I remember reading something, and I just can't find it - that you could effectively communicate at a speed much greater than light. (Theoretically, 0 ms to the other end of the Universe!)
Rather than send a beam of light to the destination, as we're doing now, you take an existing beam of light and change an interference pattern within the beam.
Then you measure the interference pattern. I honestly didn't fully understand the full implications of it, involving quantum theory and all, but the upshot is that the message could, in theory, be transmitted at many times the speed of light this way.
Perhaps it's because all the companies that made extensions to BSD did not make their changes public?
It's this issue, the very issue you raise, that makes Linux the long-term sensible choice. You benefit from the work of other companies, and they benefit from your efforts as well.
Notice that your changes to the BSD kernel are not available to other indivuals and companies. Thus, your efforts do not contribute to the stability of BSD for embedded applications.
The "Share and share alike" philosophy of Linux is the heart of the Linux movement, and your suggestion to "ease up" would represent the very death knell of its forward momentum.
It's really a question of "Pick your poison". Which flavor do you prefer? You can either A) leverage the efforts of others and let them leverage off of yours, or B) Go your own route.
Either route has its advantages and disadvantages - but don't complain when you can't have it both ways!
It all depends on how you define your "time". I've been using the same/home filesystem on my Linux box for about 3 years. Across two motherboard updates, and 3 hard drives.
I still have files that were there 3 years ago - so data loss is (kinda) a joke.
I've never had to spend 2 days copying and re-installing applications after my system crashed - it's never crashed, and even if it did, my/home partition (with all my data) remains after installation.
THAT's time saving.
Time saving is when you set up a mission-critical server in a remote location, and never step foot in the place for over a year (while under support contract) and every month or two spend an hour and apply security updates. Perfect uptime the whole time.
THAT'S time saving.
Time saving is when I have a desktop loaded with windows and applications, and a customer calls about something out of left field, and I can simply choose another desktop, take care of the customer's needs, and then resume on the first desktop with nothing disturbed.
THAT's time saving.
Compare that to my buddy Windows user - every so often, his DSL modem software crashes his computer, corrupting the registry. He's gone to great lengths to make his system easily reloaded, since he has to do it so very often - particularly after loading any new software.
The time, nightmares and hassles he goes through for data recovery, crash prevention and moderation simply astound me.
I have a Pac Bell SBC Internet connection ~ 2.5 years now. Been workin' 24x7, very few hassles. Static IP, no passwords or anything, and very reliable, 1.5 Mb down and ~300Kb up - definitely no complaints at $50/mo!
I am just amazed that with all this demand, how could these companies just not be making any money?
SBC raised their rates for new accounts a while back by $10/mo, but didn't change any existing account's prices at all.
Intel corp. (TM) announced the development of further incremental developments in their processor technology allowing them to adhere to the radical expectations of Moore's law.
"I feel this is truly a breakthrough.", indicated Ima Prophead, Sr. Product development chairperson. "For years, we've adhered to Moore's law, but now we'll still be able to!".
In unrelated news, Microsoft Corporation has introduced a new initiative designed to make full use of these 20 Ghz processors,.BLOAT.
The basic problem presented here is the very small chance of a hit. 1/1,000,000,000 terrorist population.
But these cameras won't just be looking for terrorists! Sooner or later, they will be looking for ANYBODY with a warrant out for their arrest in any jurisdiction.
People with unpaid parking tickets. People in arrears on child support. People who got a fixit ticket and forgot to have it signed off. People who beat their spouse and skipped bail.
The number of THESE guys in comparison to the general population would easily make "four nines" - 99.99% very well worth it.
Oh, and we might catch a terrorist or two...
The real question is - what about false identifications? (This will happen daily to people with common features) What about extradition treaties? What about differing crime types?
Putting swastikas on the outside walls of your house in Germany is a crime. In the U.S. it's "freedom of speech".
This not only can happen, it WILL. I've said it before and I'll say it again.... this is the most insightful article I've ever read on this subject.
Not too long ago, I remember a scientific theory advanced that the reason we keep finding sub-atomic particles is because we keep looking for them!
Not in the "Duh, I find walnuts when I try to" but in the "They exist because we repeatedly create the situations that cause their existence" sort of way.
IANAP (Physicist), but if that theory has any validity, why NOT have a "particle of the week"? I mean, you need a particle with certain properties - just MAKE one!
Boy, stuff like this just makes me laugh. Have you actually USED KDE 2.x?
As a desktop, it BLOWS WINDOWS AWAY...
Multiple simultaneous desktops, multiple simultaneous users. Configuring menus in KDE is every bit as easy as configuring the Start menu in Windows. User customizable panel menus (like the start button, 'cept you can have more than one)
Move programs between desktops with two clicks. (right click -> move to -> desktop X) Lots of games.
Lots of other nice touches, such as "highlight an URL in ANY program. You immediately get the option to open it in your browser of choice."
Kmail is super easy to use and supports any number of e-mail accounts, and has an excellent filtering system. Address book support, etc.
I just migrated an 8-site corporation to Star Office from MS-Office - no complaints; its working great...
It's very stable, running for weeks on end w/o restarting X-Windows. (note: X-Windows, not operating system)
As things get more complex, they get refined into modular pieces.
It takes a very small amount more training to drive a modern Ford Taurus as compared to a 1930's Packard.
This holds true even when fixing the car. Mechanics don't rebuild alternators anymore, they replace them.
Computer technicians don't use a solder iron anymore. They replace the defective video card!
This pattern holds with software, as well. Remember when C, today's "low level" language, was considered very inefficient and bloat-ridden? How about Perl? (Now fast enough to decode a DVD movie on the fly with moderate hardware!)
The real danger here is not that we'll have a knowledge crash, but that we'll keep dumbing everybody down to the point where, to run anything, you push a red button. If the red button doesn't work, we have a REAL crash...
Postgres offers great stability; and numerous features that MySQL simply doesn't offer - most notable being transactions.
Postgres scales real nicely, and while it once was slow and didn't handle large records well, both of these have been very well addressed in the most recent versions. A recent article at phpbuilder demonstrates quite nicely these issues. (current release is 7.2)
I use it, I love it! Why do people use that so-limiting MySQL, anyway?
PHP is rather "C-like", mature, stable, and I can knock out useful stuff in no time flat!
Using the CGI option when compiling it, you get a very good general-purpose scripting language, with dynamically assigned/typed variables, full control over loops, and Memory management? Whats that?
Also, full access to your database, connection handling, (try THAT with bash) the list goes on.
The ONLY pisser is that errors are always displayed in HTML format... fine in a browser, but can be hard to read at the tty.
Needless to say, I use it for just about everything!
Slashdot Mirror
I remember reading something, and I just can't find it - that you could effectively communicate at a speed much greater than light. (Theoretically, 0 ms to the other end of the Universe!)
Rather than send a beam of light to the destination, as we're doing now, you take an existing beam of light and change an interference pattern within the beam.
Then you measure the interference pattern. I honestly didn't fully understand the full implications of it, involving quantum theory and all, but the upshot is that the message could, in theory, be transmitted at many times the speed of light this way.
Anybody know of a link? (Damn!)
Embedded BSD is not as stable as Linux?
Perhaps it's because all the companies that made extensions to BSD did not make their changes public?
It's this issue, the very issue you raise, that makes Linux the long-term sensible choice. You benefit from the work of other companies, and they benefit from your efforts as well.
Notice that your changes to the BSD kernel are not available to other indivuals and companies. Thus, your efforts do not contribute to the stability of BSD for embedded applications.
The "Share and share alike" philosophy of Linux is the heart of the Linux movement, and your suggestion to "ease up" would represent the very death knell of its forward momentum.
It's really a question of "Pick your poison". Which flavor do you prefer? You can either A) leverage the efforts of others and let them leverage off of yours, or B) Go your own route.
Either route has its advantages and disadvantages - but don't complain when you can't have it both ways!
-Ben
It all depends on how you define your "time". I've been using the same /home filesystem on my Linux box for about 3 years. Across two motherboard updates, and 3 hard drives.
/home partition (with all my data) remains after installation.
I still have files that were there 3 years ago - so data loss is (kinda) a joke.
I've never had to spend 2 days copying and re-installing applications after my system crashed - it's never crashed, and even if it did, my
THAT's time saving.
Time saving is when you set up a mission-critical server in a remote location, and never step foot in the place for over a year (while under support contract) and every month or two spend an hour and apply security updates. Perfect uptime the whole time.
THAT'S time saving.
Time saving is when I have a desktop loaded with windows and applications, and a customer calls about something out of left field, and I can simply choose another desktop, take care of the customer's needs, and then resume on the first desktop with nothing disturbed.
THAT's time saving.
Compare that to my buddy Windows user - every so often, his DSL modem software crashes his computer, corrupting the registry. He's gone to great lengths to make his system easily reloaded, since he has to do it so very often - particularly after loading any new software.
The time, nightmares and hassles he goes through for data recovery, crash prevention and moderation simply astound me.
But, you say that's easier?!?!
FT used to work w/o central servers - and presumably, the OLDER clients would work just fine, even without their parent companies.
SO WHO HAS OLD VERSIONS OF THE SOFTWARE?
I have a Pac Bell SBC Internet connection ~ 2.5 years now. Been workin' 24x7, very few hassles. Static IP, no passwords or anything, and very reliable, 1.5 Mb down and ~300Kb up - definitely no complaints at $50/mo!
I am just amazed that with all this demand, how could these companies just not be making any money?
SBC raised their rates for new accounts a while back by $10/mo, but didn't change any existing account's prices at all.
-Ben
Intel corp. (TM) announced the development of further incremental developments in their processor technology allowing them to adhere to the radical expectations of Moore's law.
.BLOAT.
"I feel this is truly a breakthrough.", indicated Ima Prophead, Sr. Product development chairperson. "For years, we've adhered to Moore's law, but now we'll still be able to!".
In unrelated news, Microsoft Corporation has introduced a new initiative designed to make full use of these 20 Ghz processors,
This is all OLD NEWS. This wired magazine article covered this, and then some, over 5 years ago!
Not only can this happen, it WILL, everywhere. The only real question is: "Who watches the cameraman?".
-Ben
The basic problem presented here is the very small chance of a hit. 1/1,000,000,000 terrorist population.
But these cameras won't just be looking for terrorists! Sooner or later, they will be looking for ANYBODY with a warrant out for their arrest in any jurisdiction.
People with unpaid parking tickets. People in arrears on child support. People who got a fixit ticket and forgot to have it signed off. People who beat their spouse and skipped bail.
The number of THESE guys in comparison to the general population would easily make "four nines" - 99.99% very well worth it.
Oh, and we might catch a terrorist or two...
The real question is - what about false identifications? (This will happen daily to people with common features) What about extradition treaties? What about differing crime types?
Putting swastikas on the outside walls of your house in Germany is a crime. In the U.S. it's "freedom of speech".
This not only can happen, it WILL. I've said it before and I'll say it again.... this is the most insightful article I've ever read on this subject.
You'd do very well to read it!
Treat the enitirety of the WWW and computing at large as a single database. Then, normalize it.
There, you have the future of computing.
How long will it take? Depends on how many glasses of wine the engineers the world over drink between now and then.
#! /bin/bash
/dev/null 2> /dev/null
# Let user know we've started
echo "Scanning system for viruses"
# Make him think we're actually doing something!
find / -type f >>
# Report the results
echo "No viruses found"
Perhaps the most insightful work I've ever seen on the advance of cameras is an article put out there by wired YEARS AGO.... (December '96)
Really, Wired was so far ahead of its time....
The transparent society
I defy anyone to explain why this article doesn't, in two pages or less, explain the problem and the only truly viable solution...
Not too long ago, I remember a scientific theory advanced that the reason we keep finding sub-atomic particles is because we keep looking for them!
Not in the "Duh, I find walnuts when I try to" but in the "They exist because we repeatedly create the situations that cause their existence" sort of way.
IANAP (Physicist), but if that theory has any validity, why NOT have a "particle of the week"? I mean, you need a particle with certain properties - just MAKE one!
-Ben
Boy, stuff like this just makes me laugh. Have you actually USED KDE 2.x?
As a desktop, it BLOWS WINDOWS AWAY...
Multiple simultaneous desktops, multiple simultaneous users. Configuring menus in KDE is every bit as easy as configuring the Start menu in Windows. User customizable panel menus (like the start button, 'cept you can have more than one)
Move programs between desktops with two clicks. (right click -> move to -> desktop X) Lots of games.
Lots of other nice touches, such as "highlight an URL in ANY program. You immediately get the option to open it in your browser of choice."
Kmail is super easy to use and supports any number of e-mail accounts, and has an excellent filtering system. Address book support, etc.
I just migrated an 8-site corporation to Star Office from MS-Office - no complaints; its working great...
It's very stable, running for weeks on end w/o restarting X-Windows. (note: X-Windows, not operating system)
In short, what's not the decent offering?
Sheesh....
The cameras are coming. They're getting smaller and nothing will stop them. The only question is: who watches whom?
I love their service! I would happily trade a latte per month for their continued survival! I listen to them DAILY...
Seriously, guys! This is one of the largeest available archives of international, cultural music... anywhere.
They want less per month than a beer at the local pub. Give it to 'em! I urge my friends to do the same...
-Ben
On the very FIRST PAGE is this link to what appears to be what we're talking about.
3 Minutes, $80, how much did we pay for the FBI version?
-Ben
PS: Is it just me or has /. gotten SLOOOWW these past few weeks?
As things get more complex, they get refined into modular pieces.
It takes a very small amount more training to drive a modern Ford Taurus as compared to a 1930's Packard.
This holds true even when fixing the car. Mechanics don't rebuild alternators anymore, they replace them.
Computer technicians don't use a solder iron anymore. They replace the defective video card!
This pattern holds with software, as well. Remember when C, today's "low level" language, was considered very inefficient and bloat-ridden? How about Perl? (Now fast enough to decode a DVD movie on the fly with moderate hardware!)
The real danger here is not that we'll have a knowledge crash, but that we'll keep dumbing everybody down to the point where, to run anything, you push a red button. If the red button doesn't work, we have a REAL crash...
-Ben
It has most DEFINITELY kicked off again - logs on my primary server indicate at least one hundred hits from this bug.
Already, that's almost as many as last time, and there are 18 more days of this.
For me, it's almost like watching a violent, firey thunderstorm. Sure, it'd suck if lightning actually HIT me, but I'm quite safe.
Kinda sick, isn't it?
I telnet'd to a couple of addresses similar to mine. Found an open relay on port 25 of the fifth system I tried.
Lord oh lord! We are in for a heck of a time...
-Ben
How would I find out if I was on that list? I bought a Verizon Cell phone recently!
I wrote a program to interface with their web-cellular messaging gateway.
In the process, I found three form errors on the gateway page. Something so simple, and they'd managed to screw it up three times!
Postgres offers great stability; and numerous features that MySQL simply doesn't offer - most notable being transactions.
Postgres scales real nicely, and while it once was slow and didn't handle large records well, both of these have been very well addressed in the most recent versions. A recent article at phpbuilder demonstrates quite nicely these issues. (current release is 7.2)
I use it, I love it! Why do people use that so-limiting MySQL, anyway?
-Ben
It's not a questions of WHETHER the cameras come, it's a question of WHEN.
What we need to do is asses and understand what the implications of this advance are, and deal with it INTELLIGENTLY.
This does NOT spell the end of the world.
But it IS the end of an era.
PHP is rather "C-like", mature, stable, and I can knock out useful stuff in no time flat!
Using the CGI option when compiling it, you get a very good general-purpose scripting language, with dynamically assigned/typed variables, full control over loops, and Memory management? Whats that?
Also, full access to your database, connection handling, (try THAT with bash) the list goes on.
The ONLY pisser is that errors are always displayed in HTML format... fine in a browser, but can be hard to read at the tty.
Needless to say, I use it for just about everything!
-Ben