I felt the same way about Windows 95 back about two months before it was released. I was working for a computer company at the time and Windows 95 was "revolutionary" compared to Windows 3.11. It wasn't supposed to crash like 3.11 did, it could have 70 DOS windows open at once in 32MB of RAM (Granted, they weren't doing anything).
Then, after the shiny wore off (Took about three weeks for me), I realized it's still Windows and still has Windows' problems. It still locked up, it still froze the machine, it still made programs misbehave for unexplained reasons. Granted I could usually hit Ctrl-Alt-Del and sometimes I could fix the problem, but the system would eventually need a reboot anyway.
Now times change, and Vista may be Redmond's Holy Grail, but it would take more than a two-week-limited beta to convince me of that.
That's possible. When I was doing unencrypted testing, I was using ext3 and it was a steady stream. My encrypted block device is formatted with ReiserFS 3.6 but it may have similar settings.
I could, but that seems like a hack to me, and would only work until I needed to grow the encrypted section to 51% of the disk (Since I have to destroy and re-create the DMG file every time I expand it). I want the entire disk "classified" since it's all my private data.
You can use cryptsetup-luks to encrypt your swap space, yes. It requires modification to your startup scripts (Specifically the section where it mounts your swap space), and generating a random key each boot (If you so choose), but it's quite doable.
I'm currently using cryptsetup-LUKS / DM Mapper with AES-256 encryption and a 16-digit random key committed to memory. I'm just using it for a data partition currently, but if some of the rumors I'm hearing are true, I should be able to go system-wide on my distro of choice soon enough.
I do see a system penalty using the crypto setup (Server is single AMD-1800+ 1GB RAM) in that copying a large file will peg the CPU and drive the load average way up for about two seconds every four to five seconds, but thus far it hasn't been more than a 10-15% speed hit over-all (Compared to an unencrypted block device) and the server is able to withstand it for days on end without a hiccup.
I'm going to try to correct you as gently as I can (So unlike Slashdot, I know). But it's done this way to make it compatible. The crypto is at the level it is so it is FS agnostic (I'm using it now on top of LVM and underneath ReiserFS).
In other words, it's at the block level, not the FS level. It creates no problems for anything using the "standard" Linux APIs because unless they're working on the block level, they won't even know it's there.
The user is not locked out of the data unless the user forgets the password while mounting the device/file/partition/LV. Once it's mounted, the key is retained in the kernel and life goes on. It can present problems in using it for system-level filesystems (/home,/usr, etc) but that's something the distro maintainers will have to tackle since you will either need to be present when the system boots (to type in the key) or have it grab the key from an unencrypted location accessible to the system (Some people use remote servers, some us USB drives, whatever).
This is perfect for removable drives (USB, FireWire, etc).
I've been in your shoes for fifteen years now. I originally learned programming to play on the Commodore 64, but really took it up when I was a SysOp of a BBS (WWIV 4.2 at the time, tons of mods out there, some of them quite good). I started writing my own utilities and tweaking mods to suit my own liking.
Believe it or not, but I still have most of the code from back then. It has shuffled through a dozen various machines and hard drive upgrades. I've learned a few semi-obvious things about keeping track of things over that time.
Some code/projects will be lost. This is just the way things go. If you don't take really good care of your data, it will disappear into the ether. But honestly, that's the way it should be. My first program used printf() and hard-coded ANSI sequences. It is completely useless anymore and deserves to be lost in time. However, to keep track of the stuff you do think may be useful as more than a learning experience, I would recommend a few things.
Keep Backups. This isn't just like using a Version Control System (VCS), this is more basic. You will become bored with projects and many of them will end up shelved somewhere on your hard drive. If you do want to keep them, make at least two backups. Your projects won't be very big, so you can probably fit several hundred on a single CD. Make two, in case one flakes on you. I also keep my projects on a couple of machines (Again, they're usually tiny, so there isn't a hard drive space hit). Also, having your original source code rather than an odd archive makes importing into a new VCS really easy. Remember that it takes work to replace code that's lost. You can't just re-download it from somewhere.
Learn good coding practices. Believe me, they are worth your weight in gold. There is nothing worse than getting lost in your own code weeks/months/years after the fact because you couldn't indent properly, or wrote overly complex run-on functions. Also, good coding practices will really help if you want to adapt some piece of code into a new project. Keep your interfaces clean and document them. Clean, documented interfaces make for better code re-use and unless you go nuts with the documentation, it won't add more than 5% to your coding time. Your coding methodologies will change as your skills improve, but learning to write decent code early will usually mean more of your code will work in the future.
Use a VCS. People have recommended CVS and SVN, but I would actually recommend Monotone. I discovered it when Linus was kicked off BitKeaper, and for small projects I really think it's ideal (It may even work well for large projects, but I haven't asked the OpenEmbedded guys how it's working out for them). It doesn't have the same problems I've seen with CVS and SVN (Namely files being locked and different concurrent versions of files breaking the code check-in). It doesn't require a server to be setup (Though it has a server function if you feel so inclined); it keeps everything in a single-file-database where ever you decide to put the file (You may want to keep all your databases in one location for easy backup, or have each database be in the directory tree of the project; whatever you want). It runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and they can all talk together if you do decide to setup a central server. One down side is that it's still relatively fluid, meaning that they change things that aren't backward-compatible. That being said, I've had some databases from Monotone 0.18 and now that I'm using 0.25 (Three non-compatible changes later), they still work.
Regardless of which one you choose, learn to use it. And for the love of all that's holy add comments when you check-in code! Even short notes about what you were working on can spark your memory if/when you revisit a project, especially if you're in deep geek mode and your brain is moving at escape velocity.
I can easily see this having the opposite effect of its intention, namely programmers understanding the limitations and loopholes of copyright better than they do now. I mean how many projects have been shutdown by C&D letters sent under the DMCA? How many of those were bogus if you actually knew the law? If they're really going to teach copyright (Including the extensions and expansions), then maybe some programmers would better understand fair use and the "protections" provided by the DMCA.
Dune 2 Quake [1-2] Doom [1-2] Descent [1-2] Total Annihilation
I still fondly remember LAN parties where the trash talk was as fast and furious as the game action, possibly more so. TA with four players and bots for each, with select mods installed is insane.
With the banner ads I see in Yahoo Groups and at the end of Group e-mails, I have no problem with them paying to send e-mail. I mean, are they an Internet company or not?
Perhaps on Windows, but not quite true on Linux. Xinerama support is an option with nVidia TwinView, and if it's turned off, the OS sees one big screen (Which makes playing UT2004 a bitch, actually).
From what I remember, conspiracy charges originated as a tool for fighting organized crime. Since they couldn't put the high-level gangsters away for gunning down their rivals, they made conspiracy to commit a crime a crime in and of itself, often with stiffer penalties, then they leveled those charges against the mob bosses.
Hot-key accessible "favorites" (e.g. "bookmarks")? You mean like Ctrl-B (Command-B on Mac OS)? The cursor goes straight to the Search input and you can start typing. I never have to use my mouse to get around my Bookmarks list.
GPL violations aren't "punished" like other violations are. Generally the restitution involves releasing the source to the modified GPL binaries a company releases. That's all most authors of GPL'd software are really after. That and a promise to not violate again. They don't go for big court settlements.
Incorrect. Not all SATA drives have molex power ports on them. I assumed they did until I built a web/db server with a pair of ST380817AS drives in it. They (At least that model) do not have molex ports on them, so I had to go back to the parts store and spend another $15 and waste another hour on a pair of molex-to-SATA power adapters.
From my reading it looks like he's talking about skipping the KVM and talking directly to two (Or more) BT-equipped PCs. Not a terrible idea. Adding a small display to show you which one you're connected to would probably also be a good idea.
I believe the term is "conditioning" which replaced "brain washing". When you're used to getting something of a certain quality from a particular person or organization, you come to expect it. (That's the tech-savvy people who defend microsoft)
Either that or you have no idea what a WMF is (May even think it's an acronym for a body part) and don't understand how it can hurt you or why it's important. (That's everyone else)
Besides, usually with partners, suppliers, etc. you have a way of punishing them, perhaps a contract stipulation. With Windows, unless you're actually willing to roll-up your sleeves (Or buy a Mac), you're stuck. And for most people, they'd rather sit around, drink beer, watch NASCAR and complain about how slow their computer is getting and how they can't get rid of all those damn pop-up winders.
Funny, considering the specs for XHTML and CSS 1 are only about 5-6 years old. And considering that IE still doesn't display some CSS correctly I seriously doubt that "competant developers" have been using it "for nearly 10 years" to "display on any media and any UA". Netscape 4 barely knows what CSS is, and 10 years ago, it was one of the top dogs. And I also find it funny that "javascript doesn't work cross-browser" but Google seems to be using it just fine. Seems to me that the main browsers (Mozilla-based and IE) handle the ECMA version of Javascript just fine, and once Apple gets some things taken care of in Safari, it'll work fine too.
I've actually been trying to do some of what TFA has been talking about, but even then I get stymied by buggy wireless browsers that crash if you have a "screen" stylesheet and a "handheld" stylesheet in the same document, or crash if you load more than 8k of text and images, or fail to load the page if you have more than one image. I wish it was as easy as TFA talks about.
Be careful with this! It's how I bricked my first one. My first WRT54G was a v2.2 and it had the occasional lockup. Before I found out about the 16MHz overclock, I set it on its side (It stands up nicely) and with the extra air flow across the "bottom" of the unit, it ran for weeks on the stock firmware without problems. As soon as I rebooted it after overclocking, it became totally useless. I tried everything I could think of or look up online (I even went as far as sticking it in the freezer and soldering a JTAG header to it) but I couldn't keep it running long enough to undo the overclocking and the JTAG refused to work even though I had three professional EE's check my wiring.
I had to eventually give up and get a new WRT54G. Fortunately, the one I got was also a v2.2 and now it's running OpenWRT and sitting on its side on top of a book case, happily running intrusion detection systems and logging to my NFS server.
Yeah, and think how fast it would have died if your Linux distro was no longer accessible 24 hours after you start the install, but the image file stays on your hard drive for 30 days so others can leech it.
Yes, P2P is "bandwidth efficient" (read: "distributor doesn't have to ship every bit out through their pipe") but it will not be sustainable until there is reason for people to share. Paying for something, then having it taken away, and still having it use my precious upstream will NOT fly in my house.
No, the "end user" will just have an extra step when setting up their D-Link wireless router. Instead of it handing out 192.168.*.*, it'll hand out 0:1:2:3:4:5:: and instead of a NAT firewall rule, it'll have a FORWARD firewall rule.
As for who assigns them, it'll probably be the same people who hand out IPV4 addresses now, and you have to register with the same people if you want a portable IP address now.
And like it isn't difficult for "hackers" to "mimic" IP addresses now...
Slashdot Mirror
I felt the same way about Windows 95 back about two months before it was released. I was working for a computer company at the time and Windows 95 was "revolutionary" compared to Windows 3.11. It wasn't supposed to crash like 3.11 did, it could have 70 DOS windows open at once in 32MB of RAM (Granted, they weren't doing anything).
Then, after the shiny wore off (Took about three weeks for me), I realized it's still Windows and still has Windows' problems. It still locked up, it still froze the machine, it still made programs misbehave for unexplained reasons. Granted I could usually hit Ctrl-Alt-Del and sometimes I could fix the problem, but the system would eventually need a reboot anyway.
Now times change, and Vista may be Redmond's Holy Grail, but it would take more than a two-week-limited beta to convince me of that.
That's possible. When I was doing unencrypted testing, I was using ext3 and it was a steady stream. My encrypted block device is formatted with ReiserFS 3.6 but it may have similar settings.
I could, but that seems like a hack to me, and would only work until I needed to grow the encrypted section to 51% of the disk (Since I have to destroy and re-create the DMG file every time I expand it). I want the entire disk "classified" since it's all my private data.
You can use cryptsetup-luks to encrypt your swap space, yes. It requires modification to your startup scripts (Specifically the section where it mounts your swap space), and generating a random key each boot (If you so choose), but it's quite doable.
Yeah, but even there, I can't find a way to encrypt my firewire backpack drive. Why should it let me encrypt DMGs but not block devices/partitions?
I'm currently using cryptsetup-LUKS / DM Mapper with AES-256 encryption and a 16-digit random key committed to memory. I'm just using it for a data partition currently, but if some of the rumors I'm hearing are true, I should be able to go system-wide on my distro of choice soon enough.
I do see a system penalty using the crypto setup (Server is single AMD-1800+ 1GB RAM) in that copying a large file will peg the CPU and drive the load average way up for about two seconds every four to five seconds, but thus far it hasn't been more than a 10-15% speed hit over-all (Compared to an unencrypted block device) and the server is able to withstand it for days on end without a hiccup.
I'm going to try to correct you as gently as I can (So unlike Slashdot, I know). But it's done this way to make it compatible. The crypto is at the level it is so it is FS agnostic (I'm using it now on top of LVM and underneath ReiserFS).
/usr, etc) but that's something the distro maintainers will have to tackle since you will either need to be present when the system boots (to type in the key) or have it grab the key from an unencrypted location accessible to the system (Some people use remote servers, some us USB drives, whatever).
In other words, it's at the block level, not the FS level. It creates no problems for anything using the "standard" Linux APIs because unless they're working on the block level, they won't even know it's there.
The user is not locked out of the data unless the user forgets the password while mounting the device/file/partition/LV. Once it's mounted, the key is retained in the kernel and life goes on. It can present problems in using it for system-level filesystems (/home,
This is perfect for removable drives (USB, FireWire, etc).
There are breaks in the text. Slashdot ate them for some reason. Don't believe me? View the source.
I've been in your shoes for fifteen years now. I originally learned programming to play on the Commodore 64, but really took it up when I was a SysOp of a BBS (WWIV 4.2 at the time, tons of mods out there, some of them quite good). I started writing my own utilities and tweaking mods to suit my own liking. Believe it or not, but I still have most of the code from back then. It has shuffled through a dozen various machines and hard drive upgrades. I've learned a few semi-obvious things about keeping track of things over that time. Some code/projects will be lost. This is just the way things go. If you don't take really good care of your data, it will disappear into the ether. But honestly, that's the way it should be. My first program used printf() and hard-coded ANSI sequences. It is completely useless anymore and deserves to be lost in time. However, to keep track of the stuff you do think may be useful as more than a learning experience, I would recommend a few things. Keep Backups. This isn't just like using a Version Control System (VCS), this is more basic. You will become bored with projects and many of them will end up shelved somewhere on your hard drive. If you do want to keep them, make at least two backups. Your projects won't be very big, so you can probably fit several hundred on a single CD. Make two, in case one flakes on you. I also keep my projects on a couple of machines (Again, they're usually tiny, so there isn't a hard drive space hit). Also, having your original source code rather than an odd archive makes importing into a new VCS really easy. Remember that it takes work to replace code that's lost. You can't just re-download it from somewhere. Learn good coding practices. Believe me, they are worth your weight in gold. There is nothing worse than getting lost in your own code weeks/months/years after the fact because you couldn't indent properly, or wrote overly complex run-on functions. Also, good coding practices will really help if you want to adapt some piece of code into a new project. Keep your interfaces clean and document them. Clean, documented interfaces make for better code re-use and unless you go nuts with the documentation, it won't add more than 5% to your coding time. Your coding methodologies will change as your skills improve, but learning to write decent code early will usually mean more of your code will work in the future. Use a VCS. People have recommended CVS and SVN, but I would actually recommend Monotone. I discovered it when Linus was kicked off BitKeaper, and for small projects I really think it's ideal (It may even work well for large projects, but I haven't asked the OpenEmbedded guys how it's working out for them). It doesn't have the same problems I've seen with CVS and SVN (Namely files being locked and different concurrent versions of files breaking the code check-in). It doesn't require a server to be setup (Though it has a server function if you feel so inclined); it keeps everything in a single-file-database where ever you decide to put the file (You may want to keep all your databases in one location for easy backup, or have each database be in the directory tree of the project; whatever you want). It runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and they can all talk together if you do decide to setup a central server. One down side is that it's still relatively fluid, meaning that they change things that aren't backward-compatible. That being said, I've had some databases from Monotone 0.18 and now that I'm using 0.25 (Three non-compatible changes later), they still work. Regardless of which one you choose, learn to use it. And for the love of all that's holy add comments when you check-in code! Even short notes about what you were working on can spark your memory if/when you revisit a project, especially if you're in deep geek mode and your brain is moving at escape velocity.
I can easily see this having the opposite effect of its intention, namely programmers understanding the limitations and loopholes of copyright better than they do now. I mean how many projects have been shutdown by C&D letters sent under the DMCA? How many of those were bogus if you actually knew the law? If they're really going to teach copyright (Including the extensions and expansions), then maybe some programmers would better understand fair use and the "protections" provided by the DMCA.
Or maybe that's just my wishful thinking.
Let's see...
Dune 2
Quake [1-2]
Doom [1-2]
Descent [1-2]
Total Annihilation
I still fondly remember LAN parties where the trash talk was as fast and furious as the game action, possibly more so. TA with four players and bots for each, with select mods installed is insane.
Yeah, well then you can do the tech support to get my father, mother, sister-in-law, and Grandmother to use RSS, groups, etc.
With the banner ads I see in Yahoo Groups and at the end of Group e-mails, I have no problem with them paying to send e-mail. I mean, are they an Internet company or not?
Perhaps on Windows, but not quite true on Linux. Xinerama support is an option with nVidia TwinView, and if it's turned off, the OS sees one big screen (Which makes playing UT2004 a bitch, actually).
From what I remember, conspiracy charges originated as a tool for fighting organized crime. Since they couldn't put the high-level gangsters away for gunning down their rivals, they made conspiracy to commit a crime a crime in and of itself, often with stiffer penalties, then they leveled those charges against the mob bosses.
Hot-key accessible "favorites" (e.g. "bookmarks")? You mean like Ctrl-B (Command-B on Mac OS)? The cursor goes straight to the Search input and you can start typing. I never have to use my mouse to get around my Bookmarks list.
GPL violations aren't "punished" like other violations are. Generally the restitution involves releasing the source to the modified GPL binaries a company releases. That's all most authors of GPL'd software are really after. That and a promise to not violate again. They don't go for big court settlements.
Incorrect. Not all SATA drives have molex power ports on them. I assumed they did until I built a web/db server with a pair of ST380817AS drives in it. They (At least that model) do not have molex ports on them, so I had to go back to the parts store and spend another $15 and waste another hour on a pair of molex-to-SATA power adapters.
From my reading it looks like he's talking about skipping the KVM and talking directly to two (Or more) BT-equipped PCs. Not a terrible idea. Adding a small display to show you which one you're connected to would probably also be a good idea.
I believe the term is "conditioning" which replaced "brain washing". When you're used to getting something of a certain quality from a particular person or organization, you come to expect it. (That's the tech-savvy people who defend microsoft)
Either that or you have no idea what a WMF is (May even think it's an acronym for a body part) and don't understand how it can hurt you or why it's important. (That's everyone else)
Besides, usually with partners, suppliers, etc. you have a way of punishing them, perhaps a contract stipulation. With Windows, unless you're actually willing to roll-up your sleeves (Or buy a Mac), you're stuck. And for most people, they'd rather sit around, drink beer, watch NASCAR and complain about how slow their computer is getting and how they can't get rid of all those damn pop-up winders.
Because Fox owns the rights to the TV series, yes still. That's why it was made into a movie. Whedon was trying to keep it going
Funny, considering the specs for XHTML and CSS 1 are only about 5-6 years old. And considering that IE still doesn't display some CSS correctly I seriously doubt that "competant developers" have been using it "for nearly 10 years" to "display on any media and any UA". Netscape 4 barely knows what CSS is, and 10 years ago, it was one of the top dogs. And I also find it funny that "javascript doesn't work cross-browser" but Google seems to be using it just fine. Seems to me that the main browsers (Mozilla-based and IE) handle the ECMA version of Javascript just fine, and once Apple gets some things taken care of in Safari, it'll work fine too.
I've actually been trying to do some of what TFA has been talking about, but even then I get stymied by buggy wireless browsers that crash if you have a "screen" stylesheet and a "handheld" stylesheet in the same document, or crash if you load more than 8k of text and images, or fail to load the page if you have more than one image. I wish it was as easy as TFA talks about.
Be careful with this! It's how I bricked my first one. My first WRT54G was a v2.2 and it had the occasional lockup. Before I found out about the 16MHz overclock, I set it on its side (It stands up nicely) and with the extra air flow across the "bottom" of the unit, it ran for weeks on the stock firmware without problems. As soon as I rebooted it after overclocking, it became totally useless. I tried everything I could think of or look up online (I even went as far as sticking it in the freezer and soldering a JTAG header to it) but I couldn't keep it running long enough to undo the overclocking and the JTAG refused to work even though I had three professional EE's check my wiring.
I had to eventually give up and get a new WRT54G. Fortunately, the one I got was also a v2.2 and now it's running OpenWRT and sitting on its side on top of a book case, happily running intrusion detection systems and logging to my NFS server.
Yeah, and think how fast it would have died if your Linux distro was no longer accessible 24 hours after you start the install, but the image file stays on your hard drive for 30 days so others can leech it.
Yes, P2P is "bandwidth efficient" (read: "distributor doesn't have to ship every bit out through their pipe") but it will not be sustainable until there is reason for people to share. Paying for something, then having it taken away, and still having it use my precious upstream will NOT fly in my house.
No, the "end user" will just have an extra step when setting up their D-Link wireless router. Instead of it handing out 192.168.*.*, it'll hand out 0:1:2:3:4:5:: and instead of a NAT firewall rule, it'll have a FORWARD firewall rule.
As for who assigns them, it'll probably be the same people who hand out IPV4 addresses now, and you have to register with the same people if you want a portable IP address now.
And like it isn't difficult for "hackers" to "mimic" IP addresses now...