I think what is really interesting is the length Brown went to dance around specific points.
I've been interviewed in trade magazines, and this is exactly the tactic that is used to force a point (pre-determined by the interviewer) and get a quote in any context -- or enough bits to gerrymander something. The facts be dammed. Really *isses me off.
Grandparent was referring to problems w/ the current PS2, and drawing a likeness with Cell
I know, though there's little chance that the two will be similar. I'd expect PS2/PS1 game support, though the Cell likely won't even do that. They will probably have a seperate chip with PS2/PS1 hardware in it. We're talking 2006, here.
I've looked some at the VoIP phones, and so far regular phone service seems to win out mainly because of high reliability...though I don't have any direct experience actually installing or managing VoIP. (T1 and regular phone services, yes.)
Are there phone companies -- regular or VoIP -- that folks use on a small scale, such as Cavilier, that anyone can recommend?
Why use a PC-centered development library like the one for the Xbox, when you can use a set of tools that broadly cover games through to movie production -- tools created by a chip producer (IBM) and for a movie company (Sony)?
because it's looking like it'll require pain staking manual optimization to make ti look good. The PS2 architecture is still competative if your willing to put int he effeort to manage all the proccessors. Having a machine with 4 identical proccessors will be equally complex. Only a few companies bother (hideo and konami in MGS and a handfull of others. Companies liek Bioware have sworn off PS2 developement because it nearly killed their programmers.)
The PS2 doesn't have a Cell processor. The announcements about IBM, Toshiba, and Sony working on Cell *aren't* about the PS2. Cell is about the PS3, movie making, and who knows what else.
It's curious -- OK it's obvious -- why Microsoft jumped in with XNA a few short days after IBM, Toshiba, and Sony talk about plans surrounding Cell (the hardware and the software development environment).
None of these things exist now (XNA or Cell), and only a timeline is given by IBM for Cell. If they can meet a 4th quarter release even in small developer quantities, that will be something.
"Meanwhile, IBM Tuesday served its own news to Microsoft, making announcements on its Cell technology that has been rumored to be a central focus of PlayStation 3, expected in 2006.
"Cell" is the code-name for an advanced microprocessor under development by Sony, IBM and Toshiba. The technology uses massive data bandwidth and floating point capabilities, coupled with a parallel processing architecture, to deliver what IBM said will be a "quantum-leap innovation to entertainment applications."
Through a deal with Sony, IBM said that it plans to develop a digital content creation environment, the first computing application planned for the Cell processor, with the first prototype Cell-based workstations in Q4.
IBM intends to develop the Cell-based workstations to power digital content creation, while Sony will lead the development of the Cell-based operating environment by providing the architecture, algorithms, middleware and data structure for tools needed to create digital content for movies and computer entertainment applications. "
Why use a PC-centered development library like the one for the Xbox, when you can use a set of tools that broadly cover games through to movie production -- tools created by a chip producer (IBM) and for a movie company (Sony)?
Find the highest quality and most relevant documents; Google factors in more than 100 variables for each query.
Secure Search
Search for secure
information and view only those documents to which you have access; results are returned securely for documents protected by either NTLM or basic HTTP authentication.
Dynamic Page Summaries
Judge relevance of results more easily via dynamically generated snippets showing your query in the context of the page.
Results Grouping
Navigate search results easily and clearly using intelligent grouping of documents residing in the same narrow subdirectories.
Automatic Spellcheck
Avoid missing results
through typos or misspellings as Google automatically suggests corrections with startling accuracy, even on company-specific words and phrases.
Cached Pages
View search results even when the sites are down via cached copies of pages included in the search results.
Highlighted Query Terms
Quickly find the most relevant section of a document via highlighted query terms displayed on cached documents.
View as HTML
Glimpse documents without needing the original client application of the file format via automatic reformatting of over 220 file types into HTML.
Sort by Date
Access time-sensitive information first via date sorting.
Advanced Boolean Search
Perform complex and sophisticated queries with over 10 special query terms, including Boolean AND, OR, and NOT searches.
More details are available at the appliance page on Google.
#2 above probably won't show up in the personal desktop version of the search, thouhg it is really is handy for the appliance -- even if you manage a modest sized office.
I just analyzed my "C:" drive. It has 31% file fragmentation. With half the hardrive not used, this is an absurd number. With UFS at home on FreeBSD, I have never seen fragmentations over 5%, even on the tmp and var partitions.
If it is Windows 98/ME/..., that's a shame.
If it is Windows NT/2000/..., convert the disk to NTFS. From memory, I think the command is "convert/fs:ntfs c:" or some such, though I could be wrong. Requires one reboot and from 10 to 40 minutes of time for the conversion at boot time.
There's another thing. Opterons are going to become dual-core in less than 2 years, with the same pinout as today. That means that if you have a lowly 2-way server that you're thinking about dumping, you can buy new dual-core Opterons and instantly get a 4-way out of your old 2-way server.
Even if the pinouts stay the same, the system boards you can buy now might not support the processors being sold in 2 years.
Why upgrade the CPU only in 2 years and skip the other improvements available at that time?
I have very infrequently had a CPU upgrade that was worth it, while updating other components (disk, network, added RAM, video,...) usually do give a reasonable boost. Most of the time the modest real performance increase from swapping in a new CPU -- one that is bound to the limits of the existing system board-bound -- isn't worth the time or money.
The only exception I can think of is if you buy behind the bleeding edge and upgrade every 6-9 months to a processor that is substantially better (2x) but not bleading edge.
To do this properly usually requires getting an advanced system board that can handle the higher end components and then turning around and being cheap on the CPU. While this can be a good idea, it usually isn't and the situation is very specific to the system board.
IMNSHO:
Always buy what you need today and do not look over 6-9 months in the future for upgrades.
If you expect a payoff in a future upgrade, make sure that the hardware you buy now is also what you need today and do not depend on a future promise. If it works out, HOO-RA! If not, you haven't lost a thing.
No matter how Pro-Linux anyone is they have to realize that charging as much for a distro of Linux as a copy of Windows XP is wrong.
For most people who need basic help or a defect report contact point, I'd agree.
For others, it's clearly not the case. Why? Compared to XP client or Windows server, Linux distributions almost always do more and have more parts. Knowledge of how to deal with those parts, and how to properly advise the customer, requires quite a few specialists. That's expensive.
Because of that, the trend of some distros to include or support anything except the bare minimum of visible programs is quite understandable. For these user-friendly minimialist Linux distros, they should be cheaper. For other more technical distros for the server, this is not necessarily the case.
For what it's worth, on my system RPM reports 732 packages ( "rpm -qa | wc -l" ). If 1/3 of those are usable applications (server or client, GUI or not), that's a lot of software to support.
Sharepoint is Microsoft's MS Office-centric Wiki-like document repository. It's good for storage of documents and modest sharing/colaborating. It is not a great tool for colaboration, though. Other Wikis are.
IF the customers are intested in maximum MS Office integration and a filing cabinet-like repository, Sharepoint is great.
IF the customers want to use it as a colaboration tool, or manage non-Microsoft Office formatted data, it's not.
Why's this funny? He's got a problem with software that cost a great deal of money, why the hell SHOULDN'T he call tech support? Seems like the first thing he should have done...
Primarily of interest to me has been the concept of "intrinsic motivation" wherein people are about a thousand times more likely to be motivated to do something if they choose to do it themselves, rather than being told to do it.
I'm big on that too. I even emphasise that people really *don't* do what you tell them most of the time and have to be internally motivated.
For example, kids;
Using candy or goodies as an external tool is manipulation that leads the kid to expect to be bribed in the future. The mainupulator becomes the manipulated.
Yelling or threatening a kid doesn't do anything but scare the kid. It can be effective, but causes resistance -- plus the kid won't talk to you if they think it will lead to being yelled at.
Having personally interesting activities leads to enthusiasm...but there are few of them.
Encouraging and supporting *desires* will motivate anyone to do the other things they don't want to do but may have to.
The thin line is that it's easy to bring out the carrot or the stick and these motivate the parent to continue to use them in the future. Neither are as effective in the long term or in even most (any?) situations as supporting what the person actually wants to do anyway!
(IMNSHO: Adults are older, more experienced, versions of kids.)
(checking Autopatcher web site) I don't see any way to check the patches/CD image for tampering. Is there an MD5 checksum or other verification method availabe?
Also, the FAQ and other javascript menus don't seem to work. (Running Mozilla & Linux right now.)
And yet, people still want Windows. I work in a high-tech call center, and people still look at me with blank stares when I tell them I don't use Windows at all at home.
I can relate. One guy kept refering to my desktop (KDE) as "XP", and I corrected him numerous times. About 4 weeks of this, he finally stopped calling it XP.
...and the drivers are installed automatically when the hardware is detected by most distributions. Why is this even posed as an issue? What's the fuss?
I've only had it in the bottle, but I didn't find it to be significantly different/better than Duvel. Maybe I should try it on tap.
If you can find it, you're in for a treat. It's very unusual to find a place outside of Belgium that carries it, though.
On tap it is superior to the bottle, though the bottle can be quite good...there is one major catch though!
I've found most bottles of DT are sadly mishandled in shipping (to the U.S.). If the cork has leaked (sticky label or even visible spillage) do not waste your money. Buy it warm if you can and chill it yourself. Unless you're a yeast lover, keep the bottle undisturbed and don't pour the last little bit out when serving.
Unibroue! I worked in Montreal for a little while and fell in love with this brand. Not one of what they brew is poor or even OK...each are excellent. I'm sad, though, that much of it doesn't get to where I am now.
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For those who are sniping as ACs on this, get a grip. Don't go see it if you're not happy. Nobody is forcing you!
...erp, thanks!
I've been interviewed in trade magazines, and this is exactly the tactic that is used to force a point (pre-determined by the interviewer) and get a quote in any context -- or enough bits to gerrymander something. The facts be dammed. Really *isses me off.
Well, OK then! :}
I know, though there's little chance that the two will be similar. I'd expect PS2/PS1 game support, though the Cell likely won't even do that. They will probably have a seperate chip with PS2/PS1 hardware in it. We're talking 2006, here.
Are there phone companies -- regular or VoIP -- that folks use on a small scale, such as Cavilier, that anyone can recommend?
Any good sites -- something like Broadband/DSL Reports but for phone/VoIP issues?
because it's looking like it'll require pain staking manual optimization to make ti look good. The PS2 architecture is still competative if your willing to put int he effeort to manage all the proccessors. Having a machine with 4 identical proccessors will be equally complex. Only a few companies bother (hideo and konami in MGS and a handfull of others. Companies liek Bioware have sworn off PS2 developement because it nearly killed their programmers.)
The PS2 doesn't have a Cell processor. The announcements about IBM, Toshiba, and Sony working on Cell *aren't* about the PS2. Cell is about the PS3, movie making, and who knows what else.
It's curious -- OK it's obvious -- why Microsoft jumped in with XNA a few short days after IBM, Toshiba, and Sony talk about plans surrounding Cell (the hardware and the software development environment).
None of these things exist now (XNA or Cell), and only a timeline is given by IBM for Cell. If they can meet a 4th quarter release even in small developer quantities, that will be something.
"Cell" is the code-name for an advanced microprocessor under development by Sony, IBM and Toshiba. The technology uses massive data bandwidth and floating point capabilities, coupled with a parallel processing architecture, to deliver what IBM said will be a "quantum-leap innovation to entertainment applications."
Through a deal with Sony, IBM said that it plans to develop a digital content creation environment, the first computing application planned for the Cell processor, with the first prototype Cell-based workstations in Q4.
IBM intends to develop the Cell-based workstations to power digital content creation, while Sony will lead the development of the Cell-based operating environment by providing the architecture, algorithms, middleware and data structure for tools needed to create digital content for movies and computer entertainment applications. "
Why use a PC-centered development library like the one for the Xbox, when you can use a set of tools that broadly cover games through to movie production -- tools created by a chip producer (IBM) and for a movie company (Sony)?
It's sweet. Some features include...
Find the highest quality and most relevant documents; Google factors in more than 100 variables for each query.
Search for secure information and view only those documents to which you have access; results are returned securely for documents protected by either NTLM or basic HTTP authentication.
Judge relevance of results more easily via dynamically generated snippets showing your query in the context of the page.
Navigate search results easily and clearly using intelligent grouping of documents residing in the same narrow subdirectories.
Avoid missing results through typos or misspellings as Google automatically suggests corrections with startling accuracy, even on company-specific words and phrases.
View search results even when the sites are down via cached copies of pages included in the search results.
Quickly find the most relevant section of a document via highlighted query terms displayed on cached documents.
Glimpse documents without needing the original client application of the file format via automatic reformatting of over 220 file types into HTML.
Access time-sensitive information first via date sorting.
Perform complex and sophisticated queries with over 10 special query terms, including Boolean AND, OR, and NOT searches.
More details are available at the appliance page on Google.
#2 above probably won't show up in the personal desktop version of the search, thouhg it is really is handy for the appliance -- even if you manage a modest sized office.
Not unless I can't help it!
(Bill Clinton moment: "I feel your pain!".)
If it is Windows 98/ME/..., that's a shame.
If it is Windows NT/2000/..., convert the disk to NTFS. From memory, I think the command is "convert /fs:ntfs c:" or some such, though I could be wrong. Requires one reboot and from 10 to 40 minutes of time for the conversion at boot time.
Except for FAT and similar ancient file systems, hasn't this been a dead issue for 10 or so years?
Even if the pinouts stay the same, the system boards you can buy now might not support the processors being sold in 2 years.
Why upgrade the CPU only in 2 years and skip the other improvements available at that time?
I have very infrequently had a CPU upgrade that was worth it, while updating other components (disk, network, added RAM, video, ...) usually do give a reasonable boost. Most of the time the modest real performance increase from swapping in a new CPU -- one that is bound to the limits of the existing system board-bound -- isn't worth the time or money.
The only exception I can think of is if you buy behind the bleeding edge and upgrade every 6-9 months to a processor that is substantially better (2x) but not bleading edge.
To do this properly usually requires getting an advanced system board that can handle the higher end components and then turning around and being cheap on the CPU. While this can be a good idea, it usually isn't and the situation is very specific to the system board.
If you expect a payoff in a future upgrade, make sure that the hardware you buy now is also what you need today and do not depend on a future promise. If it works out, HOO-RA! If not, you haven't lost a thing.
Yes, it is. I've done it.
For most people who need basic help or a defect report contact point, I'd agree.
For others, it's clearly not the case. Why? Compared to XP client or Windows server, Linux distributions almost always do more and have more parts. Knowledge of how to deal with those parts, and how to properly advise the customer, requires quite a few specialists. That's expensive.
Because of that, the trend of some distros to include or support anything except the bare minimum of visible programs is quite understandable. For these user-friendly minimialist Linux distros, they should be cheaper. For other more technical distros for the server, this is not necessarily the case.
For what it's worth, on my system RPM reports 732 packages ( "rpm -qa | wc -l" ). If 1/3 of those are usable applications (server or client, GUI or not), that's a lot of software to support.
IF the customers are intested in maximum MS Office integration and a filing cabinet-like repository, Sharepoint is great.
IF the customers want to use it as a colaboration tool, or manage non-Microsoft Office formatted data, it's not.
I'll cut him slack since he worked at SCO. I can't cut anyone slack who currently works at SCO. Have a spine and do the right thing, people!
Why's this funny? He's got a problem with software that cost a great deal of money, why the hell SHOULDN'T he call tech support? Seems like the first thing he should have done...
LOL! STOP! You're killing me!!!!
I'm big on that too. I even emphasise that people really *don't* do what you tell them most of the time and have to be internally motivated.
For example, kids;
Using candy or goodies as an external tool is manipulation that leads the kid to expect to be bribed in the future. The mainupulator becomes the manipulated.
Yelling or threatening a kid doesn't do anything but scare the kid. It can be effective, but causes resistance -- plus the kid won't talk to you if they think it will lead to being yelled at.
Having personally interesting activities leads to enthusiasm...but there are few of them.
Encouraging and supporting *desires* will motivate anyone to do the other things they don't want to do but may have to.
The thin line is that it's easy to bring out the carrot or the stick and these motivate the parent to continue to use them in the future. Neither are as effective in the long term or in even most (any?) situations as supporting what the person actually wants to do anyway!
(IMNSHO: Adults are older, more experienced, versions of kids.)
Also, the FAQ and other javascript menus don't seem to work. (Running Mozilla & Linux right now.)
If it has a virus scanner, how do you know that there is no virus on the machine?
I can relate. One guy kept refering to my desktop (KDE) as "XP", and I corrected him numerous times. About 4 weeks of this, he finally stopped calling it XP.
Thanks for posting that. I was about to put up something similar...after wincing over the numerous "just use the firewall" comments.
...and the drivers are installed automatically when the hardware is detected by most distributions. Why is this even posed as an issue? What's the fuss?
If you can find it, you're in for a treat. It's very unusual to find a place outside of Belgium that carries it, though.
On tap it is superior to the bottle, though the bottle can be quite good...there is one major catch though!
I've found most bottles of DT are sadly mishandled in shipping (to the U.S.). If the cork has leaked (sticky label or even visible spillage) do not waste your money. Buy it warm if you can and chill it yourself. Unless you're a yeast lover, keep the bottle undisturbed and don't pour the last little bit out when serving.
Unibroue! I worked in Montreal for a little while and fell in love with this brand. Not one of what they brew is poor or even OK...each are excellent. I'm sad, though, that much of it doesn't get to where I am now.