I don't know what "inexpensive" means. It's all relative, and no real point of reference is given. If it truly is inexpensive, this could open up a market for lots of new products which track objects in 3D (real) envirnments where it just never made economic sense before.
Is there measurable speed increase by using this distribution, or do you really just save a couple microseconds here and there?
I would like to consider myself a fairly experienced linux user. I have done my fair share of deep digging into my first pre kernel2.0 slackware system through my curent one. May it be worth my time to attempt to convert my RedHat 7.2 Dell lAttitude C800 to this? I use it for java development (IDEA rocks!), and related web work.
They say their distribution is geared at power users. That being the case, most of their user base will be installing on higher end machines, IMO. If you are looking to install on a lower than Pentium Pro, this may not be the best distribution for you anyway. Plenty of other distributions are compiled for i386.
Think about how much companies pay to use Oracle. In most cases, if you already work for a company that uses Oracle, they will put up the $2k + expenses for you to get certified. It will be a drop in the bucket.
I know my employer would put up the cash for me, if it made sense and I wanted it.
Say instead of being a software engineer, I was an enginner who built bridges. Can you image a boss coming up to me and saying:
"I need a bridge built in this location to move some things across the river. We will lose out to our cometitors if this takes any longer than three months, you have two and a half. Tell me tomorrow how much steel you need ordered and I will have the iron workers (actually guys off the street who could spell iron) to start putting it together."
Would you go across a bridge built like that? I wouldn't if I had a choice in the matter. How different is this from many software projects? Not very. Management doesn't care about the software quality since they don't understand it anyway, the coders are passivly taught not to care either because it costs more to write well architected, well tested code. Code can be solid if effort is placed on writing solid code. There will still be bugs, but nothing like is prevelent today in commercial software. Think of all the VB monkeys that managers consider real programmers. (Not that there are good VB programmers, but by and large...)
Welcome to the world of software. As long as the current market drivers are in place, nothing will change.
I am unclear on the context. Where was the article he is commenting on, and who was the intended audience?
Other than me not being clear on that, it was a good article once I got through some rough parts at the beginning. I think this guy should write his own paper on the topic, since he seems to know it and took quite a bit of effort to comment on someone else's.
Can someone clue me in to the context? Should I know the names of the people involved? I don't.
Must be a slow Sunday.
-Pete
Luke, use the source...
on
Is RPM Doomed?
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
I administer a few RedHat servers, mostly 6.2, and 7.2 which each perform a different function. If an RPM is offered for a piece of software I need to install, I usually download that first.
If the rpm install fails, I will spend about 3 minutes troubleshooting the issue. If I can't get it to go, I download the source and compile from scratch. 9 times out of 10 this works without having to figure out dependancies.
RPM works great when the envirnment is exactly the same as the build envirnment. When it's not...well, it just plain sucks. Source almost always works without incident.
Really, there is nothing to difficult about: ./configure make su make install
Although it only works for products where the source is openly available.
RedHat needs a compile from source package format that most people can figure out. srpms may do it, but I have no clue how to use them.
I could not find any mention of the TuxPhone hardware (phone) itself on the site other than the photo, and discussions about the embeded lcd/strongarm thing. No mention of how it links with the phone in the picture, etc.
Are there any "low cost" IP telephones in the market today? $600 (what looks like the going rate) seems like too much to me.
I do not understand why IP phones a) have so low market penetration b) cost so much -- I know part of the problem with a is b.
What I think really is needed is a low cost, high quality server system for one of these systems. Based on what little research I have done, it costs almost as much, if not more, for hardware for a small office system as it would to get a real small PBX like phone system.
I don't think a phone really needs a 9" LCD screen, or whatever was in the screen shot, but the "Java Phone" from the other company has a screen size perfect for the company phone directory. That I think could be the "killer app" for these things.
Anyway, anyone know of low cost PBX software (if that is even what is is called in the IP phone world)? Open Source, under a BSD like license would be cool, and lower the barrier to market entry for companies wanting to roll a system like this out. Of course, cards to hook up to a POTS connection would also be needed. Voicemail over the web, via shoutcast or something would rock. I havn't listened to my voicemail at work in 3 months. With a better interface, I may stop refusing to use it.
DNS may have to follow something similar to what I believe has happened to the internet over the past few years. In the "beginning" of the popular Internet, everyone visits a small set of gopher sites, soon followed by first generation web sites. Then came search engines. The number of site people spend visition skyrocketed. You might never see the same site twice in a month, even though you were ssurfing all day. This doesn't include yahoo. This is phase two. Soon people realized there were just too many bad useless sites on the internet. Phase three is the portal. A portal is any site that collects information from other sources, giving a single site to visit for information. Slashdot is a good example, although what you normally think of as partals are good too. Now adays, you probably only visit a few sites on a regular basis. Phase three complete.
Here is how I see DNS going. Phase 1. Domain names just made it so you didn't have to remember IP addresses. Think sunsite.unc.edu. That was a "site". It didn't need to be sunsite.com. My email address is a perfect example. "ix.netcom.com". Nobody thought better of it.
Phase 2. Today the "ix." throws all non-technical people off. They just don't understand or see the reason for sub domains. A domain IS the site. All site are thesite.com. Hell, most people don't even use the www anymore. You ever tried to explain the difference between ftp.server.com and www.server.com to anyone who has not been on the internet for many years? No, ftp.myserver.com doesn't mean that is the ftp site for myserver.com (although it may.) ftp is the name of the server. Server they say? Isn't there only one? How can myserver.com have more than one server? Try explaining it sometime, is was harder than I thought last time I tried.
Phase 3. The commercial dns. There are not enough words for every website to have a name unique to it ".com". Regardless of who runs it. The commercialization of DNS registars only makes matters worse. I predict in a few year, if it even takes that long, subdomain will be back in vague. There will not be any choice in the matter. Try finding a unique domain recent less than 8 characters? Tough, huh? Soon the public will learn "search google for keyword slashdot" to find slashdot. Dare I say "AOL Keyword whatever" in ads. Bookmark it if you like it once there, or go through the same process next time.
Where the internet went few-many-few in terms of sites you interact with. I predict DNS will go many-few-many for DNS subnames you see, and all this DNS stuff will do is make it so mere mortals don't have to look at IP's, just like the good old days.
wow, I just wrote a book, sorry. Anyway, I see DNS going through the equivilant of the web portals movement, but backwards. Then Verisign stock will plumit once investors realize DNS is dead.
I am by no means an authority on pool, but have played quite a few rounds, and would like to think of myself as serious competition for most recreational players.
My take on this device: This will only help a bad player, and there are other thing which would be of more help. I can easily "see" the angles in my head. The hardest parts of the game for this type of player has to do with cue control, estimating how hard to hit (which no coputer can really help you with), and defensive strategy.
1. Cue Control - If I have more than a couple feet in between the cue ball and the ball I am trying to hit, chances are I will be slightly off my mark, as will most other people I have seen play. A fraction of an inch (or cm for international folks) means the difference of the ball you hit going right or left of your intended path.
2. How hard to hit. A computer cannot help you hit the cue with 20psi of pressure. (Or whatever a meaningful measurement is) A cmputer can help you with "soft/medium/hard" hit, but not the exact details of your execution of the shot.
3. Defensive strategy - leaving the cue where it is least helpful to your opponent. This varies greatly by your skill at 1 and 2. I know about what my margin of error is on 1 and two, and can make a educated guess about where the cue will stop based on how I plan to do 1 and 2. In most cases I am luck if I can choose the 1/8th of the table I want the ball to stop in and do it. 1/4th of the table is more realistic. Also have to keep in my what other balls will be hit during the shots, their reactions, etc.
All the stuff this device accomplishes are really things I can do fairly accuratly in my head, and I would think most other pool players would as well. That being the case, I am not really sure the intended market of this device, and how much more it would help them than a basic pool lesson and a check list of think about 1,2,3 when choosing your shot. When you play often enough, or when I do at least, I can make many computations in my head in a couple of seconds and trim down my possible shots to two or three which I analyze in more depth.
I would argue small business, based on what I have seeing. Big business has jumpe on the e-commerce bandwagon, but for the most part small busniesses have not yet really touched its potential.
I am not in the consulting industry, but I believe there is quite a lot of business to be had by aproaching the right small companies with the right plans. If I were "leisured" at the moment, which I am not, in addition to looking for a real job, I would aproach some small businesses in my area with "solutions" to get started in e-commerce, or e-customer service. My mechanic, who can barely use a mouse has just setup a site, and plans to offer information about his high quality used car inventory. If you had a simple turnkey site for a market like that, there is a decent living to be had. Now kep in mind, you probably cannot charge the $95 an hour you used to get. However, there are many low end turn key systems to be sold. 40 dealers/mechanics at $1000 a site would be the equivilent of an entry to mid level programmer in my market. How many small mechanics, or used car dealers are there in your area? Used cars are just an example, I am sure you can come up with more on your own. It helps if you have an "in" with at least one business of the type you intend to go after to get your foot in the door.
Anyway, if I had a few weeks ahead of me where my employment was uncertain, I'd identify a market like that, and go after it. This is also a market where open source can be used to your advantage if you approach the situation correctly.
When it comes to old game ROMs, and related things like this I have to wonder...
Were the games back then really good or not? By todays standards, will they still be entertaining for any length of time?
I know everyone has great memories of older games, but is that because we played them when we were kids (in my case at least), or were they really decent? I remember wasting many hours playing Mike Tyson punchout on NES. By todays standards, that game was a joke. Punch left, punch right, uppercut, dodge.
I guess it all comes down to how much will they charge per game, and is it worth it for the time you will spend in front of them now.
-Pete
Trademarks on misspelling? Good!
on
Ruling the Root
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
When is the last time you wanted to go to burger king, called it buger king, and ended up at some other resturant trying to sell you a "buger king" burger? That doesn't happen in the physical world, it is isolated to places where a businesses physical address is how it spells it's name. There is nothing wrong with registering misspellings.
I have gone to slashdot in the past, mispelled it, and gotten an X10 popup ad...with slashdot's content. It took me a couple visits to realize why it was happening, as everything else seemed normal. Web sites have a right to try and protect themselves from domain hi-jacking like that. Another example is the paypal knock-off site, which says, or used to say how auwful paypal was. I don't know the adress, or whether is is still in opperation, but I am sure paypal wasn't happy about that.
It's one thing when some has a site "slashdotsucks.org", and quite another when someone has a site "salshdot.org" which is obviously intending (based on the content) to get "slashdot.org" visitors. A website should be able to register all the trademarks they want for both of these types of cases.
I am sorry, but I am not big on the idea of using a laptop from JVC. Nothing against JVC, but that are not in the computer market. Laptops are complex devices, and when a new company enters this market, their first couple of products are usually full of bugs. I remember the hell I went through supporting a few Sony laptops when they first came out, at my last job. Drivers were crap, tech support was non-existant, and you could fry an egg on them once they had been running for 10 minutes.
It will be interesting to read any reviews...in english that is. Babblefish just doesn't cut it for me. I wonder if it will come to the US.
While the whole idea sounds interesting, I have security concerns. Remember the ping of death, and other exploits like that? Image the "fun" script kiddies could have once an exploit is found. I hope this device includes support for scheduled automated bios upgrades to patch any bugs that are found.
People seem to be saying "this isn't a web browser, it is internet access." Well, add some RAM, mount a NFS partition off some server somewhere, and up can pop Mozilla, Nutscrape, Opera, etc. This is the core making of a set top box, or true network appliance. Don't just think web browser. Think small efficient MP3 player, email client. I am sure you smart Slashdotters can think of many more possibilities. Slap on a chip that doesn't need a fan, and a small fanless ac/dc converter, and you have a zero-moving part, zero-noise system.
This could change the way we think about network appliances, and Network Computers.
In the article about Sony and Universal's liquid audio releases recently, there was an interesting section which gave hope about the situation. When it came to copy protection, which whether or not people can burn CDs, someone was quoted as saying the reality of the situation is music is being pirated now, so not allowing songs to be made doesn't really add any value. Obviosly, that is not an exact, quote, but it close and shows some people in these companies are starting to "get it."
The barn door is open, and has been for years now. They are bickering over how the close the barn now. Needless to say, the horses got out years ago, and already have children and grandchildren.
I may be sick in the head, but I will be very interested to watch the moves these companies make over the next couple of years.
I am not sure if I agree with all of his comments about the browser war being dead. Specifically, since IE4 was released, the quality of the browser has been decreasing fast. IE5.5 was a good release, thanks to the throwing out the WIN32 code base and backporting the Mac version of IE. IE 5.0 was rubbish, and I use Mozilla on my Win 2000 box instead of IE6 because it is more stable.
Microsoft focused on the target with IE4, hit a grand slam out of the park, and hasn't really been focusing on the game since. If the browser war is to return, I believe it will be due to quality problems in IE.
BTW - I wish Microsoft would fix the png bugs which have existed for a couple versions. Makes image creation a major pain in the butt.
The internet is coming off its "high" from the late 90's, and is in the hangover stage. It will get over the hangover, swear off alc^M^M^M unrealistic spending on stupid ideas, and return to existance as a much more healthy mature Internet.
The bubble burst, and is coming back down to where it should be.
For better or worse, a couple large networking companies in my aread have gone out business recent, one of whom is our upstream provider. Unlinke what sounds like may happen in this case, we had zero downtime. Another company bought the network for pennies on the dollar. Only way we can tell anything changes is we havn't gotten a bill for two months because the new company doesn't have their act together in that regard yet.
Similar thing happened with the major compition to Verizon. They went out of business, and to the best of my knowledge their customers who have not left (many did), have not lost service, although that whole fiasco is not finished.
Anyway, chances are, another large networking company will buy the network for almost nothing, and pick up where the existing company left off...just with much lower capital investments, which may lead to lower prices.
I for one believe things like this are a mixed blessing, and in some cases needed to lower the cost structure for providing these services. Kinda like a built in cost correction.
I may be way off base with this, but that's what I think base on what I have seen locally.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't know what "inexpensive" means. It's all relative, and no real point of reference is given. If it truly is inexpensive, this could open up a market for lots of new products which track objects in 3D (real) envirnments where it just never made economic sense before.
Product ideas anyone?
-Pete
I have a question for anyone who uses this.
Is there measurable speed increase by using this distribution, or do you really just save a couple microseconds here and there?
I would like to consider myself a fairly experienced linux user. I have done my fair share of deep digging into my first pre kernel2.0 slackware system through my curent one. May it be worth my time to attempt to convert my RedHat 7.2 Dell lAttitude C800 to this? I use it for java development (IDEA rocks!), and related web work.
-Pete
They say their distribution is geared at power users. That being the case, most of their user base will be installing on higher end machines, IMO. If you are looking to install on a lower than Pentium Pro, this may not be the best distribution for you anyway. Plenty of other distributions are compiled for i386.
-Pete
I've never heard of this, I must have missed the last slashdot article on it.
On their web site they suggest buying a cd from:
http://www.tuxcds.com/
-Pete
Think about how much companies pay to use Oracle. In most cases, if you already work for a company that uses Oracle, they will put up the $2k + expenses for you to get certified. It will be a drop in the bucket.
I know my employer would put up the cash for me, if it made sense and I wanted it.
-Pete
Say instead of being a software engineer, I was an enginner who built bridges. Can you image a boss coming up to me and saying:
"I need a bridge built in this location to move some things across the river. We will lose out to our cometitors if this takes any longer than three months, you have two and a half. Tell me tomorrow how much steel you need ordered and I will have the iron workers (actually guys off the street who could spell iron) to start putting it together."
Would you go across a bridge built like that? I wouldn't if I had a choice in the matter. How different is this from many software projects? Not very. Management doesn't care about the software quality since they don't understand it anyway, the coders are passivly taught not to care either because it costs more to write well architected, well tested code. Code can be solid if effort is placed on writing solid code. There will still be bugs, but nothing like is prevelent today in commercial software. Think of all the VB monkeys that managers consider real programmers. (Not that there are good VB programmers, but by and large...)
Welcome to the world of software. As long as the current market drivers are in place, nothing will change.
-Pete
This is the paper about Open Source put out by that Microsoft funded (among other) thinktank a little while ago.
Now it all makes sense. Took me the longest time to figure out the connections.
-Pete
I am unclear on the context. Where was the article he is commenting on, and who was the intended audience?
Other than me not being clear on that, it was a good article once I got through some rough parts at the beginning. I think this guy should write his own paper on the topic, since he seems to know it and took quite a bit of effort to comment on someone else's.
Can someone clue me in to the context? Should I know the names of the people involved? I don't.
Must be a slow Sunday.
-Pete
I administer a few RedHat servers, mostly 6.2, and 7.2 which each perform a different function. If an RPM is offered for a piece of software I need to install, I usually download that first.
If the rpm install fails, I will spend about 3 minutes troubleshooting the issue. If I can't get it to go, I download the source and compile from scratch. 9 times out of 10 this works without having to figure out dependancies.
RPM works great when the envirnment is exactly the same as the build envirnment. When it's not...well, it just plain sucks. Source almost always works without incident.
Really, there is nothing to difficult about:
./configure
make
su
make install
Although it only works for products where the source is openly available.
RedHat needs a compile from source package format that most people can figure out. srpms may do it, but I have no clue how to use them.
-Pete
I could not find any mention of the TuxPhone hardware (phone) itself on the site other than the photo, and discussions about the embeded lcd/strongarm thing. No mention of how it links with the phone in the picture, etc.
Are there any "low cost" IP telephones in the market today? $600 (what looks like the going rate) seems like too much to me.
-Pete
I do not understand why IP phones
a) have so low market penetration
b) cost so much
-- I know part of the problem with a is b.
What I think really is needed is a low cost, high quality server system for one of these systems. Based on what little research I have done, it costs almost as much, if not more, for hardware for a small office system as it would to get a real small PBX like phone system.
I don't think a phone really needs a 9" LCD screen, or whatever was in the screen shot, but the "Java Phone" from the other company has a screen size perfect for the company phone directory. That I think could be the "killer app" for these things.
Anyway, anyone know of low cost PBX software (if that is even what is is called in the IP phone world)? Open Source, under a BSD like license would be cool, and lower the barrier to market entry for companies wanting to roll a system like this out. Of course, cards to hook up to a POTS connection would also be needed. Voicemail over the web, via shoutcast or something would rock. I havn't listened to my voicemail at work in 3 months. With a better interface, I may stop refusing to use it.
-Pete
DNS may have to follow something similar to what I believe has happened to the internet over the past few years. In the "beginning" of the popular Internet, everyone visits a small set of gopher sites, soon followed by first generation web sites. Then came search engines. The number of site people spend visition skyrocketed. You might never see the same site twice in a month, even though you were ssurfing all day. This doesn't include yahoo. This is phase two. Soon people realized there were just too many bad useless sites on the internet. Phase three is the portal. A portal is any site that collects information from other sources, giving a single site to visit for information. Slashdot is a good example, although what you normally think of as partals are good too. Now adays, you probably only visit a few sites on a regular basis. Phase three complete.
Here is how I see DNS going.
Phase 1. Domain names just made it so you didn't have to remember IP addresses. Think sunsite.unc.edu. That was a "site". It didn't need to be sunsite.com. My email address is a perfect example. "ix.netcom.com". Nobody thought better of it.
Phase 2. Today the "ix." throws all non-technical people off. They just don't understand or see the reason for sub domains. A domain IS the site. All site are thesite.com. Hell, most people don't even use the www anymore. You ever tried to explain the difference between ftp.server.com and www.server.com to anyone who has not been on the internet for many years? No, ftp.myserver.com doesn't mean that is the ftp site for myserver.com (although it may.) ftp is the name of the server. Server they say? Isn't there only one? How can myserver.com have more than one server? Try explaining it sometime, is was harder than I thought last time I tried.
Phase 3. The commercial dns. There are not enough words for every website to have a name unique to it ".com". Regardless of who runs it. The commercialization of DNS registars only makes matters worse. I predict in a few year, if it even takes that long, subdomain will be back in vague. There will not be any choice in the matter. Try finding a unique domain recent less than 8 characters? Tough, huh? Soon the public will learn "search google for keyword slashdot" to find slashdot. Dare I say "AOL Keyword whatever" in ads. Bookmark it if you like it once there, or go through the same process next time.
Where the internet went few-many-few in terms of sites you interact with. I predict DNS will go many-few-many for DNS subnames you see, and all this DNS stuff will do is make it so mere mortals don't have to look at IP's, just like the good old days.
wow, I just wrote a book, sorry. Anyway, I see DNS going through the equivilant of the web portals movement, but backwards. Then Verisign stock will plumit once investors realize DNS is dead.
DNS is dead...long live DNS.
-Pete
I am by no means an authority on pool, but have played quite a few rounds, and would like to think of myself as serious competition for most recreational players.
My take on this device:
This will only help a bad player, and there are other thing which would be of more help. I can easily "see" the angles in my head. The hardest parts of the game for this type of player has to do with cue control, estimating how hard to hit (which no coputer can really help you with), and defensive strategy.
1. Cue Control - If I have more than a couple feet in between the cue ball and the ball I am trying to hit, chances are I will be slightly off my mark, as will most other people I have seen play. A fraction of an inch (or cm for international folks) means the difference of the ball you hit going right or left of your intended path.
2. How hard to hit. A computer cannot help you hit the cue with 20psi of pressure. (Or whatever a meaningful measurement is) A cmputer can help you with "soft/medium/hard" hit, but not the exact details of your execution of the shot.
3. Defensive strategy - leaving the cue where it is least helpful to your opponent. This varies greatly by your skill at 1 and 2. I know about what my margin of error is on 1 and two, and can make a educated guess about where the cue will stop based on how I plan to do 1 and 2. In most cases I am luck if I can choose the 1/8th of the table I want the ball to stop in and do it. 1/4th of the table is more realistic. Also have to keep in my what other balls will be hit during the shots, their reactions, etc.
All the stuff this device accomplishes are really things I can do fairly accuratly in my head, and I would think most other pool players would as well. That being the case, I am not really sure the intended market of this device, and how much more it would help them than a basic pool lesson and a check list of think about 1,2,3 when choosing your shot. When you play often enough, or when I do at least, I can make many computations in my head in a couple of seconds and trim down my possible shots to two or three which I analyze in more depth.
-Pete
I would argue small business, based on what I have seeing. Big business has jumpe on the e-commerce bandwagon, but for the most part small busniesses have not yet really touched its potential.
I am not in the consulting industry, but I believe there is quite a lot of business to be had by aproaching the right small companies with the right plans. If I were "leisured" at the moment, which I am not, in addition to looking for a real job, I would aproach some small businesses in my area with "solutions" to get started in e-commerce, or e-customer service. My mechanic, who can barely use a mouse has just setup a site, and plans to offer information about his high quality used car inventory. If you had a simple turnkey site for a market like that, there is a decent living to be had. Now kep in mind, you probably cannot charge the $95 an hour you used to get. However, there are many low end turn key systems to be sold. 40 dealers/mechanics at $1000 a site would be the equivilent of an entry to mid level programmer in my market. How many small mechanics, or used car dealers are there in your area? Used cars are just an example, I am sure you can come up with more on your own. It helps if you have an "in" with at least one business of the type you intend to go after to get your foot in the door.
Anyway, if I had a few weeks ahead of me where my employment was uncertain, I'd identify a market like that, and go after it. This is also a market where open source can be used to your advantage if you approach the situation correctly.
Hope I have gotten some thoughts going,
-Pete
How much you wanna bet "Iowa Court May Order Microsoft Refunds" will be the next article?
-Pete
When it comes to old game ROMs, and related things like this I have to wonder...
Were the games back then really good or not? By todays standards, will they still be entertaining for any length of time?
I know everyone has great memories of older games, but is that because we played them when we were kids (in my case at least), or were they really decent? I remember wasting many hours playing Mike Tyson punchout on NES. By todays standards, that game was a joke. Punch left, punch right, uppercut, dodge.
I guess it all comes down to how much will they charge per game, and is it worth it for the time you will spend in front of them now.
-Pete
When is the last time you wanted to go to burger king, called it buger king, and ended up at some other resturant trying to sell you a "buger king" burger? That doesn't happen in the physical world, it is isolated to places where a businesses physical address is how it spells it's name. There is nothing wrong with registering misspellings.
I have gone to slashdot in the past, mispelled it, and gotten an X10 popup ad...with slashdot's content. It took me a couple visits to realize why it was happening, as everything else seemed normal. Web sites have a right to try and protect themselves from domain hi-jacking like that. Another example is the paypal knock-off site, which says, or used to say how auwful paypal was. I don't know the adress, or whether is is still in opperation, but I am sure paypal wasn't happy about that.
It's one thing when some has a site "slashdotsucks.org", and quite another when someone has a site "salshdot.org" which is obviously intending (based on the content) to get "slashdot.org" visitors. A website should be able to register all the trademarks they want for both of these types of cases.
-Pete
I am sorry, but I am not big on the idea of using a laptop from JVC. Nothing against JVC, but that are not in the computer market. Laptops are complex devices, and when a new company enters this market, their first couple of products are usually full of bugs. I remember the hell I went through supporting a few Sony laptops when they first came out, at my last job. Drivers were crap, tech support was non-existant, and you could fry an egg on them once they had been running for 10 minutes.
It will be interesting to read any reviews...in english that is. Babblefish just doesn't cut it for me. I wonder if it will come to the US.
-Pete
While the whole idea sounds interesting, I have security concerns. Remember the ping of death, and other exploits like that? Image the "fun" script kiddies could have once an exploit is found. I hope this device includes support for scheduled automated bios upgrades to patch any bugs that are found.
People seem to be saying "this isn't a web browser, it is internet access." Well, add some RAM, mount a NFS partition off some server somewhere, and up can pop Mozilla, Nutscrape, Opera, etc. This is the core making of a set top box, or true network appliance. Don't just think web browser. Think small efficient MP3 player, email client. I am sure you smart Slashdotters can think of many more possibilities. Slap on a chip that doesn't need a fan, and a small fanless ac/dc converter, and you have a zero-moving part, zero-noise system.
This could change the way we think about network appliances, and Network Computers.
-Pete
In the article about Sony and Universal's liquid audio releases recently, there was an interesting section which gave hope about the situation. When it came to copy protection, which whether or not people can burn CDs, someone was quoted as saying the reality of the situation is music is being pirated now, so not allowing songs to be made doesn't really add any value. Obviosly, that is not an exact, quote, but it close and shows some people in these companies are starting to "get it."
The barn door is open, and has been for years now. They are bickering over how the close the barn now. Needless to say, the horses got out years ago, and already have children and grandchildren.
I may be sick in the head, but I will be very interested to watch the moves these companies make over the next couple of years.
-Pete
I am not sure if I agree with all of his comments about the browser war being dead. Specifically, since IE4 was released, the quality of the browser has been decreasing fast. IE5.5 was a good release, thanks to the throwing out the WIN32 code base and backporting the Mac version of IE. IE 5.0 was rubbish, and I use Mozilla on my Win 2000 box instead of IE6 because it is more stable.
Microsoft focused on the target with IE4, hit a grand slam out of the park, and hasn't really been focusing on the game since. If the browser war is to return, I believe it will be due to quality problems in IE.
BTW - I wish Microsoft would fix the png bugs which have existed for a couple versions. Makes image creation a major pain in the butt.
-Pete
I have never seen so many one or two liner post after a slashdot article.
This may be the first time Slashdot readers are left speechless.
-Pete
The internet is coming off its "high" from the late 90's, and is in the hangover stage. It will get over the hangover, swear off alc^M^M^M unrealistic spending on stupid ideas, and return to existance as a much more healthy mature Internet.
The bubble burst, and is coming back down to where it should be.
-Pete
For better or worse, a couple large networking companies in my aread have gone out business recent, one of whom is our upstream provider. Unlinke what sounds like may happen in this case, we had zero downtime. Another company bought the network for pennies on the dollar. Only way we can tell anything changes is we havn't gotten a bill for two months because the new company doesn't have their act together in that regard yet.
Similar thing happened with the major compition to Verizon. They went out of business, and to the best of my knowledge their customers who have not left (many did), have not lost service, although that whole fiasco is not finished.
Anyway, chances are, another large networking company will buy the network for almost nothing, and pick up where the existing company left off...just with much lower capital investments, which may lead to lower prices.
I for one believe things like this are a mixed blessing, and in some cases needed to lower the cost structure for providing these services. Kinda like a built in cost correction.
I may be way off base with this, but that's what I think base on what I have seen locally.
-Pete
"Setting online works free doesn't please everyone"
well, duh.
-Pete