Why should I allow a cpu-intensive process to dominate my system, thereby dragging everything else down?
For cpu-intensive tasks such as this, I WANT to offload the work onto a specialized processor so the rest of my system can do it's normal work.
Most printers these days use the systems CPU to render the data, and in general, it sucks the life out of a system while printing. A decent postscript printer although expensive won't hammer the system nearly as badly.
And I wouldn't hold a WinModem up as a shining example. They're generally regarded as a detriment to your system. The only good thing about them is that they're cheap. They don't run well (or at all for that matter) on anything but a Windoze system, and you're forced to use up a slot as well as give up CPU cycles. IMHO, if you have to use a modem, use an external one. You can share it between different systems, it doesn't eat a slot, it doesn't draw its power from the system and it doesn't contribute to the systems heat load.
I suppose that depends on how much the technology is (or becomes) trusted.
Yes, it's possible to "add" a gun (or a prostitute) to a scene. It would also be possible to add a digital watermark to each source frame and reconstruct the tweened data (or what the surveillors saw) on the fly for legal purposes (assuming, of course, that some enterprising soul didn't find a way to hack the watermarking scheme).
The technology sounds cool though. Imagine how cool pr0n dvd's could be. You already have multiple camera angles available on disk, all you'd have to do is to play back the disk on a tween-enabled player or a computer and get a whole new perspective on things. yowsa!
As an Anthro-American, it's high time we had better access to them new-fangled corm-puters. I bought an Apple Macintosh, took it home, and all it did was sit there looking snide.
(Los Angeles) The RIAA has issued a statement today that many consumers of Music Products are engaging in copyright infringing acts by singing along with or tapping ones foot in time with copyrighted music. The RIAA's spokesman, Bob Dobbs, has announced that the RIAA and other industry groups are working with congressional members to draft legislation banning these activities. Proposed penalties would be doubled if the violators of these new statutes are found to be engaging in illegal performances while listening to music downloaded from the Internet.
In related news, Sen. Hollings (D - Disney) has announced sponsership of a bill titled "The bladder relief act of 2002". This bill bans unauthorized lavatory breaks during commercial breaks.
Re:yay, yet another leftist site link
on
Ruling the Root
·
· Score: 1
As sad as it is, the left-wing journalists seem to be a bit more tech savvy (and a lot more numerous) than their right-wing counterparts.
That being said (and getting back on topic), the ICANN or some other equivilent agency is a necessary evil, but we need to be able to ensure they don't allow the current excesses. Perhaps what is needed is to have an ACOUNTABLE board that can resolve domain name disputes, instead of the laughable process we currently "enjoy".
A company I used to work for developed a cellular phone location system that used phase-angle of arrival technology.
While the system was originally developed for E-911 purposes, the system could also be used as a fairly accurate traffic probe (among other things).
Using ordinary equipment will enable you to detect stalled traffic by finding static lumps of traffic in a particular cell. But about all it's useful for is finding jams.
Using a system that's accurate allows you to determine the average speeds on all roads in the area (assuming you can correlate the phone to a particular road and there are enough phones in use at the time).
The privacy freaks (of which I'm one) are nervous about exploiting the system for tracking people. If properly implemented, the system would completely decouple any identifible information when using the system for traffic analysis.
There are several technologies that were developed for E911:
TDOA: Timed Difference of Arrival which needs to have very accurate timing between receiving stations and is fairly multipath sensitive.
AOA: Angle of arrival which uses a measured phase angle to triangulate on the target.
GPS: works great but you need to have a special phone and it may not work too well inside a building.
With TDOA and AOA technologies, the more receiving stations, the better. You can get pretty good positions with error elipses that generally fall within the FCC mandate using only two stations using AOA. Even if the receiving stations are as much as 15 or 20 miles apart.
There are some other hybrid methods (combination of AOA and TDOA) but they're under development last I heard.
Obviously, the problem with using signal strength to determine range is losses due to multipath, objects between the xmitter and receiver, etc.
I've been haunting used book stores for years. It's usually a hit-or-miss proposition. The mass market books are usually pretty easy to find in the local shops, but the more obscure or esoteric books are nearly impossible to find.
Amazon.com and B&N (and their associated sellers) have greatly changed that. I can find almost anything now and usually at a reasonable price. I looked for years to find copies of out-of-print and obscure books before and now it's pretty easy.
I expect it'll be a few years before we're able to get the majority of used-book stores on-line though. Most stores have far too much stock and too few resources to make that happen.
In spite of AMD "losing" the so-called CPU wars, they're still a winner in my eyes.
Geek life would be much different if we had only one viable CPU vendor (shades of Micro$oft, Batman!!!).
I've been using AMD chips in my x86 boxes since early days of the K6-2 and I've been very satisfied. The only reason that CPU prices are anywhere CLOSE to reasonable is that Intel has real competition.
I went to a.com back in '97 with the hopes of making mega bucks. The companies stock had just split and I had a TON of options as a signing bonus. The stock went up another 25% in the months just after I started. Now it's a tenth of its value.
It was frustrating working with all of the 25 year old tecchie millionaires and the "new-rich" asshole managers. It is almost a caste system now. The "old-timers" who have been there for 5 or more years, and the feeble-minded newcomers who are sweating their lives away chasing the dream they can never have.
I've since left the company. While I was there, I learned a great deal about the realities of the.com experience. Those still left are working longer hours with a higher stress levels and watching their precious options continuing to wither. Sucks to be them. hehheh
It seems that we can't force them NOT to use the per-seat license if they include their own, non-GPLed software.
BUT...
We can also vote with our pocketbooks and do our best to ensure this product does not suceed. Even though RH isn't the "best" distro out there, adopting it (or the distro of your choice) as a corporate standard would let the Uber^H^H^H^HUnitedLinux people know we're not going to accept this crap.
If we allow this to survive as a viable distribution model, we can expect more of the same from other Linux distributers.
Until there's real competition in large enough geographical regions (as well as sufficient profits to allow price competion), we're probably going to get higher prices for broadband shoved down our throats.
I live in Ashburn, Virginia about a mile from UUNET and three miles from AOL and we really have very few options for broadband. Given the number of geeks and techies in the area, there's a significant market that isn't being served.
There's not a whole lot of profit to be made wiring an area and having to compete with other companies given the current economic conditions (especially if Verizon doesn't have to share their copper anymore). Until there is, the incumbent broadband providers are pretty much free to charge whatever they feel like.
Our cable company is offering Internet access at a reasonable price (if you consider a single DHCP and a lot of restrictions on what you can do reasonable). There is virtually no DSL available other than IDSL (and that's about $129/month for 5 IPs at 128k). We may soon get 802.11 access in the area, but that's only a pipedream at this point.
Until we're able to get some REAL competition into the area (and I suspect that this is the case in many other areas), things will only get worse for the consumer.
This is awesome! They're smart by undercutting Micro$soft and building a whole generation of users that won't be used from suckling on the Micro$oft teat.
I'll bet Bill Gates has nightmares about this stuff!!!
Re:And this book provides what extra value?
on
SSH, The Secure Shell
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
For the most part I agree with you, it's not necessary for most Unix admins in order to get up and running with SSH. The man page and readme work just fine for that.
For those who want do more esoteric things (or are interested in learning HOW it works, it provides good, clear explanations of what is done or what CAN be done and how to do it.
While it's probably not the first O'Reilly book I'd recommend, it's still quite useful.
I used to scoff at all the silly looking mice and keyboards (some of them are so silly that I still do). There is a lot of value to getting an ergo evaluation.
For the last 15 years, I've spent about 14 hours/day on computers. Last year I began noticing pain in my elbow and shoulder. I contacted our ergo department and they made some very valuable suggestions that solved the problem. It took about 4 months, but the elbow is back to 100% and the shoulder is at 90% again (and still improving).
I've worked with several people who were nearly crippled by Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and the only way they've been able to continue functioning as UNIX admins is through surgery and the use of those silly keyboards and mice.
Should be required reading for all script kiddies and wanna-bes.
It's damn difficult to totally cover your tracks. Unless you're truely elite, if the FBI wants you badly enough, they'll find you and you'll be making some hairy-backed felon a very happy man.
The server lives in one state, the offended party lives in another but asks that the content be delivered outside state lines. How can they possibly think that it's fair?
Consider this: What if this silly idea is allowed? If they decide that a state can claim jurisdiction over a web site because any ammount of content is delivered there, what's to stop them from claiming that they're owed income tax on the profits reaped for ad placement on pages delivered to that state or, for that matter, a "fair" portion of taxes paid because they now consider them to be doing business in that state?
To further muddy the waters, consider a company like AOL, they have a large number of caches scattered around the country, where does jurisdiction lie?
If this silly idea is allowed to fly, it would be a huge can of worms. There's no way this can possibly stand in any reasonable court.
Memo from Senator Hollings, et al.: To Wit: Given that there is a tremendous number of devices that can A/D music and video illegally and that once we have banned unmodified A/D devices, illicit A/D devices will soon be smuggled into our beloved country disguised as routine cocaine shipments, we are forced to take the next logical step:
Congress shall pass a law wherein all persons in the USD (United States of Disney) shall be retrofited with Digital and Analog Watermark devices on their visual and aural receptors. Said persons shall be prohibited by law to remove these devices once implanted and any person found to be without shall on the first offense be sent to a Intelectual Properties Reeducation camp. A second offense shall result in the permanent disabling of their Intellectual property receptors. Any child born in this country after the date of passage shall be impounded until such time they have been properly indoctrinated and fitted with their devices. All alien persons visiting the USD shall be fitted with temporary devices for the duration of their stay.
Since many people in this country have not been properly indoctrinated (or those who have resisted initial efforts to implant their devices), informational messages shall be fed to the subjects of this great land to inspire them to lead a better more wholesome life.
The honorable Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General has requested that to ensure that persons capable of excessivly creative thought or possess unfair physical capabilities or attributes, be required to have installed on their person, devices to render their unfair capabilities neutral.
Thank you. Senator Ernest Hollings In Walt We Trust.
Slashdot Mirror
Why should I allow a cpu-intensive process to dominate my system, thereby dragging everything else down?
For cpu-intensive tasks such as this, I WANT to offload the work onto a specialized processor so the rest of my system can do it's normal work.
Most printers these days use the systems CPU to render the data, and in general, it sucks the life out of a system while printing. A decent postscript printer although expensive won't hammer the system nearly as badly.
And I wouldn't hold a WinModem up as a shining example. They're generally regarded as a detriment to your system. The only good thing about them is that they're cheap. They don't run well (or at all for that matter) on anything but a Windoze system, and you're forced to use up a slot as well as give up CPU cycles. IMHO, if you have to use a modem, use an external one. You can share it between different systems, it doesn't eat a slot, it doesn't draw its power from the system and it doesn't contribute to the systems heat load.
I suppose that depends on how much the technology is (or becomes) trusted.
Yes, it's possible to "add" a gun (or a prostitute) to a scene. It would also be possible to add a digital watermark to each source frame and reconstruct the tweened data (or what the surveillors saw) on the fly for legal purposes (assuming, of course, that some enterprising soul didn't find a way to hack the watermarking scheme).
The technology sounds cool though. Imagine how cool pr0n dvd's could be. You already have multiple camera angles available on disk, all you'd have to do is to play back the disk on a tween-enabled player or a computer and get a whole new perspective on things. yowsa!
As an Anthro-American, it's high time we had better access to them new-fangled corm-puters. I bought an Apple Macintosh, took it home, and all it did was sit there looking snide.
(Los Angeles)
The RIAA has issued a statement today that many consumers of Music Products are engaging in copyright infringing acts by singing along with or tapping ones foot in time with copyrighted music. The RIAA's spokesman, Bob Dobbs, has announced that the RIAA and other industry groups are working with congressional members to draft legislation banning these activities. Proposed penalties would be doubled if the violators of these new statutes are found to be engaging in illegal performances while listening to music downloaded from the Internet.
In related news, Sen. Hollings (D - Disney) has announced sponsership of a bill titled "The bladder relief act of 2002". This bill bans unauthorized lavatory breaks during commercial breaks.
As sad as it is, the left-wing journalists seem to be a bit more tech savvy (and a lot more numerous) than their right-wing counterparts.
That being said (and getting back on topic), the ICANN or some other equivilent agency is a necessary evil, but we need to be able to ensure they don't allow the current excesses. Perhaps what is needed is to have an ACOUNTABLE board that can resolve domain name disputes, instead of the laughable process we currently "enjoy".
If they price something reasonably people will buy it instead of stealing it.
I know I prefer to have the real product rather than a copy (not that it's especially hard to circumvent Macrovision anyway).
A company I used to work for developed a cellular phone location system that used phase-angle of arrival technology.
While the system was originally developed for E-911 purposes, the system could also be used as a fairly accurate traffic probe (among other things).
Using ordinary equipment will enable you to detect stalled traffic by finding static lumps of traffic in a particular cell. But about all it's useful for is finding jams.
Using a system that's accurate allows you to determine the average speeds on all roads in the area (assuming you can correlate the phone to a particular road and there are enough phones in use at the time).
The privacy freaks (of which I'm one) are nervous about exploiting the system for tracking people. If properly implemented, the system would completely decouple any identifible information when using the system for traffic analysis.
about the lack of Windoze support.
iPod is Apples Killer app....
There are several technologies that were developed for E911:
TDOA: Timed Difference of Arrival which needs to have very accurate timing between receiving stations and is fairly multipath sensitive.
AOA: Angle of arrival which uses a measured phase angle to triangulate on the target.
GPS: works great but you need to have a special phone and it may not work too well inside a building.
With TDOA and AOA technologies, the more receiving stations, the better. You can get pretty good positions with error elipses that generally fall within the FCC mandate using only two stations using AOA. Even if the receiving stations are as much as 15 or 20 miles apart.
There are some other hybrid methods (combination of AOA and TDOA) but they're under development last I heard.
Obviously, the problem with using signal strength to determine range is losses due to multipath, objects between the xmitter and receiver, etc.
It's a cute idea, but not that useful.
I've been haunting used book stores for years. It's usually a hit-or-miss proposition. The mass market books are usually pretty easy to find in the local shops, but the more obscure or esoteric books are nearly impossible to find.
Amazon.com and B&N (and their associated sellers) have greatly changed that. I can find almost anything now and usually at a reasonable price. I looked for years to find copies of out-of-print and obscure books before and now it's pretty easy.
I expect it'll be a few years before we're able to get the majority of used-book stores on-line though. Most stores have far too much stock and too few resources to make that happen.
to see that Intel has viable competition.
In spite of AMD "losing" the so-called CPU wars, they're still a winner in my eyes.
Geek life would be much different if we had only one viable CPU vendor (shades of Micro$oft, Batman!!!).
I've been using AMD chips in my x86 boxes since early days of the K6-2 and I've been very satisfied. The only reason that CPU prices are anywhere CLOSE to reasonable is that Intel has real competition.
Kind of like a "copyright condom", eh? I like this idea better
Timing is a big factor too.
.com back in '97 with the hopes of making mega bucks. The companies stock had just split and I had a TON of options as a signing bonus. The stock went up another 25% in the months just after I started. Now it's a tenth of its value.
.com experience. Those still left are working longer hours with a higher stress levels and watching their precious options continuing to wither. Sucks to be them. hehheh
I went to a
It was frustrating working with all of the 25 year old tecchie millionaires and the "new-rich" asshole managers. It is almost a caste system now. The "old-timers" who have been there for 5 or more years, and the feeble-minded newcomers who are sweating their lives away chasing the dream they can never have.
I've since left the company. While I was there, I learned a great deal about the realities of the
It seems that we can't force them NOT to use the per-seat license if they include their own, non-GPLed software.
BUT...
We can also vote with our pocketbooks and do our best to ensure this product does not suceed. Even though RH isn't the "best" distro out there, adopting it (or the distro of your choice) as a corporate standard would let the Uber^H^H^H^HUnitedLinux people know we're not going to accept this crap.
If we allow this to survive as a viable distribution model, we can expect more of the same from other Linux distributers.
Until there's real competition in large enough geographical regions (as well as sufficient profits to allow price competion), we're probably going to get higher prices for broadband shoved down our throats.
I live in Ashburn, Virginia about a mile from UUNET and three miles from AOL and we really have very few options for broadband. Given the number of geeks and techies in the area, there's a significant market that isn't being served.
There's not a whole lot of profit to be made wiring an area and having to compete with other companies given the current economic conditions (especially if Verizon doesn't have to share their copper anymore). Until there is, the incumbent broadband providers are pretty much free to charge whatever they feel like.
Our cable company is offering Internet access at a reasonable price (if you consider a single DHCP and a lot of restrictions on what you can do reasonable). There is virtually no DSL available other than IDSL (and that's about $129/month for 5 IPs at 128k). We may soon get 802.11 access in the area, but that's only a pipedream at this point.
Until we're able to get some REAL competition into the area (and I suspect that this is the case in many other areas), things will only get worse for the consumer.
This is awesome! They're smart by undercutting Micro$soft and building a whole generation of users that won't be used from suckling on the Micro$oft teat.
I'll bet Bill Gates has nightmares about this stuff!!!
For the most part I agree with you, it's not necessary for most Unix admins in order to get up and running with SSH. The man page and readme work just fine for that.
For those who want do more esoteric things (or are interested in learning HOW it works, it provides good, clear explanations of what is done or what CAN be done and how to do it.
While it's probably not the first O'Reilly book I'd recommend, it's still quite useful.
Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer (of ELP) have both had problems with music related RSI.
Check this link out: Music RSI
Sorry, I gotta disagree with you.
I used to scoff at all the silly looking mice and keyboards (some of them are so silly that I still do). There is a lot of value to getting an ergo evaluation.
For the last 15 years, I've spent about 14 hours/day on computers. Last year I began noticing pain in my elbow and shoulder. I contacted our ergo department and they made some very valuable suggestions that solved the problem. It took about 4 months, but the elbow is back to 100% and the shoulder is at 90% again (and still improving).
I've worked with several people who were nearly crippled by Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and the only way they've been able to continue functioning as UNIX admins is through surgery and the use of those silly keyboards and mice.
Should be required reading for all script kiddies and wanna-bes.
It's damn difficult to totally cover your tracks. Unless you're truely elite, if the FBI wants you badly enough, they'll find you and you'll be making some hairy-backed felon a very happy man.
The server lives in one state, the offended party lives in another but asks that the content be delivered outside state lines. How can they possibly think that it's fair?
Consider this: What if this silly idea is allowed? If they decide that a state can claim jurisdiction over a web site because any ammount of content is delivered there, what's to stop them from claiming that they're owed income tax on the profits reaped for ad placement on pages delivered to that state or, for that matter, a "fair" portion of taxes paid because they now consider them to be doing business in that state?
To further muddy the waters, consider a company like AOL, they have a large number of caches scattered around the country, where does jurisdiction lie?
If this silly idea is allowed to fly, it would be a huge can of worms. There's no way this can possibly stand in any reasonable court.
Just don't let Greenpeace open an office there....
Yeah... the last paragraph alluded to that.... :)
Diana Moon Glampers is the Handicapper General in that story.
Kinda scary how life resembles fiction sometimes.
Wait a minute... didn't the Micro$oft guys just testify under oath that this couldn't be done?
I'll bet they're holding lotteries in the Federal Pen right now to see who gets to be Bill Gate's boyfriend.
Memo from Senator Hollings, et al.:
To Wit:
Given that there is a tremendous number of devices that can A/D music and video illegally and that once we have banned unmodified A/D devices, illicit A/D devices will soon be smuggled into our beloved country disguised as routine cocaine shipments, we are forced to take the next logical step:
Congress shall pass a law wherein all persons in the USD (United States of Disney) shall be retrofited with Digital and Analog Watermark devices on their visual and aural receptors. Said persons shall be prohibited by law to remove these devices once implanted and any person found to be without shall on the first offense be sent to a Intelectual Properties Reeducation camp. A second offense shall result in the permanent disabling of their Intellectual property receptors. Any child born in this country after the date of passage shall be impounded until such time they have been properly indoctrinated and fitted with their devices. All alien persons visiting the USD shall be fitted with temporary devices for the duration of their stay.
Since many people in this country have not been properly indoctrinated (or those who have resisted initial efforts to implant their devices), informational messages shall be fed to the subjects of this great land to inspire them to lead a better more wholesome life.
The honorable Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General has requested that to ensure that persons capable of excessivly creative thought or possess unfair physical capabilities or attributes, be required to have installed on their person, devices to render their unfair capabilities neutral.
Thank you.
Senator Ernest Hollings
In Walt We Trust.