What the SysRq key needs is a corporate sponsor! Have that key bring in some cash!
Possibilities: -Place a trademarked logo on it to raise brand awareness. -Have it perform new special functions or modify functions for that vendors software when pressed. -Have it open a web browser to the sponsors web site when pressed.
I can think of at least one key that has actually been added because of this kind of thing (cough *Windows* cough)
I've seen that Windows 1.0 video before, but is that a real commercial? I don't think I have ever seen any authoritative source information included with it. It looks more like a humorous self-parody that was made much later.
On a side note: if it is real, did Balmer ever have hair?
In Windows 7 IE can be "removed" via the Program Features control panel, but all that does is remove IExplore.exe (which is little more than a loader stub), removes the icons, and unregisters the HTTP shell protocol handlers. IE actually remains and can be embedded by applications (such as the desktop shell).
The previously proposed IEless Windows 7e, also "removes" IE in the same way but does not offer the option to re-enable IE. On both Windows 7 and Windows 7e dropping the IExplore.exe file in to the Internet Explorer folder is all it takes to be able to invoke the IE front end.
From a competitiveness standpoint, the problem with this is that a: applications that embed IE will not respect your choice of browser rendering engine and b: many people almost seem to be allergic to the prospect of having two applications installed at the same time that do seemingly the same thing (even if one does not have a visible way to launch it)
As a long time GUI critic I've never quite understood the resistance all these years towards using a single multiple document style window for graphics editing. The kind of graphics editing I do usually involves dozens of tiny images all open at the same time. In the "real world" desktop with paper and scissors it was once not uncommon for someone to use a cutting tray of some kind that could be moved and set aside without having to move or otherwise deal with dozens of individual image scraps.
Obviously not everybody works the same way, and window managers/desktops these days are better at dealing with groups of windows, but it always seemed crazy not to at least have it as an option.
In a continuation of the Open Source Mozilla party started in January 1998, the ongoing Firefox party has now reached it's five year mark. Mozilla.org announced their intention to keep the party going indefinitely.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy describes the Mozilla / Firefox party as follows:
The longest and most destructive party ever held is now into its fourth generation, and still no one shows any signs of leaving. Somebody did once look at his watch, but that was eleven years ago, and there has been no follow-up. The mess is extraordinary, and has to be seen to be believed, but if you don't have any particular need to believe it, then don't go and look, because you won't enjoy it. There have recently been some bangs and flashes up in the clouds, and there is one theory that this is a battle being fought between the fleets of several rival carpet-cleaning companies who are hovering over the thing like vultures, but you shouldn't believe anything you hear at parties, and particularly not anything you hear at this one.
the system administrator is long gone and the programmers are very long gone. I bet the staff tried to power cycle it thinking it was just like a PC and now they've made the problem 3x worse.
Very likely. Maintaining an existing system, especially an "older" one, brings no glory to the higherups. With the economy and the layoffs the last couple of years it is almost a sure thing they got rid of anyone still responsible for or knowledgeable of this system. Even when things were good they probably didn't take it seriously and did not keep any in-house backup personnel around, besides employees can just be discarded and replaced like light bulbs right? Right?
Of course, now the system has gotten everybody's attention.
I can almost hear some manager there yelling "I told you we should have re-written it in Dot Net!"
It's not like Microsoft's "leaks" are anything new. I have even found references on old archived newsgroups to people discussing pre-release Windows 1.0 as early as late 1983 (although perhaps not "leaked" if they were meant to have it). Late 1983 was when Microsoft was promoting this vapor-ware product in magazines such as Byte in order to upstage the now forgotten VisiCorp Visi On and this little product about to be announced from Apple called the Macintosh. Of course it was not officially release until 1985. There is even a late 1984 pre-release still floating around.
Microsoft wants people to get their hands on their software. They make it available to developers, testers, and reviewers. And if they wave their hand to others and say "ah-ah-ah you aren't allowed to have that" then people start drooling over this tempting forbidden software rather than seeing it as just another pile of bits. It is an inexpensive way to produce publicity.
An interesting thing, at least to me, here is how the public will accept or reject their changed around user interface. Given that there is a more or less fair and competitive market for cars it is possible and likely that people will reject this change by not buying this kind of vehicle.
If this were a Microsoft software product everybody would be using it regardless if they like it or not. *cough*Office ribbon*cough*
Oh, and peeling off the 'Designed for Microsoft Windows XP' sticker is easy, too."
But how does one remove or replace the crash key^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H Windows logo key from the keyboard? This is a laptop so it isn't as easy as switching a keyboard.
It has always bothered me that keyboard hardware manufacturers brand their hardware with Microsoft's logo when a simple keyboard really should remain OS neutral. I'm sure they are getting paid by MS for this.
- posted using a nice old AT style keyboard from before the Windows key insanity began.
Personally I think Oracle and Sun are perfect for each other business wise. Two companies that have some good products, often don't even realize the potential of what they have, have no real vision other than getting big contracts signed, and couldn't market their way out of a wet paper bag.
Now that there is even a hint that something might change, I halfway expect managers to be running around like chickens with their heads cut off spewing crap like "Solaris is going to be desupported!" or "Sparc servers are 'going away' soon". (I went through this with Oracle Forms when Oracle dropped the Win32 client ARRAGGG!)
It would just be nice if they could make their intentions 100% clear on what specifically they plan to do with Sun's products.
One of my favorite version numbers was the version of the first Doom II executable (which used a different version number than the game itself as it shared the exact same executable with Doom I, Doom I shareware, and Doom II). The initial release of Doom II was "Doom II Version 1.666"".
This looks like a more or less standard boring old IBM PC compatible computer. There are truckloads of great old DOS programs floating around out there if you look around (although sadly most people only feel inclined to preserve games, not utilities and such)
Probably the easiest thing to do is connect a 360k drive to a somewhat more "modern" networked computer that has an internal floppy disk controller, and write disk images or files directly to it. One hint though, do not write 360k floppies with a 1.2mb 5.25" drive, they usually won't work due to differences in the size of the magnetic track written. If you need 5.25 floppy disks, you can usually find them on eBay - heck there are still 8" disks and punch cards floating around!
That system might be able to run up to MS/PC DOS 6.22 or perhaps even FreeDOS, but if there is no hard drive you probably would be best served with DOS 2.x or 3.x, they take up less disk space and memory.
There are various other OSes for 8088/8086 IBM PC compatibles (CP/M 86, and Xenix come to mind) as well as GUI shells (Visi-On, GEM, GEOS, and Windows 1.0 through 3.0) but most of the useful stuff for that class of machine is for plain old DOS.
If you are looking to add hardware, there is also plenty of old ISA stuff floating around on eBay. You might be able to add a 720k 3.5" floppy drive (check the physical bay size and connector compatibility) or a 1.4mb drive using an ISA controller card with a BIOS. 8-bit MFM/RLL hard drives and controllers, I'm sure I have even seen 8-bit IDE controllers before. There are ISA VGA cards that will work in 8 bit ISA systems (often they look like 16-bit cards but will still fit and operate in an 8-bit slot)
Anyway, lots of options but not as unique as TI-99/4a, Apple II, TRS-80 or such.
Seems like a simple enough solution, geeks like us should help friends, neighbors, relatives, and anyone else we encounter to opt-out of this nonsense. If enough people opt-out of this then DNS redirection could theoretically become unprofitable enough that they would ditch it!
Grass-roots spreading the word has worked well for Firefox, so why not this?
XP dead? I think even netcraft confirms it isn't, despite what Microsoft would like. The latest advertisement from the local Microcenter is covered left and right in computers that are listed as being "downgradeable" to Windows XP. This is obviously something people and businesses want or need.
I don't actually watch much TV but I switched my old TV to Digital over-the-air TV a while back.
Over all I am happy with it, the pictures are sharp and clear and once I got a proper antenna set up it worked with few "drop outs".
Getting an antenna set up isn't easy though. What is being transmitted may be digital but the air waves will always be analog. Too little signal strength and the signal can not be displayed at all. Too much strength and the receiver may apparently be "deafened" by it and also not able to display it. Problems such as signal echoes and RF interference are still there but no longer directly visible.
Those little old VHF "bunny ears" with a UHF hoop antennas likely won't quite cut it for most people unless they live close to the station. A good directional indoor antenna will work much better. Further out, of course people will need larger outdoor UHF optimized antennas. Unfortunately there are some stations what will still be transmitting on VHF.
And it is important to watch out for RF interference. Digital TV boxes contain high speed digital electronics that can actually interfere with its own operation. And most newer power supplies (wall-warts) are "switched" power supplies and can also create RF interference.
But once set up, it is completely worth not having to pay for cable.
Heck, if anybody knows anybody who uses analog over-the-air TV and hasn't gotten hooked up yet, help them out so they don't think they have to run out and pour their wallets out to Comcrapst!
Within the context of internal applications that run with a Web interface on a company Intra net, there is nothing in particular wrong with ActiveX.
One of the original driving ideas behind making applications "web based" was to make the application independent of the specific operating system. ActiveX does the exact opposite. Now, many intra nets are probably already tied to Microsoft Windows in a large number of other ways so they don't see anything wrong with that - but changing the OS to a true commodity is something that people should be keeping an eye towards, even if it doesn't happen immediately.
Plus you never really know when you might suddenly have to take an internal application an make external facing.
I mentioned this in a post above, but IE Tab is your friend.
One of the great things about Firefox is that it is cross platform. Unfortunately Microsoft's Internet Explorer is for Microsoft Windows only. As such IE tab is, unfortunately, no friend to those using Mac, Linux, or any other platform. For Windows users it is a crutch, that should be used only as a temporary measure until whatever IE-only site is brought in to this century.
Enterprises support IE because it runs ActiveX controls. Until FF does this, it will not appear in desktop builds for the majority of Corporate America.
Actually, what SHOULD happen is that companies need to stop using those old ActiveX controls. Otherwise eventually companies are going to find themselves in a situation where they run one browser and the rest of the world runs something else!
Slashdot Mirror
What the SysRq key needs is a corporate sponsor! Have that key bring in some cash!
Possibilities:
-Place a trademarked logo on it to raise brand awareness.
-Have it perform new special functions or modify functions for that vendors software when pressed.
-Have it open a web browser to the sponsors web site when pressed.
I can think of at least one key that has actually been added because of this kind of thing (cough *Windows* cough)
I've seen that Windows 1.0 video before, but is that a real commercial? I don't think I have ever seen any authoritative source information included with it. It looks more like a humorous self-parody that was made much later.
On a side note: if it is real, did Balmer ever have hair?
In Windows 7 IE can be "removed" via the Program Features control panel, but all that does is remove IExplore.exe (which is little more than a loader stub), removes the icons, and unregisters the HTTP shell protocol handlers. IE actually remains and can be embedded by applications (such as the desktop shell).
The previously proposed IEless Windows 7e, also "removes" IE in the same way but does not offer the option to re-enable IE. On both Windows 7 and Windows 7e dropping the IExplore.exe file in to the Internet Explorer folder is all it takes to be able to invoke the IE front end.
From a competitiveness standpoint, the problem with this is that a: applications that embed IE will not respect your choice of browser rendering engine and b: many people almost seem to be allergic to the prospect of having two applications installed at the same time that do seemingly the same thing (even if one does not have a visible way to launch it)
As a long time GUI critic I've never quite understood the resistance all these years towards using a single multiple document style window for graphics editing. The kind of graphics editing I do usually involves dozens of tiny images all open at the same time. In the "real world" desktop with paper and scissors it was once not uncommon for someone to use a cutting tray of some kind that could be moved and set aside without having to move or otherwise deal with dozens of individual image scraps.
Obviously not everybody works the same way, and window managers/desktops these days are better at dealing with groups of windows, but it always seemed crazy not to at least have it as an option.
In a continuation of the Open Source Mozilla party started in January 1998, the ongoing Firefox party has now reached it's five year mark. Mozilla.org announced their intention to keep the party going indefinitely.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy describes the Mozilla / Firefox party as follows:
The longest and most destructive party ever held is now into its fourth generation, and still no one shows any signs of leaving. Somebody did once look at his watch, but that was eleven years ago, and there has been no follow-up. The mess is extraordinary, and has to be seen to be believed, but if you don't have any particular need to believe it, then don't go and look, because you won't enjoy it. There have recently been some bangs and flashes up in the clouds, and there is one theory that this is a battle being fought between the fleets of several rival carpet-cleaning companies who are hovering over the thing like vultures, but you shouldn't believe anything you hear at parties, and particularly not anything you hear at this one.
If they think comic books will help, just imagine what they could do with manga!
the system administrator is long gone and the programmers are very long gone. I bet the staff tried to power cycle it thinking it was just like a PC and now they've made the problem 3x worse.
Very likely. Maintaining an existing system, especially an "older" one, brings no glory to the higherups. With the economy and the layoffs the last couple of years it is almost a sure thing they got rid of anyone still responsible for or knowledgeable of this system. Even when things were good they probably didn't take it seriously and did not keep any in-house backup personnel around, besides employees can just be discarded and replaced like light bulbs right? Right?
Of course, now the system has gotten everybody's attention.
I can almost hear some manager there yelling "I told you we should have re-written it in Dot Net!"
It's not like Microsoft's "leaks" are anything new. I have even found references on old archived newsgroups to people discussing pre-release Windows 1.0 as early as late 1983 (although perhaps not "leaked" if they were meant to have it). Late 1983 was when Microsoft was promoting this vapor-ware product in magazines such as Byte in order to upstage the now forgotten VisiCorp Visi On and this little product about to be announced from Apple called the Macintosh. Of course it was not officially release until 1985. There is even a late 1984 pre-release still floating around.
Microsoft wants people to get their hands on their software. They make it available to developers, testers, and reviewers. And if they wave their hand to others and say "ah-ah-ah you aren't allowed to have that" then people start drooling over this tempting forbidden software rather than seeing it as just another pile of bits. It is an inexpensive way to produce publicity.
For a moment there I read that headline as "Windows 7 on Medicare". I know Windows is getting old, but I didn't think it was quite there yet!
An interesting thing, at least to me, here is how the public will accept or reject their changed around user interface. Given that there is a more or less fair and competitive market for cars it is possible and likely that people will reject this change by not buying this kind of vehicle.
If this were a Microsoft software product everybody would be using it regardless if they like it or not. *cough*Office ribbon*cough*
I couldn't live without it, butt my spiel cheekier can old dew so much.
BeOS Robot A.I.:
INPUT: Make me an omelet.
BeBot: *POOF* You're an omelet!
But how does one remove or replace the crash key^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H Windows logo key from the keyboard? This is a laptop so it isn't as easy as switching a keyboard.
It has always bothered me that keyboard hardware manufacturers brand their hardware with Microsoft's logo when a simple keyboard really should remain OS neutral. I'm sure they are getting paid by MS for this.
- posted using a nice old AT style keyboard from before the Windows key insanity began.
Personally I think Oracle and Sun are perfect for each other business wise. Two companies that have some good products, often don't even realize the potential of what they have, have no real vision other than getting big contracts signed, and couldn't market their way out of a wet paper bag.
Now that there is even a hint that something might change, I halfway expect managers to be running around like chickens with their heads cut off spewing crap like "Solaris is going to be desupported!" or "Sparc servers are 'going away' soon". (I went through this with Oracle Forms when Oracle dropped the Win32 client ARRAGGG!)
It would just be nice if they could make their intentions 100% clear on what specifically they plan to do with Sun's products.
One of my favorite version numbers was the version of the first Doom II executable (which used a different version number than the game itself as it shared the exact same executable with Doom I, Doom I shareware, and Doom II). The initial release of Doom II was "Doom II Version 1.666"".
Or do what I do, and always type stuff that will make eyes bleed when read.
Oh, BTW: Hairy blood dripping decomposing donkey sacks with sphincter spread.
This looks like a more or less standard boring old IBM PC compatible computer. There are truckloads of great old DOS programs floating around out there if you look around (although sadly most people only feel inclined to preserve games, not utilities and such)
Probably the easiest thing to do is connect a 360k drive to a somewhat more "modern" networked computer that has an internal floppy disk controller, and write disk images or files directly to it. One hint though, do not write 360k floppies with a 1.2mb 5.25" drive, they usually won't work due to differences in the size of the magnetic track written. If you need 5.25 floppy disks, you can usually find them on eBay - heck there are still 8" disks and punch cards floating around!
That system might be able to run up to MS/PC DOS 6.22 or perhaps even FreeDOS, but if there is no hard drive you probably would be best served with DOS 2.x or 3.x, they take up less disk space and memory.
There are various other OSes for 8088/8086 IBM PC compatibles (CP/M 86, and Xenix come to mind) as well as GUI shells (Visi-On, GEM, GEOS, and Windows 1.0 through 3.0) but most of the useful stuff for that class of machine is for plain old DOS.
If you are looking to add hardware, there is also plenty of old ISA stuff floating around on eBay. You might be able to add a 720k 3.5" floppy drive (check the physical bay size and connector compatibility) or a 1.4mb drive using an ISA controller card with a BIOS. 8-bit MFM/RLL hard drives and controllers, I'm sure I have even seen 8-bit IDE controllers before. There are ISA VGA cards that will work in 8 bit ISA systems (often they look like 16-bit cards but will still fit and operate in an 8-bit slot)
Anyway, lots of options but not as unique as TI-99/4a, Apple II, TRS-80 or such.
Seems like a simple enough solution, geeks like us should help friends, neighbors, relatives, and anyone else we encounter to opt-out of this nonsense. If enough people opt-out of this then DNS redirection could theoretically become unprofitable enough that they would ditch it!
Grass-roots spreading the word has worked well for Firefox, so why not this?
XP dead? I think even netcraft confirms it isn't, despite what Microsoft would like. The latest advertisement from the local Microcenter is covered left and right in computers that are listed as being "downgradeable" to Windows XP. This is obviously something people and businesses want or need.
I don't actually watch much TV but I switched my old TV to Digital over-the-air TV a while back.
Over all I am happy with it, the pictures are sharp and clear and once I got a proper antenna set up it worked with few "drop outs".
Getting an antenna set up isn't easy though. What is being transmitted may be digital but the air waves will always be analog. Too little signal strength and the signal can not be displayed at all. Too much strength and the receiver may apparently be "deafened" by it and also not able to display it. Problems such as signal echoes and RF interference are still there but no longer directly visible.
Those little old VHF "bunny ears" with a UHF hoop antennas likely won't quite cut it for most people unless they live close to the station. A good directional indoor antenna will work much better. Further out, of course people will need larger outdoor UHF optimized antennas. Unfortunately there are some stations what will still be transmitting on VHF.
And it is important to watch out for RF interference. Digital TV boxes contain high speed digital electronics that can actually interfere with its own operation. And most newer power supplies (wall-warts) are "switched" power supplies and can also create RF interference.
But once set up, it is completely worth not having to pay for cable.
Heck, if anybody knows anybody who uses analog over-the-air TV and hasn't gotten hooked up yet, help them out so they don't think they have to run out and pour their wallets out to Comcrapst!
One of the original driving ideas behind making applications "web based" was to make the application independent of the specific operating system. ActiveX does the exact opposite. Now, many intra nets are probably already tied to Microsoft Windows in a large number of other ways so they don't see anything wrong with that - but changing the OS to a true commodity is something that people should be keeping an eye towards, even if it doesn't happen immediately.
Plus you never really know when you might suddenly have to take an internal application an make external facing.
One of the great things about Firefox is that it is cross platform. Unfortunately Microsoft's Internet Explorer is for Microsoft Windows only. As such IE tab is, unfortunately, no friend to those using Mac, Linux, or any other platform. For Windows users it is a crutch, that should be used only as a temporary measure until whatever IE-only site is brought in to this century.
Actually, what SHOULD happen is that companies need to stop using those old ActiveX controls. Otherwise eventually companies are going to find themselves in a situation where they run one browser and the rest of the world runs something else!
I second that. I'll believe it when I see it with my one good eye!
Proof once again that if your hair is pointy enough, then all problems seem like they can be solved using technology.