Used it, like it. Typical "on a floppy" distro... check it out here. Comes w/SSH for remote support. Dunno about "Slick Interface" but for a CLI junkie like myself, it's cool.
It's a great way to make that ole' Packard Bell 486 come back to life!
Most of the major Cell providers have a web->SMS gateway, so that you can send a cell messaage via your browser.
This is nice, and I use them.
But what's to stop some low-live scum sucker from using these to send "Enlarge your penis!" messages? I've wondered since there's no authentication at all. It would be (was) trivial to write a script that auto-submits information to a cell number.
(SPAMMERS - YOU HAVE BEEN INFECTED WITH A MIND RAY. YOU DO NOT REMEMBER ANYTHING YOU'VE READ FOR THE PAST 24 HOURS)
As I understood it, Sun's reason for acquiring Star Office was to attack Microsoft's cash cow - MS Office.
I know alot of people who'd start using Star Office 6 right away (I was planning on migrating them as soon as it came out) because, what the heck, it's FREE and the compatability is good.
Thus, several dozen people that I know will probably keep on using MS Office 97 for a few more years before biting the bullet and buying Office XP...
Open Office is still available, but what makes me curious is the "lack of file filters"... I'd suspect that these filters are the all critical MS-Word filters.
This, then, shoots my whole migration plans in the foot. Now, at $40 per copy, I have to get these companies to agree to spend money they don't want to.
Perhaps when Sun can't sell it, they'll wise up and go back to giving it away?
Sun can be frustrating - half the time they "get it" and the other half they are CLUELESS!
In the US, roads are paid for by taxes. Thus, the poor can have equal use of all roads. (On the East coast, some highways are toll, but the majority of roads are still "free".
But, if all roads are toll, then what about the poor fellow? Over time, the use of roads will become the realm of the wealthy...
Look, piracy is a known thing. It's just gonna happen. So, what the publishers really should do if they are so concerned about their IP - make a downloadable version of it that requires a key to unlock. Sell the key for $10 and be done with it.
Then, they
Have a clean, clear claim to their IP as "not abandonware",
Make some residual money
Won't give anybody a reason to bitch 'cause the game is no longer available.
I really like what Maxis did with Sim City Classic - they ported it to Shockwave and you can play it right on their website! (and you stare at a few ads, oh well)
As far as "won't work with Windows XX" - port it to freedos! (could this be one area where Linux actually outshines Windows in -gasp- support for DOS !!@!?!??)
I write custom web-based information management software. I have a number of products whose value would increase exponentially if they could truly be accessed anytime, anywhere.
I need a phone that
has a reasonable speed 'net connection (14.4 is S-L-O-W but can be made to work)
HTTP 1.1 compliant
Supports cookies
SSL not critical but certainly preferred.
Can view a "normal" web page with some grace.
Connects to the internet quickly and easily, with little/no fuss.
I've seen some that are close. WAP is a joke. My biggest problem is that "deer about to be run over" look when I bring up my needs to just about any Cellular reseller....
Yeah - write a gnutella "invisible proxy" that sits right on the gateway.
Tell it to cache replies for 45 seconds (so that external gnutella clients always show up later than local clients) and provide a list of IP addresses of local addresses that've made requests in the last 10 minutes. (so that other gnutella users can hook up to local gnutella network)
Leave e/t else alone, and I bet gnutella usage drops by 80%, while still allowing students to download the latest Britney mpeg. Block Morpheus.
This could have serious implications for the entire industry:
Computer programmers, now known for being large, out of shape, or at least unfit, will suddeenly lose weight and maintain excellent condition despite many hard hours at the computer.
As a result, programming will become a "Jock" event, and programmers will attract the lust of pretty, air-headed blondes.
Which causes every male known to want to become a programmer, lowering the average mental ability of programmers at large.
Being a programmer then picks up a stereotype of consisting of "stupid" people, and those who would have become programmers now move onto something a little more interesting, like football.
Thus leading to the destruction of the entire culture of programmnig - SPAM takes over the Internet at large, consuming 90% of the available bandwidth with ads like "Inlarge your peenis - Garenteed!".
Society descends into a new Dark Ages, every man for himself.
So you see, this is not a light event at all - All from having programmers that are physically fit, too.
GCC is probably a good example - it compiles to metacode, then to actual machine code.
This "two-step" operation is what we should use - with that ANY config file could be used!
So you start with the original text-based config files, and thru a translation layer is converted into a format that this "Configurationator" can handle. Options are picked, and once done, it's uncompiled and saved in the original source format.
It wouldn't be terribly hard to create a metaformat that would allow for this - it would in essence be a modified regex definition!
The issue really has little to do with theft. The issue is that big media companies are no longer needed to distribute the music.
The RIAA have been keeping our eyes and minds focused on this side issue, that of theft, and quite successfully keeping our attention off of the fact that they are simply no longer needed.
If we really want this issue to go away we need to do the following:
Come up with a way to pay for recording studio time.
Come up with a way to filter out artists that suck.
Come up with a way to pay the artist.
Distribute the music. (either via Napster or CDs)
The problem here is that the established media companies provide 1-3, and get paid at #4!
Interestingly enough, there's alot to be learned in poker - skills of reading human behavior are not ones taught in public schools, as they aren't "book" learning. But, as Mr. Gates, and many other marketroids have shown us, are no less valuable.
These skills comprise the heart and soul of salesmanship - a most valuable skill, fundamental to the operation of a successful business or organization.
How does watching "Simpsons" or "Friends" teach our children even that?
Perhaps you can see why I'd much rather have my children play poker than watch TV?
-Ben
PS: My teen sons (13) are learning PHP and Python. Please re-read my post!
I am a father of 5, and we home-school the children. At first, we thought that having all the computers around the house (I am a freelance programmer) along with educational videos would allow us to accelerate their progress - boy were we wrong.
Educational games do little more than encourage the kid to click on stuff randomly. They couldn't remember what they saw in a video 20 minutes after seeing it. And they lived their day around TV shows and video games... nothing much happening.
But, after we mandated "No TV - No computer games" - we saw stunning improvements! Suddenly they took an interest in their environment. We saw sharp improvements in their creativity and curiosity. They also behave MUCH better towards each other - much less aggression and infighting. Additionally, they took/take a much greater interest in reading, music (other than top 40s), etc.
Since then, we've done some research, to find that children's psychological development reaches a real understanding of abstract concepts beginning at around age 12-14.
To expose kids to abstracts, (such as the images on a TV Screen or computer) rather than "real" things (like play-dough, the sand pit, Legos) etc, deprives them of basic understanding of these "real" things then making it more difficult to understand abstracts later.
So, despite my very strong tech background, I do not feel that computers and "technology" should be introduced to kids until at least Jr. high.
Honestly, it's somewhat difficult for me to relate to this phenomena... I've not had a "job" in over 10 years.
I work independantly. I've owned retail stores, done numerous service-type businesses, and now work as a freelance programmer.
Life has never been easy, but it's never been impossible, either. Generate something of value that people want or need, let people know you have it, and people will buy. It doesn't matter whether you are writing software, building information systems, or cleaning carpets.
The hard part is to always keep your eyes open and look for something of value that you can deliver that somebody else will pay for.
Ask people you barely know questions like "If I could NNN, would you pay XXX for it? How many would you buy, and why?".
Or, "What is it about NNN that you find most compelling?". The answers often surprise.
Once you get that figured out, $40 at the local kinko's will get you some business cards - then it's just a matter of communicating to prospective clients.
You mean, all the slashdot stories and everything, and we only got 15,000 responses?
Come on, guys, where is your activistic spirit?
Re:Speck of dust, speck of dust, like a broken rec
on
Clear Hard Drive Mods
·
· Score: 2
Many Hard Disk manufacturers will allow you to RMA a drive and ship immediately if you guarantee the transaction with a credit card. They don't charge your card, they "reserve" it. (You can't spend the $$ elsewhere, but you get it back if you return the drive within the time specified, otherwise they charge it).
On more than one occasion, I swapped the controller board off the bottom of the drive, transferred the data off to another disk, swapped the controller back, and sent in the defective drive with no complaints. The trick? It MUST be the exact same make and model of drive, or you can screw it all up.
A new development - the site was slashdotted - it's extremely slow and video downloads do not work!
I can almost hear the engineer in the background... "She canna take much moore of it, keptin!"...
I'd suspect that even if they have access to the fattest pipes in Taiwan, the international feed to Taiwan would be saturated with/.ers around the world hammering it...
This, like many other similar ideas, sounds good, and just won't work.
Can you imagine the number of people who'd have to co-operate to make this happen? And it wouldn't even be possible for CONGRESS to make it happen, since the Internet is International now.
However, there is already a good amount of work done to secure the Internet - take a look at Bind 9 and its secure DNS, IPv6, ISP border address verification, etc.
The foundations of the failure of these ideas is that of "trust" - who do you trust, anyway? What happens when somebody you trust suddenly changes heart?
Following your representation of the "biological" model, can you successfully argue for "biological" home security? How many houses do you know don't lock their doors and rely on super-intelligent robots or dogs to defend them?
I thought so.
Notice that even your "biological" model breaks down for biology! Nearly every organism has skin, an exoskeleten, cellular wall, etc - in other words, a biological firewall!
These other methods work in conjunction with a good firewall, but the firewall is here to stay.
Slashdot Mirror
It's a great way to make that ole' Packard Bell 486 come back to life!
Most of the major Cell providers have a web->SMS gateway, so that you can send a cell messaage via your browser.
This is nice, and I use them.
But what's to stop some low-live scum sucker from using these to send "Enlarge your penis!" messages? I've wondered since there's no authentication at all. It would be (was) trivial to write a script that auto-submits information to a cell number.
(SPAMMERS - YOU HAVE BEEN INFECTED WITH A MIND RAY. YOU DO NOT REMEMBER ANYTHING YOU'VE READ FOR THE PAST 24 HOURS)
-Ben
As I understood it, Sun's reason for acquiring Star Office was to attack Microsoft's cash cow - MS Office.
I know alot of people who'd start using Star Office 6 right away (I was planning on migrating them as soon as it came out) because, what the heck, it's FREE and the compatability is good.
Thus, several dozen people that I know will probably keep on using MS Office 97 for a few more years before biting the bullet and buying Office XP...
Open Office is still available, but what makes me curious is the "lack of file filters"... I'd suspect that these filters are the all critical MS-Word filters.
This, then, shoots my whole migration plans in the foot. Now, at $40 per copy, I have to get these companies to agree to spend money they don't want to.
Perhaps when Sun can't sell it, they'll wise up and go back to giving it away?
Sun can be frustrating - half the time they "get it" and the other half they are CLUELESS!
As an excellent example of selling the same !@#! thing over and over again, perhaps the copyright holders of abandoned software could take a lesson?
In the US, roads are paid for by taxes. Thus, the poor can have equal use of all roads. (On the East coast, some highways are toll, but the majority of roads are still "free".
But, if all roads are toll, then what about the poor fellow? Over time, the use of roads will become the realm of the wealthy...
Is this what we want?
Look, piracy is a known thing. It's just gonna happen. So, what the publishers really should do if they are so concerned about their IP - make a downloadable version of it that requires a key to unlock. Sell the key for $10 and be done with it.
Then, they
I really like what Maxis did with Sim City Classic - they ported it to Shockwave and you can play it right on their website! (and you stare at a few ads, oh well)
As far as "won't work with Windows XX" - port it to freedos! (could this be one area where Linux actually outshines Windows in -gasp- support for DOS !!@!?!??)
-Ben
Asking slashdot about Windows Clustering is like asking the Pope about the benefits of Satanic worshipping...
I write custom web-based information management software. I have a number of products whose value would increase exponentially if they could truly be accessed anytime, anywhere.
I need a phone that
I've seen some that are close. WAP is a joke. My biggest problem is that "deer about to be run over" look when I bring up my needs to just about any Cellular reseller....
Anybody?
Yeah - write a gnutella "invisible proxy" that sits right on the gateway.
Tell it to cache replies for 45 seconds (so that external gnutella clients always show up later than local clients) and provide a list of IP addresses of local addresses that've made requests in the last 10 minutes. (so that other gnutella users can hook up to local gnutella network)
Leave e/t else alone, and I bet gnutella usage drops by 80%, while still allowing students to download the latest Britney mpeg. Block Morpheus.
So you see, this is not a light event at all - All from having programmers that are physically fit, too.
Don't buy one!!!
GCC is probably a good example - it compiles to metacode, then to actual machine code.
This "two-step" operation is what we should use - with that ANY config file could be used!
So you start with the original text-based config files, and thru a translation layer is converted into a format that this "Configurationator" can handle. Options are picked, and once done, it's uncompiled and saved in the original source format.
It wouldn't be terribly hard to create a metaformat that would allow for this - it would in essence be a modified regex definition!
-Ben
The issue really has little to do with theft. The issue is that big media companies are no longer needed to distribute the music.
The RIAA have been keeping our eyes and minds focused on this side issue, that of theft, and quite successfully keeping our attention off of the fact that they are simply no longer needed.
If we really want this issue to go away we need to do the following:
- Come up with a way to pay for recording studio time.
- Come up with a way to filter out artists that suck.
- Come up with a way to pay the artist.
- Distribute the music. (either via Napster or CDs)
The problem here is that the established media companies provide 1-3, and get paid at #4!-Ben
Yeah, but it's not the law. At least, not in California.
The main issue (at least here) when running a school, either for other kids or just your own, is whether or not you want to accept state funds.
If you do, there must be an accredited teacher involved. If not, and you are willing to "go the course" alone, this requirement isn't there.
Interestingly enough, there's alot to be learned in poker - skills of reading human behavior are not ones taught in public schools, as they aren't "book" learning. But, as Mr. Gates, and many other marketroids have shown us, are no less valuable.
These skills comprise the heart and soul of salesmanship - a most valuable skill, fundamental to the operation of a successful business or organization.
How does watching "Simpsons" or "Friends" teach our children even that?
Perhaps you can see why I'd much rather have my children play poker than watch TV?
-Ben
PS: My teen sons (13) are learning PHP and Python. Please re-read my post!
The voices of wisdom speak!
I am a father of 5, and we home-school the children. At first, we thought that having all the computers around the house (I am a freelance programmer) along with educational videos would allow us to accelerate their progress - boy were we wrong.
Educational games do little more than encourage the kid to click on stuff randomly. They couldn't remember what they saw in a video 20 minutes after seeing it. And they lived their day around TV shows and video games... nothing much happening.
But, after we mandated "No TV - No computer games" - we saw stunning improvements! Suddenly they took an interest in their environment. We saw sharp improvements in their creativity and curiosity. They also behave MUCH better towards each other - much less aggression and infighting. Additionally, they took/take a much greater interest in reading, music (other than top 40s), etc.
Since then, we've done some research, to find that children's psychological development reaches a real understanding of abstract concepts beginning at around age 12-14.
To expose kids to abstracts, (such as the images on a TV Screen or computer) rather than "real" things (like play-dough, the sand pit, Legos) etc, deprives them of basic understanding of these "real" things then making it more difficult to understand abstracts later.
So, despite my very strong tech background, I do not feel that computers and "technology" should be introduced to kids until at least Jr. high.
-Ben
I work independantly. I've owned retail stores, done numerous service-type businesses, and now work as a freelance programmer.
Life has never been easy, but it's never been impossible, either. Generate something of value that people want or need, let people know you have it, and people will buy. It doesn't matter whether you are writing software, building information systems, or cleaning carpets.
The hard part is to always keep your eyes open and look for something of value that you can deliver that somebody else will pay for.
Ask people you barely know questions like "If I could NNN, would you pay XXX for it? How many would you buy, and why?".
Or, "What is it about NNN that you find most compelling?". The answers often surprise.
Once you get that figured out, $40 at the local kinko's will get you some business cards - then it's just a matter of communicating to prospective clients.
I have a copy of Microsoft Windows 1.0 on 5.25" Floppies! It's fully functional, with manual!
You mean, all the slashdot stories and everything, and we only got 15,000 responses?
Come on, guys, where is your activistic spirit?
Many Hard Disk manufacturers will allow you to RMA a drive and ship immediately if you guarantee the transaction with a credit card. They don't charge your card, they "reserve" it. (You can't spend the $$ elsewhere, but you get it back if you return the drive within the time specified, otherwise they charge it).
On more than one occasion, I swapped the controller board off the bottom of the drive, transferred the data off to another disk, swapped the controller back, and sent in the defective drive with no complaints. The trick? It MUST be the exact same make and model of drive, or you can screw it all up.
Not as radical as swapping platters, but...
-Ben
A new development - the site was slashdotted - it's extremely slow and video downloads do not work!
I can almost hear the engineer in the background... " She canna take much moore of it, keptin! "...
I'd suspect that even if they have access to the fattest pipes in Taiwan, the international feed to Taiwan would be saturated with
Here's to their good luck!
Quiksoft made it - it was far and away the best dos/text word processor I've ever used. (To this day, I wish somebody would port it to *nix)
It had this neat feature - when you bought and registered it, you got this product code you typed in to the (fully functional!) shareware version.
If you shared that, when other people registered the software with your code on it, YOU GOT PAID. Sort of like MLM...
It was NORMAL to get the full purchase price of the software back and then some if you spread it far and wide...
I left that software on hundreds of computers....
-Ben
Can you imagine the number of people who'd have to co-operate to make this happen? And it wouldn't even be possible for CONGRESS to make it happen, since the Internet is International now.
However, there is already a good amount of work done to secure the Internet - take a look at Bind 9 and its secure DNS, IPv6, ISP border address verification, etc.
The foundations of the failure of these ideas is that of "trust" - who do you trust, anyway? What happens when somebody you trust suddenly changes heart?
Following your representation of the "biological" model, can you successfully argue for "biological" home security? How many houses do you know don't lock their doors and rely on super-intelligent robots or dogs to defend them?
I thought so.
Notice that even your "biological" model breaks down for biology! Nearly every organism has skin, an exoskeleten, cellular wall, etc - in other words, a biological firewall!
These other methods work in conjunction with a good firewall, but the firewall is here to stay.
56,343 dead after yet another Outlook Worm.
7) My favorite alien is [a] Mork [b] Spock [c] D'Aun [d] Cowboy Neal