That is, if you avoid to say that in 1986 the Commodore Amiga had UMA, a programmable (2D, ok) blitter chip that could be used to achieve complex results such as hardware-assisted 'life' cellular automata that run at 1000 generations per second on a 7.14MHz machine, and had a display list processor that was able to alter a lot of the HW registers of the chipsets according to user-defined "programs".
Interestingly enough, somewhere in all the chaos surrounding Amiga, there was also a German company (phase5) that planned to release a new and improved version of the Amiga. The name of the thing? A-Box...
If PDA-GNOME is lighter and faster than CE, it will work/sell well. Remember that all the weight most people see in GNOME is often due to the Enloghtenment WM that RH bundles it with.
As for "The market agrees" with you, I have 2 objections: 1 - The market agreed that Windows is the best OS in the workd;-) 2 - I have a Psion 5mx palmtop PC, that does NOT use WinCE but the Epoc32 OS: it's interface is really pleasant, but it work FAST on a 32Mhz Arm processor. In fact, there's event a Doom port for it... 8-)
Yeah sure, use today tested tecnology, not some weird idea that nobody ever tried even if it promises to be 10 times safer/simpler that the old.
Yours is the rationale behind NASA not using aereospike technology: nobody ever flew an aircraft using it. Too bad it's simpler, more efficient and cost effective than nozzle rockets we use today. At last they are using it for X33, but it was a private corp idea, that (the new) NASA selected because it was more innovative than the other 2 projects.
Another really funny example: Mars Polar lander used the 'old trusted rocket technology" to brake in the martian atmosphere, instead of the exotic aereobrake and ballons the previous lander used. We all saw how old technology was better than the new one in that case... (SPLAT!)
To summarize: Keep it Simple. If the new technology is simpler that the old, it's probably more secure.
NASA has a research group that focus on all aspects of physics that *could* lead to the developement of superluminal drive technology.
They recently accepted some proposals for experiments that will receive a grant from NASA. One of them, number 5, is essentially the same we are talking about in this discussion.
BTW, do take a look at the BPP site and "Warp drive When" page, if you didn't have already.
These kind of devices DO COPY the content of the disks to their DAC memory and/or their MPEG decoding buffers.
Maybe we should file a lawsuit against Sony, Philips, Pioneer et al for DMCA violation in their player devices.
I'm *really* glad that Italian law forbid these kind of stupid things. Things here are far form perfect, for example 10 years ago M$ was able to 'pass' a software protection law that basically was their EULA at that moment. Too bad (for them!) that that law is in contrast with HALF the italian property law, and no one ever attempted to file a lawsuit using it. And just to specify: Italian property law says that if you BUY something, then you can do with it a lot of things.
I don't know anything about the code of the game, but I suspect Bullfrog won't have a lot to do with this game: Molineux said after Electronic Art bought it, things changed from "A meeting every three month to a meeting a day", and he left...:)
He now works in/for his Lionhead studios, that he founded after the bad experiences had with BF & EA.
I second your point, but there is still a problem: what about the music that noone want to sell to me? For example, foreign countries' music, or old music I can't get nowhere no matter the price offered. I know people who have over 100 CDs full of MP3. It's almost all (C) material, but material that YOU CAN'T BUY EVEN IF YOU'RE WILLING TO SPEND THE MONEY: nobody sell that stuff nowadays.
It IS theft of IP, but not "money stolen from artists and majors", since they do not care to sell old music pieces.
The solution: majors and or artists should start selling 'oldies' using the net. They get money, I get the music, and I have the option to listen to something I like without being a thief, that at least to me, is a really important thing.
Ciao, Rob!
Re:Read the motorola press release
on
WinDSL Coming?
·
· Score: 1
... ehm.... forgot to type in the URL, or mozilla M15 is playing triks on me?
Many years ago, someone in Japan had a 'wonderful' idea: create a standard for 'home computers' that allowed them to interoperate even if they were built by different vendors. The times were really different form now, and very little people did buy 'computers', mainly because you had to become a programmer to use them beyond the 'crappy game console' point. They thought: "with interoperability and support from over 15 vendors, some of them called Sony, Philips, Matsushita, we can't fail!". Almost. At the end, the MSX standard wasn't so bad (comparatively better than what WinCE is today) but... they shared a limited market base between 15+ manufacturers, and made so little money that after 2 years and an aborted MSX2, they closed shop. All 15 of them.
Now, could this suggest something to Microsoft? They have a new product for a little-more-than-niche market, and are trying to convince the people actually building the devices that they'll somehow make profits. Where? In a market were, between Palm and Symbian/Epoc, there is less than 10% of remaining space? And where the wast majority of the potential PDA user base are NOT going to believe they marketing/FUD tactics because they know enough to 'see the truth'? MS do hope that their Windows user base will run to Pocket PC, but this will never happen: they are barely able to use a windows PC when they have to (work, school), and have no desire to buy another one to have the hassle always with them.
I'm wondering why HP, Compaq & Co. accepted the 'deal' and tried again. I think that the answer could be very interesting for judge Jackson, too.
First: you can very easily raise the temperature exposing the aft part of the probe to the sun for, say, 2 days before landing.
Second: If they knew about the microswitch issue, they could have REPROGRAMMED the software to ignore the switches at all for say 10 second after their initial release.
IF NASA KNEW OF THESE SUPPOSED PROBLEM, THEY WOULD HAVE FIXED THEM IN FEW MINUTES: they did far more complex things with the first lander.
So, MAYBE some contractor knew they screwed the thing and didn't tell NASA (and I don't know why, because as I said *this* kind of problems were fixable). But it's FAR MORE likely that this is only a case of stupid and harmful journalism.
Hi. Let me introduce myself: I'm 29, male, and European. Italian, to be exact (more on this later).
I've read a lot of the messages here, almost all written by american people. It seems to me that many of you missed a little fact about this little fuss:
1- It's about Echelon, and almost all information gathered is open, so it's not like espionage.
Yeah, right. It's WORSE. Think of data mining applied to everyday conversation. You can pick up secrets the people telling them don't know themselves. You say it's ok because these are all public data? I think that this is worse than Orwell's 1984 world: at least there you knew thye were listening.
2- American companies don't need to spy on Europeans ones
Americans companies do have a lot of knowledge in many areas, they have the lead in a lot of businesses, sometimes even if they doesn't deserve this (think Microsoft:). However there are many other fields in wich US companies are behind European or Japanese ones, or just about on par: don't you think that even knowing little data on your competitor (how many faxes he exchanged with your potential customer, or with strategic partners, for example) would be a decisive advantage?
3- Bribery is endemic to Europe
Pull your brakes, please! I do know bribery is quite common, especially in some countries (mine, for example...) but usually you don't get very far with it in the big contract area, unless you also sell a very good product: unless your're a state employed decision maker put there because you're the nephew (sp?) of some big politician, and your briber wants to grant you a workplace after, you don't go very far: someone tried (Lockheed, Agusta) and got jailed (or worse, shot itself for the shame - of being caught, I presume;).
The "we only do this againts bribery" excuse is just that, an excuse to do other things, exactly like UCITA and DMCA are not to protect IP rights, but to get more of YOUR money. Ask yourself which is the difference between lobbying some senator and bribing someone to buy your stuff.
And now, *grand finale* (aka UTTER FANTAPOLITIC MODE ON)
How to ruin a flourishing country Imagine you have a 'friendly' country with a very good economic momentum. They have strong companies, good technology and *a lot of money*. Much of this success is due to they products winning greatly in the american market, where they are pervceeived as superior to the others and yet cheaper. With all this money, they start buying a lot of things (companies, buildings, paintings...) abroad and in the US in particular. Now, misteriously, this country starts to be hit by political scandals, their new investments in other countries go wrong, and after a while some big banks go bankrupt, leaving a lot of people and companies 'in it to their collars'. How can this happen? Very easily: just spyon the chats between local politicians, listen to the strategic investment plans the industries and financial corporations, move yourself well to 'aid' their competitor in the country were it hurts most, and finally banks and the whole economy will collapse, eventually with a big crush that country is big enough. And all this only listening to almost public data, the ones that go over telephones, faxes, telex and the net, that are the media by which businesses communicate.
Obvously, all this is pure speculation, and all and every resemblance with real world fact are pure coincidence.
I do believe you are exposing a real danger that's hidden in the way big corporations do business nowadays...
BUT: Is this really different from Intel changing processor slots every 6 months, so that I have to buy another motherboard for no practical purpose? Is this really different from proposed "display encryption", or from they Processor ID codes? Is this different from many Microsoft strategies, where your only freedom is when, in a 6 month window, you'll upgrade your system before it becomes incompatible with the new MS software? Or with their nice little strategy to put out of market every worthwhile technology they don't control?
What is the difference from having to obtain a license from Sony, or being instantly put out of business by a free integrated Internet Browser, a free integrated Streaming Media Player, or a very cheap microprocessor- or chipset-integrated 3D video board?
Hopefully, Sony will steal some of their market share, propelling competition and hopefully better practices. Will they be as nasty as the US companies behind DMCA, UCITA, the DeCSS affair? I don't know, but IF (and it's a big if) they know for themselves, they should also know why the original playstation sold 70 millions unit, and why the PS1 sales graph is strikingly similar to the CD-Writers sales graph....
Beside this kind of reasoning, there's another advantage I do see in the PS2: as many said here, PS2 WILL be a simpler instrument to use, allowing many more people to access internet and its contents. It will steal the control over the web from MS, and from the other nice people (AOL, Realnetworks...) that NOW are controlling it, and are the only means for the vast majority of people to access the net: if you're not a 'computer geek' of some sort, you are stuck with Windows. Or maybe, if you have more money, with a Mac. The freedom you have with linux is only for you, me, and other computer skilled people. It do cost you a little fortune, in hardware if you want to stay 'on the edge', and in time you spend to learn and follow the OS. This does not compare to a $350 machine that allows many more people to buy it (it's cheaper) and to use it (it's simpler).
Moreover, nothing and noone can tell NOW if tomorrow linux will be able to run on the PS2: if Sony wants to use it as a "digital content access tool", I believe they'll want a flexible and stable OS on it, and I bet that inside Emotion Engine there _is_ an MMU.
According to Sony specs, Sony Playstation 2 qualifies as a Supercomputer too, since it does exceed 1GFlop limit. Some time ago there was some talking about this here on Slashdot, but it seems it didn't lead anywere. Anyone has more news? Did they lift this really stupid limitation like they did with encryption?
From the posts, a lot of people seems to think that this is another case of the MSX syndrome, and that the PC will destroy PSX2 as it destroyed other contenders
But if you look at PSX2 specs, you'll see it has USB ports (Keyboard, mouse, scanners, printers, Modem/ADSL, even *GASP!* floppies), a FireWire port (Video, but even big and fast HDs), and a Type III PCCard/PCMCIA Slot where you can plug lots of things, from HDs to Video Cards. And all these devices are/should be STANDARD PC PERIPHERALS, not Sony proprietary dongles.
And all this without knowing for sure what PSX2 can do by itself. Is it limited to TV video freqs, or can it do better? Will it have some expansion capabilities (RAM, internal devices) or not?
Maybe after all PSX2 will be able to replace some (lots of?) PCs, since it's not very different from what PCs are becoming these days (think of the new all-usb machines...), and as someone stated in the article, it won't fsck itself up every two games you play "since it doesn't have an HD" (since it doesn't have an idiotic OS on it, i'd say;).
Even Linux-wise the thing is really cool, because its processor is MIPS4000 compatible and its developement system is Linux-based, so it should be easy to port Linux to it, if Sony itself doesn't do it.
If Sony doesn't do something VERY wrong and stupid with this thing (think Commodore...;), PC resellers will see some though competition: not from a 'console', but from a Sony-branded, home-targeted PC that just happens to be called like a console.
Ciao, Rob!
-- since English isn't my native language, corrections are welcome! --
I've worked with domino for 6 years now, but I wasn't able to figure out how to configure it;) Hopefully, this has to do with me being too used to the [insert bad word here] installation/configuration method it has.
Main Topic: Getting Domino Running using RedHat 6.0 Author: Category: Build: Massimo Montecchi on 08/16 at 07:35 PM Domino Server -- General Administration Build Sneak Preview
Message Content: First : thanks to Lotus for this wonderful sneak preview.....
Here are the steps to getting Domino running using Linux RedHat 6.0
1. install Linux (RedHat 6.0). 1a. Login as root ! 1b. install jdk 116 from IBM alphaworks 2. create a user called notes in the group notes 3. download the.TAR file from Lotus. 3a. if you have downloaded the multiple files: cat *.tar > 5011lis.tar 4. un-archive the.TAR file: tar xvf 5011lis.tar 5. cd to the directory where Install exists (same as where license.txt is) 5a. run./install 6. answer the questions, notes is the user, notes is the group 7. change directories and start the setup program 7a. cd/local/notesdata 7b. run/opt/lotus/bin/http httpsetup 8. you should see something that says that the HTTP Setup is running 9. From Netscape open http://your.server:8081 10. Install the notes server ( I assume you know how to do this ) 11. The server will stop. 12. change directories and start the server 12a login as notes 12a. cd/local/notesdata 12b. run/opt/lotus/bin/server
... but this is what you get trying to support many different user interfaces/platform using 'standard' commercial programmers (ie. that couldn't care less: their names are not in the software, and someone other takes the heat from users).
But fear not: the rel 5 of the client is all drag'n'drop, animated, neat-o-matic, HTML6.7.m$.virus compliant, and it only works on MS compliant platforms, Windows and Mac.
;)
I think it's not by accident that in new (future) releases IBM put the enphasis on open network standards: hopefully using a browser, Java, IIOP/CORBA and XML we could dump the darn 'client' (that in the last release is about TWICE THE SIZE of the server...)
Your analisys is very sound, with only one minor problem: MS servers usually have big complexity problems, whose turns very often into reliability problems.
Sure, you could install 10 servers, and if one fails the others take it's clients up, just use a cluster. BUT, does the cluster works? Last time I checked (yesterday, in a Milan bank with 75000$ cluster server system) it didn't: the thing crashed because someone tried to define 5 new aliases...
Many times, trying to use MS super-wizz-flash-instant-active-integrated tecnology, is a waste of time and money. It simply does not work, and if it works you often have to recode it on the next release of some of their systems. For a home user that's not a problem, for a company with thousands of complex documents (and they are complex, it's all about productivity) upgrading to a different Office (or IE) it's a huge cost, and people have already learned this - the hard way.
Were MS solutions acceptable in terms of reliability, linux would still be an obscure geek/hacker OS from Finland.
Microsoft have acknowledged that SP6 introduces a problem with Winsock-based applications such that Administrator privilege is required for the application/service to function. Any less-privileged user is unable to perform the Winsock functions.
[snip]
I have a report that suggests that using the TCPISN-fix version of TCPIP.sys also resolves the problem with Administrator privilege requirements, however, Microsoft believes the problem may exist in TCPIP.sys itself. Providing a modified version of AFD.sys was seen as a quicker way of getting a workaround out.
[end quote]
Now, obviously this is a winsock privilege problem, obviously they didn't do it on purpose, and quite obviously Microsoft DOES NOT KNOW ANYMORE HOW AND IF IT'S TCP/IP STACK WORKS...
Now, if you can say "runaway OS" and "40 million code-lines"...:-/ Hope it's only a "bad choice of words" from MS or Russ Cooper (NTBTQ moderator).
Domino runs almost everywere (NT, 4 or 5 Unix variants, OS/2, Netware), so I don't think it's NT version uses strange tricks to authenticate users. Besides, Notes/Domino authentication is a lot better/sophisticated than NT one.
AND, proposing that a NT admin would give Domain Admin rights to its users is plain NONSENSE. He would rather deinstall/not install SP6.
[GUESS MODE ON] I do not think this has nothing to do with the server: very probably it has to do with an option the Notes client has, that is authenticate using NT services instead of native Notes authentication. That's a feature I personally never used, since it would be something like using telnet to logon as root when you have ssh up and working. It's a feature Lotus put in in the NT version of the client to mimic Exchange features and to avoid an additional password prompt. While having one less password prompt is IMHO a Good Thing, using a knonw-to-be-flawed auth engine it's NOT... Moreover, if you (as a Notes Security Admin) have issued valid passwords to your users upoun creation, then disabling the SP6 ruined auth method is as simple as changing an INI file line inside a text file. [GUESS MODE OFF]
Ciao, Rob! P.S. This article reminds me of the kind of quality you usually get from Italian economical/political journalists. Yes, this is quite an insult...;-)
As I said, if someone knows more than me on the subject 'Nikola Tesla'...:-)
One question on this subject: 'tapping' the broadcasted EM energy is no big issue: the old galena (Lead sulfide) radios did just this.
But this is NOT the issue here: my cell phone at full power broadcasts 2 watt of power, for the joy of my brain that has to withstand that energy for every conversation. If I use the phone for more than a hour, my brain temperature could (will?) rise to dangerous levels.
Tesla's coils, according to some sites I've read (...again, I don't have my bookmarks) should be able to transmit energy without using airborne electromagnetic waves (maybe ground based ones, as you say). The coin experiment you've done is a plain EM stuff.
At this point, I'm asking myself why/how Tesla's theories works, since my school knowledge on these matters is at best scarce....:)
I've read on some not-so-trustworthy sites/books that one of the basic idea of Nikola Tesla was trasmission of energy without cables (sorry, I don't have my bookmarks at hand now). But I do NOT know if this is science fiction or factual reality. Certainly, some of Tesla's works shows that energy can be transmitted, using maybe ground, without electromagnetic waves emission (Tesla's coils). Anyone more informed than me?
On a more 'real/official science' front, you can't trasmit energy from a source to another whithout using EM and harming living beings that are along the path: essentially, NASA plans on orbital solar stations were stopped because the downlink beam was nothing less than a giant open-air microwave oven, ready to cook everything that came under it.
According to IBM Linux Strategy announcement, all major IBM products (Domino included) should be available (i.e. certified) for 4 linux distribution: RedHat, Caldera, SuSE, Turbolinux.
I'm expecting Domino to make no exception, since the new distros will be very similar libs-wise and Domino depends on very few things (c compiler libs and TCPIP stack, essentially) that are distro-specific.
I've been using Notes/Domino since release 2.1 on OS/2, I wrote apps, administered a server farm, and wrote server addins using API. After a period of about 2 years of pure hate toward the product and its programming philosophy - around 1994/5 - I've now come to term with it, liking it for what it can do, and trying to avoid things that it doesn't do well.
Pro: - Database replication - It's databases are NOT relational (yes, it can be a pro...) - Very fast application creation for small to medium complexity requirements. - Server available on a lot of OS and architectures (from little NT to Unixes to OS/390). - Supports open standards A LOT. No other commercial sw supports so many open standards. You can use almost anything to connect to Domino. - Has interfaces to a lot of relational DBs. - Integrated HTML mail for V5.
Cons: - Closed and rather poor Developement environment. Almost no code reuse, you can lose the position of your code very easily. - Very steep learning curve (brick wall style) - Confusion on what tools to use (@Formulas, LotusScript, JavaScript, JAVA/CORBA) to solve a problem. - To do complex things you are required to use some Horrible Kludges (of the kind that would never be accepted in open source project, I fear;) - It's databases are NOT relational (... but it's a con, too;)
I tried to think on how to get all its good features together using OSS, but I fear now that you cannot, unless you devote yourself to initial project developement for a full year before opening it. If you do not have a functional program/system upon which others implement new features and improvements, the Open Source model does NOT work.
Bye, Rob! Feel free to contact me for other info/detail about Domino.
This was indeed true until version 4.5 came out. Now Domino is a rather open tool, that allow you to do things that originally it was not able to do.
The thing is simply that you must know it VERY VERY WELL. There are many dirty hacks that really simplify your programming life under Domino/Notes. It's not pleasant, but now it's workable, and should get better with the next release, since they are shifting the programming focus to Javascript, Java and CORBA. And, on the server, you could use plain old C to do rather interesting things.
I'd try, however, to AVOID using the client, since it ties you not to Lotus, but to MICROSOFT, and that's never a Good Thing.
It's certainly true that the internet was created in the USA, but other significant tecnologies are from the rest of the world, i.e HTTP/HTML without whose there would not have been the internet boom.
Slashdot Mirror
That is, if you avoid to say that in 1986 the Commodore Amiga had UMA, a programmable (2D, ok) blitter chip that could be used to achieve complex results such as hardware-assisted 'life' cellular automata that run at 1000 generations per second on a 7.14MHz machine, and had a display list processor that was able to alter a lot of the HW registers of the chipsets according to user-defined "programs".
Interestingly enough, somewhere in all the chaos surrounding Amiga, there was also a German company (phase5) that planned to release a new and improved version of the Amiga. The name of the thing? A-Box...
Ciao,
Rob!
If PDA-GNOME is lighter and faster than CE, it will work/sell well. Remember that all the weight most people see in GNOME is often due to the Enloghtenment WM that RH bundles it with.
;-)
:)
As for "The market agrees" with you, I have 2 objections:
1 - The market agreed that Windows is the best OS in the workd
2 - I have a Psion 5mx palmtop PC, that does NOT use WinCE but the Epoc32 OS: it's interface is really pleasant, but it work FAST on a 32Mhz Arm processor. In fact, there's event a Doom port for it... 8-)
Just my 0.02 LIT (~= 0.00001 USD
Ciao,
Rob!
Yeah sure, use today tested tecnology, not some weird idea that nobody ever tried even if it promises to be 10 times safer/simpler that the old.
Yours is the rationale behind NASA not using aereospike technology: nobody ever flew an aircraft using it. Too bad it's simpler, more efficient and cost effective than nozzle rockets we use today. At last they are using it for X33, but it was a private corp idea, that (the new) NASA selected because it was more innovative than the other 2 projects.
Another really funny example: Mars Polar lander used the 'old trusted rocket technology" to brake in the martian atmosphere, instead of the exotic aereobrake and ballons the previous lander used. We all saw how old technology was better than the new one in that case... (SPLAT!)
To summarize: Keep it Simple. If the new technology is simpler that the old, it's probably more secure.
Ciao,
Rob!
NASA has a research group that focus on all aspects of physics that *could* lead to the developement of superluminal drive technology.
They recently accepted some proposals for experiments that will receive a grant from NASA. One of them, number 5, is essentially the same we are talking about in this discussion.
BTW, do take a look at the BPP site and "Warp drive When" page, if you didn't have already.
Ciao,
Rob!
These kind of devices DO COPY the content of the disks to their DAC memory and/or their MPEG decoding buffers.
Maybe we should file a lawsuit against Sony, Philips, Pioneer et al for DMCA violation in their player devices.
I'm *really* glad that Italian law forbid these kind of stupid things. Things here are far form perfect, for example 10 years ago M$ was able to 'pass' a software protection law that basically was their EULA at that moment. Too bad (for them!) that that law is in contrast with HALF the italian property law, and no one ever attempted to file a lawsuit using it. And just to specify: Italian property law says that if you BUY something, then you can do with it a lot of things.
Ciao, Rob!
I don't know anything about the code of the game, but I suspect Bullfrog won't have a lot to do with this game: Molineux said after Electronic Art bought it, things changed from "A meeting every three month to a meeting a day", and he left... :)
He now works in/for his Lionhead studios, that he founded after the bad experiences had with BF & EA.
Ciao,
Rob!
I second your point, but there is still a problem: what about the music that noone want to sell to me? For example, foreign countries' music, or old music I can't get nowhere no matter the price offered.
I know people who have over 100 CDs full of MP3. It's almost all (C) material, but material that YOU CAN'T BUY EVEN IF YOU'RE WILLING TO SPEND THE MONEY: nobody sell that stuff nowadays.
It IS theft of IP, but not "money stolen from artists and majors", since they do not care to sell old music pieces.
The solution: majors and or artists should start selling 'oldies' using the net. They get money, I get the music, and I have the option to listen to something I like without being a thief, that at least to me, is a really important thing.
Ciao, Rob!
... ehm.... forgot to type in the URL, or mozilla M15 is playing triks on me?
Ciao, Rob!
Many years ago, someone in Japan had a 'wonderful' idea: create a standard for 'home computers' that allowed them to interoperate even if they were built by different vendors. The times were really different form now, and very little people did buy 'computers', mainly because you had to become a programmer to use them beyond the 'crappy game console' point.
They thought: "with interoperability and support from over 15 vendors, some of them called Sony, Philips, Matsushita, we can't fail!".
Almost. At the end, the MSX standard wasn't so bad (comparatively better than what WinCE is today) but... they shared a limited market base between 15+ manufacturers, and made so little money that after 2 years and an aborted MSX2, they closed shop. All 15 of them.
Now, could this suggest something to Microsoft? They have a new product for a little-more-than-niche market, and are trying to convince the people actually building the devices that they'll somehow make profits. Where? In a market were, between Palm and Symbian/Epoc, there is less than 10% of remaining space? And where the wast majority of the potential PDA user base are NOT going to believe they marketing/FUD tactics because they know enough to 'see the truth'?
MS do hope that their Windows user base will run to Pocket PC, but this will never happen: they are barely able to use a windows PC when they have to (work, school), and have no desire to buy another one to have the hassle always with them.
I'm wondering why HP, Compaq & Co. accepted the 'deal' and tried again. I think that the answer could be very interesting for judge Jackson, too.
Ciao, Rob!
First: you can very easily raise the temperature exposing the aft part of the probe to the sun for, say, 2 days before landing.
Second: If they knew about the microswitch issue, they could have REPROGRAMMED the software to ignore the switches at all for say 10 second after their initial release.
IF NASA KNEW OF THESE SUPPOSED PROBLEM, THEY WOULD HAVE FIXED THEM IN FEW MINUTES: they did far more complex things with the first lander.
So, MAYBE some contractor knew they screwed the thing and didn't tell NASA (and I don't know why, because as I said *this* kind of problems were fixable). But it's FAR MORE likely that this is only a case of stupid and harmful journalism.
Ciao,
Rob!
Hi. Let me introduce myself: I'm 29, male, and European. Italian, to be exact (more on this later).
:). However there are many other fields in wich US companies are behind European or Japanese ones, or just about on par: don't you think that even knowing little data on your competitor (how many faxes he exchanged with your potential customer, or with strategic partners, for example) would be a decisive advantage?
;).
I've read a lot of the messages here, almost all written by american people. It seems to me that many of you missed a little fact about this little fuss:
1- It's about Echelon, and almost all information gathered is open, so it's not like espionage.
Yeah, right. It's WORSE. Think of data mining applied to everyday conversation. You can pick up secrets the people telling them don't know themselves. You say it's ok because these are all public data? I think that this is worse than Orwell's 1984 world: at least there you knew thye were listening.
2- American companies don't need to spy on Europeans ones
Americans companies do have a lot of knowledge in many areas, they have the lead in a lot of businesses, sometimes even if they doesn't deserve this (think Microsoft
3- Bribery is endemic to Europe
Pull your brakes, please! I do know bribery is quite common, especially in some countries (mine, for example...) but usually you don't get very far with it in the big contract area, unless you also sell a very good product: unless your're a state employed decision maker put there because you're the nephew (sp?) of some big politician, and your briber wants to grant you a workplace after, you don't go very far: someone tried (Lockheed, Agusta) and got jailed (or worse, shot itself for the shame - of being caught, I presume
The "we only do this againts bribery" excuse is just that, an excuse to do other things, exactly like UCITA and DMCA are not to protect IP rights, but to get more of YOUR money. Ask yourself which is the difference between lobbying some senator and bribing someone to buy your stuff.
And now, *grand finale* (aka UTTER FANTAPOLITIC MODE ON)
How to ruin a flourishing country
Imagine you have a 'friendly' country with a very good economic momentum. They have strong companies, good technology and *a lot of money*. Much of this success is due to they products winning greatly in the american market, where they are pervceeived as superior to the others and yet cheaper. With all this money, they start buying a lot of things (companies, buildings, paintings...) abroad and in the US in particular. Now, misteriously, this country starts to be hit by political scandals, their new investments in other countries go wrong, and after a while some big banks go bankrupt, leaving a lot of people and companies 'in it to their collars'. How can this happen? Very easily: just spyon the chats between local politicians, listen to the strategic investment plans the industries and financial corporations, move yourself well to 'aid' their competitor in the country were it hurts most, and finally banks and the whole economy will collapse, eventually with a big crush that country is big enough. And all this only listening to almost public data, the ones that go over telephones, faxes, telex and the net, that are the media by which businesses communicate.
Obvously, all this is pure speculation, and all and every resemblance with real world fact are pure coincidence.
Ciaooooo...
Rob!
I do believe you are exposing a real danger that's hidden in the way big corporations do business nowadays...
BUT:
Is this really different from Intel changing processor slots every 6 months, so that I have to buy another motherboard for no practical purpose?
Is this really different from proposed "display encryption", or from they Processor ID codes?
Is this different from many Microsoft strategies, where your only freedom is when, in a 6 month window, you'll upgrade your system before it becomes incompatible with the new MS software? Or with their nice little strategy to put out of market every worthwhile technology they don't control?
What is the difference from having to obtain a license from Sony, or being instantly put out of business by a free integrated Internet Browser, a free integrated Streaming Media Player, or a very cheap microprocessor- or chipset-integrated 3D video board?
Hopefully, Sony will steal some of their market share, propelling competition and hopefully better practices. Will they be as nasty as the US companies behind DMCA, UCITA, the DeCSS affair? I don't know, but IF (and it's a big if) they know for themselves, they should also know why the original playstation sold 70 millions unit, and why the PS1 sales graph is strikingly similar to the CD-Writers sales graph....
Beside this kind of reasoning, there's another advantage I do see in the PS2: as many said here, PS2 WILL be a simpler instrument to use, allowing many more people to access internet and its contents. It will steal the control over the web from MS, and from the other nice people (AOL, Realnetworks...) that NOW are controlling it, and are the only means for the vast majority of people to access the net: if you're not a 'computer geek' of some sort, you are stuck with Windows. Or maybe, if you have more money, with a Mac.
The freedom you have with linux is only for you, me, and other computer skilled people. It do cost you a little fortune, in hardware if you want to stay 'on the edge', and in time you spend to learn and follow the OS. This does not compare to a $350 machine that allows many more people to buy it (it's cheaper) and to use it (it's simpler).
Moreover, nothing and noone can tell NOW if tomorrow linux will be able to run on the PS2: if Sony wants to use it as a "digital content access tool", I believe they'll want a flexible and stable OS on it, and I bet that inside Emotion Engine there _is_ an MMU.
Ciao,
Rob!
According to Sony specs, Sony Playstation 2 qualifies as a Supercomputer too, since it does exceed 1GFlop limit.
Some time ago there was some talking about this here on Slashdot, but it seems it didn't lead anywere. Anyone has more news? Did they lift this really stupid limitation like they did with encryption?
Ciao, Rob!
From the posts, a lot of people seems to think that this is another case of the MSX syndrome, and that the PC will destroy PSX2 as it destroyed other contenders
;).
;), PC resellers will see some though competition: not from a 'console', but from a Sony-branded, home-targeted PC that just happens to be called like a console.
But if you look at PSX2 specs, you'll see it has USB ports (Keyboard, mouse, scanners, printers, Modem/ADSL, even *GASP!* floppies), a FireWire port (Video, but even big and fast HDs), and a Type III PCCard/PCMCIA Slot where you can plug lots of things, from HDs to Video Cards. And all these devices are/should be STANDARD PC PERIPHERALS, not Sony proprietary dongles.
And all this without knowing for sure what PSX2 can do by itself. Is it limited to TV video freqs, or can it do better? Will it have some expansion capabilities (RAM, internal devices) or not?
Maybe after all PSX2 will be able to replace some (lots of?) PCs, since it's not very different from what PCs are becoming these days (think of the new all-usb machines...), and as someone stated in the article, it won't fsck itself up every two games you play "since it doesn't have an HD" (since it doesn't have an idiotic OS on it, i'd say
Even Linux-wise the thing is really cool, because its processor is MIPS4000 compatible and its developement system is Linux-based, so it should be easy to port Linux to it, if Sony itself doesn't do it.
If Sony doesn't do something VERY wrong and stupid with this thing (think Commodore...
Ciao,
Rob!
-- since English isn't my native language, corrections are welcome! --
I've worked with domino for 6 years now, but I wasn't able to figure out how to configure it ;)
- ------------------------
- --------------------------------
.TAR file from Lotus. .TAR file: tar xvf 5011lis.tar ./install /local/notesdata /opt/lotus/bin/http httpsetup /local/notesdata /opt/lotus/bin/server
- ------------------------
Hopefully, this has to do with me being too used to the [insert bad word here] installation/configuration method it has.
I've found this on the "Domino 5 for linux feedback forum" on notes.net, maybe it's useful for you also:
-----------------------------------------------
Main Topic: Getting Domino Running using RedHat 6.0
Author: Category: Build:
Massimo Montecchi
on 08/16 at 07:35 PM Domino Server -- General Administration Build Sneak Preview
-----------------------------------------------
Message Content:
First : thanks to Lotus for this wonderful sneak preview.....
Here are the steps to getting Domino running using Linux RedHat 6.0
1. install Linux (RedHat 6.0).
1a. Login as root !
1b. install jdk 116 from IBM alphaworks
2. create a user called notes in the group notes
3. download the
3a. if you have downloaded the multiple files: cat *.tar > 5011lis.tar
4. un-archive the
5. cd to the directory where Install exists (same as where license.txt is)
5a. run
6. answer the questions, notes is the user, notes is the group
7. change directories and start the setup program
7a. cd
7b. run
8. you should see something that says that the HTTP Setup is running
9. From Netscape open http://your.server:8081
10. Install the notes server ( I assume you know how to do this )
11. The server will stop.
12. change directories and start the server
12a login as notes
12a. cd
12b. run
I hope I remembered everything.
Good luck!
- Massimo
-----------------------------------------------
This is for the old sneak preview, but I hope it helps (especially the download jdk bit... I don't know if it works with blackdown)...
Ciao,
Rob!
... but this is what you get trying to support many different user interfaces/platform using 'standard' commercial programmers (ie. that couldn't care less: their names are not in the software, and someone other takes the heat from users).
But fear not: the rel 5 of the client is all drag'n'drop, animated, neat-o-matic, HTML6.7.m$.virus compliant, and it only works on MS compliant platforms, Windows and Mac.
;)
I think it's not by accident that in new (future) releases IBM put the enphasis on open network standards: hopefully using a browser, Java, IIOP/CORBA and XML we could dump the darn 'client' (that in the last release is about TWICE THE SIZE of the server...)
Ciao,
Rob!
Your analisys is very sound, with only one minor problem: MS servers usually have big complexity problems, whose turns very often into reliability problems.
Sure, you could install 10 servers, and if one fails the others take it's clients up, just use a cluster. BUT, does the cluster works? Last time I checked (yesterday, in a Milan bank with 75000$ cluster server system) it didn't: the thing crashed because someone tried to define 5 new aliases...
Many times, trying to use MS super-wizz-flash-instant-active-integrated tecnology, is a waste of time and money. It simply does not work, and if it works you often have to recode it on the next release of some of their systems. For a home user that's not a problem, for a company with thousands of complex documents (and they are complex, it's all about productivity) upgrading to a different Office (or IE) it's a huge cost, and people have already learned this - the hard way.
Were MS solutions acceptable in terms of reliability, linux would still be an obscure geek/hacker OS from Finland.
Ciao,
Rob!
[from NTBugTraQ]
:-/
Microsoft have acknowledged that SP6 introduces a problem with Winsock-based applications such that Administrator privilege is required for the application/service to function. Any less-privileged user is unable to perform the Winsock functions.
[snip]
I have a report that suggests that using the TCPISN-fix version of TCPIP.sys also resolves the problem with Administrator privilege requirements, however, Microsoft believes the problem may exist in TCPIP.sys itself. Providing a modified version of AFD.sys was seen as a quicker way of getting a workaround out.
[end quote]
Now, obviously this is a winsock privilege problem, obviously they didn't do it on purpose, and quite obviously Microsoft DOES NOT KNOW ANYMORE HOW AND IF IT'S TCP/IP STACK WORKS...
Now, if you can say "runaway OS" and "40 million code-lines"...
Hope it's only a "bad choice of words" from MS or Russ Cooper (NTBTQ moderator).
Ciao,
Rob!
Domino runs almost everywere (NT, 4 or 5 Unix variants, OS/2, Netware), so I don't think it's NT version uses strange tricks to authenticate users. Besides, Notes/Domino authentication is a lot better/sophisticated than NT one.
;-)
AND, proposing that a NT admin would give Domain Admin rights to its users is plain NONSENSE. He would rather deinstall/not install SP6.
[GUESS MODE ON]
I do not think this has nothing to do with the server: very probably it has to do with an option the Notes client has, that is authenticate using NT services instead of native Notes authentication. That's a feature I personally never used, since it would be something like using telnet to logon as root when you have ssh up and working.
It's a feature Lotus put in in the NT version of the client to mimic Exchange features and to avoid an additional password prompt. While having one less password prompt is IMHO a Good Thing, using a knonw-to-be-flawed auth engine it's NOT...
Moreover, if you (as a Notes Security Admin) have issued valid passwords to your users upoun creation, then disabling the SP6 ruined auth method is as simple as changing an INI file line inside a text file.
[GUESS MODE OFF]
Ciao,
Rob!
P.S.
This article reminds me of the kind of quality you usually get from Italian economical/political journalists. Yes, this is quite an insult...
As I said, if someone knows more than me on the subject 'Nikola Tesla'... :-)
:)
One question on this subject: 'tapping' the broadcasted EM energy is no big issue: the old galena (Lead sulfide) radios did just this.
But this is NOT the issue here: my cell phone at full power broadcasts 2 watt of power, for the joy of my brain that has to withstand that energy for every conversation. If I use the phone for more than a hour, my brain temperature could (will?) rise to dangerous levels.
Tesla's coils, according to some sites I've read (...again, I don't have my bookmarks) should be able to transmit energy without using airborne electromagnetic waves (maybe ground based ones, as you say). The coin experiment you've done is a plain EM stuff.
At this point, I'm asking myself why/how Tesla's theories works, since my school knowledge on these matters is at best scarce....
Ciao,
Rob!
I've read on some not-so-trustworthy sites/books that one of the basic idea of Nikola Tesla was trasmission of energy without cables (sorry, I don't have my bookmarks at hand now).
But I do NOT know if this is science fiction or factual reality. Certainly, some of Tesla's works shows that energy can be transmitted, using maybe ground, without electromagnetic waves emission (Tesla's coils). Anyone more informed than me?
On a more 'real/official science' front, you can't trasmit energy from a source to another whithout using EM and harming living beings that are along the path: essentially, NASA plans on orbital solar stations were stopped because the downlink beam was nothing less than a giant open-air microwave oven, ready to cook everything that came under it.
It would make a nice orbital weapon, however...
Ciao,
Rob!
According to IBM Linux Strategy announcement, all major IBM products (Domino included) should be available (i.e. certified) for 4 linux distribution: RedHat, Caldera, SuSE, Turbolinux.
I'm expecting Domino to make no exception, since the new distros will be very similar libs-wise and Domino depends on very few things (c compiler libs and TCPIP stack, essentially) that are distro-specific.
Bye,
Rob!
I've been using Notes/Domino since release 2.1 on OS/2, I wrote apps, administered a server farm, and wrote server addins using API. After a period of about 2 years of pure hate toward the product and its programming philosophy - around 1994/5 - I've now come to term with it, liking it for what it can do, and trying to avoid things that it doesn't do well.
;) ;)
Pro:
- Database replication
- It's databases are NOT relational (yes, it can be a pro...)
- Very fast application creation for small to medium complexity requirements.
- Server available on a lot of OS and architectures (from little NT to Unixes to OS/390).
- Supports open standards A LOT. No other commercial sw supports so many open standards. You can use almost anything to connect to Domino.
- Has interfaces to a lot of relational DBs.
- Integrated HTML mail for V5.
Cons:
- Closed and rather poor Developement environment. Almost no code reuse, you can lose the position of your code very easily.
- Very steep learning curve (brick wall style)
- Confusion on what tools to use (@Formulas, LotusScript, JavaScript, JAVA/CORBA) to solve a problem.
- To do complex things you are required to use some Horrible Kludges (of the kind that would never be accepted in open source project, I fear
- It's databases are NOT relational (... but it's a con, too
I tried to think on how to get all its good features together using OSS, but I fear now that you cannot, unless you devote yourself to initial project developement for a full year before opening it.
If you do not have a functional program/system upon which others implement new features and improvements, the Open Source model does NOT work.
Bye,
Rob!
Feel free to contact me for other info/detail about Domino.
This was indeed true until version 4.5 came out.
Now Domino is a rather open tool, that allow you to do things that originally it was not able to do.
The thing is simply that you must know it VERY VERY WELL. There are many dirty hacks that really simplify your programming life under Domino/Notes. It's not pleasant, but now it's workable, and should get better with the next release, since they are shifting the programming focus to Javascript, Java and CORBA. And, on the server, you could use plain old C to do rather interesting things.
I'd try, however, to AVOID using the client, since it ties you not to Lotus, but to MICROSOFT, and that's never a Good Thing.
Bye,
Rob!
It's certainly true that the internet was created in the USA, but other significant tecnologies are from the rest of the world, i.e HTTP/HTML without whose there would not have been the internet boom.
More people, more ideas, a better internet.
Bye,
Rob!