Not at all. I want something that isn't locked into a single companies development efforts. If Agenda were to go belly-up today (or sometime in the near future), the product would continue to evolve because anyone is able to extend the software on the platform. I've been watching the agenda-dev list and I can already see the power of open-source improving the product.
The summary makes it sound as if the company outfitted their workforce with Agenda VR3s. What it really says is that they had a custom solution developed because, at that time, the Agendas weren't available yet.
I'm really looking forward to getting my Agenda VR3 since, yes, I care that it's Linux. It doesn't sound like it's ready to be a Palm-replacement from all the reviews, but hey, I just want to be able to ssh to/from the sucker and take advantage of the wonderful open-source community.
Agenda's backend order processing leaves a bit to be desired as I ordered a developer unit last week and I have yet to hear when they're going to ship it (and yes, I did call them about this).
As others have said, burn a new CD with the current version, boot on it, and click upgrade.
However, whenever I've done this with Mandrake and Redhat, I've always ended up with a system that is somewhat confused at the end. I've switched everything over to Debian now, which at least has a working upgrade system.
ISPs have been doing this amongst themselves for a long time. Companies like above.net do this every day, albeit they host the servers on their site. On the surface, it simply looks like they're making their routing tables more efficient for customers willing to pay for the privilege. Certain companies that make caching servers employ similiar techniques for streaming media (i.e. cache those who pay the piper for the privilege).
Since it gets the content "closer" to the end user's (albeit of @Home), and doesn't negatively affect everyone else out there, I can't necessarily see this as a bad thing.
I agree with the gist of this lawsuit -- no one can use my computers (or computing power that I pay for) without my consent. There's case law (in the US at least) on the books that backs this up (re: Kevin Mitnick, and the guy that got caught in the "Cuckoo's Egg" true story by Clifford Stoll).
I do not object to individuals making use of my site in an interactive manner. I don't mind if people make use of the information on my site. What I do object to is people using a disproportional amount of resources that I am paying for. Many spidering and site sucking programs do exactly that.
If all programs out there that act like "spiders" (not just the search engines) actually used and respected robots.txt and other mechanisms in place to tell spidering programs how to behave, we wouldn't have to use the courts to enforce our right to tell people if, when, and how they can use our resources.
The Electronic Privacy Communication Act of 1986 already says "private" electronic communications is exactly that -- private. It's nice to see the Supreme Court uphold this law.
As many posters have said, make sure you get a GSM phone that works in countries other than the US. The USA uses GSM1900, other countries use GSM900 and GSM1800. The phones that support "all of the above" are pricy, not to mention what the roaming charges might be.
You're probably better off just getting a kit with a bunch of adaptors in them. Targus makes a little kit that has both power and phone adaptors for most European-type countries (note your laptop power supply will need to support the voltage -- most of them do). Some hotels even have RJ11 jacks, which makes life a lot easier.
As far as a global provider, some have suggested IBM's former ISP (now owned by AT&T). UUNet also offers this service. If you happen to live in USWorst country, they offer a Global Roaming feature for an extra $5/month as part of their ISP package. If you happen to use them as an ISP anyway, this is by far the cheapest way to get global Internet access. Their POP list doesn't include everything you can actually log in via, but if you go here you can search and find a number for wherever you happen to be.
I have to take issue with this statement of the Cluetrain Manifesto:
People in networked markets have figured out that they get far better information and support from one another than from vendors. So much for corporate rhetoric about adding value to commoditized products.
For the vast majority of companies, this is quite correct. Companies are restrained by a variety of different forces. However, I disagree that a vendor is incapable of providng quality support that rivals support given by "one another."
As someone who works both sides of the fence so to speak (I have a vast resource of Check Point FireWall-1 related material on phoneboy.com and I work for a Check Point partner who works very closely with Check Point), I think both types of support have their place. With all the voices out there that are now heard loud and clear on the Internet, someone has to listen to them and sort out which is bullshit and which is the gospel. A vendor on the cluetrain is actively listening to what customers are doing and actually reacting in a positive manner.
I think what's happening in a lot of companies is that there are people who are taking it upon themselves to interact with the public and provide discourse in this conversation called the Internet. There is no "corporate directive" saying to do this. In fact, in some companies, it is actively discouraged because they feel the individuals can't be trusted to "speak the corporate speak." That may be true. The fact of the matter is the smart companies are allowing their employees to participate, even encouraging it. The dumb ones (most are) have tyrannical policies discouraging people from participating.
However, since I actually get paid to support people, I personally have a very fine line to walk. Obviously, for paying customers, my job is to solve their problem. For customers who have problems and say so in a public forum, I make sure they don't or they get where they need to for proper help. For those who aren't paying for support but need help, I do my best, but obviously paying customers get priority. Actually, my needs get priority. After all, I'm human, right, and isn't that what this is about, treating everyone as a human being?
Yeah, I know it doesn't apply to analog roaming (of course, neither does Sprint's plan either). If you have a Nokia 6190, you have to get the Plus module to do Analog.
GSM, if you ignore the fact the US uses different frequencies, is a worldwide standard. I can take the SIM card out of my phone in the US and plug it into a European phone. My identity and phone numbers are stored on the SIM card, so no muss when I travel internationally. GSM hasn't caught on in the states for various reasons.
GSM phones allow far more customization. The Nokia phones allow you to do custom ring tones and graphics, have built-in Data and FAX capabilities (with the right software and cables) and Short Messaging Service (can send and receieve Internet email either through SMS -> Email gateways or through your provider).
The downside to GSM in the states is that there are still some major holes in coverage (though I understand that Dallas and Chicago will have GSM coverage soon). Also, GSM may not be usable in smaller areas, so you'll have to make sure you can roam in Analog mode (if you've got a Nokia, you will have to get the Plus module) and pay analog roaming costs. Other than Voicestream's North American Neighborhood plan, (it's not on their website -- you'll have to call them and ask about it), I don't know of any GSM provider with a nationwide no-roaming, no-long distance plan. I just signed up with this plan (ditching the Death Star), so we'll see how it compares.
As someone who works with firewalls quite a bit, I really have to wonder what technology they are using to filter web sites. Large companies have a difficult time finding a scalable solution to this problem, how can the country of China effectively do this? I see three possible solutions:
Limit connectivity with the rest of the world. Sounds like something an opressive government would do.
Not filter anything.
Packet filtering, which can be done on a larger scale, though you miss a lot of things that way.
From what it sounds like thus far with the comments posted here, I have to think it's packet filtering.
Does anyone know of any external DSL or Cable modems that hook in via a serial connection or internal ones that are compatible with Linux? If they exist, then you can build your own firewall box.
At home, I use an ISDN line hooked into a 3Com ImpactIQ going into an old PC running Linux. I've got a custom kernel on it, ipmasq, ipchains, and the like. Beats the hell out of the ISDN router I got from my employer. It's infinitely more flexible and I can actually understand how to configure it (anyone ever try and configure a Pipeline 75? Ewwwww!)
I think most of you are being too hard on Mot and company. Yeah, these devices are somewhat more simplistic than what we can do ourselves, but most people don't have our level of knowledge. And let's face it, no security solution is going to be perfect. By rolling our own, we cetainly have the best chance at protecting ourselves.
Here's an idea for a consumer-grade device: how about a device that can be updated with new security fixes automatically? Obviously, the companies would sell a subscription to this service. Look, ma, a new revenue stream!
I've been following Mozilla's development since the beginning. Unfortunately, I have not been able to seriously use Mozilla for more than a few minutes due to it's lack of Crypto support. I know this wasn't the fault of Mozilla and company, but rather the US of A's stoopid encryption laws.
Finally, I can now start using Mozilla and do my part as a user to make this browser the best it can be! While I wish the entire thing were open source, what I (and most other people) care about is simply having viable alternatives. Now we all have one.
Open Source certainly enables choice (look at Linux and all the variations of BSD), but it's not the only way to develop software. Believe me, I'm looking forward to the day RSA's patent expires. Then we'll have some real choices.
I actually am quite a big Linux fan. I just can't use it for most of my day-to-day work because I have to use applications I can't run in anything but Windows. As soon as Check Point ports Secure Client to Linux, you can bet I'll be dumping Windows in a flash.
My biggest problem with using "new" features in web pages is that without a significant amount of work, it's difficult to make it so those with older browsers can use the page. With frames, it's possible to gracefully handle non frame-capable browsers. As such, I can make the site slightly easier to use for people with frames support without sacrificing anything.
With JavaScript, Java, and other assorted plugins, it's not possible without a significant amount of work, which is probably why some sites aren't accomidating to many older browsers. The only thing I do in JavaScript is escape someone else's frames. If it doesn't work, it's not a big deal.
I remember how people used to write really small, really fast assembly code because, quite frankly, the hardware didn't allow for you to be wasteful. Memory and processing power was a precious resource. Programmers tried to squeeze every last ounce of memory and processing power out of a computer. And we *liked* it, damn it!;-)
Obviously, in the days of cheap memory, processing power, and Microsoft, bloatware is the norm instead of the exception.
I pretty much stay away from just about every advancement that has taken place in HTML and it's bretheren since the IMG tag and tables. The reason: I want the most number of people to be able to make use of my web pages. Just by leaving out a lot of the advanced features, you can reduce the web page to little more than the actual text. Okay, it's not "pretty," but it loads really fast even over a modem connection (actual text compresses on modem connections).
I may have "big" pages but that's because they are heavy on actual content and light on fluff.
... though I imagine anything from BlackBox will work just peachy. They cost a bit more, but all products come with lifetime technical support and support monitors up to 1600x1200. I use it to switch between Win9x, WinNT, and Linux and it works great in all OSes.
The only problem I have with it is on my IBM Stinkpad... the mouse goes nuts on me more often than not. Of course, the docs do warn about my particular model not being compatible with laptop docking stations, so this doesn't come as a complete surprise.
http://www.phoneboy.com/slirp/, which is useful for those who are trying to run SLiRP with a Mac. Granted, I haven't added anything to this page in quite a while, but I keep it up there for people that need it. I still get an email or two about it every so often and, at least in the past month, the page got ~900 hits.
I was going to write a page for Win9x a while ago, but it's one of those things that seemed to use relevance once PPP accounts were plentiful and shell accounts were few. It's really nice to see that people are still using it.
Slashdot Mirror
Not at all. I want something that isn't locked into a single companies development efforts. If Agenda were to go belly-up today (or sometime in the near future), the product would continue to evolve because anyone is able to extend the software on the platform. I've been watching the agenda-dev list and I can already see the power of open-source improving the product.
-- PhoneBoy
The summary makes it sound as if the company outfitted their workforce with Agenda VR3s. What it really says is that they had a custom solution developed because, at that time, the Agendas weren't available yet.
I'm really looking forward to getting my Agenda VR3 since, yes, I care that it's Linux. It doesn't sound like it's ready to be a Palm-replacement from all the reviews, but hey, I just want to be able to ssh to/from the sucker and take advantage of the wonderful open-source community.
Agenda's backend order processing leaves a bit to be desired as I ordered a developer unit last week and I have yet to hear when they're going to ship it (and yes, I did call them about this).
-- PhoneBoy
As others have said, burn a new CD with the current version, boot on it, and click upgrade.
However, whenever I've done this with Mandrake and Redhat, I've always ended up with a system that is somewhat confused at the end. I've switched everything over to Debian now, which at least has a working upgrade system.
-- PhoneBoy
ISPs have been doing this amongst themselves for a long time. Companies like above.net do this every day, albeit they host the servers on their site. On the surface, it simply looks like they're making their routing tables more efficient for customers willing to pay for the privilege. Certain companies that make caching servers employ similiar techniques for streaming media (i.e. cache those who pay the piper for the privilege).
Since it gets the content "closer" to the end user's (albeit of @Home), and doesn't negatively affect everyone else out there, I can't necessarily see this as a bad thing.
-- PhoneBoy
I do not object to individuals making use of my site in an interactive manner. I don't mind if people make use of the information on my site. What I do object to is people using a disproportional amount of resources that I am paying for. Many spidering and site sucking programs do exactly that.
If all programs out there that act like "spiders" (not just the search engines) actually used and respected robots.txt and other mechanisms in place to tell spidering programs how to behave, we wouldn't have to use the courts to enforce our right to tell people if, when, and how they can use our resources.
-- PhoneBoy
The Electronic Privacy Communication Act of 1986 already says "private" electronic communications is exactly that -- private. It's nice to see the Supreme Court uphold this law.
-- PhoneBoy
I meant here
As many posters have said, make sure you get a GSM phone that works in countries other than the US. The USA uses GSM1900, other countries use GSM900 and GSM1800. The phones that support "all of the above" are pricy, not to mention what the roaming charges might be.
You're probably better off just getting a kit with a bunch of adaptors in them. Targus makes a little kit that has both power and phone adaptors for most European-type countries (note your laptop power supply will need to support the voltage -- most of them do). Some hotels even have RJ11 jacks, which makes life a lot easier.
As far as a global provider, some have suggested IBM's former ISP (now owned by AT&T). UUNet also offers this service. If you happen to live in USWorst country, they offer a Global Roaming feature for an extra $5/month as part of their ISP package. If you happen to use them as an ISP anyway, this is by far the cheapest way to get global Internet access. Their POP list doesn't include everything you can actually log in via, but if you go here you can search and find a number for wherever you happen to be.
-- PhoneBoy
As someone who works both sides of the fence so to speak (I have a vast resource of Check Point FireWall-1 related material on phoneboy.com and I work for a Check Point partner who works very closely with Check Point), I think both types of support have their place. With all the voices out there that are now heard loud and clear on the Internet, someone has to listen to them and sort out which is bullshit and which is the gospel. A vendor on the cluetrain is actively listening to what customers are doing and actually reacting in a positive manner.
I think what's happening in a lot of companies is that there are people who are taking it upon themselves to interact with the public and provide discourse in this conversation called the Internet. There is no "corporate directive" saying to do this. In fact, in some companies, it is actively discouraged because they feel the individuals can't be trusted to "speak the corporate speak." That may be true. The fact of the matter is the smart companies are allowing their employees to participate, even encouraging it. The dumb ones (most are) have tyrannical policies discouraging people from participating.
However, since I actually get paid to support people, I personally have a very fine line to walk. Obviously, for paying customers, my job is to solve their problem. For customers who have problems and say so in a public forum, I make sure they don't or they get where they need to for proper help. For those who aren't paying for support but need help, I do my best, but obviously paying customers get priority. Actually, my needs get priority. After all, I'm human, right, and isn't that what this is about, treating everyone as a human being?
-- PhoneBoy
Yeah, I know it doesn't apply to analog roaming (of course, neither does Sprint's plan either). If you have a Nokia 6190, you have to get the Plus module to do Analog.
GSM, if you ignore the fact the US uses different frequencies, is a worldwide standard. I can take the SIM card out of my phone in the US and plug it into a European phone. My identity and phone numbers are stored on the SIM card, so no muss when I travel internationally. GSM hasn't caught on in the states for various reasons.
GSM phones allow far more customization. The Nokia phones allow you to do custom ring tones and graphics, have built-in Data and FAX capabilities (with the right software and cables) and Short Messaging Service (can send and receieve Internet email either through SMS -> Email gateways or through your provider).
The downside to GSM in the states is that there are still some major holes in coverage (though I understand that Dallas and Chicago will have GSM coverage soon). Also, GSM may not be usable in smaller areas, so you'll have to make sure you can roam in Analog mode (if you've got a Nokia, you will have to get the Plus module) and pay analog roaming costs. Other than Voicestream's North American Neighborhood plan, (it's not on their website -- you'll have to call them and ask about it), I don't know of any GSM provider with a nationwide no-roaming, no-long distance plan. I just signed up with this plan (ditching the Death Star), so we'll see how it compares.
-- PhoneBoy
- Limit connectivity with the rest of the world. Sounds like something an opressive government would do.
- Not filter anything.
- Packet filtering, which can be done on a larger scale, though you miss a lot of things that way.
From what it sounds like thus far with the comments posted here, I have to think it's packet filtering.-- PhoneBoy
Does anyone know of any external DSL or Cable modems that hook in via a serial connection or internal ones that are compatible with Linux? If they exist, then you can build your own firewall box.
At home, I use an ISDN line hooked into a 3Com ImpactIQ going into an old PC running Linux. I've got a custom kernel on it, ipmasq, ipchains, and the like. Beats the hell out of the ISDN router I got from my employer. It's infinitely more flexible and I can actually understand how to configure it (anyone ever try and configure a Pipeline 75? Ewwwww!)
I think most of you are being too hard on Mot and company. Yeah, these devices are somewhat more simplistic than what we can do ourselves, but most people don't have our level of knowledge. And let's face it, no security solution is going to be perfect. By rolling our own, we cetainly have the best chance at protecting ourselves.
Here's an idea for a consumer-grade device: how about a device that can be updated with new security fixes automatically? Obviously, the companies would sell a subscription to this service. Look, ma, a new revenue stream!
-- PhoneBoy
I've been following Mozilla's development since the beginning. Unfortunately, I have not been able to seriously use Mozilla for more than a few minutes due to it's lack of Crypto support. I know this wasn't the fault of Mozilla and company, but rather the US of A's stoopid encryption laws.
Finally, I can now start using Mozilla and do my part as a user to make this browser the best it can be! While I wish the entire thing were open source, what I (and most other people) care about is simply having viable alternatives. Now we all have one.
Open Source certainly enables choice (look at Linux and all the variations of BSD), but it's not the only way to develop software. Believe me, I'm looking forward to the day RSA's patent expires. Then we'll have some real choices.
-- PhoneBoy
I actually am quite a big Linux fan. I just can't use it for most of my day-to-day work because I have to use applications I can't run in anything but Windows. As soon as Check Point ports Secure Client to Linux, you can bet I'll be dumping Windows in a flash.
-- PhoneBoy
Okay, so I use Winblows. It's hard not to. ;-)
My biggest problem with using "new" features in web pages is that without a significant amount of work, it's difficult to make it so those with older browsers can use the page. With frames, it's possible to gracefully handle non frame-capable browsers. As such, I can make the site slightly easier to use for people with frames support without sacrificing anything.
With JavaScript, Java, and other assorted plugins, it's not possible without a significant amount of work, which is probably why some sites aren't accomidating to many older browsers. The only thing I do in JavaScript is escape someone else's frames. If it doesn't work, it's not a big deal.
-- PhoneBoy
I remember how people used to write really small, really fast assembly code because, quite frankly, the hardware didn't allow for you to be wasteful. Memory and processing power was a precious resource. Programmers tried to squeeze every last ounce of memory and processing power out of a computer. And we *liked* it, damn it! ;-)
Obviously, in the days of cheap memory, processing power, and Microsoft, bloatware is the norm instead of the exception.
I pretty much stay away from just about every advancement that has taken place in HTML and it's bretheren since the IMG tag and tables. The reason: I want the most number of people to be able to make use of my web pages. Just by leaving out a lot of the advanced features, you can reduce the web page to little more than the actual text. Okay, it's not "pretty," but it loads really fast even over a modem connection (actual text compresses on modem connections).
I may have "big" pages but that's because they are heavy on actual content and light on fluff.
-- PhoneBoy
... though I imagine anything from BlackBox will work just peachy. They cost a bit more, but all products come with lifetime technical support and support monitors up to 1600x1200. I use it to switch between Win9x, WinNT, and Linux and it works great in all OSes.
The only problem I have with it is on my IBM Stinkpad... the mouse goes nuts on me more often than not. Of course, the docs do warn about my particular model not being compatible with laptop docking stations, so this doesn't come as a complete surprise.
-- PhoneBoy
http://www.phoneboy.com/slirp/, which is useful for those who are trying to run SLiRP with a Mac. Granted, I haven't added anything to this page in quite a while, but I keep it up there for people that need it. I still get an email or two about it every so often and, at least in the past month, the page got ~900 hits.
I was going to write a page for Win9x a while ago, but it's one of those things that seemed to use relevance once PPP accounts were plentiful and shell accounts were few. It's really nice to see that people are still using it.
-- PhoneBoy