That page doesn't mention MS or Linux - you can't just assume that Apache==Linux. I'm as excited as you are about MS being pushed out of the web sever market, but you need to quote the right stats.
Re:You wouldn't compile from scratch.
on
Embedded Gentoo?
·
· Score: 2, Funny
I disagree quite strongly that The Gimp is/isn't a full Photoshop replacement. What kind of idiot are you? Are you a graphic designer? Where are the benchmarks - and I bet Microsoft paid for them.
Come back when you've got a clue.
I use IMAP exclusively, and I've found Thunderbird to be streets ahead of OE. On the machines I use OE is very unresponsive. I've not noticed the complaints you make about TB - on my machines deleted messages go straight into Trash and stay there until I empty it, so the confusing expunging system doesn't affect me. I think there's an option for choosing which folders to check for new messages, but I set mine up so long ago I can't remember. I certainly get the number of new/unread messages in brackets next to each folder name.
I feel sorry for the guy, in a way; he used to be a computer geek just like so many others and he's cut off from part of the internet just by virtue of his success.
He'll have any number of different e-mail addresses for different purposes, inluding ones that only friends and family know - I'm sure he's not shut off from a part of the internet just because every idiot puts billg@microsoft.com in forms when they don't want to give their own address.
By then I had lost all will to live - I didn't bother mentioning the 20 minutes on hold listening to their corporate whooshy music that's on an endless loop and is actually only about 15 seconds long. If he'd asked me to stick my big toe up my right nostril and jump up and down on the other foot I think I would have done it at that point.
I haven't found their ADSL to be as bad as that, but one thing I'm sure of - their customer service sucks. Five years ago I ran IT for an organisation, and we were the first business customer for ADSL in our postcode area. You would think they would have looked after us but they didn't. I remember calling once when the service went down, and had a conversation along these lines:
Me: the router isn't connecting and says authentication error
Tech: can you please restart the router
Me: I've done that and it doesn't make any difference
Tech: please try now
Me: [does it] ok no difference
Tech: ok, please reboot your computer
Me: but the router hasn't connected, how will that help?
Tech: let's just try it
Me: ok but your router is the otherside of a firewall and proxy server so rebooting my workstation is completely pointless
Tech: ok, reboot the computer that is attached to the router
Me: I can't do that because it's a server
Tech: why not?
Me: because the 30 staff currently using it for file store will scream at me when they lose their connection and possibly their data
Tech: ok, reboot your computer
Me: *sigh* [reboots workstation]...the router still isn't connecting
Tech: ok, it looks like your password has been changed
Me: ok, why?
Tech: I don't know, it happens sometimes
Me: can you please reset it?
Tech: no
Me: why not?
Tech: the person who does that is out of the office
Me: !"£%£&% is there only one person who can do that?
Tech: yes
Me: so in the whole of BT, there's only one person who can reset an ADSL password?
Tech: yes
Me: you're sure
Tech: yes
Me: what happens if they get run over by a bus - what will you do then?
Tech: umm... hang on... [puts me on hold]......... ok we can reset that password
Me: thankyou
I kid you not - this is the conversation as well as I can remember it from five years ago. Sad but true. Other encounters with them have not been much better.
These arguments really aren't as compelling as they seem. If you split it up in to three levels...
Servers
I'm talking about everything from nationwide databases down to local hospital medical records, from DNS to authentication and filestore. These have always been a mixture of Netware and Unix servers at the higher end, with perhaps Windows boxes more recently for lower end stuff at smaller institutions. Retraining? Not really - the guys administrating these have a Netware and Unix background and have grudgingly accepted the creeping integration of MS systems - but probably wish the didn't have to.
Workgroups
By this I mean departmental filestores, local printer shares, document management (i.e. paper->electronic), specialist systems like storage of x-rays and ultrasounds. These have been Microsoft for a long time, but local admins have had to retrain to administer these every 2-4 years: the differences between 9x, NT, 2000 and XP are confusing enough that you cannot upgrade without either retraining or a significant period of time when things break and the admin has to sit and 'play' for a long time in order to fix it. Try training someone to create a network share and then set permissions on 9x, then sit them down in front of a 2000 or XP machine. A well-deployed system using webmin would not, in my opinion, require vastly more retraining that this and has the advantage that it's fully customisable for local or national rollouts.
Workstations
By this I mean the machines on people's desktops. As far as the user is concerned these are: a desktop, a 'start menu', a web browser, Word, Excel and Powerpoint. A Free/OSS solution can duplicate these and be no more different for the end user than XP is from 2000. Most bespoke software now runs from within a web browser; in fact, for the NHS, the supposedly failed maxim 'the browser is the OS' is actually true: everything from x-ray and biochemistry results to e-mail runs through a browser so is completely OS agnostic (well - I don't know what ActiveX controls are used..!).
NB I am a medical student working at one of London's largest hostpitals, so I have seen a cross-section of the NHS's IT in action. I am very disappointed that contracts are going to Microsoft because I'm sure there's no real need for it, and lots to be gained from switching. The NHS has the resources to have its own distro - say based on debian... but I'm just going glassey eyed now so I'll stop...
I live in the UK and I can do this but only through internet banking. I have accounts with HSBC, Lloyds TSB and Woolwich (Barclays) and they all have this facility. I don't think many people realise - I have confused a few people by dropping money into their account rather than sending a cheque.
Here (UK) it's a bit less blatant, but it's still fairly easy to get a nice region-free player. This Pioneer is now under my TV and is absolutely fantastic.
Remember Jam Echelon? Perhaps it's time we all filled our http/ftp servers with files whose names will attract attention but whose contents are completely legal...?
That's like saying that if everyone walked along the street with a knife in their hands it would be much more dangerous to walk! Air travel, mile-for-mile, is much safer than automobile. OK I know my example was silly, but don't forget that the air is pretty crowded, but lots of highly skilled people and computers make sure that collisions are very rare indeed.
OR... do you sit begind them at 50mph until there's a place where you can safely overtake without breaking the law? Do you know the road like the back of your hand? Is there a blind exit up ahead, or sudden downhill turn followed by a sharp corner that conceals oncoming traffic? Is it really that important to make that extra 10 mph?
I'm a med student - I had to respond to this one. There are 6 types of tactile receptors, of which nerve endings attached to hairs are one. Hairs provide basic information about movement - the wind or your clothes moving past your skin etc.
The tips of your fingers are hairless. That's obvious - look at them under a magnifying glass or microscope if you have one. Fine touch sensation is provided by Tactile Discs and Tactile Corpuscles located in the ("live") skin of the dermis. The skin is not made exclusively of "dead" cells, but of many layers, and the ("dead") epidermis at the surface is quite capable of transmitting movement down to these cells.
People have hair on their heads mainly for insulation (get a crew cut in the middle of winter if you want to prove this!) although I agree that hair on the head has a limited use in avoiding collisions. I suspect that subjective loss of sensation in the face after shaving is due to the trauma of having run a blade over your skin, and the stinging sensation from the damage to hair follicles.
Amps most emphatically are part of the instrument (in the case of electric guitar), just like the bow for the violin or mute for the trumpet. They are part of creating the sound that the audience hears. Yes - PA systems can 'shape' the sound, and so can room acoustics, but we can pretty much agree on the ideals for these: a totally transparent PA system, a 'dead' room for recording and a room that projects the sound without making it too hollow for performance. As amps go, it's a totally personal thing (just like the bow or mute) - just because it's not physically bolted to the guitar doesn't mean it's not part of the overall instrument. I think my choice of capo and plectrum make up what is the overall instrument too.
"...a grey tone, the sound of a tube amp pushed too hard but still clean. This is where you are still clean at low attack, but it breaks up nicely as you attack harder... You get more control over the tone that you simply can't do with transistors."
I can do that with my transistor guitar amp - it's harder to set the controls to do it, but I can. But, of course, if I had 500 burning in my pocket then I would buy a tube amp immediately.
most homes do not consist of a male geek in the basement and a set of clueless parents above; but rather a man, woman, 2.4 children and/or a cat/dog/pet halibut named Eric. All of them want their own login
You should think yourself lucky - my halibut demands his own machine.
Also - connect the router/WAP to an electronic time switch that will cycle the power at say 3am. Most of the consumer routers/WAPs need rebooting every so often, usually because of nasty peer-peer software.
Transparently proxy everything, and block newsgroups. Then you've got the time & date of whatever illegality and nastiness took place, and the person's signature on the rental agreement.
Sure - and I know that tapes wear out pretty quickly. But I'm not convinced that, with proper handling and well set-up equipment, a CD would get more playback cycles than a vinyl record. It would be good to try it and find out. It's worth remembering that when a record starts to get worn it will sound muffled, when a CD gets worn it will sound silent.
Slashdot Mirror
That page doesn't mention MS or Linux - you can't just assume that Apache==Linux. I'm as excited as you are about MS being pushed out of the web sever market, but you need to quote the right stats.
I disagree quite strongly that The Gimp is/isn't a full Photoshop replacement. What kind of idiot are you? Are you a graphic designer? Where are the benchmarks - and I bet Microsoft paid for them. Come back when you've got a clue.
I use IMAP exclusively, and I've found Thunderbird to be streets ahead of OE. On the machines I use OE is very unresponsive. I've not noticed the complaints you make about TB - on my machines deleted messages go straight into Trash and stay there until I empty it, so the confusing expunging system doesn't affect me. I think there's an option for choosing which folders to check for new messages, but I set mine up so long ago I can't remember. I certainly get the number of new/unread messages in brackets next to each folder name.
He'll have any number of different e-mail addresses for different purposes, inluding ones that only friends and family know - I'm sure he's not shut off from a part of the internet just because every idiot puts billg@microsoft.com in forms when they don't want to give their own address.
By then I had lost all will to live - I didn't bother mentioning the 20 minutes on hold listening to their corporate whooshy music that's on an endless loop and is actually only about 15 seconds long. If he'd asked me to stick my big toe up my right nostril and jump up and down on the other foot I think I would have done it at that point.
Me: the router isn't connecting and says authentication error ... ... ... ok we can reset that password
Tech: can you please restart the router
Me: I've done that and it doesn't make any difference
Tech: please try now
Me: [does it] ok no difference
Tech: ok, please reboot your computer
Me: but the router hasn't connected, how will that help?
Tech: let's just try it
Me: ok but your router is the otherside of a firewall and proxy server so rebooting my workstation is completely pointless
Tech: ok, reboot the computer that is attached to the router
Me: I can't do that because it's a server
Tech: why not?
Me: because the 30 staff currently using it for file store will scream at me when they lose their connection and possibly their data
Tech: ok, reboot your computer
Me: *sigh* [reboots workstation]...the router still isn't connecting
Tech: ok, it looks like your password has been changed
Me: ok, why?
Tech: I don't know, it happens sometimes
Me: can you please reset it?
Tech: no
Me: why not?
Tech: the person who does that is out of the office
Me: !"£%£&% is there only one person who can do that?
Tech: yes
Me: so in the whole of BT, there's only one person who can reset an ADSL password?
Tech: yes
Me: you're sure
Tech: yes
Me: what happens if they get run over by a bus - what will you do then?
Tech: umm... hang on... [puts me on hold]
Me: thankyou
I kid you not - this is the conversation as well as I can remember it from five years ago. Sad but true. Other encounters with them have not been much better.
Mandrake 10 on my laptop - I entered the WEP key and SSID into the Mandrake configuration tool and it just worked.
These arguments really aren't as compelling as they seem. If you split it up in to three levels...
Servers
I'm talking about everything from nationwide databases down to local hospital medical records, from DNS to authentication and filestore. These have always been a mixture of Netware and Unix servers at the higher end, with perhaps Windows boxes more recently for lower end stuff at smaller institutions. Retraining? Not really - the guys administrating these have a Netware and Unix background and have grudgingly accepted the creeping integration of MS systems - but probably wish the didn't have to.
Workgroups
By this I mean departmental filestores, local printer shares, document management (i.e. paper->electronic), specialist systems like storage of x-rays and ultrasounds. These have been Microsoft for a long time, but local admins have had to retrain to administer these every 2-4 years: the differences between 9x, NT, 2000 and XP are confusing enough that you cannot upgrade without either retraining or a significant period of time when things break and the admin has to sit and 'play' for a long time in order to fix it. Try training someone to create a network share and then set permissions on 9x, then sit them down in front of a 2000 or XP machine. A well-deployed system using webmin would not, in my opinion, require vastly more retraining that this and has the advantage that it's fully customisable for local or national rollouts.
Workstations
By this I mean the machines on people's desktops. As far as the user is concerned these are: a desktop, a 'start menu', a web browser, Word, Excel and Powerpoint. A Free/OSS solution can duplicate these and be no more different for the end user than XP is from 2000. Most bespoke software now runs from within a web browser; in fact, for the NHS, the supposedly failed maxim 'the browser is the OS' is actually true: everything from x-ray and biochemistry results to e-mail runs through a browser so is completely OS agnostic (well - I don't know what ActiveX controls are used..!).
NB I am a medical student working at one of London's largest hostpitals, so I have seen a cross-section of the NHS's IT in action. I am very disappointed that contracts are going to Microsoft because I'm sure there's no real need for it, and lots to be gained from switching. The NHS has the resources to have its own distro - say based on debian... but I'm just going glassey eyed now so I'll stop...
I live in the UK and I can do this but only through internet banking. I have accounts with HSBC, Lloyds TSB and Woolwich (Barclays) and they all have this facility. I don't think many people realise - I have confused a few people by dropping money into their account rather than sending a cheque.
Here (UK) it's a bit less blatant, but it's still fairly easy to get a nice region-free player. This Pioneer is now under my TV and is absolutely fantastic.
Which is what OSX does - works a treat.
Remember Jam Echelon? Perhaps it's time we all filled our http/ftp servers with files whose names will attract attention but whose contents are completely legal...?
That's like saying that if everyone walked along the street with a knife in their hands it would be much more dangerous to walk! Air travel, mile-for-mile, is much safer than automobile. OK I know my example was silly, but don't forget that the air is pretty crowded, but lots of highly skilled people and computers make sure that collisions are very rare indeed.
OR... do you sit begind them at 50mph until there's a place where you can safely overtake without breaking the law? Do you know the road like the back of your hand? Is there a blind exit up ahead, or sudden downhill turn followed by a sharp corner that conceals oncoming traffic? Is it really that important to make that extra 10 mph?
I'm a med student - I had to respond to this one. There are 6 types of tactile receptors, of which nerve endings attached to hairs are one. Hairs provide basic information about movement - the wind or your clothes moving past your skin etc.
The tips of your fingers are hairless. That's obvious - look at them under a magnifying glass or microscope if you have one. Fine touch sensation is provided by Tactile Discs and Tactile Corpuscles located in the ("live") skin of the dermis. The skin is not made exclusively of "dead" cells, but of many layers, and the ("dead") epidermis at the surface is quite capable of transmitting movement down to these cells.
You can check all of this out if you want.
People have hair on their heads mainly for insulation (get a crew cut in the middle of winter if you want to prove this!) although I agree that hair on the head has a limited use in avoiding collisions. I suspect that subjective loss of sensation in the face after shaving is due to the trauma of having run a blade over your skin, and the stinging sensation from the damage to hair follicles.
Amps most emphatically are part of the instrument (in the case of electric guitar), just like the bow for the violin or mute for the trumpet. They are part of creating the sound that the audience hears. Yes - PA systems can 'shape' the sound, and so can room acoustics, but we can pretty much agree on the ideals for these: a totally transparent PA system, a 'dead' room for recording and a room that projects the sound without making it too hollow for performance. As amps go, it's a totally personal thing (just like the bow or mute) - just because it's not physically bolted to the guitar doesn't mean it's not part of the overall instrument. I think my choice of capo and plectrum make up what is the overall instrument too.
I can do that with my transistor guitar amp - it's harder to set the controls to do it, but I can. But, of course, if I had 500 burning in my pocket then I would buy a tube amp immediately.
Doing "the same type of compression again" would have no effect on the dynamic range, unless more restrictive settings were used.
That would kill him...
You should think yourself lucky - my halibut demands his own machine.
Also - connect the router/WAP to an electronic time switch that will cycle the power at say 3am. Most of the consumer routers/WAPs need rebooting every so often, usually because of nasty peer-peer software.
Transparently proxy everything, and block newsgroups. Then you've got the time & date of whatever illegality and nastiness took place, and the person's signature on the rental agreement.
Sure - and I know that tapes wear out pretty quickly. But I'm not convinced that, with proper handling and well set-up equipment, a CD would get more playback cycles than a vinyl record. It would be good to try it and find out. It's worth remembering that when a record starts to get worn it will sound muffled, when a CD gets worn it will sound silent.
I'm pretty sure that if I lock a record in a clean room it will still be there centuries later - or am I missing something?
You mean, "your being totally pedantile". Oh, no, sorry, um...