I have personally been a Pair customer for the past year and have had nothing but good service from them. I got a pair account so that I would have a stable domain ( academus.net) to store my website/resume and email address so when I change locations or ISPs I don't have to change everything that has to do with my ISP. I highly recommend pair. (And no, I am not getting paid off by them...though if I see a slight discount on my next invoice I'll know why;-)
My question is (and I have no experience with home automation kits) whether there is any advantage to getting multiple kits? Can you make use of the relays that come with other kits to set up a very cheap system, or is there a limitation of some sort?
Ok, if I read this correctly (and I admit I ran through it only once) then there are a few things that I think could hinder this plan.
1. This seems unfeasible(sp?) until there is inexpensive and common high/ultrahigh-bandwidth connections to peoples homes. Perhaps AOL wants to buy Qwest?:-)
2. Is a JVM system really fast enough now to work as a real OS or even application on its own?
3. Somehow it seems to me that using the net as a giant application server is a very good way to both reduce security both on the server end (cracker modifies the Java code? BOOM) and in the data stream (we would want uber-encryption on this data, and it is still decoded on the server side, returning to my previous point).
4. Who would run the massively high-speed computers to do all this processing? I would think that serving apps for x number of net users, combined with whatever encryption is needed on the data would slow most computers (I mean even SMP servers and clusters) to a crawl. And if you limit the number of connections to each server, what happens if there is a surge in users and the servers are overloaded? Can you say lawsuit?
5. The 'net, even though it is designed to be redundant, occasionally loses connection with parts of itself. How would this be handled? For those on modem access, what if you are suddenly disconnected after typing 9 pages of a term paper? Are there accounts on these servers in which your abandoned document is saved, or does it just expire as soon as the connection times out?
I don't know, I too was on the UO Beta (Second Phase and T2A) and I am very impressed with the frequency at which eBay is updating their status page. Almost reminds me of the early part of the first Beta, where updates were almost constant instead of later in the beta and T2A when updates...oh yeah, there almost weren't any.
Anyway, this isn't off topic, I just wanted to commend eBay on their obvious dedication to their customers. It's also nice that they are letting a few technical details out to satiate us techs who understand them. I can't stand it when companies assume the user is a moron. Hence my dislike for MacOS and Windows.
Perhaps a better word would be asocial, describing someone who seperates themselves from the normal social structure in some way. I know that I would rather be sitting in front of the CRT by myself than sit around doing nothing with friends.
For another book dealing with Fandom, check out "Fallen Angels" by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Michael Flynn. It's an insightful look at classic (if not modern) Sci-Fi fandom. Oh, and it is fiction, I just noticed that I sort of introduced it as non-fiction. The parallels to todays world are so striking it's almost scary.
Ok, I am not a rabid Anti-Katz slashdotter by any stretch of the imagination. Occasionally I find one of his articles to be entertaining, but this one cried out for a post.
> The first one to read it wins some fried > chicken, a Jar Jar air freshener and one of my > dozen"How To Install Linux" handbooks.
Hmm...has anyone else noticed a strange LACK of articles on Katz trying to get Linux to work? Not sure if I may have missed an article somewhere, but if not, I suppose he gave up and wants to recoup some of his investment.
> My own notion is that there are significant class > differences between the two cults. "Star Wars" > has always attracted a different audience > brainier, more techno-centered, perhaps because it > has a high-minded sounding High Priest in George > Lucas, whereas the Trekkies have to get > their inspiration from William Shatner.
I find your comparison of leadership flawed at its most basic level. First, George Lucas is the mind behind Star Wars, and to apply that comparison, you would need to compare to Gene Roddenberry and Rick Berman. Unless you wanted to go with lead actors, in which case you'd have to compare Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford to Shatner, Stewart, etc., and I know who I'd consider to be the better group of actors there.
> These are the folks who study the Klingon language > (a Klingon version of "Hamlet" and the Bible are > in the works, and theres a hilarious scene in the > movie where students try to learn the word "kill" > in Klingon)
You may find it funny, but I find it amazing that from a work of fiction there can emerge an entire language. I do not know the slightest bit of Klingon, and haven't researched it much, but it seems to be a ful fledged language of its own, not overwhelmingly derived from any extant language. This grasp of linguistics goes to show that Star Trek is/was far better researched and utilizes more esoteric knowledge than anything from the Star Wars camp. Some of my favorite moments when watching Star Trek are when they mention some obscure facet of history or other culture and I think "Hey, I KNOW about that!". I must admit, I'm a sucker for esoteric allusions, but I get none of that from Star Wars (yes, I know it's because it is a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away, but why?)
> By and large, the trekkies in "Trekkies" are good > hearted and appealing, even the dentist in Florida > who wears a Starship uniform and decorated his > office to look like a Federation warship, and > whose sometimes rattled patients look up to see > the Enterprise hovering about the dental chair.
Ok, perhaps this is overpicky, but a Federation WARSHIP? AFAIK, the Federation has only one starship (i.e. not those interceptor things that came from Jupiter to attack the Borg cube) that is specifically designed for offensive action, and the Defiant is used for mostly exploration and science missions anyway. That you would not know this demonstrates that you have not been exposed to Star Trek to form an educated opinion on it. Star Wars on the other hand, requires...7, now 9 hours of movie watching to learn the largest part of the canonical story (I am discounting the books, I know, but I am canceling that out by not counting the Star Trek books). Star Trek, on the other hand, because of its TV series, has an enormous supply of canonical video from which you can familiarize yourself with the Star Trek universe. When one compares the percentage of SW video you have seen to the percentage of ST video you have seen, do you consider that ratio large enough to make a decent comparison? Now for a bit pertaining the little I quoted above. Certainly some people go overboard...I'm sure that there are Star Wars fans who do the same thing. The only reason that there may seem to be more ST fanatics is because of the aforementioned depth compared to SW. It is a simple ratio...
> In "Trekkies", Roddenberrys widow and others try > to make a case that the real appeal of "Star > Trek" is that it presents a hopeful, diverse view > of the world. That doesnt really fly. I think the > more accurate explanation is that "Star Trek" has > always been so earnest and clunky that its > completely accessible, relaxing, even camp.
Ok, let me get this straight, you don't think that Star Trek provides a "hopeful, diverse view of the world"? Ooook, perhaps you haven't even seen the Star Trek that I have. Part of the "earnest"ness that you mention is because when it delivers its message, Star Trek takes itself seriously. As for "accessible" and "relaxing", this is just because Star Trek does not slap you across the face with its messages...they are there if you look for them (much less so now, but it peaked with ST:TNG) but you could easily sit through an entire episode and really "see" as much or as little as you liked. The show had depth if you looked for it, but the plot was thick enough that you could watch it at any level without plunging into deep water(to continue the analogy).
Now for the TPM review...
> The Hans Solo character is sorely missed. Lucas > and his movies tend towards self-importance, and > Solo jeered at just the right times ("you take the > Force, kid, Ill take the money.") Jar Jar doesnt > begin to fill Solos ironic and deflating shoes"
Excuse me: HanS Solo? Ok, you are either writing this very late at night, or you have never read a SW book, read the back of the tape boxes, or even listened to the dialog carefully. Isn't research an important part of journalism? Anyone can write a rant (as demonstrated by this post), but an editorial, in my opinion, qualifies as journalistic content and should be checked over with the same care. This sloppiness is further demonstrated by your probable mis-quote "the focus IS the reality". I don't remember this line in particular from the movie, but s/focus/force/ seems to make more sense. As for comparing the role of Jar Jar to Han Solo?!?! Where did you come up with that comparison? As mentioned in another post, Jar Jar is much more akin to C3PO (right down to "How Rude!") than the cavalier mercenary found in the likes of Han Solo, not to mention that fact that unless he is (much) older than he looks, Han won't be born for at least 30 years.
Ok, I'm tired of block-quoting, so I shall be brief. I do not consider Anakin's scripting to be "clunky", I consider it to be an accurate representation of what a 7 or 8 year old boy would say, either in this time or long, long ago. How would you have him be, as the Darth-to-be? I think that giving him this light cheery attitude now will further enhance his fall to the dark side. Wouldn't a dark, brooding youth be not only obvious (and not worth the story of "How this Boy Turned Into a Very Bad Man") but be unlikely to be taken in by the Jedi as a trainee?
"chill the Hype"? I'm sorry, but I don't think that most of the Hype (obviously a proper noun, as you capitalized it) came from Lucas himself. I can name a long list of movies that have had soft drink and restaurant tie-ins (which are probably one of the few Lucas-approved avenues of Hype). The rest has been either from the fans, or from the media which caters to them. And, as long as they don't do anything tasteless (which some of the PH, TB, KFC commercials come close to) I have no problem with the Hype. People have a right to make money whatever ways the market will support, and people have every right to ignore it. If enough people ignore it, they remove market support, which negates the effect of the advertising. So, in effect, the tie-ins only exist because they work.
Ok, I've been at this rant for a good half hour now, which means it will be at the bottom of the posts where no-one will read it, but perhaps it will be moderated up. Anyway, I now cast my post into the eddies and currents of free moderation.
Tom Byrum, username mycroft can be mailed to via academus.net
Sounds like a great book...oh wait, it is.
on
Thought Recognition
·
· Score: 1
When I read this I felt a small memory in the dim recesses of my literary background twitch...then it hit me (Which hurt. Memories aren't supposed to do that sort of thing, but it happens to other people so it must not be terribly unusual).
Has anyone read the excellent book _Enders Game_ by Orson Scott Card? See any parallels?
The scary thing is that if you throw the massive corperate power from Gibson books and _Shadowrun_ (oh, there's a difference?:-) together with the "trained from birth for a specific job" power of...say either _Enders Game_ or _Brave New World_, this scenario is likely to be entirely possible in...20? 30 years?
I had always thought that QWERTY keyboards were set up the way they were because early salesmen wanted to be able to amaze consumers by typing out "TYPEWRITER" with amazing speed. This, of course, was done by placing all the requisite letters in the top row (go ahead, try it). The jamming thing makes sense, but so does the explanation I heard before.
Woah, I'm sorry, did you say "WinAmp's MP3.com site"? I'ma afraid you made a factual error there, as MP3.com is owned and operated by Zco, Inc. You probably meant to say something like winamp.com, or nullsoft.com.
Slashdot Mirror
I have personally been a Pair customer for the past year and have had nothing but good service from them. I got a pair account so that I would have a stable domain ( academus.net) to store my website/resume and email address so when I change locations or ISPs I don't have to change everything that has to do with my ISP. I highly recommend pair. (And no, I am not getting paid off by them...though if I see a slight discount on my next invoice I'll know why ;-)
Tom Byrum
My question is (and I have no experience with home automation kits) whether there is any advantage to getting multiple kits? Can you make use of the relays that come with other kits to set up a very cheap system, or is there a limitation of some sort?
Tom Byrum
Duh, how many new systems do you think come out with ISA slots anymore? I would bet this one would almost certainly not.
Anyway, there is nothing wrong with PCI modems if that's all you have. There isn't any benefit, but not really a downside (AFAIK) either.
Tom Byrum
(Still using his Creative Labs 28.8 Modem...)
Ok, if I read this correctly (and I admit I ran through it only once) then there are a few things that I think could hinder this plan.
:-)
1. This seems unfeasible(sp?) until there is inexpensive and common high/ultrahigh-bandwidth connections to peoples homes. Perhaps AOL wants to buy Qwest?
2. Is a JVM system really fast enough now to work as a real OS or even application on its own?
3. Somehow it seems to me that using the net as a giant application server is a very good way to both reduce security both on the server end (cracker modifies the Java code? BOOM) and in the data stream (we would want uber-encryption on this data, and it is still decoded on the server side, returning to my previous point).
4. Who would run the massively high-speed computers to do all this processing? I would think that serving apps for x number of net users, combined with whatever encryption is needed on the data would slow most computers (I mean even SMP servers and clusters) to a crawl. And if you limit the number of connections to each server, what happens if there is a surge in users and the servers are overloaded? Can you say lawsuit?
5. The 'net, even though it is designed to be redundant, occasionally loses connection with parts of itself. How would this be handled? For those on modem access, what if you are suddenly disconnected after typing 9 pages of a term paper? Are there accounts on these servers in which your abandoned document is saved, or does it just expire as soon as the connection times out?
Tom Byrum
Isn't it ironic that MSNBC is reporting on the planned demise of Micros~1?
Tom Byrum
Cupertino, as in the headquarters of everyones favorite iMac manufacturer? I guess that explains their marketing push in the early 90s... :-)
Tom Byrum
I don't know, I too was on the UO Beta (Second Phase and T2A) and I am very impressed with the frequency at which eBay is updating their status page. Almost reminds me of the early part of the first Beta, where updates were almost constant instead of later in the beta and T2A when updates...oh yeah, there almost weren't any.
Anyway, this isn't off topic, I just wanted to commend eBay on their obvious dedication to their customers. It's also nice that they are letting a few technical details out to satiate us techs who understand them. I can't stand it when companies assume the user is a moron. Hence my dislike for MacOS and Windows.
Perhaps a better word would be asocial, describing someone who seperates themselves from the normal social structure in some way. I know that I would rather be sitting in front of the CRT by myself than sit around doing nothing with friends.
Tom Byrum
For another book dealing with Fandom, check out "Fallen Angels" by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Michael Flynn. It's an insightful look at classic (if not modern) Sci-Fi fandom. Oh, and it is fiction, I just noticed that I sort of introduced it as non-fiction. The parallels to todays world are so striking it's almost scary.
Tom Byrum
> The first one to read it wins some fried
> chicken, a Jar Jar air freshener and one of my
> dozen"How To Install Linux" handbooks.
Hmm...has anyone else noticed a strange LACK of articles on Katz trying to get Linux to work? Not sure if I may have missed an article somewhere, but if not, I suppose he gave up and wants to recoup some of his investment.
> My own notion is that there are significant class
> differences between the two cults. "Star Wars"
> has always attracted a different audience
> brainier, more techno-centered, perhaps because it
> has a high-minded sounding High Priest in George
> Lucas, whereas the Trekkies have to get
> their inspiration from William Shatner.
I find your comparison of leadership flawed at its most basic level. First, George Lucas is the mind behind Star Wars, and to apply that comparison, you would need to compare to Gene Roddenberry and Rick Berman. Unless you wanted to go with lead actors, in which case you'd have to compare Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford to Shatner, Stewart, etc., and I know who I'd consider to be the better group of actors there.
> These are the folks who study the Klingon language
> (a Klingon version of "Hamlet" and the Bible are
> in the works, and theres a hilarious scene in the
> movie where students try to learn the word "kill"
> in Klingon)
You may find it funny, but I find it amazing that from a work of fiction there can emerge an entire language. I do not know the slightest bit of Klingon, and haven't researched it much, but it seems to be a ful fledged language of its own, not overwhelmingly derived from any extant language. This grasp of linguistics goes to show that Star Trek is/was far better researched and utilizes more esoteric knowledge than anything from the Star Wars camp. Some of my favorite moments when watching Star Trek are when they mention some obscure facet of history or other culture and I think "Hey, I KNOW about that!". I must admit, I'm a sucker for esoteric allusions, but I get none of that from Star Wars (yes, I know it's because it is a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away, but why?)
> By and large, the trekkies in "Trekkies" are good
> hearted and appealing, even the dentist in Florida
> who wears a Starship uniform and decorated his
> office to look like a Federation warship, and
> whose sometimes rattled patients look up to see
> the Enterprise hovering about the dental chair.
Ok, perhaps this is overpicky, but a Federation WARSHIP? AFAIK, the Federation has only one starship (i.e. not those interceptor things that came from Jupiter to attack the Borg cube) that is specifically designed for offensive action, and the Defiant is used for mostly exploration and science missions anyway.
That you would not know this demonstrates that you have not been exposed to Star Trek to form an educated opinion on it. Star Wars on the other hand, requires...7, now 9 hours of movie watching to learn the largest part of the canonical story (I am discounting the books, I know, but I am canceling that out by not counting the Star Trek books). Star Trek, on the other hand, because of its TV series, has an enormous supply of canonical video from which you can familiarize yourself with the Star Trek universe. When one compares the percentage of SW video you have seen to the percentage of ST video you have seen, do you consider that ratio large enough to make a decent comparison?
Now for a bit pertaining the little I quoted above. Certainly some people go overboard...I'm sure that there are Star Wars fans who do the same thing. The only reason that there may seem to be more ST fanatics is because of the aforementioned depth compared to SW. It is a simple ratio...
> In "Trekkies", Roddenberrys widow and others try
> to make a case that the real appeal of "Star
> Trek" is that it presents a hopeful, diverse view
> of the world. That doesnt really fly. I think the
> more accurate explanation is that "Star Trek" has
> always been so earnest and clunky that its
> completely accessible, relaxing, even camp.
Ok, let me get this straight, you don't think that Star Trek provides a "hopeful, diverse view of the world"? Ooook, perhaps you haven't even seen the Star Trek that I have. Part of the "earnest"ness that you mention is because when it delivers its message, Star Trek takes itself seriously. As for "accessible" and "relaxing", this is just because Star Trek does not slap you across the face with its messages...they are there if you look for them (much less so now, but it peaked with ST:TNG) but you could easily sit through an entire episode and really "see" as much or as little as you liked. The show had depth if you looked for it, but the plot was thick enough that you could watch it at any level without plunging into deep water(to continue the analogy).
Now for the TPM review...
> The Hans Solo character is sorely missed. Lucas
> and his movies tend towards self-importance, and
> Solo jeered at just the right times ("you take the
> Force, kid, Ill take the money.") Jar Jar doesnt
> begin to fill Solos ironic and deflating shoes"
Excuse me: HanS Solo? Ok, you are either writing this very late at night, or you have never read a SW book, read the back of the tape boxes, or even listened to the dialog carefully. Isn't research an important part of journalism? Anyone can write a rant (as demonstrated by this post), but an editorial, in my opinion, qualifies as journalistic content and should be checked over with the same care. This sloppiness is further demonstrated by your probable mis-quote "the focus IS the reality". I don't remember this line in particular from the movie, but s/focus/force/ seems to make more sense.
As for comparing the role of Jar Jar to Han Solo?!?! Where did you come up with that comparison? As mentioned in another post, Jar Jar is much more akin to C3PO (right down to "How Rude!") than the cavalier mercenary found in the likes of Han Solo, not to mention that fact that unless he is (much) older than he looks, Han won't be born for at least 30 years.
Ok, I'm tired of block-quoting, so I shall be brief. I do not consider Anakin's scripting to be "clunky", I consider it to be an accurate representation of what a 7 or 8 year old boy would say, either in this time or long, long ago. How would you have him be, as the Darth-to-be? I think that giving him this light cheery attitude now will further enhance his fall to the dark side. Wouldn't a dark, brooding youth be not only obvious (and not worth the story of "How this Boy Turned Into a Very Bad Man") but be unlikely to be taken in by the Jedi as a trainee?
"chill the Hype"? I'm sorry, but I don't think that most of the Hype (obviously a proper noun, as you capitalized it) came from Lucas himself. I can name a long list of movies that have had soft drink and restaurant tie-ins (which are probably one of the few Lucas-approved avenues of Hype). The rest has been either from the fans, or from the media which caters to them. And, as long as they don't do anything tasteless (which some of the PH, TB, KFC commercials come close to) I have no problem with the Hype. People have a right to make money whatever ways the market will support, and people have every right to ignore it. If enough people ignore it, they remove market support, which negates the effect of the advertising. So, in effect, the tie-ins only exist because they work.
Ok, I've been at this rant for a good half hour now, which means it will be at the bottom of the posts where no-one will read it, but perhaps it will be moderated up. Anyway, I now cast my post into the eddies and currents of free moderation.
Tom Byrum,
username mycroft can be mailed to via academus.net
When I read this I felt a small memory in the dim recesses of my literary background twitch...then it hit me (Which hurt. Memories aren't supposed to do that sort of thing, but it happens to other people so it must not be terribly unusual).
:-) together with the "trained from birth for a specific job" power of...say either _Enders Game_ or _Brave New World_, this scenario is likely to be entirely possible in...20? 30 years?
Has anyone read the excellent book _Enders Game_ by Orson Scott Card? See any parallels?
The scary thing is that if you throw the massive corperate power from Gibson books and _Shadowrun_ (oh, there's a difference?
Mycroft-X
I had always thought that QWERTY keyboards were set up the way they were because early salesmen wanted to be able to amaze consumers by typing out "TYPEWRITER" with amazing speed. This, of course, was done by placing all the requisite letters in the top row (go ahead, try it). The jamming thing makes sense, but so does the explanation I heard before.
Mycroft
Hmmm...wouldn't porn be the equivalent of screenshots?
Woah, I'm sorry, did you say "WinAmp's MP3.com site"? I'ma afraid you made a factual error there, as MP3.com is owned and operated by Zco, Inc. You probably meant to say something like winamp.com, or nullsoft.com.