less):

http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1460

&/or

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2007/11/doubleclick

For just a couple examples thereof... there are FAR more.

Plus, I don't "burn time" calling out to DNS servers either (IP to URL resolutions) for access to my personal list of fav. websites (250 or so)!

I instead, act as my OWN "DNS Server" more-or-less, which is a heck of a lot faster too, than calling out to a potentially exploited DNS server (poisoned, myself being "man-in-the-middle" attacked (only helps some here though), etc. et al)...

PLUS - I do NOT see "adbanners" either (I block them - why on earth would I forego "HBO 'no commercials' Internetting" vs. otherwise? I pay for my linetime, sorry webmasters, & I don't want to get any poisoned adbanners either)...

(That alone is orders of magnitude F A S T E R, than calling out to DNS servers that may be compromised, & my app (noted in my last post) makes SURE their IP address to URL conversion is current (via the PING code I reused no less)... combined w/ NOT SEEING ADBANNERS? Hey - I fly online... even on "low speed" DSL (what I currently use)).

APK

Regarding vista's DRM: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=429

The researcher who Bruce Schneier cites who in turn is widely cited in the media as an expert on why Vista DRM is so evil actually admits to never actually even touching Windows Vista. That's the level of "research" he did.

The DRM on Vista applies to DRM-ed sources that you couldn't view at all without it. Whoop-di-doo. I've got HD resolution material on my machine (Vista Ultimate SP1, x64) sans DRM that displays just fine on my HDTV (via component cables, not even HDMI). My general experience has been that games perform maybe 5-10% less efficiently on Vista x64 (with up to date drivers) than on XP x86, and roughly identically to XP x64. I somehow doubt DRM is to blame.

The funny thing is all he did was cobble together known available exploits.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1502

"He is neither a hacker, nor a computer genius possessing some kind of unique skills, he's just someone proving for yet another time that it's not a matter of lack of capabilities for committing cybercrime, but a matter of courage to so. "

He's a cut-and-paste script kiddie, not a talented system breaker. The real system breakers are the people that actually wrote the code.

His real talent is using google and ctrl+c/ctrl+v.

ROFL. A monkey can break vulnerable systems with a payload/rootkit someone coded for them and some balls. The NZ gov is a bunch of idiots.

-Viz