I did take the bus that day in Toronto and I know that some of the massive air canada delays were due to a major reduction in staff that just happened without any real sheduling change.
OT: During the power outage when the airports and train stations were not operating, the greyhound terminals with their diesel storage and generators were running on time.
I actually quite like the layout of the linked page. The text on the "next page" loads quickly and since it is the only thing to change on the overall page, the transition is quite unobtrusive.
Possibly the font size is too small for you, I can see that as being a problem, but overall I was mui impressed with the IHT page design.
...how much of this article reminded me of William Gibson's books.
"The Internet has become the most popular way of organizing street rallies, political and otherwise -- including that of the estimated seven million South Koreans who swarmed into the streets after the stunning success of their national soccer team in last summer's World Cup."
reminds me of the lo-rez fanclub funeral that was triggered from the fan site
"Not all South Koreans are happy about the dramatic rise of the Internet. Critics say that the on-line games create "zombie" teenagers who do not know how to interact with the real world."
reminds me fo the gomi who game all of the time and cheat their way through school. They also help to build walled city.
"About 25 million of South Korea's 48 million people are regular Internet surfers. All across Seoul, high-rise towers and corporate headquarters are emblazoned with their Web-site addresses in huge letters or neon signs. About 30 million South Koreans have cellphones, and 10 million of these cellphones have Internet connections -- again, a world-leading number."
Reminds me of Gibsons landscapes : the sprawl, Night City.
Or is this a strange article. Mabe it would be good to check the source of an article before putting it on the main page. This is the author's home page.
This is in fact an encrypted Google site, and by using a mirror, you are circumventing the encryption scheme. CEASE AND DESIST NOW before the police come a knocking.
Seriously though, this is a good reminder that there are billions of people on this planet that don't have the right to freely share ideas. Kind of makes me think that stories about not being able to share movies via p2p cheapen the name "Your Rights Online".
I know that most games have more of a competative focus than a cooperative one, but perhaps some of the strategy games with team options would be good. Also any head to head sports games would probably go over well with both parents and students alike. Organize a hockey/basketball/soccer tournament where there are timed games and brackets. Something like this could be done across several days.
I know that this is about fun and encouraging people to get into the computer lab, but as a school you should also be working on learning something. It could be team dynamics, leadership skills, creativity... There are lots of fun ways to foster these skill sthat often get left out of the daily curriculum.
Another thought I had when I read your post is that along with games, graphic design and music composition drew me into the computer lab at my high school. Perhaps designate a few of the computers on such a night to less competative and more creative pursuits or offer another night for the art geeks at your school.
These suggestions all come with the comment of GOOD FOR YOU! It is important that youth understand that computers are tools that can be used to achieve many goals. This encourages non computer users to get into computers and also helps computer geeks to develop social skills in an environment where they can feel comfortable and showcase the l337 5k1llz that they've spent years in their basement developing.
I tend to like all sorts of techno, house, breaks, trance, etc. I get all this pretty much on demand from Groovetech.com
They have a store where you can sample and buy Vinyl, but if you check out the broadcast section you can get live DJs mixing for you 12 hours a day from Seattle, London and San Francisco.
If you're not into what's playiing live, then check out the archives. There's probably over a thousand hour-2hour sets all nicely searchable by genre, date and dj.
Another good site (though the archives seem broken to me now) is thewomb.com. Those of you from Miami will recognise that thewomb.com is a rebroadcast of one fo the local radio stations.
Anyone into funky/spoulful/disco house should check their favorite p2p application for terrance parker. He's a dj along the lines of dimitri from paris, but 10X better and from detroit.
Thewomb.com also has videos of some cool stuff if you can wait for the download.
That's what I do for original music on the web. I haven't run out of sets to try on groovetech.com yet, though I have my favorites that I listen to occasionaly. Groovetech.com also has streaming video of the dj's mixing, so having a really cute dj spinning funky breaks is a nice perk(naha, requires realplayer or equiv)
there should be a tech solution to the expiring code problem.
Possibly the company responsible would release an omni-registration code (or patch) that would disable the expiry of all previous registration codes.
It is important that the company responsible for a shareware propgram will likely be a smaller company which probably has a better chance of wanting to keep it's users happy.
. . . It is only a small step to software as a subscription service after that.
As for the subscription model, that seems to be where a lot of non-free licenses are headded. The companies involved are not out to make a better piece of software. The development team might be, but the company exists to turn a profit. That's the main diff between a company and an all voulenteer open source project.(And I don't mean to imply that an OSS project can't work within a company, I just think it ahs to be a very special set of people and circumstances for it to work)
I'm really glad my Linux machine is totally free and if Microsoft, or Ambrosia goes out of business it will still keep working.
As for your free and eternally supported platform. Good! But remember that the level of free support, beyond what you can do yourself, is not guaranteed to continue on indefinately either.
It turns out that most real time systems cannot afford the overhead of a OS. Sure we need something to deal with hardware, and schedualing, and if you have networking it is nice to have sockets are similear. In the end though, a OS gets in the way more then helps
I've just started to poke my head into it, but eCos (an embedded linux based OS) is a nice place to start when designing your in house OS.
From the linked page:
eCos provides engineers with maximum control, flexibility and understanding over all aspects of their embedded solution. eCos is highly customizable and adaptable, and can be easily configured using the eCos graphical configuration tool to meet application-specific requirements
It's used as the base for dadio OS (on my hipzip MP3 player) and it looks like a nice little package with lots of tools for developers.
Proprietary does seem like the way to go, (After all, keeping things small is important, and it is likely that there will not be a general solution that meets your specific needs exactly) but it is also nice to work from a proven base OS instead of starting from scratch.
My Hipzip MP3 player from Iomega pretty much fits the bill. It runs on a proprietary os (dadio OS) which is based on eCos, [redhat.com] an embedded OS based on linux. It has updatable firmware and runs the OS on a maverick chip. It also has 40 MB removable media disks.
While this is a far cry from the 5GB disk proposed somewhere above, the idea however is solid. A handheld device that runs a linux based embedded OS and can plug in as a drive under windows, macOS and probably linux (if I get USB support working).
If you replaced the Iomega zip drive with a small hard drive, then it would be the device you are talking about.
As is, the Hipzip allows me to store any file that fits into the 40MB limit.
I did the dot com thing for a while and I still hold out some hope for the stock I own. I then saw that tech company was progressing from a developer to a service provider (online trading) and since I much prefer development work to tech support I made my escape and went to work for a ski hill for the winter.
I've since landed a job teaching a Webmaster program for a private post-secondary institution in BC. In a way I'm much happier doing this than I was coding. I get to apply my technology knowledge and also use my social skills and interact with real people every day.
The whole idea of more tech workers being needed is at least partialy because there are not enough really good thorough focused training programs out there. If you found out during the dot com rush that you have a talent in technology and you've always been a good explainer and information sharer. Then perhaps one possible career move would be to go into teaching in a technology program.
One of the reasons MSoft is pushing the software rental business model is that they are percieved as stable and in it for the long term.
A model where it is critical that the company providing a solution is percieved as being stable and around for a while will make it extremely difficult for new companies to become accepted.
Turning the client/vendor relationship into a user/service-provider relationship means that the client is being asked to invest more heavily in the relationship. What will the user recieve that a client in a c/v relationship would not?
Perhaps better updates/bug fixes, more input into the direction the software development is moving, a pricing model that allows for incremental payments rather than a large initial investment. Whatever it is, there has to be a good enough reson(s) for people to adopt this software model.
I consider it my responsability to know both the pros and cons of said model and be able to help decide when and where it is appropriate to use a rented model over a bought model.
I know that I prefer to have software that I can adjust and tinker with (OSS), but I also know that I'm still in the minority on this issue and many of the companies where we all work rely on closed source applications. So it is important to have this discussion here and now so that we can all bring these issues up when we're asked our oppinions on rented software at work.
Fox offered some money for the site name. It was refused and there is a valid site with users at the address currently. This is probably not a case of domain name squatting.
Curiosity is definately a personality type that helps, but as for teachable skills, I find that the ability to quickly disect and isolate a problem has been most helpful to me.
I went through a Mechanical Technologist program at our local tech institute and the problem solving skills used throughout engineering disciplines are useful for isolating and locating problems.
For a fun in-class example, use the old game 20 questions. One person thinks of anything they want, and the other has 20 questions (yes or no answers only) to guess what the other is thinking of.
If it takes more than 10 questions, then you need more practice.
That includes most of the jobs you do in the first 2-6 years of your (or at least my) working life.
Let people know that you know more than they think you do, and let it be known that you are always interested in learning more.
If a company really only wants you as grunt labour (and be sure of this first) then leave the company and find one that will teach you more. That's what you have to do in the real world. Jobs don't get better without pro-active involvement from an employee.
Talk to your boss or your Co-op coordinator/counsellor about what you feel is missing. See if there is something more available to you. And remember that your education will not be their highest priority unless you make it that way. Unlike your teachers, your boss is not there for you. At least they see it that way.
Ever seen a VCR or Radio/Tape deck
that REFUSED to let you record? It's just plain silly. Prosecute criminals but let
customers make FULL legal use of content.
A world getting deeper and deeper into Abstraction. A world no Dali would ever imagine in his wildest dreams.
Actually, Salvador Dali had some really cool ideas that he expressed through his works of art. One of my favorite paintings by him is titled somethig like -"nude, or computer image of a $1 bill at 25 feet". It's a digital scan of a $1 bill with the resolution messed around that looks like a nude, but when you get far enough away for the resolution to be right, it's Jefferson (or whoever is on the $1(US) bill).
Dali was a thinker and a philosopher who communicated through drawings and paintings. If you get a chance to check out his works esp. from his later years he has some cool insights into DNA and computers and what the digital world will become. His paintings are amazing anyways, and you realize that there are some cool underlying ideas, but when you read the titles, the ideas come out even clearer.
He's actually a very recent artist, and was alive and working when the first computers were coming into existence. I'd love to have him still around today to get his insights into technology and the universe.
Sorry, waaaaay OT, but I can't have ya dissin the S.D.
Napster can be used for researching bands you dn't know yet. I do it quite often when I'm on Napster.
Whenever I search for something in particular and download it, I look at what else that user is sharing. I also look at the collections of people who are downloading music from me. If they like my music, then mabe I'll like theirs.
I will also be choosy about who I allow to access my collection of music. If someone is not sharing anything, then I'll typically cut off their file transfer half way through, and send them an instant message asking them to please share songs before they download mine.
Using the Hot List feature of Napster to see what an individual has allows me to hear new music and find new artists I've never head of before. It takes a little more effort than just searching for a song, but I get more good music as my reward.
Mabe about 165. Try wiggling your fingers while you do it. when you can no longer see movement at the eges of your FOV, then you move your fingers back until you can again.
In exchange for giving up this privacy I receive high quality goods and
low prices, along with a sense of community
This is an interesting sidelight to the whole debate. A question that has not often been asked is what are we giving up when we opt out. When we opt out, we decide not to participate in something. This may be a good thing sometimes, and a not so good thing other times.
It sounds like you are opting in to a community where you are made to feel welcome and you feel that your maintaining privacy would not serve you as well as your being known does.
Your comment has triggered in me the idea that part of the lack of community on the web is somehow rooted in our overwhelming tendency towards privacy. If we know nothing about one another, then how can we have a community.
My favorite part in the whole series is the sequence where Ford breaks into the guide after it has been taken over by the Vogons. I approve of the idea of jumping out of a window just to keep the element of suprise on your side.
I've found that taking a fordlike appproach to life (er just kind of going with it, and hating Geese) works incredibly well. You do have to be incredibly lucky for it to work well, but luckily I am lucky!
Slashdot Mirror
There are at least two, and often many more, eyeballs watching every count
I would hope that there are at least two eyeballs watching every count. Not all Canadians are pirates.
ARRRRRRRRR!
I did take the bus that day in Toronto and I know that some of the massive air canada delays were due to a major reduction in staff that just happened without any real sheduling change.
OT: During the power outage when the airports and train stations were not operating, the greyhound terminals with their diesel storage and generators were running on time.
Sadly, I'm not joking here.
It's a kind of interesting site to meet people and it shows how you are connected to others on the site through your friends.
Friendster tells you what city someone lives in and lists some favorite books, movies tv shows etc.
So far there are only 3 Canadians on friendster, but there are lots from Tulsa OK.
I actually quite like the layout of the linked page. The text on the "next page" loads quickly and since it is the only thing to change on the overall page, the transition is quite unobtrusive.
Possibly the font size is too small for you, I can see that as being a problem, but overall I was mui impressed with the IHT page design.
If you have a cable modem, I would assume that you have access to a cable television service as well, no?
...how much of this article reminded me of William Gibson's books.
"The Internet has become the most popular way of organizing street rallies, political and otherwise -- including that of the estimated seven million South Koreans who swarmed into the streets after the stunning success of their national soccer team in last summer's World Cup."
reminds me of the lo-rez fanclub funeral that was triggered from the fan site
"Not all South Koreans are happy about the dramatic rise of the Internet. Critics say that the on-line games create "zombie" teenagers who do not know how to interact with the real world."
reminds me fo the gomi who game all of the time and cheat their way through school. They also help to build walled city.
"About 25 million of South Korea's 48 million people are regular Internet surfers. All across Seoul, high-rise towers and corporate headquarters are emblazoned with their Web-site addresses in huge letters or neon signs. About 30 million South Koreans have cellphones, and 10 million of these cellphones have Internet connections -- again, a world-leading number."
Reminds me of Gibsons landscapes : the sprawl, Night City.
Or is this a strange article. Mabe it would be good to check the source of an article before putting it on the main page. This is the author's home page.
This is in fact an encrypted Google site, and by using a mirror, you are circumventing the encryption scheme. CEASE AND DESIST NOW before the police come a knocking.
Seriously though, this is a good reminder that there are billions of people on this planet that don't have the right to freely share ideas. Kind of makes me think that stories about not being able to share movies via p2p cheapen the name "Your Rights Online".
don't blame me, I voted for kodos
I know that most games have more of a competative focus than a cooperative one, but perhaps some of the strategy games with team options would be good. Also any head to head sports games would probably go over well with both parents and students alike. Organize a hockey/basketball/soccer tournament where there are timed games and brackets. Something like this could be done across several days.
I know that this is about fun and encouraging people to get into the computer lab, but as a school you should also be working on learning something. It could be team dynamics, leadership skills, creativity... There are lots of fun ways to foster these skill sthat often get left out of the daily curriculum.
Another thought I had when I read your post is that along with games, graphic design and music composition drew me into the computer lab at my high school. Perhaps designate a few of the computers on such a night to less competative and more creative pursuits or offer another night for the art geeks at your school.
These suggestions all come with the comment of GOOD FOR YOU! It is important that youth understand that computers are tools that can be used to achieve many goals. This encourages non computer users to get into computers and also helps computer geeks to develop social skills in an environment where they can feel comfortable and showcase the l337 5k1llz that they've spent years in their basement developing.
I tend to like all sorts of techno, house, breaks, trance, etc. I get all this pretty much on demand from Groovetech.com
They have a store where you can sample and buy Vinyl, but if you check out the broadcast section you can get live DJs mixing for you 12 hours a day from Seattle, London and San Francisco.
If you're not into what's playiing live, then check out the archives. There's probably over a thousand hour-2hour sets all nicely searchable by genre, date and dj.
Another good site (though the archives seem broken to me now) is thewomb.com. Those of you from Miami will recognise that thewomb.com is a rebroadcast of one fo the local radio stations.
Anyone into funky/spoulful/disco house should check their favorite p2p application for terrance parker. He's a dj along the lines of dimitri from paris, but 10X better and from detroit.
Thewomb.com also has videos of some cool stuff if you can wait for the download.
That's what I do for original music on the web. I haven't run out of sets to try on groovetech.com yet, though I have my favorites that I listen to occasionaly. Groovetech.com also has streaming video of the dj's mixing, so having a really cute dj spinning funky breaks is a nice perk(naha, requires realplayer or equiv)
there should be a tech solution to the expiring code problem.
Possibly the company responsible would release an omni-registration code (or patch) that would disable the expiry of all previous registration codes.
It is important that the company responsible for a shareware propgram will likely be a smaller company which probably has a better chance of wanting to keep it's users happy.
. . . It is only a small step to software as a subscription service after that.
As for the subscription model, that seems to be where a lot of non-free licenses are headded. The companies involved are not out to make a better piece of software. The development team might be, but the company exists to turn a profit. That's the main diff between a company and an all voulenteer open source project.(And I don't mean to imply that an OSS project can't work within a company, I just think it ahs to be a very special set of people and circumstances for it to work)
I'm really glad my Linux machine is totally free and if Microsoft, or Ambrosia goes out of business it will still keep working.
As for your free and eternally supported platform.
Good!
But remember that the level of free support, beyond what you can do yourself, is not guaranteed to continue on indefinately either.
It turns out that most real time systems cannot afford the overhead of a OS. Sure we need something to deal with hardware, and schedualing, and if you have networking it is nice to have sockets are similear. In the end though, a OS gets in the way more then helps
I've just started to poke my head into it, but eCos (an embedded linux based OS) is a nice place to start when designing your in house OS.
From the linked page:
eCos provides engineers with maximum control, flexibility and understanding over all aspects of their embedded solution. eCos is highly customizable and adaptable, and can be easily configured using the eCos graphical configuration tool to meet application-specific requirements
It's used as the base for dadio OS (on my hipzip MP3 player) and it looks like a nice little package with lots of tools for developers.
Proprietary does seem like the way to go, (After all, keeping things small is important, and it is likely that there will not be a general solution that meets your specific needs exactly) but it is also nice to work from a proven base OS instead of starting from scratch.
My Hipzip MP3 player from Iomega pretty much fits the bill. It runs on a proprietary os (dadio OS) which is based on eCos, [redhat.com] an embedded OS based on linux. It has updatable firmware and runs the OS on a maverick chip. It also has 40 MB removable media disks.
While this is a far cry from the 5GB disk proposed somewhere above, the idea however is solid. A handheld device that runs a linux based embedded OS and can plug in as a drive under windows, macOS and probably linux (if I get USB support working).
If you replaced the Iomega zip drive with a small hard drive, then it would be the device you are talking about.
As is, the Hipzip allows me to store any file that fits into the 40MB limit.
I did the dot com thing for a while and I still hold out some hope for the stock I own. I then saw that tech company was progressing from a developer to a service provider (online trading) and since I much prefer development work to tech support I made my escape and went to work for a ski hill for the winter.
I've since landed a job teaching a Webmaster program for a private post-secondary institution in BC. In a way I'm much happier doing this than I was coding. I get to apply my technology knowledge and also use my social skills and interact with real people every day.
The whole idea of more tech workers being needed is at least partialy because there are not enough really good thorough focused training programs out there. If you found out during the dot com rush that you have a talent in technology and you've always been a good explainer and information sharer. Then perhaps one possible career move would be to go into teaching in a technology program.
One of the reasons MSoft is pushing the software rental business model is that they are percieved as stable and in it for the long term.
A model where it is critical that the company providing a solution is percieved as being stable and around for a while will make it extremely difficult for new companies to become accepted.
Turning the client/vendor relationship into a user/service-provider relationship means that the client is being asked to invest more heavily in the relationship. What will the user recieve that a client in a c/v relationship would not?
Perhaps better updates/bug fixes, more input into the direction the software development is moving, a pricing model that allows for incremental payments rather than a large initial investment. Whatever it is, there has to be a good enough reson(s) for people to adopt this software model.
I consider it my responsability to know both the pros and cons of said model and be able to help decide when and where it is appropriate to use a rented model over a bought model.
I know that I prefer to have software that I can adjust and tinker with (OSS), but I also know that I'm still in the minority on this issue and many of the companies where we all work rely on closed source applications. So it is important to have this discussion here and now so that we can all bring these issues up when we're asked our oppinions on rented software at work.
Fox offered some money for the site name. It was refused and there is a valid site with users at the address currently. This is probably not a case of domain name squatting.
Therefore Fox decides to sue anyways.
Ummmm.... No.
Curiosity is definately a personality type that helps, but as for teachable skills, I find that the ability to quickly disect and isolate a problem has been most helpful to me.
I went through a Mechanical Technologist program at our local tech institute and the problem solving skills used throughout engineering disciplines are useful for isolating and locating problems.
For a fun in-class example, use the old game 20 questions. One person thinks of anything they want, and the other has 20 questions (yes or no answers only) to guess what the other is thinking of.
If it takes more than 10 questions, then you need more practice.
Your education will always be what you make it.
That includes most of the jobs you do in the first 2-6 years of your (or at least my) working life.
Let people know that you know more than they think you do, and let it be known that you are always interested in learning more.
If a company really only wants you as grunt labour (and be sure of this first) then leave the company and find one that will teach you more. That's what you have to do in the real world. Jobs don't get better without pro-active involvement from an employee.
Talk to your boss or your Co-op coordinator/counsellor about what you feel is missing. See if there is something more available to you. And remember that your education will not be their highest priority unless you make it that way. Unlike your teachers, your boss is not there for you. At least they see it that way.
Ever seen a VCR or Radio/Tape deck that REFUSED to let you record? It's just plain silly. Prosecute criminals but let customers make FULL legal use of content.
/.
article:
taken from an old
A world getting deeper and deeper into Abstraction. A world no Dali would ever imagine in his wildest dreams.
Actually, Salvador Dali had some really cool ideas that he expressed through his works of art. One of my favorite paintings by him is titled somethig like -"nude, or computer image of a $1 bill at 25 feet". It's a digital scan of a $1 bill with the resolution messed around that looks like a nude, but when you get far enough away for the resolution to be right, it's Jefferson (or whoever is on the $1(US) bill).
Dali was a thinker and a philosopher who communicated through drawings and paintings. If you get a chance to check out his works esp. from his later years he has some cool insights into DNA and computers and what the digital world will become. His paintings are amazing anyways, and you realize that there are some cool underlying ideas, but when you read the titles, the ideas come out even clearer.
He's actually a very recent artist, and was alive and working when the first computers were coming into existence. I'd love to have him still around today to get his insights into technology and the universe.
Sorry, waaaaay OT, but I can't have ya dissin the S.D.
Napster can be used for researching bands you dn't know yet. I do it quite often when I'm on Napster.
Whenever I search for something in particular and download it, I look at what else that user is sharing. I also look at the collections of people who are downloading music from me. If they like my music, then mabe I'll like theirs.
I will also be choosy about who I allow to access my collection of music. If someone is not sharing anything, then I'll typically cut off their file transfer half way through, and send them an instant message asking them to please share songs before they download mine.
Using the Hot List feature of Napster to see what an individual has allows me to hear new music and find new artists I've never head of before. It takes a little more effort than just searching for a song, but I get more good music as my reward.
Mine is way closer to 180 than 120.
Mabe about 165. Try wiggling your fingers while you do it. when you can no longer see movement at the eges of your FOV, then you move your fingers back until you can again.
In exchange for giving up this privacy I receive high quality goods and low prices, along with a sense of community
This is an interesting sidelight to the whole debate. A question that has not often been asked is what are we giving up when we opt out. When we opt out, we decide not to participate in something. This may be a good thing sometimes, and a not so good thing other times.
It sounds like you are opting in to a community where you are made to feel welcome and you feel that your maintaining privacy would not serve you as well as your being known does.
Your comment has triggered in me the idea that part of the lack of community on the web is somehow rooted in our overwhelming tendency towards privacy. If we know nothing about one another, then how can we have a community.
My favorite part in the whole series is the sequence where Ford breaks into the guide after it has been taken over by the Vogons. I approve of the idea of jumping out of a window just to keep the element of suprise on your side.
I've found that taking a fordlike appproach to life (er just kind of going with it, and hating Geese) works incredibly well. You do have to be incredibly lucky for it to work well, but luckily I am lucky!