Too bad it's not me. I spent some time a while back on Seiko's website when I was looking into building an LCD for a home MP3 player. Transflective, FSTN backlit displays are the most expensive option. But the truth is, I don't know what most laptops use now (and I'd guess not many others do, either, or you would've already found your answer). I would guess current LCD panels are transmissive - they suck a LOT of power, but they look good in everything but sunlight.
In fact, from lxdinc.com: "A reflective display has the brightest appearance, with the highest contrast ratio possible. Unfortunately, it will be difficult to read at night or under changing lightning conditions. If your display must be readable under a wide range of lighting conditions, you will generally want a transflective display so that it will look very good in the bright sunlight, but will also be backlightable at twilight and at night. A transmissive display must always have a working backlight, and is therefore unacceptable in applications where power consumption is a problem.
The tradeoff with a transflective display is that it will not look as good as a reflective display during the day, and it will not look as good as a transmissive display at night. It will however enable you to have an acceptable compromise between the two, and provides a very acceptable appearance."
PC, Mac, and Sun KVM. Expensive, and specialized cables are required, but they will work on all 3 (and probably others, too, since newer Sun, SGI, and HP machines all use VGA and PS/2). Go
Here for details.
Does anyone remember when CDs came out? Records and tapes were $8-$10. Hell, records and tapes were $8 for YEARS. CDs came out at $15-16. The *excuse* at the time was that they were much more costly to manufacture, though truthfully, they were still cheaper, since there was a much lower rate of return for defective merchandise (after all, you don't get pops on CDs, normally).
Even if it *was* $6 more expensive to produce a CD then, *now* CDs are practically free (just look at how many AOL wastes). So why hasn't the cost of CD music come down? Because the music industry can get it. Piracy was far less an issue when costs were *half* their cost now.
My point? If CDs were $8 or $9, people would snatch them up and not bother to pirate them - after all, the amount of *effort* you need to put forth just to find stuff, download it, burn it, etc, isn't worthwhile. But, when CDs are now approaching $18+ at local stores - well, it doesn't take a genius to realize that it's *easy* to recoup your initial hardware "investment" (cost).
FWIW, I own about 150 albums and another 150 CDs. And yet I really haven't bought any CDs in probably 2 years. Why? Cost, and the level of crap which is being put out now (which is probably more a function of me being 25 and having already found a style of music 4 or 5 years ago which I like - which is now disappearing).
Actually, Dell has done quite well because they beat out Gateway for the Government FastTrack program. Basically, gov't agencies can bypass the usual procurement and go righht to Dell. It avoid the bureaucratic headaches and paperwork commonly associated with the gov't.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you're Dell), only one company of any type can be on the FastTrack program. so, if you're buying a desktop for your employees,you buy Dell because it's easy. The program lasts 2 or 3 years, I think.
So long as Dell retains their FastTrack status, they're set.
For all the comments that appear on/. about M$ - good, bad, or indifferent, this is precisely the point M$ has been trying to hide by claiming innovation, or whatever. It's not illegal to be a monopoly, but it *is* illegal to use your power once you are a monopoly to crush others.
* ResNet services and wiring may not be modified or extended beyond the area of their intended use. This applies to all network, hardware, computer lab and in-room data jacks.
This one is questionable, since it does (or can) extend use outside the room
* ResNet may not be used to provide the University of Colorado computer services or Internet access to anyone outside of the Residence Halls community for any purposes (other than those in direct support of the academic mission of the University).
Aside from the inherent insecurities in WEP, they may not be sure you
are even using WEP, which would (or certainly could) provide access to
others outside of your residence halls
* The University of Colorado specific or commercially obtained network resources may not be retransmitted outside of the University community.
As per the AUP you mention:
* ResNet services and wiring may not be modified or extended beyond the area of their intended use. This applies to all network, hardware, computer lab and in-room data jacks.
This one is questionable, since it does (or can) extend use outside the room
* ResNet may not be used to provide the University of Colorado computer services or Internet access to anyone outside of the Residence Halls community for any purposes (other than those in direct support of the academic mission of the University).
Aside from the inherent insecurities in WEP, they may not be sure you
are even using WEP, which would (or certainly could) provide access to
others outside of your residence halls
* The University of Colorado specific or commercially obtained network resources may not be retransmitted outside of the University community.
And not being sure about the location or range, this could also apply.
So, frankly, don't gripe. Those terms are designed to be loosely interpreted. Point is, while YOU may not feel you violated any rules, THEY do, and THEY control the access. Perhaps you can get approval now, but if not, just accept it and live with it. Life is unfair.
libnss-ldap will give you system level users form an LDAP server. pam_ldap will give you LDAP authenticated login via pam. Really, that's all you need. Any service which supports local users will work in this manner. You'll need to add uid, uidnumber, gidnumber, loginshell, homedirectory, and userpassword fields to your LDAP directory for any corresponding users.
FYI, I run a consulting company and have done this before. It's *more* difficult to work with NT domains as well, but LDAP is pretty much designed for this. If you don't think LDAP can do it, you haven't looked into it enough.
For starters, upgrade the power supply. Seriously. If you have 3 drives, plus a CD ROM and a dual P3 system, you're probably sucking mad amounts of power. If the drives aren't getting enough power, you could brown them out. Think about when the lights dim in your house because an appliance kicks on (okay, maybe not in *your* house, but it does in mine). That's because the voltage is dropping below (usually) 103 volts because of the sudden load. If several of your drives are being accessed simultaneously, you may very well be accomplishing the same thing *inside* the case. You can usually run at about 75% of your max wattage before you start to have problems. I've found drives are generally about 25 watts a piece, and those P3 CPUs are probably 25-30 watts each. When you start considering RAM, motherboard, etc, you'll probably find you're running over 225 watts. 300 watt power supplies were really designed for single cpu, 2 drive + CD & CDRW systems. With 3 drives constantly spinning, and dual CPUs, you really need 350-400 watts.
Seriously, if you're getting unrecoverable read errors on adjacent sectors, it really sounds to me like there wasn't enough power, and the data didn't get written cleanly to disk. Remember, bits and bytes are just current.
In addition, make sure you have a well shielded setup (cover on your system), and a good, high quality drive cable. I had a maxtor 340 mb drive back in '95/96 which occasionally crashed on "unrecoverable read error writing to drive c:" under windows95/dos. Swapping IDE cables fixed it (maxtor claimed it was RF interference).
I believe a very similar question was recently asked and answered here on/. back on December 19.
Read the answers to that. Incorporation is a lot of extra work which probably won't net you much right now. Whether or not it will help you in the future will depend on whether you want to start your own company. If they recruiter will pay you the same, then you definitely DON'T want to incorporate, because YOU will be responsible for things like the other 1/2 of social security (6.75%), unemployment taxes, etc.
Again, read, and reread the comments from the article above.
I have several 9 and 18 GB drives in a mid size desktop, and they've been running for ages. I've used IBM, Maxtor, Seagate, Quantum, Western Digital, etc, and what I generally find is drives last about 3 years, which is really their useful life anyway. Some go longer, but in general, you should be able to count on 3 years.
So, if you're finding your drives die in 30-60 days, there's likely another problem you're missing. If you're using SCSI, I'd guess they're probably 7200 or 10k RPM drives, which means LOTS of heat, especially if you have several. So, first of all, go buy a few 60 or 80mm fans, and stick them in front of the drives, if you can. Get some air flow across them (remember, air pushed across the drives does much more than air pulled/sucked across them). Heat will quickly kill a drive.
Barring that, you haven't said how the drives have died (won't spin up, unusual read errors, etc), but a poor power supply, especially one running at capacity could burn out a drive. Finally, any sort of shock (case constantly being moved, bounced around, kicked, etc) could do a drive in, though that is probably less likely.
The SAMBA technical lists indicate that authenticating back to an LDAP backend such as NDS is mature.
I assume you actually mean immature. In any case, if you use PAM, there's no reason you really need Samba to have LDAP built-in. LDAP + nsswitch +/etc/pam.d files should work for all services (telnet, samba, ssh, etc).
I used to work at a now bankrupt wireless telecom company headquarteres in NYC. We had a project to replace the NT 4.0 file and print server with Linux + Samba & LPRng. In general, it works, and LDAP would probably be a major help (since you otherwise need a parallel NIS, kerberos, or winbind+NT domain to do authentication and user management). Performance is there, compatibility is there, and cost savings is there.
Our biggest issues were with printing - LPR just plain sucks. At the time, CUPS was still very new, so we used LPRng. I ended up writing a GUI front end for printer management (since printtool didn't work well, and editing printcap files by hand was unacceptable). The final "problem" was quotas - the NT admins were used to setting directory level quotas, while Linux/Unix uses partition level quotas. Simply put, we had to split/home and/shared while they were used to having just one partition. Quota management under Linux just isn't the same as NT (for better or worse), and you need to remember things like "if a user & group quota affect a directory, the MOST restrictive effects the user" (which is why you need to make two partitions).
With newer kernels, this is a more reasonable project. Linux really is "enterprise-ready" now (I hate that term). Previously, things like a journaled filesystem were missing, which was a big gripe with the NT guys (when a system goes down, it takes a long time to scan 100 GB of data!). Also, newer kernels support more than 32000 users and groups (usefulness depends on your company size).
Finally, make sure you consider backup systems, how the systems would be administered, etc. It's a big project, but manageable if your company is really interested.
If you need some fodder for the fight to help convince management that this will save a LOT of money, check out this business case. You might also be interested in this deployment plan. Infrastructures.org also has a number of useful (must read) documents. Finally, you may want some help designing the architecture, and making sure you've found any issues. Find someone who has done this before (shameless plug: US Linux Networks) and have them at least work through some fo the major points to make sure you've got everything covered - the cost for a few days of requirements, architecture, and design may save you a lot of wasted effort.
Perhaps ZDNet needs a disclaimer? Something along the lines of:
Don't complain about lack of options. You've got to pick a few when you do multiple choice. Those are the breaks.
Feel free to suggest poll ideas if you're feeling creative. I'd strongly suggest reading the past polls first.
This whole thing is wildly inaccurate. Rounding errors, ballot stuffers, dynamic IPs, firewalls. If you're using these numbers to do anything important, you're insane.
Well, I don't (yet) own a Tivo, but I do own DirecTV (no cable where I'm at), and I would definitely like to be able to record two different shows at once. With DirecTV, if I want to record a movie on HBO, well, I have to *watch* the movie, or go find another TV. With dual tuners, I can record a movie and still watch the Simpsons (or vice versa). I've seriously considered a DirecTiVo unit just for that.
A few thoughts about why this isn't worth implementing right now:
Cost. Obviously mentioned in the article, the cost to place one of these chips in each bill is quite high ($.20-$1.00). Limited use only in large bills isn't helpful, since counterfeiting often involves bleaching smaller currency (eg $1.00 bills) and creating $50 or $100 bills.
Usability/strength. How many people wrinkle up their dollars and stuff them in their pockets/socks/etc? Would one of these transmitters hold up? How about if they were run through some sort of "demagnetizer"?
Other currencies. The article makes a point to note that this is aimed at preventing counterfeiting of what will soon be the most used currency in the world. But, unless other countries like the US do the same, it will just redirect counterfeiting efforts to other countries bills (like the US). This also includes the part mentioned in the article about someone demanding a ransom of unmarked bills, and how this would prevent that - well they'll just demand unmarked, US bills.
All security measures will be defeated. Besides, crime is becoming more "virtual" - that is, people would rather break an unpatched IIS server and nab 10,000 credit card numbers than try to counterfeit $10,000,000.
(b) No private employer may terminate the employment of, or discriminate with respect to employment against, an individual who is or has been a debtor under this title, a debtor or bankrupt under the Bankruptcy Act, or an individual associated with such debtor or bankrupt, solely because such debtor or bankrupt
(1) is or has been a debtor under this title or a debtor or bankrupt under the Bankruptcy Act;
(2) has been insolvent before the commencement of a case under this title or during the case but before the grant or denial of a discharge; or
(3) has not paid a debt that is dischargeable in a case under this title or that was discharged under the Bankruptcy Act.
Sorry, but you can't cancel a contract simply because they can't pay. If you're working under 1099, then, well, you can quit and leave your contracting company to fill the position. But, if you're working directly (corp-corp), then you must continue servicing your contract. If you stop servicing the bankrupt company, they can take you to court and sue you for big bucks. Your only option is to declare bankruptcy yourself to avoid your debt to them.
Not pretty, but it's the law. I worked for a company who went bankrupt, and they treatened the contracting companies who were going to pull their people out with lawsuits. You must continue servicing current contracts, even if they can't pay. That's the premise behind Chapter 11.
This is almost as bad as McDonalds trademarking the "Mc" prefix
And they essentially HAVE! McSleep was a motel chain that was sued (and lost) because McDonalds wanted to protect their trademark. McSleep was a MOTEL which had to change its name because the McDonalds RESTAURANT was afraid people would associate the two. Ridiculous, maybe, but then many people probably WOULD associate them. Essentially, anything you add Mc in front of probably will be sued by McDonalds. Microsoft is doing the same thing. Sorry. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but it sure seems like an (unfortunately) legitimate claim. Proving "Windows" is a generic term is a different issue (which would solve the problem, I think).
As an alternative name, how about "WinLinux" or "Win With Linux"? Would "Win" be too close to Windows? Would knowing that X-Windows has existed since before Microsoft Windows help the fight? How about "LX-Windows" or "Lin X-Windows"? Or even, "Linux/X-Windows"? Maybe "ex-Windows"?:-)
First, no one I've ever voted for has won their election. That means I am taxed without representation.
No, unless you live in Washington, D.C., where you are taxed by do not get a vote on congressional matter, you are represented. Just because the guy you voted for didn't win doesn't mean you don't have representation in Congress - you *have* a representative there, he or she just may not be representing you as you see fit. But then, that's what representation is all about - Congressional leaders *supposedly* making choices based on their electorate, and not on their own personal views. Sorry. Democracy isn't perfect, but it's the best we've found so far.
BTW, no one I've voted for in the last 3 years (save for the recent state gubernatorial election) has won either, but that's unfortunately the way it works.
That works if konqueror *crashes*, but if it just hangs indefinitely, and requires an xkill (CTRL+ALT+ESC), that kills all the konqueror windows (at least in my experience).
The screen updates are modest, but look much cleaner - I particularly like the anti-aliased fonts (yes, I know they're in 2.2.x). However, there are a couple thing I and others I've worked with have ALL remarked that KDE and associated apps need:
Kmail needs LDAP support. At least 2.2.2 on Debian Unstable doesn't include it, and I didn't see it in the list of features (though everything else we needs like SSL/TLS support seems to be making its way into it).
Anti-aliased fonts are great, but there are times when aliased fonts are actually preferable. In particular, I used anti-aliased fonts, but in terminals, I *really* want a regular-old courier font. At 1024x768 in my terminals, anti-aliasing makes it difficult to tell the difference between and m and n or a , and .
Could someone PLEASE make Konqueror stable? It's getting better, but it still crashes on me (or locks up) frequently, more often when I open multiple windows. It seems that if I open 5 or 6, it's bound to lock up, while it can go for days on 1 or 2.
A "smarter" cookie feature. Netscape used to "allow cookies only from originating server". I liked that option. It allowed me to use sites like ebay, slashdot, etc, without having to add them to my list of allowed domains. Right now, I get either "Allow, Deny, or Ask". "Ask" *seemed* like a great idea, but some sites want to add 10 cookies - and it's terribly annoying. I'd be *really* impressed if someone came up with a way to detect useful cookies (like logins or shopping carts) and useless ones (like ones that simply track your visits).
Tabbed konqueror windows. Seriously. I like to open lots of windows so I don't have to keep using the Back button, but if I have several windows open, it's tough to manage them. A sidebar or nav bar tab with an option to open in a new window or as a tab (like the newer mozilla releases) would be really helpful.
That's all. Hope I didn't ask too much:-) I'm not much of a C++ coder, nor do I have the spare cycles to help out (unfortunately), but these are things (particularly Kmail) which I've seen a tremendous need for. Thanks for all your hard work, K-team!
A number of others have done a great job touching upon this, but (like everyone else), I want to add my $0.02 of personal experience, since I've done all three.
As for corp-to-corp, I own my own LLC (Limited Liability Corporation). This is most likely what you'd need to file for around $100 (it cost me $100 in the state of VA for a license, plus $50 per year renewal fee). Check with your state for specific filing info. Keep in mind your locality may tax you too. In my case, Federal = 15% of net income, State = 6%, and locality = 1% if I exceed $100,000. However, that's "Net", so if you make $150,000, deduct business expenses such as cell phone, net access, laptop, mileage, etc to the tune of $10,000, and pay yourself $125,000, you'll pay taxes on the remaining $15,000. If you do this, save ALL receipts (I think that's required for 3-5 years - you'll need to check on that. In my case, I've only been operating for two years, so the length is so far irrelevant). Much like personal taxes, if you get audited, you WILL need those receipts.
Now for more details - an LLC helps protect you if you get sued, and it allows you to take certain deductions you might not otherwise get (though many of them are irrelevant for tech companies). If you're going to do this, go to the local bookstore and pick up a copy of "Starting Your Own Limited Liability Corporation", or some such work. If you screw up you taxes, take invalid deductions, or something similar, you could end up paying waaaay more in fines than you save by going this route, so be careful. In my case, I file Federal tax documents (Form 941) quarterly, file State Corporate taxes quarterly, and State employer withholding taxes quarterly - and no, they don't all line up. That's 12 forms per year. If you pay youself (or your employees) biweekly, weekly, monthly, etc, the withholding may need to be filed more frequently. Additionally, if you hire employees who are out of state, you'll need to withhold for those states too.
With Corp-Corp ot 1099 you'll need to pay the other half of Social Security and Medicaid (6.75%), and you won't get health insurance (which runs $219/month through Trigon/Blue Cross & Blue Shield for me). You'll also need to send in your taxes to the state and federal gov't for your earnings - otherwise you WILL be fined heavily.
In general, if it's just _you_, and W-2 is paying hourly (eg, you get paid for 45 hours if you work 45 - no 40 hour limit), then just go W-2. You'll probably get a 401k program (which you should invest in HEAVILY), and they'll take care of insurance, taxes, vacation, holidays, etc. The difference between W-2, 1099, and corp-corp will be insignificant for you, as an individual. Starting your own business is really not worth the hassle (in my personal experience) if it's just for *you*. If you consider time == money (even if time == money/3), the amount of time you'll spend filling out tax forms, yearly federal 1120, W-2's, etc is just not worth it.
Also, the pay differences you see are because:
W-2 - they pay taxes (including 6.75% for SS & Medicaid), give you vacation, holiday, and sick time, a 401k, and probably some other small benefits like tuition reimbursement for certifications and classes. You get a paycheck every two weeks, whether or not the company you're contracting at actually pays your contracting company. Read that line again. Once more. Many people/businesses get stiffed corp-corp if the company is going bankrupt. Read fuckedcompany.com if you don't believe that.
1099 - you get none of the benefits. Make sure you add in ~80 hours for holidays, and another 80-120 for vacation and sick time, plus 6.75% for SS/Med. to your yearly rate to see if you really make much more. You need to file your own taxes (and send in withholding to state, federal, and maybe locality each month). Your "pimp" (aka contracting company) will provide you a year-end 1099 form (which you'll use to file your taxes). You'll probably get paid just like under W-2, which is a good thing.
Corp-Corp - Pretty much the same as 1099, but you'll have way more paperwork involved. They won't provide you with anything (1099, etc) - that's up to you. Also, you may get paid 60 or 90 days BEHIND, because they *may* not pay you until they have been paid. If the company you're working at (not through) goes bankrupt, you may miss out on 60-90 days of pay (or more). Oh, and if the contracting company declares bankruptcy (not sure if the contracting company as well) while you're working for them, YOU CANNOT QUIT! Under federal law, you cannot stop servicing a company in bankruptcy just because they cannot pay you. READ THAT AGAIN!
Just my $0.02, but having worked W-2, 1099, and now running my own LLC, I can safely say go W-2 for a while until you get comfortable in the industry.
My old employer used to be the same way. They didn't want non-NT systems on their network because those systems allowed "too much control and access of the network and its resources". Essentially, they were afraid Linux was too powerful, and that users might be able to compromise an NT system by using a Linux system. Yes, as bizarre as it sounds, that was their reasoning. I suppose it was more than NT, as insecure, bug ridden, and exploit prone as it is was at least a known quantity - something they could patch the hell out of and continue on their way.
It's funny, you'd like gov't defense contractors dealing with classified information would WANT a more secure OS...
Slashdot Mirror
In fact, from lxdinc.com: "A reflective display has the brightest appearance, with the highest contrast ratio possible. Unfortunately, it will be difficult to read at night or under changing lightning conditions. If your display must be readable under a wide range of lighting conditions, you will generally want a transflective display so that it will look very good in the bright sunlight, but will also be backlightable at twilight and at night. A transmissive display must always have a working backlight, and is therefore unacceptable in applications where power consumption is a problem.
The tradeoff with a transflective display is that it will not look as good as a reflective display during the day, and it will not look as good as a transmissive display at night. It will however enable you to have an acceptable compromise between the two, and provides a very acceptable appearance."
PC, Mac, and Sun KVM. Expensive, and specialized cables are required, but they will work on all 3 (and probably others, too, since newer Sun, SGI, and HP machines all use VGA and PS/2). Go Here for details.
Even if it *was* $6 more expensive to produce a CD then, *now* CDs are practically free (just look at how many AOL wastes). So why hasn't the cost of CD music come down? Because the music industry can get it. Piracy was far less an issue when costs were *half* their cost now.
My point? If CDs were $8 or $9, people would snatch them up and not bother to pirate them - after all, the amount of *effort* you need to put forth just to find stuff, download it, burn it, etc, isn't worthwhile. But, when CDs are now approaching $18+ at local stores - well, it doesn't take a genius to realize that it's *easy* to recoup your initial hardware "investment" (cost).
FWIW, I own about 150 albums and another 150 CDs. And yet I really haven't bought any CDs in probably 2 years. Why? Cost, and the level of crap which is being put out now (which is probably more a function of me being 25 and having already found a style of music 4 or 5 years ago which I like - which is now disappearing).
Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you're Dell), only one company of any type can be on the FastTrack program. so, if you're buying a desktop for your employees,you buy Dell because it's easy. The program lasts 2 or 3 years, I think.
So long as Dell retains their FastTrack status, they're set.
For all the comments that appear on /. about M$ - good, bad, or indifferent, this is precisely the point M$ has been trying to hide by claiming innovation, or whatever. It's not illegal to be a monopoly, but it *is* illegal to use your power once you are a monopoly to crush others.
As per the AUP you mention:
* ResNet services and wiring may not be modified or extended beyond the area of their intended use. This applies to all network, hardware, computer lab and in-room data jacks.
This one is questionable, since it does (or can) extend use outside the room
* ResNet may not be used to provide the University of Colorado computer services or Internet access to anyone outside of the Residence Halls community for any purposes (other than those in direct support of the academic mission of the University).
Aside from the inherent insecurities in WEP, they may not be sure you
are even using WEP, which would (or certainly could) provide access to
others outside of your residence halls
* The University of Colorado specific or commercially obtained network resources may not be retransmitted outside of the University community.
As per the AUP you mention:
* ResNet services and wiring may not be modified or extended beyond the area of their intended use. This applies to all network, hardware, computer lab and in-room data jacks.
This one is questionable, since it does (or can) extend use outside the room
* ResNet may not be used to provide the University of Colorado computer services or Internet access to anyone outside of the Residence Halls community for any purposes (other than those in direct support of the academic mission of the University).
Aside from the inherent insecurities in WEP, they may not be sure you
are even using WEP, which would (or certainly could) provide access to
others outside of your residence halls
* The University of Colorado specific or commercially obtained network resources may not be retransmitted outside of the University community.
And not being sure about the location or range, this could also apply.
So, frankly, don't gripe. Those terms are designed to be loosely interpreted. Point is, while YOU may not feel you violated any rules, THEY do, and THEY control the access. Perhaps you can get approval now, but if not, just accept it and live with it. Life is unfair.
I mean, cats practically clone themselves if left outdoors. Just look around my neighborhood
So the obvious question: how long before someone attempts this with the 2.4 kernel and IPTables?
FYI, I run a consulting company and have done this before. It's *more* difficult to work with NT domains as well, but LDAP is pretty much designed for this. If you don't think LDAP can do it, you haven't looked into it enough.
Seriously, if you're getting unrecoverable read errors on adjacent sectors, it really sounds to me like there wasn't enough power, and the data didn't get written cleanly to disk. Remember, bits and bytes are just current.
In addition, make sure you have a well shielded setup (cover on your system), and a good, high quality drive cable. I had a maxtor 340 mb drive back in '95/96 which occasionally crashed on "unrecoverable read error writing to drive c:" under windows95/dos. Swapping IDE cables fixed it (maxtor claimed it was RF interference).
Read the answers to that. Incorporation is a lot of extra work which probably won't net you much right now. Whether or not it will help you in the future will depend on whether you want to start your own company. If they recruiter will pay you the same, then you definitely DON'T want to incorporate, because YOU will be responsible for things like the other 1/2 of social security (6.75%), unemployment taxes, etc.
Again, read, and reread the comments from the article above.
So, if you're finding your drives die in 30-60 days, there's likely another problem you're missing. If you're using SCSI, I'd guess they're probably 7200 or 10k RPM drives, which means LOTS of heat, especially if you have several. So, first of all, go buy a few 60 or 80mm fans, and stick them in front of the drives, if you can. Get some air flow across them (remember, air pushed across the drives does much more than air pulled/sucked across them). Heat will quickly kill a drive.
Barring that, you haven't said how the drives have died (won't spin up, unusual read errors, etc), but a poor power supply, especially one running at capacity could burn out a drive. Finally, any sort of shock (case constantly being moved, bounced around, kicked, etc) could do a drive in, though that is probably less likely.
As with anything else, it's all IMO, YMMV, etc.
I assume you actually mean immature. In any case, if you use PAM, there's no reason you really need Samba to have LDAP built-in. LDAP + nsswitch + /etc/pam.d files should work for all services (telnet, samba, ssh, etc).
Our biggest issues were with printing - LPR just plain sucks. At the time, CUPS was still very new, so we used LPRng. I ended up writing a GUI front end for printer management (since printtool didn't work well, and editing printcap files by hand was unacceptable). The final "problem" was quotas - the NT admins were used to setting directory level quotas, while Linux/Unix uses partition level quotas. Simply put, we had to split /home and /shared while they were used to having just one partition. Quota management under Linux just isn't the same as NT (for better or worse), and you need to remember things like "if a user & group quota affect a directory, the MOST restrictive effects the user" (which is why you need to make two partitions).
With newer kernels, this is a more reasonable project. Linux really is "enterprise-ready" now (I hate that term). Previously, things like a journaled filesystem were missing, which was a big gripe with the NT guys (when a system goes down, it takes a long time to scan 100 GB of data!). Also, newer kernels support more than 32000 users and groups (usefulness depends on your company size).
Finally, make sure you consider backup systems, how the systems would be administered, etc. It's a big project, but manageable if your company is really interested.
If you need some fodder for the fight to help convince management that this will save a LOT of money, check out this business case. You might also be interested in this deployment plan. Infrastructures.org also has a number of useful (must read) documents. Finally, you may want some help designing the architecture, and making sure you've found any issues. Find someone who has done this before (shameless plug: US Linux Networks) and have them at least work through some fo the major points to make sure you've got everything covered - the cost for a few days of requirements, architecture, and design may save you a lot of wasted effort.
Well, I don't (yet) own a Tivo, but I do own DirecTV (no cable where I'm at), and I would definitely like to be able to record two different shows at once. With DirecTV, if I want to record a movie on HBO, well, I have to *watch* the movie, or go find another TV. With dual tuners, I can record a movie and still watch the Simpsons (or vice versa). I've seriously considered a DirecTiVo unit just for that.
All security measures will be defeated. Besides, crime is becoming more "virtual" - that is, people would rather break an unpatched IIS server and nab 10,000 credit card numbers than try to counterfeit $10,000,000.
(b) No private employer may terminate the employment of, or discriminate with respect to employment against, an individual who is or has been a debtor under this title, a debtor or bankrupt under the Bankruptcy Act, or an individual associated with such debtor or bankrupt, solely because such debtor or bankrupt
(1) is or has been a debtor under this title or a debtor or bankrupt under the Bankruptcy Act;
(2) has been insolvent before the commencement of a case under this title or during the case but before the grant or denial of a discharge; or
(3) has not paid a debt that is dischargeable in a case under this title or that was discharged under the Bankruptcy Act.
Sorry, but you can't cancel a contract simply because they can't pay. If you're working under 1099, then, well, you can quit and leave your contracting company to fill the position. But, if you're working directly (corp-corp), then you must continue servicing your contract. If you stop servicing the bankrupt company, they can take you to court and sue you for big bucks. Your only option is to declare bankruptcy yourself to avoid your debt to them.
Not pretty, but it's the law. I worked for a company who went bankrupt, and they treatened the contracting companies who were going to pull their people out with lawsuits. You must continue servicing current contracts, even if they can't pay. That's the premise behind Chapter 11.
And they essentially HAVE! McSleep was a motel chain that was sued (and lost) because McDonalds wanted to protect their trademark. McSleep was a MOTEL which had to change its name because the McDonalds RESTAURANT was afraid people would associate the two. Ridiculous, maybe, but then many people probably WOULD associate them. Essentially, anything you add Mc in front of probably will be sued by McDonalds. Microsoft is doing the same thing. Sorry. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but it sure seems like an (unfortunately) legitimate claim. Proving "Windows" is a generic term is a different issue (which would solve the problem, I think).
As an alternative name, how about "WinLinux" or "Win With Linux"? Would "Win" be too close to Windows? Would knowing that X-Windows has existed since before Microsoft Windows help the fight? How about "LX-Windows" or "Lin X-Windows"? Or even, "Linux/X-Windows"? Maybe "ex-Windows"? :-)
No, unless you live in Washington, D.C., where you are taxed by do not get a vote on congressional matter, you are represented. Just because the guy you voted for didn't win doesn't mean you don't have representation in Congress - you *have* a representative there, he or she just may not be representing you as you see fit. But then, that's what representation is all about - Congressional leaders *supposedly* making choices based on their electorate, and not on their own personal views. Sorry. Democracy isn't perfect, but it's the best we've found so far.
BTW, no one I've voted for in the last 3 years (save for the recent state gubernatorial election) has won either, but that's unfortunately the way it works.
That works if konqueror *crashes*, but if it just hangs indefinitely, and requires an xkill (CTRL+ALT+ESC), that kills all the konqueror windows (at least in my experience).
Remember, 75% of all statistics are made up anyway :-)
That's all. Hope I didn't ask too much
A number of others have done a great job touching upon this, but (like everyone else), I want to add my $0.02 of personal experience, since I've done all three.
As for corp-to-corp, I own my own LLC (Limited Liability Corporation). This is most likely what you'd need to file for around $100 (it cost me $100 in the state of VA for a license, plus $50 per year renewal fee). Check with your state for specific filing info. Keep in mind your locality may tax you too. In my case, Federal = 15% of net income, State = 6%, and locality = 1% if I exceed $100,000. However, that's "Net", so if you make $150,000, deduct business expenses such as cell phone, net access, laptop, mileage, etc to the tune of $10,000, and pay yourself $125,000, you'll pay taxes on the remaining $15,000. If you do this, save ALL receipts (I think that's required for 3-5 years - you'll need to check on that. In my case, I've only been operating for two years, so the length is so far irrelevant). Much like personal taxes, if you get audited, you WILL need those receipts.
Now for more details - an LLC helps protect you if you get sued, and it allows you to take certain deductions you might not otherwise get (though many of them are irrelevant for tech companies). If you're going to do this, go to the local bookstore and pick up a copy of "Starting Your Own Limited Liability Corporation", or some such work. If you screw up you taxes, take invalid deductions, or something similar, you could end up paying waaaay more in fines than you save by going this route, so be careful. In my case, I file Federal tax documents (Form 941) quarterly, file State Corporate taxes quarterly, and State employer withholding taxes quarterly - and no, they don't all line up. That's 12 forms per year. If you pay youself (or your employees) biweekly, weekly, monthly, etc, the withholding may need to be filed more frequently. Additionally, if you hire employees who are out of state, you'll need to withhold for those states too.
With Corp-Corp ot 1099 you'll need to pay the other half of Social Security and Medicaid (6.75%), and you won't get health insurance (which runs $219/month through Trigon/Blue Cross & Blue Shield for me). You'll also need to send in your taxes to the state and federal gov't for your earnings - otherwise you WILL be fined heavily.
In general, if it's just _you_, and W-2 is paying hourly (eg, you get paid for 45 hours if you work 45 - no 40 hour limit), then just go W-2. You'll probably get a 401k program (which you should invest in HEAVILY), and they'll take care of insurance, taxes, vacation, holidays, etc. The difference between W-2, 1099, and corp-corp will be insignificant for you, as an individual. Starting your own business is really not worth the hassle (in my personal experience) if it's just for *you*. If you consider time == money (even if time == money/3), the amount of time you'll spend filling out tax forms, yearly federal 1120, W-2's, etc is just not worth it.
Also, the pay differences you see are because:
W-2 - they pay taxes (including 6.75% for SS & Medicaid), give you vacation, holiday, and sick time, a 401k, and probably some other small benefits like tuition reimbursement for certifications and classes. You get a paycheck every two weeks, whether or not the company you're contracting at actually pays your contracting company. Read that line again. Once more. Many people/businesses get stiffed corp-corp if the company is going bankrupt. Read fuckedcompany.com if you don't believe that.
1099 - you get none of the benefits. Make sure you add in ~80 hours for holidays, and another 80-120 for vacation and sick time, plus 6.75% for SS/Med. to your yearly rate to see if you really make much more. You need to file your own taxes (and send in withholding to state, federal, and maybe locality each month). Your "pimp" (aka contracting company) will provide you a year-end 1099 form (which you'll use to file your taxes). You'll probably get paid just like under W-2, which is a good thing.
Corp-Corp - Pretty much the same as 1099, but you'll have way more paperwork involved. They won't provide you with anything (1099, etc) - that's up to you. Also, you may get paid 60 or 90 days BEHIND, because they *may* not pay you until they have been paid. If the company you're working at (not through) goes bankrupt, you may miss out on 60-90 days of pay (or more). Oh, and if the contracting company declares bankruptcy (not sure if the contracting company as well) while you're working for them, YOU CANNOT QUIT! Under federal law, you cannot stop servicing a company in bankruptcy just because they cannot pay you. READ THAT AGAIN!
Just my $0.02, but having worked W-2, 1099, and now running my own LLC, I can safely say go W-2 for a while until you get comfortable in the industry.
It's funny, you'd like gov't defense contractors dealing with classified information would WANT a more secure OS...