I submitted this weeks ago...
on
Linux TV
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· Score: 2
I submitted this weeks ago... but the gods at Slashdot didn't think it was newsworthy enough... NadaPC is offering the same device with a different subscription model. Check it out here.
I recently moved into a new house that doesn't loop qualify for DSL, and cable modem isn't available. Sprint Broadband is the only high-speed service you can get in this area. I've had the service for about 3 weeks now and it's very good service. It's two-way wireless with 10 mbps (shared) downstream and 256kbps upstream. Typical downloads are about 1.5mbps. Sprint gives you a single static IP address but they tell you not to run a proxy (yeah, right, like they can tell).
Also, their service has never gone down in the entire time I've used it. It works with Linux and other Unix since it's standard TCP/IP.
Anyway, their TOS is pretty standard. Most residential broadband services won't let you run a server, and the stuff about port-scanning is a good thing. The IP address I was issued was in the 24.x.x.x range and I get port-scanned from AT&T @home users on a regular basis (5-10 times a day). My firewall just blocks it and logs the attempt.
The bottom line is that the TOS is just there to protect their right to kick customers that are a nuisance. If some l33t script kiddie wants to port scan entire class A blocks for netbios shares he deserves to be kicked.
I also couldn't find anything in the TOS about their right to come into your house and watch you surf the net. Did the submitter just make that shit up? If it's there, will someone actually quote it?
This is not a plot by Microsoft to require all software to be approved by Microsoft. Anyone that is familiar with the digital signing of an application using a developer certificate knows that any developer can purchase a signing certificate from a root certificate authority such as Verisign or Thawte. You can then digitally sign your applications, which prevents them from being altered, tampered with, or in other ways modified during distribution.
Microsoft themselves is doing no verification and doesn't even have to know your application exists. When you run the Setup.exe for your application, the OS contacts the root certificate authority that issued your developer certificate and makes sure that the signature is valid. This is when you get a dialog box stating that the application was provided by XYZ company, do you want to trust it to make modifications to your system?
This is a good thing. Sure, it may raise the bar of entry for hobbyist programmers because they now have to spend a few hundred dollars buying a developer cert, but it also forces developers to take reasonable precautions to prevent trojans and other malicious code that could be embedded in their executable programs. It also ensures the overall integrity of your OS will be better, because the setup application is only allowed to have the specific permissions that you give to it (modify file system, modify registry, etc.)
The main purpose of this is to overcome some of the shortcomings of the Windows OS, such as.DLL files that get overwritten by unruly setup applications. Think of it from a *nix standpoint: You would want to know if an application was going to modify your system library (*.so) files. These problems don't exist as much in the *nix space, and most responsible developers at least checksum their distribution.tar files or use PGP signatures. This is basically the Windows equivelant.
I don't think you'll be able to find a calling plan that offers you nationwide one-rate (no roaming charges) for $50 a month, but I use AT&T Digital One Rate. My plan is $79 a month and includes 650 minutes of calling (no roaming, no long distance charges). Get a dual-band phone (Motorola Startac or Nokia 8260 is nice) so that you can make phone calls when you're in some backwoods town that only has an analog network. Even more important, AT&T will give you a phone in any area code you choose so that you can be a local call away from those that call you the most. I've found that AT&T might be a little more expensive than competitors, but their network is definitely superior to a lot of others out there. My friends use Voicestream and they have major coverage problems where they get no signal. I get signal almost everywhere there is a paved road, and a lot of places there isn't. Also, if mobile email is important to you, get the Nokia 8260 phone. AT&T now supports SMS on their network, with 250 messages per month included in every plan.
In the credits for "A Bugs Life" I noticed that Pixar uses Sun Microsystems for rendering the final theatre quality version, however they use SGI workstations. I would imagine that Squaresoft has a similar setup. Pixar probably has several fully loaded Sun Enterprise 10000 machines that do their rendering. Imagine how quickly they could render using the new UltraSparc III processors...
You're correct. The reason why MP3 is so much better than Microsoft Windows Media codec and most of the other codecs out there is that it is the only one that has had subjective listening studies done on it. Fraunhofer isn't charging money for nothing. They've actually brought in hundreds of volunteers off the streets to do the subjective listening tests and actually prove that the codec works properly.
Your comment is very informative, however, what he's really talking about doing is implementing Cisco Catalyst switches that use HSRP (hot-standby routing protocol) and load-balancing in order to give you twice the throughput, without using two separate subnets. This is the preferred and desirable way to implement high availability and layer 2 redundancy. It can be done on both Solaris and NT (don't know about linux). The point most people are missing here is that it is preferable to do this in hardware, as opposed to software, because the hardware tends to be more reliable. I would trust Cisco IOS to handle my redundancy much more than even Unix (although Unix is very stable). I think most people are answering the incorrect question. Now that he has all of this hardware, how does he use it? I would be interested in hearing if there are any devices or device drivers that allow you to do this in Linux.
Slashdot Mirror
I submitted this weeks ago... but the gods at Slashdot didn't think it was newsworthy enough... NadaPC is offering the same device with a different subscription model. Check it out here.
Also, their service has never gone down in the entire time I've used it. It works with Linux and other Unix since it's standard TCP/IP.
Anyway, their TOS is pretty standard. Most residential broadband services won't let you run a server, and the stuff about port-scanning is a good thing. The IP address I was issued was in the 24.x.x.x range and I get port-scanned from AT&T @home users on a regular basis (5-10 times a day). My firewall just blocks it and logs the attempt.
The bottom line is that the TOS is just there to protect their right to kick customers that are a nuisance. If some l33t script kiddie wants to port scan entire class A blocks for netbios shares he deserves to be kicked.
I also couldn't find anything in the TOS about their right to come into your house and watch you surf the net. Did the submitter just make that shit up? If it's there, will someone actually quote it?
This is not a plot by Microsoft to require all software to be approved by Microsoft. Anyone that is familiar with the digital signing of an application using a developer certificate knows that any developer can purchase a signing certificate from a root certificate authority such as Verisign or Thawte. You can then digitally sign your applications, which prevents them from being altered, tampered with, or in other ways modified during distribution. Microsoft themselves is doing no verification and doesn't even have to know your application exists. When you run the Setup.exe for your application, the OS contacts the root certificate authority that issued your developer certificate and makes sure that the signature is valid. This is when you get a dialog box stating that the application was provided by XYZ company, do you want to trust it to make modifications to your system? This is a good thing. Sure, it may raise the bar of entry for hobbyist programmers because they now have to spend a few hundred dollars buying a developer cert, but it also forces developers to take reasonable precautions to prevent trojans and other malicious code that could be embedded in their executable programs. It also ensures the overall integrity of your OS will be better, because the setup application is only allowed to have the specific permissions that you give to it (modify file system, modify registry, etc.) The main purpose of this is to overcome some of the shortcomings of the Windows OS, such as .DLL files that get overwritten by unruly setup applications. Think of it from a *nix standpoint: You would want to know if an application was going to modify your system library (*.so) files. These problems don't exist as much in the *nix space, and most responsible developers at least checksum their distribution .tar files or use PGP signatures. This is basically the Windows equivelant.
I don't think you'll be able to find a calling plan that offers you nationwide one-rate (no roaming charges) for $50 a month, but I use AT&T Digital One Rate. My plan is $79 a month and includes 650 minutes of calling (no roaming, no long distance charges). Get a dual-band phone (Motorola Startac or Nokia 8260 is nice) so that you can make phone calls when you're in some backwoods town that only has an analog network. Even more important, AT&T will give you a phone in any area code you choose so that you can be a local call away from those that call you the most. I've found that AT&T might be a little more expensive than competitors, but their network is definitely superior to a lot of others out there. My friends use Voicestream and they have major coverage problems where they get no signal. I get signal almost everywhere there is a paved road, and a lot of places there isn't. Also, if mobile email is important to you, get the Nokia 8260 phone. AT&T now supports SMS on their network, with 250 messages per month included in every plan.
In the credits for "A Bugs Life" I noticed that Pixar uses Sun Microsystems for rendering the final theatre quality version, however they use SGI workstations. I would imagine that Squaresoft has a similar setup. Pixar probably has several fully loaded Sun Enterprise 10000 machines that do their rendering. Imagine how quickly they could render using the new UltraSparc III processors...
You're correct. The reason why MP3 is so much better than Microsoft Windows Media codec and most of the other codecs out there is that it is the only one that has had subjective listening studies done on it. Fraunhofer isn't charging money for nothing. They've actually brought in hundreds of volunteers off the streets to do the subjective listening tests and actually prove that the codec works properly.
Your comment is very informative, however, what he's really talking about doing is implementing Cisco Catalyst switches that use HSRP (hot-standby routing protocol) and load-balancing in order to give you twice the throughput, without using two separate subnets. This is the preferred and desirable way to implement high availability and layer 2 redundancy. It can be done on both Solaris and NT (don't know about linux). The point most people are missing here is that it is preferable to do this in hardware, as opposed to software, because the hardware tends to be more reliable. I would trust Cisco IOS to handle my redundancy much more than even Unix (although Unix is very stable). I think most people are answering the incorrect question. Now that he has all of this hardware, how does he use it? I would be interested in hearing if there are any devices or device drivers that allow you to do this in Linux.
12.1 is wide-deployment release code now.