It's strange that most of this started coming at about the time the moderation system was implemented - I think someone has a grudge against that system and is actively producing some sort of campaign against it.
I don't remember the trolls as being nearly as stupid before moderation. But the good news is that moderation puts them on the bottom of the list where they belong, so I rarely see them.
Our company hired a fellow as our network support guy who had ample credentials and was determined to get even more.
Turns out his entire life goal was to get more credentials. When we discovered that they hid a surprising lack of knowledge and a deep-set hatred of users, his days were numbered.
I'm not convinced at all that finishing a structured program (which this guy loved) is good preparation for a business environment - at least not at our mid-sized, free-wheeling, vaguely unstructured company.
I try to use "lite" JavaScript, sticking to core functions that are pretty consistent between platforms. For instance, sometimes it's handy to open new windows for things like comment screens or email messages; this can be done effectively with very tiny JavaScript programs that have a significant positive effect on usability. For instance, on the web site I've developed for my employer, both employees and the public can "Press the red button" at any time if they have questions or concerns. The red button is far more effective in a new window, since users can check out their problems in the other window while writing the message.
I'm sorry to say I've never heard of XHTML before - care to enlighten me?
Most databases have indexes, which can be thought of as pre-computed sorts. These are used to both retrieve and sort data.
If your SQL database uses indexes effectively, it should be many times faster than perl because much of the sorting has been pre-done for you.
Since I'm writing a response to this already, a few thoughts:
I don't doubt that Oracle is a fine database product, but it's also ruinously expensive and has sluggish connection speed. With mySQL, I can open and close the database in each script I run without significant performance penalty; with Oracle, I'd have to change this and most likely make my code more complex and therefore more bug-prone.
I use C for my CGI scripts primarily because most of them are exceedingly complex, and I feel better using a "real" programming language with low function calling overheads and a syntax that's clean and easy for me to understand later on. I may be paying a performance penalty for keeping things in CGI, but I feel the extra reliability created by the self-contained nature of the programs is worth it. In addition, because I know this stuff cold (thanks to doing it for years), I can crank stuff out extremely fast. If you're starting out, though, you're probably better off using mod_perl or equivalent, unless you have multi-thousand line CGI programs like I do.
Well, the ArpaNET started on PDP-10s, no doubt about it.
But hadn't the world pretty much gone to Unix by the time the Internet began?
D
----
Re:How About The Hackers Who Got The Letter?
on
Tech Stocks Tumble
·
· Score: 2
I certainly wouldn't gloat over the suffering of anyone, let alone Linux users or people believing in the Linux market.
"The Letter" is an offer to take a risk, not an offer to get a sure-fire gain. It's well known in the investment world - and has even been mentioned prominently in Slashdot - that the normal fate of a stock post-IPO is to rise to hefty heights and then fall gradually to its "natural level". If a Linux-oriented investor followed the advice of getting in and out fast, s/he would have made a bundle.
The reason that post got moderated up is that it unfortunately explains the truth about Linux investing. I don't think anyone is seriously happy about fellow Slashdotters losing money - but it should be recognized that losing money is as much a part of the investment world as making it.
I said yesterday in response to this topic that I deliberately stayed out of the recent Linux market simply because it didn't look like there were any opportunities that would not fall to earth quickly. I have a friend who offered to place $50,000 in an etrade account for me to play with, and I've been dodging his offer because I feared that this would happen.
Nothing in life is perfect, not even opportunities given in good faith by other companies.
By the way, those server statistics were pretty interesting. I wonder why Compaq did so well in the Linux server market; when I checked a Compaq price quote, the price of memory was so inflated I walked away. 1GB of Compaq memory cost almost exactly 2/3 of what my whole VA server with 1GB RAM, 50GB RAID and dual 700mhz PIII processors cost! So watch out for that RAM, folks.
Incidentally, I really like my VA server. A lot. Maybe I should invest in the company now that its price has fallen down to an almost reasonable level.
If my memory serves, Larry Agustin himself warned investors that his stock was overvalued, which - naturally - caused me to stay far away from it.
The behaviour of the stock has to do with the "extraordinary delusions and madness of crowds", not the product or company itself.
I had my company purchase a VA Linux server, and so far the system has been flawless and I've been very happy with it. Now that the stock price has gone back to a reasonable level, I'd personally rate it a realistic buy.
I have a friend who suggested that I might help him invest in "this Linux thing" and make a few bucks. But I knew the valuations of Linux companies were sufficiently absurd as to make investment impractical, so I didn't take his offer.
Linux was a great system before these companies went public, it was a great system when they did, and it's a great system now. Nothing has changed but market hysteria.
I wouldn't blame Linux for the hype. Learn how to read a company financial statement, learn how to differentiate between profits and losses, and you won't get burned so badly in the future.
I know that sounds like flippant advice, but it's the cold, hard truth. Take that for what it is.
I suppose I really should have mentioned the sequel.
After having run the archive for years (albiet not having updated it in well over a year), I was contacted by someone proporting to be her. The message was chilly-cold corporate: You no longer have permission to use those pictures, take them down or we sue.
I thought it was much unlike the Jen I knew, but this was confirmed by others. As I said on the page I created immediately after I received the request: "I change, Jen changes, we all change. Allow me to shed a tear".
Note that I never made one thin dime from my archive, although at the time I was asked to take it down I was considering using it as a traffic source for some of my other projects.
Well, I fell for her after seeing her web pages and having numerous emails and phone conversations with her, so I think your judgement is a shade harsh.
But read my original message a bit closely, and you'll realize that I echo your thoughts to a large extent - and that's why I quit viewing the JenniCam entirely.
The moment I saw the old pages she created at Dickinson college, I fell in love with Jenni. When she was knocked off server after server due to the popularity of her content, I gave her a home on amazing.com.
And then she created the JenniCam. I well remember that dramatic moment, her always loveable enthusiasm: "I got a cam for my birthday!* And you do know what I'm going to do with it, don't you?"
I didn't. But I soon found out. At first it was something special for her favourite fans. Then word spread. I didn't like it because I knew my server couldn't handle the hits. So she got another server, had someone design her JENNICAM format, and off she ran. I liked the personal feeling of her old pages more than the almost corporate look she has now, but that's just me.
At first, I loved the cam just as I adored its object. I lovingly collected the best images into an archive that was probably the most popular thing I've ever done on the Internet.
But then she told me she could never, ever love me - and I told myself "You know, watching this thing is just twisting the knife in the wound. It hurts like crazy and doesn't get me anywhere". And so I stopped, cold turkey. From watching the thing in every spare moment I could get, I basically stopped. For a while I maintained the archive because my fellow fans loved it so much, but that fell by the wayside.
The JenniCam was not the first webcam, but it was the first webcam to feature a girl's life. It spawned thousands of imitators, none of which had quite the "real" spirit of the original. Curiously, sometimes the simplest ideas are the hardest to think of - and the most apparently obvious once they're created. I can tell you through numerous email and phone conversations with her that she is a highly creative and intelligent woman.
Incidentally, her BDSM pages, which were erotically charged creations, were taken down by her when she received one too many insulting comments. And she stopped doing her incredibly creative "shows" when she got death threats if she didn't continue. I consider this to be the depressing side of creative expression on the Internet.
Sadly, we've drifted apart over the years, but I still remember her fondly and wish her luck, wherever she is and whatever she does.
D
(*) I don't remember if it was birthday or christmas or whatever -- but it was a gift from her parents.
Admittedly, this isn't directly related to the topic at hand, but it's an interesting fact: Yesterday, my company's DSL connection was out for approximately 12 hours (at least 7am to 6pm, probably a bit longer, 6 was when I last tried it). Apparently a large swathe of Los Angeles went down with us, so it was a severe problem that affected many people.
Our ISP (Concentric) said it was a Covad problem and they had no idea when it would be fixed. Covad said they had no idea when it would be fixed. Everyone I spoke to was reasonable, courteous and clueless.
This article makes me think DSL connections are pretty simple. What could cause such a long outage?
I had already convinced my company to upgrade to a conventional T1 due to reliability issues; now everyone in the company understands why I did it:-).
Lynda's books are written from the perspective of someone who knows how to create images but isn't a webhead.
I'm sure there are millions of webheads out there who are comfortable with the web and computers but have no idea how to even draw a straight line without help.
I'm one of those people. I'd love a book that would tell me how to use Photoshop or Fractal Design Painter from the perspective (pun intended) of someone who needs to understand perspective and other drawing concepts as well. I feel I could have some great designs in me if I just understood how the whole art world works.
So basically, I want a beginning art book that focuses on using drawing/image editing software to create great images, but that takes the time to explain image creation concepts in detail.
Well, that's why I like Enlightenment - love it or hate it, when you use it, you know you're in something different.
My main disappointment is that I still haven't found a really usable theme. My favourite one visually is Hand of God, but it conflicts so severely with the Gnome pager that I can't really use it. Most of the vanilla themes seem vanilla in terms of functionality, too. Or perhaps I'm doing something wrong?
In defense of both Gnome and Enlightenment, as far as I can tell they did invent the integrated pager + Windows95 style taskbar. I find it quite useful, and there's certainly nothing like it in Windows. Admittedly, it's an "embrace and extend" kind of thing instead of true originality, but it does work well, and I use both the Unix-style pager part and the Windows-style taskbar.
I currently use the Gnome + Enlightenment system as distributed through Red Hat 6.1. I have to say that I really like them a lot - desktop user interface quality is getting much closer to the SGI workstation I know and love (and also use).
What are the likely consequences of the schism that has occured between Gnome and Enlightenment? I'm not sure if I even understand the whole thing, but it looked to me like the Enlightenment folks were/are trying to create a more aesthetically pure graphical environment. What do you think of their direction, and are there plans to reconcile the two camps? Or were they really UN-reconciled to begin with?
Finally, I'm relieved to see Gnome gaining ground on KDE - I was sick of that group's slavish adherence to the Windows look and feel. It's nice to see that a different path remains viable.
It's still not likely to be a successful attack for many people.
The public considers a virus any program that would wreak havoc on a large number of people.
Okay, let's say I uploaded something to freshmeat that contained a makefile with the instruction
rm -rf *
somewhere inside. It would impact the first few people who downloaded it, sure. But in no time at all, the file would be pulled from freshmeat and a report posted on Slashdot and other news sites.
I'd say the maximum potential for that one is a few hundred people being affected, peanuts compared to any Microsoft Word-based virus.
But we should give RMS and JWZ et al their due: I have not lost even one byte of data using emacs or xemacs(*). I don't even remember the last time emacs crashed during an editing session. It's easily the most stable large program I've ever used.
Compare that to Microsoft Word, which I use about 1% of the time I use emacs or xemacs, and you'll cry.
D
(*) Okay, a slight exaggeration - I've probably lost 1k or so due to power outages that caused my machine to abruptly stop while I was editing. I can't blame that on emacs! ----
Actually, I have the 14GB drive too, but I still have my Windows partition around, so I can't use the full capacity under Linux.
I may have to nuke the Windows partition - I don't use it, and apparently I can just have Lilo specify the drive parameters and the whole drive will come up under Linux.
You have me beat on the 320MB RAM, though.
Fantastic computer in my opinion. I was impressed that Red Hat 6.1 supported the LCD panel without a whimper. Works fantastic.
Pretty much every hardware company does this. I priced out 1GB of Compaq RAM for one of their fancy servers, and it was $ 7,800. VA Research charged me $ 2,400 for the same stuff when I bought it with their FullOn rack system.
The only thing I wonder is, "How can they get away with this stuff?" And, if there is some reason or another to use their RAM, why isn't it creating obscene profits for the companies involved? Last time I heard, neither Compaq nor Cisco had 600% profit margins. Where does this 600% gross profit go?
Yes, but if I really hated Cisco products, I could simply create a network based entirely on competing ones.
The reason Microsoft's monopoly is so annoying to people is that the products have significant flaws people hate, and yet they use them anyway. This is a perverse result, no?
As far as I can tell, most people in the networking biz love Cisco, so they keep on specifying Cisco, so there.
It looks to me like this varies dramatically by geography. I know people who got and dumped Sprint PCS service because the quality was so crummy. They have the best advertising, but (as far as I can tell) the worst service.
But it looks like this varies dramatically depending on where you live, so get a local recommendation. My guess is that their service is going to be worst in lage and expensive cities where ramping up service is pricy.
I'm in Los Angeles, and here I would under no circumstances get Sprint PCS again - service was horrid.
I have a Noika 6100 series flip phone and it's a very cool piece of technology. My AT&T service is pretty good, too, but like all cell phones I'm aware of, it's not perfect.
I second this recommendation - Epinions is really a fantastic service, very nicely done. Nowadays, when I want to express myself about stuff, I write epinions instead of adding to my web page - they pay you for it (albiet minimalistically, but that's more the fault of the economics of the web than anything else), and the format is pretty cool.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm afraid I've always been too "straight" for that kind of game - I just don't find destructive behaviour interesting or useful.
On the other hand, I'm so time crunched nowadays I don't think I'd have time for that sort of thing even if I loved it.
D
----
You know, this thing deserves to be saved.
But since it's offtopic everywhere, I'm not sure how to do it.
Instead of moderating it up, I'm going to say, "Nice job" and lose my ability to moderate it at all. Only makes sense.
D
----
It's strange that most of this started coming at about the time the moderation system was implemented - I think someone has a grudge against that system and is actively producing some sort of campaign against it.
I don't remember the trolls as being nearly as stupid before moderation. But the good news is that moderation puts them on the bottom of the list where they belong, so I rarely see them.
D
----
Our company hired a fellow as our network support guy who had ample credentials and was determined to get even more.
Turns out his entire life goal was to get more credentials. When we discovered that they hid a surprising lack of knowledge and a deep-set hatred of users, his days were numbered.
I'm not convinced at all that finishing a structured program (which this guy loved) is good preparation for a business environment - at least not at our mid-sized, free-wheeling, vaguely unstructured company.
D
----
I try to use "lite" JavaScript, sticking to core functions that are pretty consistent between platforms. For instance, sometimes it's handy to open new windows for things like comment screens or email messages; this can be done effectively with very tiny JavaScript programs that have a significant positive effect on usability. For instance, on the web site I've developed for my employer, both employees and the public can "Press the red button" at any time if they have questions or concerns. The red button is far more effective in a new window, since users can check out their problems in the other window while writing the message.
I'm sorry to say I've never heard of XHTML before - care to enlighten me?
D
----
Most databases have indexes, which can be thought of as pre-computed sorts. These are used to both retrieve and sort data.
If your SQL database uses indexes effectively, it should be many times faster than perl because much of the sorting has been pre-done for you.
Since I'm writing a response to this already, a few thoughts:
I don't doubt that Oracle is a fine database product, but it's also ruinously expensive and has sluggish connection speed. With mySQL, I can open and close the database in each script I run without significant performance penalty; with Oracle, I'd have to change this and most likely make my code more complex and therefore more bug-prone.
I use C for my CGI scripts primarily because most of them are exceedingly complex, and I feel better using a "real" programming language with low function calling overheads and a syntax that's clean and easy for me to understand later on. I may be paying a performance penalty for keeping things in CGI, but I feel the extra reliability created by the self-contained nature of the programs is worth it. In addition, because I know this stuff cold (thanks to doing it for years), I can crank stuff out extremely fast. If you're starting out, though, you're probably better off using mod_perl or equivalent, unless you have multi-thousand line CGI programs like I do.
D
----
Well, the ArpaNET started on PDP-10s, no doubt about it.
But hadn't the world pretty much gone to Unix by the time the Internet began?
D
----
I certainly wouldn't gloat over the suffering of anyone, let alone Linux users or people believing in the Linux market.
"The Letter" is an offer to take a risk, not an offer to get a sure-fire gain. It's well known in the investment world - and has even been mentioned prominently in Slashdot - that the normal fate of a stock post-IPO is to rise to hefty heights and then fall gradually to its "natural level". If a Linux-oriented investor followed the advice of getting in and out fast, s/he would have made a bundle.
The reason that post got moderated up is that it unfortunately explains the truth about Linux investing. I don't think anyone is seriously happy about fellow Slashdotters losing money - but it should be recognized that losing money is as much a part of the investment world as making it.
I said yesterday in response to this topic that I deliberately stayed out of the recent Linux market simply because it didn't look like there were any opportunities that would not fall to earth quickly. I have a friend who offered to place $50,000 in an etrade account for me to play with, and I've been dodging his offer because I feared that this would happen.
Nothing in life is perfect, not even opportunities given in good faith by other companies.
By the way, those server statistics were pretty interesting. I wonder why Compaq did so well in the Linux server market; when I checked a Compaq price quote, the price of memory was so inflated I walked away. 1GB of Compaq memory cost almost exactly 2/3 of what my whole VA server with 1GB RAM, 50GB RAID and dual 700mhz PIII processors cost! So watch out for that RAM, folks.
Incidentally, I really like my VA server. A lot. Maybe I should invest in the company now that its price has fallen down to an almost reasonable level.
D
----
If my memory serves, Larry Agustin himself warned investors that his stock was overvalued, which - naturally - caused me to stay far away from it.
The behaviour of the stock has to do with the "extraordinary delusions and madness of crowds", not the product or company itself.
I had my company purchase a VA Linux server, and so far the system has been flawless and I've been very happy with it. Now that the stock price has gone back to a reasonable level, I'd personally rate it a realistic buy.
I have a friend who suggested that I might help him invest in "this Linux thing" and make a few bucks. But I knew the valuations of Linux companies were sufficiently absurd as to make investment impractical, so I didn't take his offer.
Linux was a great system before these companies went public, it was a great system when they did, and it's a great system now. Nothing has changed but market hysteria.
I wouldn't blame Linux for the hype. Learn how to read a company financial statement, learn how to differentiate between profits and losses, and you won't get burned so badly in the future.
I know that sounds like flippant advice, but it's the cold, hard truth. Take that for what it is.
D
----
I suppose I really should have mentioned the sequel.
After having run the archive for years (albiet not having updated it in well over a year), I was contacted by someone proporting to be her. The message was chilly-cold corporate: You no longer have permission to use those pictures, take them down or we sue.
I thought it was much unlike the Jen I knew, but this was confirmed by others. As I said on the page I created immediately after I received the request: "I change, Jen changes, we all change. Allow me to shed a tear".
Note that I never made one thin dime from my archive, although at the time I was asked to take it down I was considering using it as a traffic source for some of my other projects.
D
----
Well, I fell for her after seeing her web pages and having numerous emails and phone conversations with her, so I think your judgement is a shade harsh.
But read my original message a bit closely, and you'll realize that I echo your thoughts to a large extent - and that's why I quit viewing the JenniCam entirely.
D
----
The moment I saw the old pages she created at Dickinson college, I fell in love with Jenni. When she was knocked off server after server due to the popularity of her content, I gave her a home on amazing.com.
And then she created the JenniCam. I well remember that dramatic moment, her always loveable enthusiasm: "I got a cam for my birthday!* And you do know what I'm going to do with it, don't you?"
I didn't. But I soon found out. At first it was something special for her favourite fans. Then word spread. I didn't like it because I knew my server couldn't handle the hits. So she got another server, had someone design her JENNICAM format, and off she ran. I liked the personal feeling of her old pages more than the almost corporate look she has now, but that's just me.
At first, I loved the cam just as I adored its object. I lovingly collected the best images into an archive that was probably the most popular thing I've ever done on the Internet.
But then she told me she could never, ever love me - and I told myself "You know, watching this thing is just twisting the knife in the wound. It hurts like crazy and doesn't get me anywhere". And so I stopped, cold turkey. From watching the thing in every spare moment I could get, I basically stopped. For a while I maintained the archive because my fellow fans loved it so much, but that fell by the wayside.
The JenniCam was not the first webcam, but it was the first webcam to feature a girl's life. It spawned thousands of imitators, none of which had quite the "real" spirit of the original. Curiously, sometimes the simplest ideas are the hardest to think of - and the most apparently obvious once they're created. I can tell you through numerous email and phone conversations with her that she is a highly creative and intelligent woman.
Incidentally, her BDSM pages, which were erotically charged creations, were taken down by her when she received one too many insulting comments. And she stopped doing her incredibly creative "shows" when she got death threats if she didn't continue. I consider this to be the depressing side of creative expression on the Internet.
Sadly, we've drifted apart over the years, but I still remember her fondly and wish her luck, wherever she is and whatever she does.
D
(*) I don't remember if it was birthday or christmas or whatever -- but it was a gift from her parents.
----
Admittedly, this isn't directly related to the topic at hand, but it's an interesting fact: Yesterday, my company's DSL connection was out for approximately 12 hours (at least 7am to 6pm, probably a bit longer, 6 was when I last tried it). Apparently a large swathe of Los Angeles went down with us, so it was a severe problem that affected many people.
:-).
Our ISP (Concentric) said it was a Covad problem and they had no idea when it would be fixed. Covad said they had no idea when it would be fixed. Everyone I spoke to was reasonable, courteous and clueless.
This article makes me think DSL connections are pretty simple. What could cause such a long outage?
I had already convinced my company to upgrade to a conventional T1 due to reliability issues; now everyone in the company understands why I did it
D
----
That's interesting, now it looks like BeOS!
An improvement, but certainly not the original thinking I'm really craving.
D
----
Lynda's books are written from the perspective of someone who knows how to create images but isn't a webhead.
I'm sure there are millions of webheads out there who are comfortable with the web and computers but have no idea how to even draw a straight line without help.
I'm one of those people. I'd love a book that would tell me how to use Photoshop or Fractal Design Painter from the perspective (pun intended) of someone who needs to understand perspective and other drawing concepts as well. I feel I could have some great designs in me if I just understood how the whole art world works.
So basically, I want a beginning art book that focuses on using drawing/image editing software to create great images, but that takes the time to explain image creation concepts in detail.
Anyone know of such a book?
D
----
Well, that's why I like Enlightenment - love it or hate it, when you use it, you know you're in something different.
My main disappointment is that I still haven't found a really usable theme. My favourite one visually is Hand of God, but it conflicts so severely with the Gnome pager that I can't really use it. Most of the vanilla themes seem vanilla in terms of functionality, too. Or perhaps I'm doing something wrong?
In defense of both Gnome and Enlightenment, as far as I can tell they did invent the integrated pager + Windows95 style taskbar. I find it quite useful, and there's certainly nothing like it in Windows. Admittedly, it's an "embrace and extend" kind of thing instead of true originality, but it does work well, and I use both the Unix-style pager part and the Windows-style taskbar.
D
----
I currently use the Gnome + Enlightenment system as distributed through Red Hat 6.1. I have to say that I really like them a lot - desktop user interface quality is getting much closer to the SGI workstation I know and love (and also use).
What are the likely consequences of the schism that has occured between Gnome and Enlightenment? I'm not sure if I even understand the whole thing, but it looked to me like the Enlightenment folks were/are trying to create a more aesthetically pure graphical environment. What do you think of their direction, and are there plans to reconcile the two camps? Or were they really UN-reconciled to begin with?
Finally, I'm relieved to see Gnome gaining ground on KDE - I was sick of that group's slavish adherence to the Windows look and feel. It's nice to see that a different path remains viable.
D
----
Check out kmennie's opinions for the Canadian perspective, she wishes she never left Canada. :-)
(She's pretty funny, too).
D
----
It's still not likely to be a successful attack for many people.
The public considers a virus any program that would wreak havoc on a large number of people.
Okay, let's say I uploaded something to freshmeat that contained a makefile with the instruction
rm -rf *
somewhere inside. It would impact the first few people who downloaded it, sure. But in no time at all, the file would be pulled from freshmeat and a report posted on Slashdot and other news sites.
I'd say the maximum potential for that one is a few hundred people being affected, peanuts compared to any Microsoft Word-based virus.
D
----
Yes, that was pretty funny.
But we should give RMS and JWZ et al their due: I have not lost even one byte of data using emacs or xemacs(*). I don't even remember the last time emacs crashed during an editing session. It's easily the most stable large program I've ever used.
Compare that to Microsoft Word, which I use about 1% of the time I use emacs or xemacs, and you'll cry.
D
(*) Okay, a slight exaggeration - I've probably lost 1k or so due to power outages that caused my machine to abruptly stop while I was editing. I can't blame that on emacs!
----
Actually, I have the 14GB drive too, but I still have my Windows partition around, so I can't use the full capacity under Linux.
I may have to nuke the Windows partition - I don't use it, and apparently I can just have Lilo specify the drive parameters and the whole drive will come up under Linux.
You have me beat on the 320MB RAM, though.
Fantastic computer in my opinion. I was impressed that Red Hat 6.1 supported the LCD panel without a whimper. Works fantastic.
D
----
Pretty much every hardware company does this. I priced out 1GB of Compaq RAM for one of their fancy servers, and it was $ 7,800. VA Research charged me $ 2,400 for the same stuff when I bought it with their FullOn rack system.
The only thing I wonder is, "How can they get away with this stuff?" And, if there is some reason or another to use their RAM, why isn't it creating obscene profits for the companies involved? Last time I heard, neither Compaq nor Cisco had 600% profit margins. Where does this 600% gross profit go?
D
----
Yes, but if I really hated Cisco products, I could simply create a network based entirely on competing ones.
The reason Microsoft's monopoly is so annoying to people is that the products have significant flaws people hate, and yet they use them anyway. This is a perverse result, no?
As far as I can tell, most people in the networking biz love Cisco, so they keep on specifying Cisco, so there.
Nothing wrong with that.
D
----
It looks to me like this varies dramatically by geography. I know people who got and dumped Sprint PCS service because the quality was so crummy. They have the best advertising, but (as far as I can tell) the worst service.
But it looks like this varies dramatically depending on where you live, so get a local recommendation. My guess is that their service is going to be worst in lage and expensive cities where ramping up service is pricy.
I'm in Los Angeles, and here I would under no circumstances get Sprint PCS again - service was horrid.
I have a Noika 6100 series flip phone and it's a very cool piece of technology. My AT&T service is pretty good, too, but like all cell phones I'm aware of, it's not perfect.
D
----
I second this recommendation - Epinions is really a fantastic service, very nicely done. Nowadays, when I want to express myself about stuff, I write epinions instead of adding to my web page - they pay you for it (albiet minimalistically, but that's more the fault of the economics of the web than anything else), and the format is pretty cool.
D
----