I'm quite impressed by this cross-platform development. Even more impressed that the moderators didn't bother to look at the link, or even think about what the link said.
This GPT thing sounds good, a way to get rid of the legacy MBR. However, one thing that scared me a bit while reading through their FAQ was:
36. What is a Microsoft Reserved Partition (MSR)?
The Microsoft Reserved Partition (MSR) reserves space on each disk drive for subsequent use by operating system software. GPT disks
do not allow hidden sectors. Software components that formerly used hidden sectors now allocate portions of the MSR for
component-specific partitions. For example, converting a basic disk to a dynamic disk causes the MSR on that disk to be reduced in size
and a newly created partition holds the dynamic disk database. The MSR has the Partition GUID:
DEFINE_GUID (PARTITION_MSFT_RESERVED_GUID, 0xE3C9E316L, 0x0B5C,
0x4DB8, 0x81, 0x7D, 0xF9, 0x2D, 0xF0, 0x02, 0x15, 0xAE)
*Shiver* <paranoia> Mental note: Do not install XP, for fear of Microsoft gathering information and storing it in a hidden partition.</paranoia>
I emailed the manufacturers asking about the legality/intelligence of making non-RF shielded cases, and this is what they said:
--
Thanks for your letter and your concerns vis-a-vis the legality of the ClearPC computer case.
The case is intended NOT to be used as an ATX-2.03-FCC Class A or B compliant PC
case, but rather as a training aid for schools and a sales tool at the retail level.
To use the case in this fashion does not require the use of a power supply unit.
--
So apparently it's not made for real use. Go figure. Seems like false advertising...
As much as I like Google, I tend to stay with Altavista, because I can easily exclude sex/porno terms from any search, using the minus sign operator. I have to do this with almost all web searches I do.
Well, I think you should give Google some credit for its page-ranking system. A porn page is unlikely to come up at the top of your search for "3d game quake" just because it has those words (and every other one in the dictionary) in its META tag, unless a lot of other pages containing those terms link back to it, which would tend to make it a reliable site for that kind of information.
I think Google has the right idea. Because of the proliferation of Porn/Business sites that will stop at nothing to get visitors, you can't quite trust a site to represent itself correctly for searching. Your best hope may be to keyword search, and then do a "background check" on the site to see if it really does provide that content. Maybe some sort of Meta-search which knows popular sites for different categories, and asks them to search for the results? i.e. you search for "linux program mp3" and the search engine knows that freshmeat.net knows a lot about "linux program" and mp3.com knows a lot about "mp3", so it asks those sites for search results, and displays those. It would put a lot more focus on providers of content anyway.
Easier said than done. This is the problem with prorietary protocol systems - non-interoperatability. Someone (not me of course, I'm busy) needs to come up with a single standard protocol, get is approved by ISO or whoever else cares, and put that forward. Pressure messaging software makers to include this protocol in their service, even if they want to keep their own proprietary stuff, too.
The IETF is already doing this. They have an "Instant Messaging and Presence Protocol" Working group. Check it out.
Of course, they take a long time to get anything together, but standards engineering needs to be good.
Frankly I'm surprised this hasn't happened sooner, seeing as how the Japanese always seem to adopt technology earlier than the US. Maybe it just always seems that way because a large number of hardware manufacturers are still based in Asia. Either way, if they're pushing it for the mainstream markets there, they'll have to press for more driver support, which would be a great thing for linux. Just think, being able to go out and buy the newest graphics card/sound card and having the drivers available right then! This is truly what linux needs to succeed in the consumer market.
... Good thing in theory you can go to college and/or become President of the US with only your willpower and your brains, cause in practice it's gonna take wads of cash too.
Am I the only one seeing something wrong with this picture? Dare I say amoral? Yes, high tution fees are a fact of life, and anyone thinking you can go to school in the US no matter your parents' income is deluding himself. If you're looking for school gratuity, you have to look to more Left-leaning countries. Canada used to work that way, but it's slowly catching up to the US.
I beg to differ. I go to a very good private school, and I my parents make very little money. Most private schools are very good about financial aid. Granted, I also pull good grades, but scholarships here are need based.
Sure, there's also a lot of rich kids who only made it in because their parents could afford to pay the full amount, but if allowing them in means that other students like myself will get a chance to go to a good school, then I say let them in.
Education really should be free for everyone. -Ted
And, is it a good or a bad thing that things install easily? What happens when "some malicious user" makes a CD which auoinstalls a nice little virus? Grandpa things "Hmm.. whats on this CD" puts it in the CD-drive..and wham
Since when do malicious users go distributing CDs to elderly people? I think the actual threat of this is really nonexistent.
I do agree with you that the ease of installation under Windows can be bad, as in the case of BO/Netbus, which I have had to clean from my roommate's computer before. This is compounded by the nonexistent security of Win9x which allows that trojan free reign over the computer.
It really is a tradeoff though. Ease of installation versus security. You can't very well make it as easy to download and install programs in linux as it is in windows without losing some of the inherent security.
Realistically, a non-techie linux user shouldn't need more than what's provided by the linux distro, and if there was a nice windows-setup type interface for a package manager (maybe there is and I'm ignorant, feel free to inform me) it could work quite well.
Slashdot Mirror
http://luser.masturbatesfrequently.com/calculator. php
^-- Get a reasonable estimate.
According to my calculations, I've done it approximately 2852 times. It's a wonder I have time to do anything else.
I'm quite impressed by this cross-platform development. Even more impressed that the moderators didn't bother to look at the link, or even think about what the link said.
Bravo.
-Ted
36. What is a Microsoft Reserved Partition (MSR)?
The Microsoft Reserved Partition (MSR) reserves space on each disk drive for subsequent use by operating system software. GPT disks do not allow hidden sectors. Software components that formerly used hidden sectors now allocate portions of the MSR for component-specific partitions. For example, converting a basic disk to a dynamic disk causes the MSR on that disk to be reduced in size and a newly created partition holds the dynamic disk database. The MSR has the Partition GUID:
DEFINE_GUID (PARTITION_MSFT_RESERVED_GUID, 0xE3C9E316L, 0x0B5C, 0x4DB8, 0x81, 0x7D, 0xF9, 0x2D, 0xF0, 0x02, 0x15, 0xAE)
*Shiver* <paranoia> Mental note: Do not install XP, for fear of Microsoft gathering information and storing it in a hidden partition.</paranoia>
-Ted
--
Thanks for your letter and your concerns vis-a-vis the legality of the ClearPC computer case.
The case is intended NOT to be used as an ATX-2.03-FCC Class A or B compliant PC case, but rather as a training aid for schools and a sales tool at the retail level.
To use the case in this fashion does not require the use of a power supply unit.
--
So apparently it's not made for real use. Go figure. Seems like false advertising...
-Ted
Well, I think you should give Google some credit for its page-ranking system. A porn page is unlikely to come up at the top of your search for "3d game quake" just because it has those words (and every other one in the dictionary) in its META tag, unless a lot of other pages containing those terms link back to it, which would tend to make it a reliable site for that kind of information.
I think Google has the right idea. Because of the proliferation of Porn/Business sites that will stop at nothing to get visitors, you can't quite trust a site to represent itself correctly for searching. Your best hope may be to keyword search, and then do a "background check" on the site to see if it really does provide that content. Maybe some sort of Meta-search which knows popular sites for different categories, and asks them to search for the results? i.e. you search for "linux program mp3" and the search engine knows that freshmeat.net knows a lot about "linux program" and mp3.com knows a lot about "mp3", so it asks those sites for search results, and displays those. It would put a lot more focus on providers of content anyway.
Just my ideas,
-Ted
-Ted
The IETF is already doing this. They have an "Instant Messaging and Presence Protocol" Working group. Check it out.
Of course, they take a long time to get anything together, but standards engineering needs to be good.
-Ted
-Ted
Am I the only one seeing something wrong with this picture? Dare I say amoral? Yes, high tution fees are a fact of life, and anyone thinking you can go to school in the US no matter your parents' income is deluding himself. If you're looking for school gratuity, you have to look to more Left-leaning countries. Canada used to work that way, but it's slowly catching up to the US.
I beg to differ. I go to a very good private school, and I my parents make very little money. Most private schools are very good about financial aid. Granted, I also pull good grades, but scholarships here are need based.
Sure, there's also a lot of rich kids who only made it in because their parents could afford to pay the full amount, but if allowing them in means that other students like myself will get a chance to go to a good school, then I say let them in.
Education really should be free for everyone.
-Ted
Since when do malicious users go distributing CDs to elderly people? I think the actual threat of this is really nonexistent.
I do agree with you that the ease of installation under Windows can be bad, as in the case of BO/Netbus, which I have had to clean from my roommate's computer before. This is compounded by the nonexistent security of Win9x which allows that trojan free reign over the computer.
It really is a tradeoff though. Ease of installation versus security. You can't very well make it as easy to download and install programs in linux as it is in windows without losing some of the inherent security.
Realistically, a non-techie linux user shouldn't need more than what's provided by the linux distro, and if there was a nice windows-setup type interface for a package manager (maybe there is and I'm ignorant, feel free to inform me) it could work quite well.
Just my thoughts,
-Ted