"Have you tried turning it off and on again? You have? Oh..... reinstall it."
Now, see, that's just an unfair characterization of the in-depth support you get from Microsoft and their Certified Minion^H^H^H^H^H^HProfessionals. They actually go through 5 steps to provide thorough resolution of problems with Microsoft operating systems:
Retry the thing that didn't work the first time
Restart the program that is having the problem
Reboot the computer and try again
Reinstall the program that is having the problem
Reformat the hard drive and start over from scratch
Vista may even add a "Reset the DRM licensing settings" or something similar, too, making for 20% more service that everyone with Vista will potentially get from Microsoft Support!
I won't even mention how much work those nice Microsoft people will have to put in to altering Linux to make these 5-6 steps applicable to Linux! Good thing they've got Novell to help them with that.
As you can see, this is much more professional than your cruel assessment above. Having to go through all five steps is hard work, after all. Now apologize to the nice Microsoft support people...
What I'm wondering is, do they explicitly mention "melting"? What if you hook up, say, a photovoltaic cell (because otherwise you end up paying all that money for electricity from "the grid") and electrolyze the metals apart? I'm pretty sure separating copper from zinc or nickel is pretty simple to do in readily-made solutions...
It's kind of sad, but the idea of treating all "elected" positions less like the popularity contests they've become and more like "jury duty" has more and more appeal to me as time goes on...
It also seems, in my experience, that Linux/Apache requires a lot less labor to maintain compared to Microsoft systems. Although the cost per sysadmin may be lower (since the market is saturated with people who can cram for the MCSE and cough up the testing fees) you end up hiring more of them, and of course they end up spending more time patching, fixing security breaches, going through the 5 R's of Windows support[1], etc...
Okay, I admittedly have a relatively limited understanding of the technical details, but it's my understanding that the OpenPGP standard does essentially the same thing as the SSL encryption and authentication, but with an explicit "web of trust" model rather than a centralized "Verisign says they're okay" sort of model used by SSL.
Since Verisign et al don't seem to REALLY be verifying identities any more (unless now you pay extra for the "special" certificates), why keep paying them at all? Wouldn't it be possible to do a mod_pgp (or "mod_gnupg" or whatever) modules for Apache and an extension for firefox to use OpenPGP encryption instead of (or in addition to) SSL?
Anybody with better technical understanding want to comment?...
why must we assume that our theories of soft-tissue preservation are incorrect, rather than our theories of radio carbon-dating fossils?
I'll leave out the point that, as I recall, carbon-dating isn't particularly useful in the "millions of years" range (unless the technology's gotten a lot more precise since I last checked, which is possible), but still...
This is just a guess, but I would imagine that the principles behind isotopic dating methods are simply better tested than the possibility of such long-term preservation of soft tissues.
Realistically, it sounds as though everyone's always just assumed that no soft tissue could possibly remain, though in principle there's no reason that, if sealed off from reactive chemicals (like oxygen) and invading protein-digesting microbes, a lot of rather sturdy proteins could sit around more or less indefinitely.
Now that they've apparently discovered an example of this, presumably there'll be a lot of interest in researching preservation of proteins over longer periods.
Don't know if this means there's any more chance of getting useful DNA out of any of it after all this time, but maybe then can isolate and sequence some of the proteins for taxonomic comparisons - even that would be useful.
The Gnash project does seem to be making progress, though obviously it still has a way to go. CVS seems to get updated pretty regularly, and at least on my end it seems to be improving.
So, there seems to be at least some hope that us amd64 users won't be stuck using precompiled 32-bit binaries whenever we need/want to look at certain websites.
Obviously, then, every time they turn this thing on, they're burning up some of our precious Dark Matter! (This mysterious energy has to come from SOMEwhere, right?)
This is a catastrophe! Do you KNOW what'll happen when all the Dark Matter is gone? Light-bulb manufacturers will go out of business, leading in a chain reaction to mass unemployment, social upheaval, and anarchy! They must be stopped before it's too late!/p
Someone else already mentioned fish:// (remote filesystem access over ssh). the audiocd:// ioslave is nice as well - put in a music cd, type "audiocd:/" into konqueror, and you get a "virtual" directory of WAV, MP3, and Ogg-vorbis files. Drag and drop and it automatically encodes them to "real" mp3/ogg/wav files as desired.
And, of course, k3b is one of the handiest GUI programs ever - normally my nerdly pride insists on using command line tools, but k3b is just too nice.
Maybe in the long run, but it certainly seems to have a more relevant focus than other parties from history. Anyone remember the "Anti-Mason" party from history class?...
Re:Standard protocol is needed!!
on
Firefox VoIP Client
·
· Score: 2, Informative
There are two standards for VoIP (SIP and H.323)[...]
Don't count out IAX2. Although mainly designed to talk to Asterisk servers A)anyone could conceivably use it anyway and B) there certainly seem to be a lot of Asterisk servers out there these days...
But, yeah, SIP (the current favorite) and H.323 (older protocol, used by MS's old "NetMeeting(tm)" product and a number of others) are the big ones.
Even if one assumes that "we have a windows server, so everything must be on Microsoft's platform no matter what", I'm pretty sure there are a few legally free servers available that run on windows, in addition to the reference implementation and a few others that could easily be run on a scavenged box running Linux.
XMPP is well documented, and it's easy to set up an "internal only" server for in-house use. You can also add more servers and link them together later if you end up needing to, for example, set up servers in widely separated offices.
Or in other words, it's a lot like the post office saying "people are starting to send some pretty large packages. The recipient's local post office should be able to charge an additional fee to the sender, and a fee to the recipient to allow them to recieve such large packages. Otherwise those packages are just getting a 'free ride' on our post office trucks..."
Personally, I'm getting quite insulted by my alleged representatives assuming I'm a "consumer" and use the internet as nothing more than a fancy, high-tech way to watch TV.
I'm issuing a restraining order. Science should stay 500 yards from religion at all times.
We keep trying, but Religion keeps showing up on our front porch at 3:00am, drunk with power and demanding to come in to "talk" about the "controversy".
That's just what The Man wants you to think. Instead the victim of Morgellon's should try Safe, Natural Homeopathic medicine.
You have to be careful though - I once accidentally mixed up the magic homeopathic water with DISTILLED water, and had to spend several weeks in the hospital due to overdose...
(And never drink tap water - it comes from water treatment plants which, of course, dilute out all kinds of nasty stuff, so really that stuff coming out of the tap is Super Powerful Homeopathic Urine and Feces!)
I suspect it's the phone - I can UPLOAD the file, and the little "play a sound" application actually does play the little mp3 clip just fine - it's just that the phone seems to ignore me when I tell it to use the file as a "ringtone".
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Now, see, that's just an unfair characterization of the in-depth support you get from Microsoft and their Certified Minion^H^H^H^H^H^HProfessionals. They actually go through 5 steps to provide thorough resolution of problems with Microsoft operating systems:
Vista may even add a "Reset the DRM licensing settings" or something similar, too, making for 20% more service that everyone with Vista will potentially get from Microsoft Support!
I won't even mention how much work those nice Microsoft people will have to put in to altering Linux to make these 5-6 steps applicable to Linux! Good thing they've got Novell to help them with that.
As you can see, this is much more professional than your cruel assessment above. Having to go through all five steps is hard work, after all. Now apologize to the nice Microsoft support people...
Wish I had a "+1 informative" to spare...
What I'm wondering is, do they explicitly mention "melting"? What if you hook up, say, a photovoltaic cell (because otherwise you end up paying all that money for electricity from "the grid") and electrolyze the metals apart? I'm pretty sure separating copper from zinc or nickel is pretty simple to do in readily-made solutions...
The trick is that the "property" is the exclusive rights themselves - you CAN buy, sell trade, give away, etc a copyright, for example.
Still pretty perverse...
Where is a "+1 Insightful" when I need one?...
It's kind of sad, but the idea of treating all "elected" positions less like the popularity contests they've become and more like "jury duty" has more and more appeal to me as time goes on...
[1]
It also seems, in my experience, that Linux/Apache requires a lot less labor to maintain compared to Microsoft systems. Although the cost per sysadmin may be lower (since the market is saturated with people who can cram for the MCSE and cough up the testing fees) you end up hiring more of them, and of course they end up spending more time patching, fixing security breaches, going through the 5 R's of Windows support[1], etc...
And, of course, license fees.
Anybody know whatever happened to Scott Draeker? (Or the employee whose credit card was used to make payroll?...)
The (binary) 11 types of people are: Those who can count, and those who can't.
Okay, I admittedly have a relatively limited understanding of the technical details, but it's my understanding that the OpenPGP standard does essentially the same thing as the SSL encryption and authentication, but with an explicit "web of trust" model rather than a centralized "Verisign says they're okay" sort of model used by SSL.
Since Verisign et al don't seem to REALLY be verifying identities any more (unless now you pay extra for the "special" certificates), why keep paying them at all? Wouldn't it be possible to do a mod_pgp (or "mod_gnupg" or whatever) modules for Apache and an extension for firefox to use OpenPGP encryption instead of (or in addition to) SSL?
Anybody with better technical understanding want to comment?...
I'll leave out the point that, as I recall, carbon-dating isn't particularly useful in the "millions of years" range (unless the technology's gotten a lot more precise since I last checked, which is possible), but still...
This is just a guess, but I would imagine that the principles behind isotopic dating methods are simply better tested than the possibility of such long-term preservation of soft tissues.
Realistically, it sounds as though everyone's always just assumed that no soft tissue could possibly remain, though in principle there's no reason that, if sealed off from reactive chemicals (like oxygen) and invading protein-digesting microbes, a lot of rather sturdy proteins could sit around more or less indefinitely.
Now that they've apparently discovered an example of this, presumably there'll be a lot of interest in researching preservation of proteins over longer periods.
Don't know if this means there's any more chance of getting useful DNA out of any of it after all this time, but maybe then can isolate and sequence some of the proteins for taxonomic comparisons - even that would be useful.
Ah, I see. And I tend to agree.
I was kind of dissapointed (though not too surprised) that MNG never took off. (see also the libmng site).
Looks like it's not TOTALLY dead, but isn't especially active, either.
SVG supposedly has a shot at replacing at least some of Macromedia flash, but that, too, remains to be seen.
The Gnash project does seem to be making progress, though obviously it still has a way to go. CVS seems to get updated pretty regularly, and at least on my end it seems to be improving.
So, there seems to be at least some hope that us amd64 users won't be stuck using precompiled 32-bit binaries whenever we need/want to look at certain websites.
Obviously, then, every time they turn this thing on, they're burning up some of our precious Dark Matter! (This mysterious energy has to come from SOMEwhere, right?)
This is a catastrophe! Do you KNOW what'll happen when all the Dark Matter is gone? Light-bulb manufacturers will go out of business, leading in a chain reaction to mass unemployment, social upheaval, and anarchy! They must be stopped before it's too late!/p
Someone else already mentioned fish:// (remote filesystem access over ssh). the audiocd:// ioslave is nice as well - put in a music cd, type "audiocd:/" into konqueror, and you get a "virtual" directory of WAV, MP3, and Ogg-vorbis files. Drag and drop and it automatically encodes them to "real" mp3/ogg/wav files as desired.
And, of course, k3b is one of the handiest GUI programs ever - normally my nerdly pride insists on using command line tools, but k3b is just too nice.
Maybe in the long run, but it certainly seems to have a more relevant focus than other parties from history. Anyone remember the "Anti-Mason" party from history class?...
Don't count out IAX2. Although mainly designed to talk to Asterisk servers A)anyone could conceivably use it anyway and B) there certainly seem to be a lot of Asterisk servers out there these days...
But, yeah, SIP (the current favorite) and H.323 (older protocol, used by MS's old "NetMeeting(tm)" product and a number of others) are the big ones.
Even if one assumes that "we have a windows server, so everything must be on Microsoft's platform no matter what", I'm pretty sure there are a few legally free servers available that run on windows, in addition to the reference implementation and a few others that could easily be run on a scavenged box running Linux.
XMPP is well documented, and it's easy to set up an "internal only" server for in-house use. You can also add more servers and link them together later if you end up needing to, for example, set up servers in widely separated offices.
Or in other words, it's a lot like the post office saying "people are starting to send some pretty large packages. The recipient's local post office should be able to charge an additional fee to the sender, and a fee to the recipient to allow them to recieve such large packages. Otherwise those packages are just getting a 'free ride' on our post office trucks..."
Personally, I'm getting quite insulted by my alleged representatives assuming I'm a "consumer" and use the internet as nothing more than a fancy, high-tech way to watch TV.
"We had a choice between a 'tax-and-spend Disneycrat' and a 'don't-tax-but-spend-anyway' Rupertican."
We keep trying, but Religion keeps showing up on our front porch at 3:00am, drunk with power and demanding to come in to "talk" about the "controversy".
That's just what The Man wants you to think. Instead the victim of Morgellon's should try Safe, Natural Homeopathic medicine.
You have to be careful though - I once accidentally mixed up the magic homeopathic water with DISTILLED water, and had to spend several weeks in the hospital due to overdose...
(And never drink tap water - it comes from water treatment plants which, of course, dilute out all kinds of nasty stuff, so really that stuff coming out of the tap is Super Powerful Homeopathic Urine and Feces!)
Does this imply that MS will make their WebDAV capabilities less broken now?
Come on, Government - if you've done nothing wrong then you have nothing to fear, right?
(Why does that sound familiar?...)
I suspect it's the phone - I can UPLOAD the file, and the little "play a sound" application actually does play the little mp3 clip just fine - it's just that the phone seems to ignore me when I tell it to use the file as a "ringtone".