Re:There are several competing systems like this
on
High-Tech RepoMan
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· Score: 1
Actually, the entity which holds the title, owns the car. Creditors (bank or dealership) hold on to the title until you pay off the loan. As long as you have an outstanding loan, you don't technically own the car (or house). This is why creditors can reposses your car or forclose on your house. You didn't really own it to begin with.
In all seriousness, I like how the doctor quoted said that this won't be the cure requested since it won't make as much money as a drug-based cure would.
You mean they actually research drug-based cures? Seems to me that the real money is in drug based treatments. Nothing says love like a life long prescription for Prozac. Actually, they only want you taking a drug until the patent runs out. Then they come up with an amazing new long-term treatment that you can't get in generic form.
Netatalk (I assume) difficult to configure? Are you serious? What could be easier than installing a Debian package and adding a line or two to/etc/netatalk/AppleVolumes.default? Granted, it has gotten more complicated in version 2.0 with the different methods of storing Mac metadata on the FS, but the defaults usually work fine.
Samba is the one that can be a bitch (sorta). That config file is pretty big.
I just looked at the specs for this and am not that impressed. Like many other NAS devices, they claim OS/X support, but support is not via AFP. Though their docs make no mention of it, the YellowMachine is almost certainly running SAMBA only, and OS/X support is also through SAMBA. The problem with this is primarily long filenames. Try backing up your music collection to a SMB/CIFS box, and you'll see what I mean. IMHO, if you don't have AFP support, then you don't support Macs.
Also, SMB support on Macs is really slow and sometimes buggy. Indeed, if it doesn't do AFP, it doesn't really support Macs.
How different is a person going to look with the skin of another person? Doesn't bone structure define more of a look than the skin itself? And really, how bad can it be to look a little like someone else compared to HAVING NO FACE AT ALL. Geez.
Unfortunately, I dropped it once too many times, and it's $sys$. I hate Sony now, but I am desperate to find a similar laptop. I'd gladly install a thin version of Linux, but I am worried about driver support on some of these old notebooks. For me, video driver support is REALLY important (I need fast video as I do tend to swap between windows at incredible speed).
No need for a special "thin" Linux on such hardware. Try something like Debian or Gentoo where you can install ONLY what you need. You should get all the hardware support. Just don't run KDE or GNOME and you'll be fine.
They can use these applications, it just won't be "blazing." That said, percieved computing speed can be dramtically improved just by using a light and fast desktop/OS. It isn't "magic." It is just perception. Contrary to popular belief, web browsing and word processing are not very CPU intensive. A little extra RAM never hurts (and that is dirt cheap), but in general it should be usable.
And honestly, I don't really see any need for a special "light" Linux distribution. Just install a modern dist without GNOME or KDE, dont' install any services, and you'll be fine on most computers above, say, a PII-350.
Regarding modern word processors, how many "average" people use more than 10% of the applications features? Time to find a lighter wordprocessor than OpenOffice.
Redhat 5.2?? Are you kidding? Why would you artificially limit the functionality of a box by installing a distribtution as old as RH 5.2 on it? That's like refusing a free upgrade that will make an old car get better gas mileage.
Is it ever ok for US intelligence and/or military capability to use domestic surveillance and/or intelligence-gathering to protect our assets (be they life, property, and so on), or is it always better to err on the side of privacy in domestic concerns, and use the standard US criminal justice system to prosecute crimes after they have already occurred?
Without proper oversight, it is never OK to spy on citizens. We must err on the side of privacy in domestic concerns.
Is there ever a circumstance where preemption could be appropriate, or would universal privacy always trump, say, the lives of thousands of others?
But how do you know when to preempt unless you spy on everypone indiscrimately? If you know that a bank is going ot be robbed, there is certainly nothing wrong with heading it off to save lives. The question is how do you obtain the information? It is easy to go back in hindsight and say "if only we could have spied on them...," but the question, would have have KNOWN to spy on them, and not, say, me?
Black-and-white liberty and freedom quotes aside, is there any gray area, any balance that can be struck between privacy and the desire of those charged with the protection of the United States to protect it, and indeed what I would regard a very important need to protect it from catastrophic (e.g., 9/11-style) harm?[1]
Yes, it is called survelance with judicial oversight. One catastrophic event does not justify the slippery slope we are seeing these days.
If so, how can we expect the government and those charged with protection to keep up with all potential threats?
I don't. You can't. It is an unrealistic goal. People need to get that into their heads.
Why does it have to be an old distribution? What the heck is wrong with Fedora that it won't run on a PIII-700? That is hardly "hopelessly obsolete." And why do you have recompile the kernel? Thats absurd. A distribution should either come with a generic kernel capable of running on most any x86 > 486 or a selection of kernels.
Seriously, the only consideration one needs to make when installing a sane distribution like, say, Debian on an older (within reason) computer is "what desktop do I want?" KDE and GNOME are probably not very practical, but there are plenty of lightweight and quite useful window managers (XFCE is a fine choice) that will run just fine on a PIII 700. I'd even go as low as a PII on a web/email only type desktop given enough RAM.
Isn't this loss especially risky because they are selling the 360 as a media center and not just a game machine? What if people decide that they don't even want it for games (no royalties and no monthly subscriptions). People might just want it for a cheap, convenient media PC. I guess this gets them into THAT market, but is that enough?
-matthew
Re:Can AJAX finally bring us "push technology"
on
Ajax in Action
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· Score: 1
Yes, pushing has its benefits. I was just addressing the desires of the parent poster. Too bad you can't make generic TCP connections in Javascript. Then again, maybe that isn't such a bad thing.:)
As for the JVM version, you can check for this in your applet before you start the dependant code, and you can ask the user to d/w the JVM.
What if the new VM breaks another applet which only works with the older VM? I've seen it happen more than once before. In my experince, applets are extremely picky about the JVM version. Applet interoperability is far worse than javascript interoperability. Plus, applets have the small problem of not interacting with the rest of the page. I'll pass on the applets, thanks.
-matthew
Re:Can AJAX finally bring us "push technology"
on
Ajax in Action
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· Score: 1
I imagine a browser querying specific bits of data is a lot less of a load than a user hitting "refresh" on the browser periodically.
-matthew
Re:Can AJAX finally bring us "push technology"
on
Ajax in Action
·
· Score: 1
While I am generally not one to hype AJAX, your first 3 points are nobrainers with ajax. You just set a Javascript timer to periodically poll the server and replace esxiting div's or whatever with new content. Super easy.
As for gluing them together, I think that is beyond ajax. You'd probably have to design your own webpage that glued them together and hope they don't change the format of the data any time soon.
It's a freakin' ringtone! How the hell can it "suck?" It rings, you pick it up. Who cares what it sounds like so long as it prompts you to answer the god damn phone.
Aliens, eh? If humans are too complex to have evolved, what does that say about the aliens that might have designed us? How'd THEY get so smart? Are they just REALLY smart rocks?
Now THAT would be boneheaded. Not only would the police know where you stopped last, but would have your identity through your sister-in-law. Do yourself a favor and NEVER try to get away with a crime.:-P
The impact is irrelevent in this case. If I download content, I am free to render (or selectively render) it however I want within copyright laws. That is a censequence of using an inhrently open system like the web. If that hurts businesses, then those businesses need to find a better way to make money. It is that simple. The consumer is not in any way responsible for ensuring that a particular business model remains viable. There is no tragedy here. Some websites will go under. New ones will pop up and pick up the slack. The web could use a nice trimming anyway.
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Actually, the entity which holds the title, owns the car. Creditors (bank or dealership) hold on to the title until you pay off the loan. As long as you have an outstanding loan, you don't technically own the car (or house). This is why creditors can reposses your car or forclose on your house. You didn't really own it to begin with.
-matthew
What makes you think he doesn't already actually mean it? Synesthesia seems pretty friekin' real if you've ever experienced it.
-matthew
You mean they actually research drug-based cures? Seems to me that the real money is in drug based treatments. Nothing says love like a life long prescription for Prozac. Actually, they only want you taking a drug until the patent runs out. Then they come up with an amazing new long-term treatment that you can't get in generic form.
-matthew
Netatalk (I assume) difficult to configure? Are you serious? What could be easier than installing a Debian package and adding a line or two to /etc/netatalk/AppleVolumes.default? Granted, it has gotten more complicated in version 2.0 with the different methods of storing Mac metadata on the FS, but the defaults usually work fine.
Samba is the one that can be a bitch (sorta). That config file is pretty big.
-matthew
I just looked at the specs for this and am not that impressed. Like many other NAS devices, they claim OS/X support, but support is not via AFP. Though their docs make no mention of it, the YellowMachine is almost certainly running SAMBA only, and OS/X support is also through SAMBA. The problem with this is primarily long filenames. Try backing up your music collection to a SMB/CIFS box, and you'll see what I mean. IMHO, if you don't have AFP support, then you don't support Macs.
Also, SMB support on Macs is really slow and sometimes buggy. Indeed, if it doesn't do AFP, it doesn't really support Macs.
-matthew
How different is a person going to look with the skin of another person? Doesn't bone structure define more of a look than the skin itself? And really, how bad can it be to look a little like someone else compared to HAVING NO FACE AT ALL. Geez.
-matthew
No need for a special "thin" Linux on such hardware. Try something like Debian or Gentoo where you can install ONLY what you need. You should get all the hardware support. Just don't run KDE or GNOME and you'll be fine.
-matthew
They can use these applications, it just won't be "blazing." That said, percieved computing speed can be dramtically improved just by using a light and fast desktop/OS. It isn't "magic." It is just perception. Contrary to popular belief, web browsing and word processing are not very CPU intensive. A little extra RAM never hurts (and that is dirt cheap), but in general it should be usable.
And honestly, I don't really see any need for a special "light" Linux distribution. Just install a modern dist without GNOME or KDE, dont' install any services, and you'll be fine on most computers above, say, a PII-350.
Regarding modern word processors, how many "average" people use more than 10% of the applications features? Time to find a lighter wordprocessor than OpenOffice.
-matthew
Redhat 5.2?? Are you kidding? Why would you artificially limit the functionality of a box by installing a distribtution as old as RH 5.2 on it? That's like refusing a free upgrade that will make an old car get better gas mileage.
-matthew
I was talking about older computers in general at that point. RAM is one of the biggest factors.
-matthew
Without proper oversight, it is never OK to spy on citizens. We must err on the side of privacy in domestic concerns.
Is there ever a circumstance where preemption could be appropriate, or would universal privacy always trump, say, the lives of thousands of others?
But how do you know when to preempt unless you spy on everypone indiscrimately? If you know that a bank is going ot be robbed, there is certainly nothing wrong with heading it off to save lives. The question is how do you obtain the information? It is easy to go back in hindsight and say "if only we could have spied on them...," but the question, would have have KNOWN to spy on them, and not, say, me?
Black-and-white liberty and freedom quotes aside, is there any gray area, any balance that can be struck between privacy and the desire of those charged with the protection of the United States to protect it, and indeed what I would regard a very important need to protect it from catastrophic (e.g., 9/11-style) harm?[1]
Yes, it is called survelance with judicial oversight. One catastrophic event does not justify the slippery slope we are seeing these days.
If so, how can we expect the government and those charged with protection to keep up with all potential threats?
I don't. You can't. It is an unrealistic goal. People need to get that into their heads.
-matthew
For the first day after you install it it, perhaps, but it is going downhill from there.
-matthew
Don't be stupid. Of course it isn't going to make it "blazing." But it will be useful. How the heck did this get modded "interesting?"
-matthew
Why does it have to be an old distribution? What the heck is wrong with Fedora that it won't run on a PIII-700? That is hardly "hopelessly obsolete." And why do you have recompile the kernel? Thats absurd. A distribution should either come with a generic kernel capable of running on most any x86 > 486 or a selection of kernels.
Seriously, the only consideration one needs to make when installing a sane distribution like, say, Debian on an older (within reason) computer is "what desktop do I want?" KDE and GNOME are probably not very practical, but there are plenty of lightweight and quite useful window managers (XFCE is a fine choice) that will run just fine on a PIII 700. I'd even go as low as a PII on a web/email only type desktop given enough RAM.
-matthew
Isn't this loss especially risky because they are selling the 360 as a media center and not just a game machine? What if people decide that they don't even want it for games (no royalties and no monthly subscriptions). People might just want it for a cheap, convenient media PC. I guess this gets them into THAT market, but is that enough?
-matthew
Yes, pushing has its benefits. I was just addressing the desires of the parent poster. Too bad you can't make generic TCP connections in Javascript. Then again, maybe that isn't such a bad thing. :)
-matthew
What if the new VM breaks another applet which only works with the older VM? I've seen it happen more than once before. In my experince, applets are extremely picky about the JVM version. Applet interoperability is far worse than javascript interoperability. Plus, applets have the small problem of not interacting with the rest of the page. I'll pass on the applets, thanks.
-matthew
I imagine a browser querying specific bits of data is a lot less of a load than a user hitting "refresh" on the browser periodically.
-matthew
While I am generally not one to hype AJAX, your first 3 points are nobrainers with ajax. You just set a Javascript timer to periodically poll the server and replace esxiting div's or whatever with new content. Super easy.
As for gluing them together, I think that is beyond ajax. You'd probably have to design your own webpage that glued them together and hope they don't change the format of the data any time soon.
-matthew
It's a freakin' ringtone! How the hell can it "suck?" It rings, you pick it up. Who cares what it sounds like so long as it prompts you to answer the god damn phone.
-matthew
-matthew
Actually, it still isn't literal because Christ would have have said "I am the door" in Aramaic, not English.
-matthew
Aliens, eh? If humans are too complex to have evolved, what does that say about the aliens that might have designed us? How'd THEY get so smart? Are they just REALLY smart rocks?
Now THAT would be boneheaded. Not only would the police know where you stopped last, but would have your identity through your sister-in-law. Do yourself a favor and NEVER try to get away with a crime. :-P
-matthew
The impact is irrelevent in this case. If I download content, I am free to render (or selectively render) it however I want within copyright laws. That is a censequence of using an inhrently open system like the web. If that hurts businesses, then those businesses need to find a better way to make money. It is that simple. The consumer is not in any way responsible for ensuring that a particular business model remains viable. There is no tragedy here. Some websites will go under. New ones will pop up and pick up the slack. The web could use a nice trimming anyway.
-matthew