I wondered the same thing. And then as I read your post I realized that the solution for early adopters is a firewall.
Any hacks will be two part:
1) Change the software on the drive. 2) Install software on firewall/roouter/local computer that redirects all communications to the central server through a program running locally. Thus we eliminate the ability of the player to phone home and report any inproprieties.
Actually, I've been having trouble getting distros that set it up correctly. I have 2 sata and 2 ide drives. The various distros I've tried insist on putting grub or lilo on the mbr of hda instead of sda, even though the boot order in the bios is clearly set to boot from the sata drives.
Have you looked at ndiswrapper and windows drivers on linux?
I bought a really cheap ECS laptop with a realtek wireless card, partly just to see if I could get linux running on it. Once I added the right sources, I just did an apt-get ndiswrapper and then grabbed the right driver. A few very minor tweaks to a config file in vi, and tada I had wireless working.
Ubuntu/Kubuntu was the only distro that got my video and sound working out of the box on my very cheap ECS laptop. Others I tried were Mandriva, Knoppix, and Mepis; they either didn't get the video or got the video but no sound.
And a simple apt-get install ndisloader got my wireless working.
I'm very impressed with Ubuntu.
The only problem I had with it was on my desktop machine where it had a hard time finding my drives since I have a mix of sata and ide hard drives. But Mandriva hasn't figured it out either, and I paid for that!
Before the XP firewall was turned on by default in SP2, I had a couple of computers get infected with a worm during the install process. Yes, without thinking I had the ethernet cable plugged into the computer during the install. This was on a university network, so it was wide open and had several thousand undergrad computers.
I think I also had a couple 2000 computers get infected the same way.
I just got a really cheap laptop and Mandriva(running on my desktop) didn't like it. Ubuntu just worked. And installing ndiswrapper for the wireless card was a piece of cake.
I've used Ubuntu as a rescue cd at work very reliably.
It isn't the unfriendliness of the UI or the help file.
By default, new accounts created during a windows install/first use interface are administrator accounts. As are new accounts created through the generic, task view Control Panel interface for account management.
It's one of the reasons that Windows is unsecure out of the box.
If MS merely made accounts user only be default, that would take care of it.
Of course, then you'd have to fix all of the crappy software out there that can only run as admin. And there's a lot of it. Major software packages like WordPerfect still don't handle user accounts and preferences correctly and it's a very simple thing to do.
The problem is that people claim to be comparing windows and linux when what they are really comparing is what you get when you buy a retail copy of windows vs. what you get when you buy the commercial distribution *bundle* for approximately the same price.
If you look at the comparisons in that light, then comparing gimp to paint makes slightly more sense, because for your $185 for the Windows XP Pro SP 2 upgrade the best you get is paint. I didn't bother taking the time to run down the price for a non-upgrade version. For your $90 version of Suse 9.3 Professional (all prices are just the result of a quick Amazon search, pretending to be a naive buyer who doesn't know how to download and install software our even understand that free software let's you do that) you get the gimp.
It's still an unfair comparison of course, especially since the reviewers rarely make that difference explicit.
Found this out in testing. We send messages to students enrolled in our program. I was initially bccing a large list. But places like Hotmail and Yahoo were marking them as spam.
My solution was to simply loop through the list of email addresses and send each student an individual message. A little more resource intensive, but since the messages are occassionally important for their their coursework(as opposed to the occassional "cookies in the lounge" type messages) we couldn't afford to have any messages marked as spam.
Ultiimately, it's an ego thing, a way to move up in the pack. It's the same reason people say things like:
"You've got to read this new author I've discovered, she's the greatest."
"Have you listened to X? They're this new band and they're terrific."
"I found the best little bistro that has sandwiches to die for."
In each case, the recommender a) gets to show off knowledge; b) gets to feel superior for "discovering" something; and c) gets to cloak a and b under the guise of helping out someone. If the thing (browser, author, band, restaraunt) becomes a success or is well received by the other person, the recommender gains social status and points.
Doesn't matter what the "thing" is, the motivations are the same.
I wonder how many of the programs on the list don't necessarily require admin access once they've been installed, it's just that one person installs the app and then it doesn't work at all under another user.
I know that we use PowerDVD here. We install it under an accout that is a member of the administrator's group. Then we log out and log in as administrator. We copy the profile for the install account to the default user. After that, any one who logs into the machine can use PowerDVD, even though they are only members of the user group, *not* administrators.
This is another big problem with windows apps, office products as well. A is an administrator. A installs an app on a computer. B is a user. B tries to run the app but can't because the first time the app is run, it wants to write to protected areas. Every time there after, B can be a member of the users group. But that first time, B has to be an admin.
In a large company with people moving to different computers throughout the day, this can be a real PITA. The only real work around I've seen is what we do. Create a special account for installing software. Install and run all the software the computer will ever need. Log in as administrator and copy the profile for the install account to the default user profile. Delete the install account.
Some programs are nice and give you an "install for all users" prompt, SecureCRT is one of the good ones I think.
Since most windows programs haven't even properly understood and implemented things for a multi-user environment, WordPerfect I'm looking in your direction, I'll be surprised if they can handle the LUA idea.
Article is toast, but if you want to defrag our pagefile.sys, go to sysinternals.com and get their pagedefrag program. This has increased boot times on older computers running w2k by as much as 30 seconds. It also defrags some of the other system files.
PDF? Not generally editable like you can edit a plain text document, but WordPerfect and OO.o can create pdf's on the fly. I've got a couple of php apps that create pdf's on demand and I use gpl php code for my apps. I assume there are equivalent gpl libraries for PERL and other languages.
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I wondered the same thing. And then as I read your post I realized that the solution for early adopters is a firewall.
Any hacks will be two part:
1) Change the software on the drive.
2) Install software on firewall/roouter/local computer that redirects all communications to the central server through a program running locally. Thus we eliminate the ability of the player to phone home and report any inproprieties.
Actually, I've been having trouble getting distros that set it up correctly. I have 2 sata and 2 ide drives. The various distros I've tried insist on putting grub or lilo on the mbr of hda instead of sda, even though the boot order in the bios is clearly set to boot from the sata drives.
Suse 10 beta 2 was the first to get it right.
Have you looked at ndiswrapper and windows drivers on linux?
I bought a really cheap ECS laptop with a realtek wireless card, partly just to see if I could get linux running on it. Once I added the right sources, I just did an apt-get ndiswrapper and then grabbed the right driver. A few very minor tweaks to a config file in vi, and tada I had wireless working.
Check it out at:
http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/
I suggest Ubuntu as the distro to try. It was the only one that worked for all the hardware in my laptop.
Ubuntu/Kubuntu was the only distro that got my video and sound working out of the box on my very cheap ECS laptop. Others I tried were Mandriva, Knoppix, and Mepis; they either didn't get the video or got the video but no sound.
And a simple apt-get install ndisloader got my wireless working.
I'm very impressed with Ubuntu.
The only problem I had with it was on my desktop machine where it had a hard time finding my drives since I have a mix of sata and ide hard drives. But Mandriva hasn't figured it out either, and I paid for that!
Unless you are already using the mouse to select arbitrary files and folders to move between windows.
Before the XP firewall was turned on by default in SP2, I had a couple of computers get infected with a worm during the install process. Yes, without thinking I had the ethernet cable plugged into the computer during the install. This was on a university network, so it was wide open and had several thousand undergrad computers.
I think I also had a couple 2000 computers get infected the same way.
At least it isn't Mandriva. ;)
I just got a really cheap laptop and Mandriva(running on my desktop) didn't like it. Ubuntu just worked. And installing ndiswrapper for the wireless card was a piece of cake.
I've used Ubuntu as a rescue cd at work very reliably.
Can't wait until October for the next release.
It isn't the unfriendliness of the UI or the help file.
By default, new accounts created during a windows install/first use interface are administrator accounts. As are new accounts created through the generic, task view Control Panel interface for account management.
It's one of the reasons that Windows is unsecure out of the box.
If MS merely made accounts user only be default, that would take care of it.
Of course, then you'd have to fix all of the crappy software out there that can only run as admin. And there's a lot of it. Major software packages like WordPerfect still don't handle user accounts and preferences correctly and it's a very simple thing to do.
The problem is that people claim to be comparing windows and linux when what they are really comparing is what you get when you buy a retail copy of windows vs. what you get when you buy the commercial distribution *bundle* for approximately the same price.
If you look at the comparisons in that light, then comparing gimp to paint makes slightly more sense, because for your $185 for the Windows XP Pro SP 2 upgrade the best you get is paint. I didn't bother taking the time to run down the price for a non-upgrade version. For your $90 version of Suse 9.3 Professional (all prices are just the result of a quick Amazon search, pretending to be a naive buyer who doesn't know how to download and install software our even understand that free software let's you do that) you get the gimp.
It's still an unfair comparison of course, especially since the reviewers rarely make that difference explicit.
C'mon, Firefly/Serenity needs to be next!
Found this out in testing. We send messages to students enrolled in our program. I was initially bccing a large list. But places like Hotmail and Yahoo were marking them as spam.
My solution was to simply loop through the list of email addresses and send each student an individual message. A little more resource intensive, but since the messages are occassionally important for their their coursework(as opposed to the occassional "cookies in the lounge" type messages) we couldn't afford to have any messages marked as spam.
Ultiimately, it's an ego thing, a way to move up in the pack. It's the same reason people say things like:
"You've got to read this new author I've discovered, she's the greatest."
"Have you listened to X? They're this new band and they're terrific."
"I found the best little bistro that has sandwiches to die for."
In each case, the recommender a) gets to show off knowledge; b) gets to feel superior for "discovering" something; and c) gets to cloak a and b under the guise of helping out someone. If the thing (browser, author, band, restaraunt) becomes a success or is well received by the other person, the recommender gains social status and points.
Doesn't matter what the "thing" is, the motivations are the same.
Um, don't forget all those Hammer horror films where he played Dracula.
Because like everywhere in the world, front line tech support is a low paying job. You don't put your best people on phone support.
I wonder how many of the programs on the list don't necessarily require admin access once they've been installed, it's just that one person installs the app and then it doesn't work at all under another user.
I know that we use PowerDVD here. We install it under an accout that is a member of the administrator's group. Then we log out and log in as administrator. We copy the profile for the install account to the default user. After that, any one who logs into the machine can use PowerDVD, even though they are only members of the user group, *not* administrators.
This is another big problem with windows apps, office products as well. A is an administrator. A installs an app on a computer. B is a user. B tries to run the app but can't because the first time the app is run, it wants to write to protected areas. Every time there after, B can be a member of the users group. But that first time, B has to be an admin.
In a large company with people moving to different computers throughout the day, this can be a real PITA. The only real work around I've seen is what we do. Create a special account for installing software. Install and run all the software the computer will ever need. Log in as administrator and copy the profile for the install account to the default user profile. Delete the install account.
Some programs are nice and give you an "install for all users" prompt, SecureCRT is one of the good ones I think.
Since most windows programs haven't even properly understood and implemented things for a multi-user environment, WordPerfect I'm looking in your direction, I'll be surprised if they can handle the LUA idea.
Does this mean the parent is a religion geek?
And does this mean the Catholic Church made the first and most widely spread retcon?
Don't screw things up for the rest of the world just to get your American ass a little more convenience.
;)
But I thought that was our national policy. Certainly seems that way historically.
My Neuros hasn't skipped once, even driving over washboard gravel roads.
Article is toast, but if you want to defrag our pagefile.sys, go to sysinternals.com and get their pagedefrag program. This has increased boot times on older computers running w2k by as much as 30 seconds. It also defrags some of the other system files.
Sysinternals does good work.
PDF? Not generally editable like you can edit a plain text document, but WordPerfect and OO.o can create pdf's on the fly. I've got a couple of php apps that create pdf's on demand and I use gpl php code for my apps. I assume there are equivalent gpl libraries for PERL and other languages.
Nope, that didn't work either.
Nope, can't get my FF on XPSP2 to browse to \\server, \server, \\ip.address, or \ip.address.
\\servername does NOT work for me, FF 1.0.2
\\servername\dir DOES work
\\servername\c$ DOES work
So the only thing that FF can't do that IE/Explorer can is browse to the server root, \\servername.
I get a permission denied error when I try that page. XPSP2 fully patched.