With Linux I simply use ls -alFR (as root user) from root (/):
login as root (sudo or su - root, depending on how you have it setup)
cd / get to the root directory of that machine and/or drive
ls -alFR >/dirname/yymmdd-ls-alF.txt where yy is 14 for 2014, mm is 03 for March and dd ps 13 for today or this
ls -alFR >/dirname/140313-ls-alF.txt
I I had multiple drives, I would put one of these commands in a script, one for each drive and put the drive name after the date in the name in the filename to differentiate one text file listing from another.
The added plus is if a rootkit gets put on your machine and you have taken the time to get to know what files are put where on your machine, you will find that rootkit.
With Windows 8 requirement of a license by the proprietary hardware in order to perform a simple Linux install, is wrong. Its real bad. Just say NO to proprietary hardware.
Re-purposing a computer for One Laptop per Child or some other education use is why I buy all my hardware (PC, laptop and tablet) from Linux ONLY vendors. I figure I can always purchase a Windows license if I want one, however down the road that Linux hardware will not require a Windows license to run Linux because of some stupid proprietary chipsets in the hardware.
While there are many Linux only vendors, my favorite is ZaReason. System76 is another one, but they seem to focus on only one or two Linux distros, where the ZaReason techs will put on many more. Loving Debian lately and plan to play with Arch down the road.
Do yourself a favor, avoid any vendor that focuses on Windows and buy Linux hardware and if you really must have the latest version of Windows, purchase a license for your better LINUX hardware. At least it can run Windows without hassles, the converse is no longer true.
A Windows 8 device no longer runs Linux without hassles, best to avoid it for this reason alone.
Anyone know if this was how NBA player, Lebron James, Samsung was wiped? Its been covered on CNBC's SqwakonStreet today. For those that had not heard, King James basically tweeted the quote above, yesterday(3/12) at 5:03PM, and later erased the tweet. Guessed he realized as a "Famous Samsung Endorser", that might not look great.
End result, his phone was restored...when they announced this I was wondering when his last backup was taken and how many daysold it might have been.
From a German Twitter user, Shibumi @Sh1bumi #Backdoor in #Samsung Smartphones http://www.golem.de/news/samsu... poster, (thank you Google Translate):
I'm curious what functionality is affected, if any is, by rejecting any of these IPC_RFS_ I/O.
Remotely wiping a stolen mobile phone perhaps? It's just a guess - but by definition that would require the ability to do stuff to the phone's file system without the current user's knowledge or permission.
That is exactly what I was thinking it could be used for, to wipe the device.
Over the years I have been both a Comcast and Time Warner Internet customer in way more than 3 different cities. Avoid them if possible. No fun paying $10 more for more bandwidth and not seeing your bandwidth increase. Thanks to DD-WRT you see your actual bandwidth in real time.
Everyone should learn how to access websites they deem critical via that websites IP address alone. Its simple enough if you know the IP address, which can be discovered via the commands nslookup, dig and traceroute (tracert for you windows users). To learn more, google any of those commands and learn. Once you know the IP address using this in your browser's Location Bar (some browser installations turn off the browser's location bar, but you can turn it back on...if not use a better browser):
http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IP address of the website you want to reach.
If they (cable company) will not provide you with only a cable modem, go with another provider. You want it to be nothing but a simple modem. No Wifi, no firewall, no router. Then add your own firewall/router that you control 100%.
Since they are going to throttle your cable connection anyway, see if DSL is available. It will be cheaper per month also. Go with DSL if you can not get FTTH. Funny how cable companies only offer you more when they are forced too.
The FCC use to define broadband as sustained bandwidth speeds above 768Kbps, that page has since been removed, wonder why? If a cable provider throttles service to below 768Kbps, at any time, should it be allowed to be called Broadband? I think NOT.
If your broadband is symmetrical, not an up to bandwidth lie, there is no business incentive to restrict, limit, throttle and reduce a customer's bandwidth perpetuating the scarcity myth lie related to Internet access. There are less than 30 FTTH communities in the USA where a residential customer can purchase symmetrical Internet bandwidth today. Thankfully more are being planned. Except in the 14 states where the Cable companies have gotten politicians to enact laws preventing competition and FTTH.
To learn more about nslookup, dig and configuring your DNSsee this Google Developer's web page. There are command examples on that page, enjoy.
The point of the mechanism that I suggested is to put the responsibility of final control of the device into the hands of the authorized owner of the device. If the owner of the device is not actually competent enough to exercise that control in a useful manner, that's not really the fault of the mechanism itsef. Either way, it's nothing that a would-be thief has any control over.
Was reading the back and forth and while interesting, the biggest problem are two fold:
1) Abuse and misuse ~ with the advent of all the FEMA data collection centers that many Americans deny exist or are unware of, no way do many of us trust that this would not be abused and misused. As others have stated, it would be utilized to silence speech that one group did not agree with, forget about freedom.
2)This feature however well intended would take the control out of the hands of the owner who purchased the device.
A last thought, you stated above:
... the device would be bricked at a level that is irrevocable....
Such a mechanism would not be able to be turned on and restored should the need arise. Seems like it would cost more problems than it would be worth. I have paid $500 for a new cellphone to avoid the monthly contract with my provider (and was glad I did as I had to churn when they put charges on my bill that they refused to remove after I proved to them that I had never made those calls, ever) and I would have been real upset that I now had a very expensive paperweight. No thank you.
At least with my $299 ZaReason ZaTab ZT2, I can use the micro SSD slot to boot up Linux and restore the device, or even put on another Linux distro other than Android should I desire it. 4 core CPU, 8 Core GPU, 2MB RAM, 8GB internal storage, 32GB micro SD card, 10.1" IPS 1280x800 display and best of all full root access, Ah freedom!
I applaud you for backing up your iPhone to you other Mac devices just in case. I should have tested that when I had an iPhone and MacBook Pro.
I find it ironic and funny when you write
If someone wants to remote erase my device, I say "Bring it on."
That it would be Apple that would be most likely to remotely erase your device, if anyone. For instance if you misplaced or lost your device. Probably why you do not use iCloud. I just find the whole thing ironic and funny.
Since the platform is not open, how would you initiate the restore if your device was wiped clean and would not boot up? Not making fun, seriously curious. I know I can use a micro SSD card in my Android, is their a USB slot or micro SSD card slot in the iPhone? Must be.
I hope they teach about compound interest in the Savings and Interest portion of that class.
When I saw the word scarcity, warning bells went off. Too often people are told something is scarce when it is not. Simply because scarcity is used to drive up prices without reason throughout history. Enron among others comes to mind.
With economics, I hope they emphasize the supply side! Trickle down emphasized demand and we are living that wet dream now...its what devastated the supply side by destroying the middle class that purchased our goods and services in greater quantities than a few wealthy individuals. Good paying (living wages) jobs that increase the number of consumers is exactly what will solve this problem. I am sure I am not alone at being sick of this race to the bottom that right to work for less has created throughout the nation. As Greece, Turkey and Europe have taught us, austerity does not work, so why are the majority of our politicians going along with the banks and pushing us there?
Bet they will not teach that to the kids! At least teach them the power of compounding and the economic sense of securing a job with a living wage so you have a chance at investing, saving and reaching your goals. At least that.
2Mbps would be right about 40X faster than dial-up. That's not "barely".
You missed the "up to" part of the deal. That's a very important part. 2Mbps is the max you will ever see and it is still dirt slow. It also is likely much slower than that upstream, probably 384K or 512K.
I've used service that speed. While I wouldn't trade it for dial-up it is in practical terms barely faster.
If your provider is a cable company, I am 100% certain that is much lower than what you think based on my first hand experience. I am also 100% certain that its much lower than their up to promise.
Please do not apologize for the cable providers stating its because you share the trunk with others, because I tested this at literally every hour of the day and night, was working from home, and during a 24 hour period, they never opened the pipe larger than 300Kbps/30Kbps, except during the Speed Test, then it opened all the way up. I tested this on both weekdays and weekends. They throttle as a matter of practice, not because its necessary or required, else that pipe would open up some of the time during that 24 hour period...think about it. But do not believe me, get dd-WRT and learn the truth for yourself.
If my 20Mb/2Mb and 16Mb/2Mb up to promise was throttled to less than 300Kbps/30Kpbs and even as low as 101Kbps/20Kbps, I shutter to think how low it would be throttled if the service promise was only up to 2Mb/1Mb.
The only time I got the full up to promise was during the Speed Test. The millisecond that Speed Test finished, my bandwidth was immediately throttled back to sub broadband levels. The FCC states broadband as 756Kbps. I rarely saw bandwidths over that, except during the Speed Test.
If a cable internet provider throttles service, 100% of them throttle, to less than 756Kbps, technically their service is no longer broadband per the FCC. How is this not Fraud? Too bad they will not enforce this and help us consumers out.
The reality is if you got the full bandwidth 100% of the time of even 2Mb/1Mb, you would be well over 90% better-off, than all cable internet providers in the US market today based on my personal experience using cable in 3 different cities across the US. Probably approaching better-off than 99% of the cable internet providers. I am sure there is some cable provider who has enough competition somewhere that gives the full 2Mb/1Mb, so I will give you 1%, but ONLY 1%.
The pipe did not open larger when I ordered the additional $10 per month burst mode either. I checked this in 2 of the three cities. So do not waste your money.
Thats $15 for 2Mbps down / 1Mbps up... My internet provider here in Sweden don't event have something that slow.
Actually I have had multiple cable internet providers who promised 20Mb/2Mb, yet my dd-WRT enabled firewall/router showed that my actual bandwidth in real time was 300Kb/40Kb or 101Kb/20Kb 80% to 90% of the time. I would have loved 2Mbp/1Mbps. I was paying $50 per month for that throttled and limited bandwidth.
Where I am now has DSL, I pay less than $20 per month and while the advertised speed is lower than cable, the actual speed is much higher than throttled cable and I love it.
I would still switch to FTTH if I could get it, however no way will I ever be a cable internet provider while I live at this location. And when I move, I will purposefully move to one of the less than 30 communities that have symmetrical FTTH, simply because they have no business incentive to limit my upstream bandwidth, thus my streaming content will never stutter, stop or buffer.
No one will probably see this as your comment got rated -1, however with Net Neutrality in the news, your point is very valid.
And when the largest Dutch telco announced plans to charge extra for the "privilege" of being able to use IM or VOIP on a mobile data plan, net neutrality legislation was passed in record time.
You switch to another provider. Good chance DSL and FTTH providers will not do this anyway.
If you have no alternatives, than you encrypt the message and use a VPN tunnel to prevent the provider from knowing what you are doing, thus they are unable to charge you for it. Someone will put up a server that will provide you a wrapper that will obsfucate your encrypted message, thus they will not know if you are using IM or VoIP.
Heck, with Net Neutrality in jeopardy, better learn how to do this sooner rather than later.
Also to get around the DNS salting that will cripple some ranges of IPs, better know the exact IP address for the server so you do not need to resolve the DNS address in order to use the service.
If all this fails, string up two tin cans and a string as your screwed anyway.
Whatsapp is successful because it is by far the best user experience you can find in any app. It does not require a login, is as lightweight as it gets, works very very well even in dog slow internet connections or in underpowered phones or even old feature phones, and messages get sent super fast and very reliably. It allows you to share text, images, and videos to a single person or to a group of people.
It does not require a login, yet. My guess is that in order to monetize it and tie in Advertisers, a Facebook login will be required shortly.
For years many of us have been stating how SMS should be free as all the SMS traffic could fit in the spaces in between other traffic, say cellular alone. This is why its laughable that cellular users will pay upwards of $30 per month to add in unlimited text messaging to their plans.
I would be willing to pay $1.00 for unlimited text messaging, why not. Or better yet, put messaging on my own server on the Internet and use it to raise awareness for something more profitable.
So I don't really understand why utility quality doesn't seem to affect realty prices. Maybe if Zillow and Craigslist started including broadband rankings from broadbandreports.com for homes and rentals alongside listings, we'd get somewhere. Thus far, it doesn't seem to appear on the radar, somewhere far beyond "school rankings in standardized testing" and even "price of garbage collection".
I agree with your thoughts on FTTH or no FTTH should increase or decrease prices respectively. In fact they do and here is your proof: It typically costs between $1,500 and $3,000 to put in FTTH and adds $5,000 to the value of the home per this article. If that article does not load, this one will...FTTH adds $5,000 to price of a home.
In reality it is worth way more in economic development and jobs for your community.
The reason why USAian broadband is so "slow" is because vendors (all vendors, everywhere) only supply a product that is "good enough", and no more, for people to pay the price they're paying. In the USA broadband is very cheap for what is being supplied.
In other countries around the world people can only dream of having that amount of bandwidth for that price. Suppliers outside of North America simply don't offer packages that cheaply.
While I agree with you that they (providers) usually only give us a little bit of bandwidth when they could easily provide more, I can not agree with your second paragraph. It might be true in a small percentage of countries, but the great majority have been putting in Fiber To The Home and giving their customers fantastic bandwidths (100Mb/100Mb or 1Gb/1GB) for less than what most cable internet providers charge their customers in America.
This was not true in 2007 and is not true today. Americans do NOT have it better with respects to Internet bandwidth. As of 2010, broadband penetration dropped to 25th place worldwide. We are not even on the chart any more, we have dropped that far, however we still pay more for less, no its not better in the US.
In the year 2000, most Japanese had 100Mb/100Mb, symmetrical FTTH, for less than $52 per month. Most American Cable providers charge well over $50 per month for a promise of 20Mb/2Mb that is throttled (except during the speedtest) to less than 300Kbps/40Kpbs. So in reality Americans pay a heck of allot more for a heck of allot less.
Since most cable providers push customers to the $100 to $150 per month range, well it only is worse for Americans, not better. If you think its better, well their marketing works doesn't it.
If you can not get FTTH, only purchase DSL, do NOT purchase cable internet as they have always and will continue to always rip off consumers with higher prices for less service...its their business model, no matter what promises they have made over the years to provide Fiber. They will not unless forced to.
One day we may have it cheaper, but that day is not today...nor has it been for the last two decades. Here is a map that shows you were you can move to in order to get Fiber To The Home (FTTH). Well worth it if the bank took your home as those communities are creating better paying jobs faster than other communities in the US.
I want FTTH so bad, to have symmetrical bandwidth, the same upstream as downstream (10Mb/10Mb, 100Mb/100Mb, 1Gb/1Gb) and never bothered by the Cable Company poor scarcity myth laden throttling business models, now there is a thought worthy of every freedom loving American. Especially those that want to encourage small business economic activities and jobs.
The solution is to not to use the Cable company's last mile segments...in other words, don't purchase a house that does not have either DSL or FTTH.
Why DSL, glad you asked, the lower bandwidth of DSL (2Mb/756Kb) is way superior to a throttled (300Kb/40Kb) cable internet connection. That 300Kb/40Kb was what my dd-WRT firmware enabled router showed that the cable provider was allowing me to have. I was paying for 20Mb/2Mb, even paid $10 extra for additional burst bandwidth, you guessed it, they still throttled at 300Kb/40Kb or lower. I fully understand from first hand experience why most of us hate cable internet providers.
I love H.264. I do not love that its proprietary, nor do I believe it should be. x.264? I hope someone can create a free codec equivalent to or superior to H.264 so I give props to Google for giving it a go with VP8 and VP9.
The founders of Oblong Industries, Inc. were responsible for the visuals in the 2002 movie the Minority Report. Their company started shortly after that movie and has been in the black for more than 10 years.
No I do not work for Oblong Industries, not that fortunate.
Oblong Industries, Inc. g-speak uses their internally developed software SDK, optical cameras (a bit more expensive right now, but cheaper every year and multiple optical inputs produce less interference than multiple infrared inputs when generating 3-D images and manipulating those images in real time. Thanks to optical, the quality is much better. Imagine 20+ optical cameras, mulitple screens and you can since the data requirements and why they had to develop it internally. They use data pools in memory in order to move massive amounts of data over the network from say your database to your tablet, to your laptop, to a desktop (some at the same time) without stutters, pausing or visible buffering...I am sure you get the idea.
Too bad their current video does not show the gloves as the input device instead of the wand, suppose they are a work in progress.
I wonder if a codec like VP9 could use the concept of data pools to not only compress more efficiently, but to play back using less bandwidth, memory and CPU more efficiently.
Regardless the end goal of an open source, proprietary free, video/audio codec is exactly what ffmpeg is all about. Smart and powerful, if it does not get there today, who knows about tomorrow! You guys rock.
If those that say they support the troops, put their money (or ours, taxpayer, money) where their mouths are, than they would pre-fund the medical and psychiatric needs of our veterans BEFORE they put a boot on the ground overseas.
If they are unwilling to fund the clean-up, than what the heck are they sending are service men and women overseas in the first place.
Hey these HAWKS, required the US Postal Service to pre-fund retirement for 75 years in the future. (I don't agree with that, but they did it, didn't they! So what is their excuses...if they support our troops? Right? They just are trying to force it USPS to fail to get at that ever growing pile of cash. And they are miserly with the money when it comes to taking care of our returning veterans.
We Americans seem to forget the many lessons of history, two that come to mind are Maj Gen Smedley Butler and President Eisenhower. I know you know his famous quotes about the military industrial complex and he was certainly in a position to understand and know the facts.
You can't convince me that they are so inept that they can not create a budget, yet only the Dems have done that in recent history (ie. President Clinton). However not even the Democrats have balanced the budget since then.
We need a third party that is not bought and paid for. And an educated population to stop voting for the insane (those doing the same thing and expecting a different result) and work toward a positive change for the better!
Quick to waste $24 Billion for nothing and not willing to fully fund the needs of our veterans...are you kidding me?
We must remember that the Tea Party got co-opted within a month or two tops as that was when the paid shills in buses started rolling into events. Pathetic. So a third party can not be influenced or controlled by the 9% that own 90% of the wealth of this Country.
I know I am not alone in wondering who the Tea Party thought they were, to unilaterally push the Republicans into not providing a balanced budget, to pay bills already created, ultimately costing American taxpayers well over $24 Billion in additional deficit. Even if deficits do not matter, the heck with them for running it up higher for no valid reason, any politican that does this, should be removed from office, hopefuly their constiuants will wise up before it happens again. They run it up by going to war too, pathetic, and then they blame the other party, are you kidding, enough. You are not fooling the majority of us anymore with your lies.
Pay your bills, lord knows we have too, or we lose everything.
The veterans in my family fought and died so their descendants could be free. It is unacceptable to their ultimate sacrifice that any members of our family settle for so much less that the Republicans, Tea Party, Libertarians and Democrats give us. Pathetic.
Lets see all politicians budget and govern successfully for a change! It would be refreshing.
Unfortunately those that send our men and women to war, do not really care about them, else they would fund the medical expenses for them before they came home. Yet war after war, they do not do this. Since they are being used, wrongly per Maj Gen Smedley Butler, perhaps those businesses that are the beneficiaries should put up as most of them don't pay taxes anyway. Not that I would be for this, but better to hold them responsible, and not get off scott free as they have for hundreds of years already.
This poster gave personal first hand experience and got rated down? Really? Come on already, someone with mod points please rate this first hand, factual, personal experience back up.
Further it rings true based on what other Vietnam vets have told me about the VA...
Fires can of course spread it. Significantly high radiation measurements were made in Tokyo (well over 150 miles away from Fukushima). Imagine what happens in the spring when the pollens get released from the grasses, shrubs and trees. All the pine cones are Cesium-137 laden, probably from the excessively high (more than Chernobyl) levels in the ground water.
Wind, evaporation, percipitation make this a world event.
No Technology to stop the leaks now or for the next 10 years means that every spring will bring more of the radiation out of the ground.
There is so much bad info here its ironic. I will comment on a couple of points for those that are seriously interested, please ignore the trolls
Some facts worth noting first:
~ Cesium-137 has a half life of 30 years, it takes over 10 half lifes for the levels to approach not equal levels before the event. (30 years (1 half life) X 10 = 300 years or 3 centuries, approx 4 generations)
~ Cesium-137 impacts the heart tissue. There was an up-tick of heart problems in infants and children after the event in the Ohio Valley through Pennsylvania. Most likely because the jet stream reaches us in 24 - 48 hours from that part of the world.
~ A regular Geiger counter does not detect Cesium-137 specifically. Those detect isotopes with much lower half lifes. (It makes the industry look better to talk about isotopes like Iodine that has a much shorter half life of only hours.)
~ Approx 29 years (or was it 25 years) after Chernobyl, the levels of Cesium-137 in the environment had not dropped to 1/2 the levels reported after the event. Indicating one of three things factually:
~ ~ The powers that be lied about the levels of Cesium-137 released in their reports. (If they lied than, why would you believe them now?)
~ ~ Cesium-137 breaks down in the environment at a different rate than in the laboratory (this one would not be my choice, but is interesting to ponder in a horrifying way as this would imply a much longer half life than 30 years)
~ ~ Much more Cesium-137 was released than was reported. (my bet would be on this one.)
~ ~ More Cesium-137 was released, and continues to be released at Fukushima, than at Chernobyl.
~ Massive amounts of Cesium-137 is in the ground water, being soaked up by grasses, bushes and trees. The levels in the pollen of pine trees (pollen to be release every spring over the next 300 years will spread this to areas now considered somewhat safe, as if there are any) has been measured and is massive. Because of the uplifts around the mountains containing these Cesium-137 pollen laden foliage, some of this will be in the jet stream, no explosion required to get it there. Not to mention what happens with evaporation into storm clouds to precipitate down on the world.
~ This is not just a local Japan event, as the radiation spread to the USA, after the explosions and the many steam ventings that were reported on. The entity in charge of the US radiation detectors started changing the filters more quickly (to report lower levels than reality), when even that failed them, they simply turned those detectors off, stating they were down for maintenance. (As soon as the event happened many of us started monitoring both the US detectors and the jet stream radiation maps as we expected to see this data manipulated, we were sadly not disappointed, the data was manipulated.) While the data related to radiation filter monitoring happened within 10 days to a week, it took them approx 30 days to tamper with the jet stream data, in a 24 hour period, the colors indicating concentrates faded noticeably for the same jet stream, it was laughable, very sad and predicatable.
~ There are many other radioactive isotopes that have a much longer half life than only 30 years. It is beyond reasoning that any one other than a very unformed naïve person could ever believe that Nuclear Power is safe. Can you say 250,000 half lifes * 10 and explain to me how that will ever be safe? Who is going to re-cask it every 50/100 years to keep it safe?
~ ~ Concrete Casks (almost every Nuclear Power plant in the USA has well over 30 of these, some have hundreds of concrete casks) are rated to last only 100 years. In reality they start developing cracks around year 50. Meaning you must re-cask to keep safe every 100 years minimum, however in reality it should happen every 50 years. At what cost per casking? (No wonder they want to us
Meanwhile in North Carolina you have 30 year Duke Energy vetran Governor Pat McCrory who has been using the power of the govt in NC to sheild Duke Energy from lawsuits as a result of massive pollution. Spilling things like arsenic, lead, mercury and other things into NC waterways. In every single lawsuit the McCrory administration intervened and shut the lawsuits down. Now you have the lastest massive spill
In N.C. for state residents (citizens) to sue, they have to give a 60 days written notice.
~ On day 58 of the 60 day notice, for the first spill, the DENR, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, stepped in and said we will handle it.
~ The group discovered a second Duke Energy plant was polluting and gave their 60 day notice that they intended to sue, on day 60 the DENR stepped in and said we will handle it.
~ The same NC Citizens group discovered a 3rd Duke site polluting and put in their 60 day notice to sue, you guessed it, on day 60 the DENR stepped in and said we will handle it (basically voiding the lawsuit).
~ All three sites continue to pollute the ground water (NC. citizen's drinking water) today with no attempts to clean anything up.
~ They Duke Energy were fined less than $100,000.00. I wonder how much the clean up will be and as with the oil companies if they will be paid twice. Usually these companies have another shell company to do the clean up and hide the extent of the damage. For the oil companies in the gulf research 'corexit', 'oil' and 'dispersants', you will see the similarity.
You see the new head of the DENR use to work for Duke Energy, when he took over the organization, he changed their charter to one of protecting corporate industry and changing regulations so that the industries would not run afoul of the legislation. And yes he is a Republican. And N.C. Governor is a Republican.
Can someone tell me why BlackBerry is so disregarded? I see a few posters saying that they love their Q10 (I love mine) - and people immediately jump on them saying that it's a sinking ship. Aside from their financial trouble, what exactly is wrong with the phones? The new OS is amazing, based on nerd-friendly QNX, and the keyboard is the best hardware keyboard you can get. The software keyboard on the all-touch devices is pretty damn good too. The only reason I keep hearing that people don't want a BlackBerry is because they're not doing well. Shouldn't quality of a product dictate what phone you get more than their status on the stock market?
Its not rootable.
Its not open.
I can not install the software of my choosing on it.
Does it have a microSD card slot for sharing data between the handheld, your laptop and your desktop PC? (Granted many larger corporations irrationally lock the USB slots down, which would be the same for SD card slots. Those same irrational large corporations are either no longer funding staff to perform the Windows automated updates or are planning too. Thus they lock out use of USB, but stop providing security updates to Windows machines, the most afflicted infection vector in the IT world! I call this mentality insanity. Stop expecting a different result!)
Can I connect via WiFi with a BlackBerry?
I don't need Microsoft Office, love LibreOffice, so any advantage with MS Office is a non-issue for many of us.
I can run LibreOffice on my tablet / Linux handheld and love to not have to worry about the mindless data format upgrades by Microsoft that served no purpose and cost organizations significant dollars to convert their proprietary documents to the new format, only because Microsoft told them, they had too to run the latest version of MS Office.
I don't need Adobe anything (including Flash) on my device, though occasionally I have to update the.so file, thanks to Adobe no longer supporting Linux but putting out a new security update for Windows. Never mind that when you drill down into the security exploits, 98% of the time they require local access. Meaning its a non issue if you do not hand over you device to another or give a cracker the keys to your home/apt!
I could go on, but enough.
BTW, Blackberry is a sinking ship! Its just a fact. Been watching the stock (marketwatch), BBRY (Google Finance), not sure they will survive, such is life for any company stupid enough to get in bed with Microsoft and Microsoft only applications and development tool chains.
Almost every company that gets in bed with Microsoft is acquired or put out of business in 4 - 5 years from the start of that relationship.
If a company's vertical market is lucrative, Microsoft will take it away from them or purchase the company within 4 to 5 years of the arrangement. There are many examples of this happening over the last 30 years. I wonder how many went out of business or saw their market share significantly eroded as Blackberry has? Had Blackberry catered to both Linux and Windows, they might still have a market and a business.
Only Hyper FEARful corporate/government entities are bothering with Blackberry today.
Yes FEAR is a motivator, however when a company acts out of fear primarily, without growing their company through new product offerings, its only a matter of time until they are diminished or gone.
We are finally getting to the point, economically, where companies that have cut their way to stock increases are up against walls created primarily due to their letting so many employees knowledable about their market and business go, they are discovering it very difficult to change their mindsets from one of offshoring/layoffs to one of growth. This too is a normal part of the business cycle. Their loss.
I'd like to avoid supporting Google/Android, but there don't seem to be many options.
I loved my N800 when I bought it years ago. Loved using Skype and WiFi to make all my calls.
Than came the N880, the N900 and finally a Microsoft bonehead exec to Nokia that killed the toolset all those depended on. Even if Nokia were to apolgize and make amends for trashing that product line after realizing their Windows phone offerings are crapola, the same thing would probably just happen again in a year or two with the next bonehead executive that mistakenly thinks only Apple or Microsoft can make a good handheld. This was not true when I purchased my N800 in 2006/2007. So we must stop wasting time looking at anything other than a Linux root-able handheld. Even if they come with Android, if its root-able, you can put other Linux distros on it, just do your homework.
Cellular must have ~ non root-able device that will NOT run the Linux distro of your choice!
Google's Android is the ONLY root-able open source option in the cellular world. Sadly the cellular companies prefer to keep their product offerings locked down with no root access. Why they only offer Android in a restricted limited version. A non-rootable Android would most likely prevent you from adding what you want (a Linux distro other than Android) to add to your device.
Rather than focus on the software that is "Android", focus on the hardware. Is it root-able? Can you install a Linux with a very small footprint on it (there are plenty of options)? If you focus on the hardware, it will run Linux, as all other options (MS Windows or Apple primarily) will be closed to you. Closed as in you can not install Linux on them. Android would be preferrable to these non-rootable, non-admin options!
If it will run Linux, chances are it will run many small foot print distros in addition to Android. The hardware is the KEY!
Only one question to ask, "Will the hardware run Linux?
Linux + root access = a device you can install what you want on, without limitations.
To make sure the hardware does, only purchase from a Linux vendor, my favorite is ZaReason, however there is System76 and probably many others. Even if the device runs Android when you purchase it, and its rootable, it will run Linux. See what hardware others are installing Linux distros on and buy that hardware.
Small foot print Linux distros will run in either 128KB or 256KB, they will run very fast in 512KB or more of RAM. My tablet has 2GB of RAM, yea!
Your biggest headache will be if you want the device to have cellular service, then you will have to do more research as anything you purchase from the Cellular companies is going to include proprietary chipsets on the hardware to prevent you from loading any Linux on it.
Verify the cellular provider of your choice will let you run their software on your device. Most probably will not and Skype is not supporting Linux as well as it use to now that Microsoft bought it up. Shame, loved only paying $9 per month for my phone service that connected via WiFi. Saved a ton of money for way more than 7 years with Skype + WiFi
Even if they say its(hardware) rootable, find someone who has installed another Linux distro on that hardware before you purchase it. One of the biggest headaches with the N800, N880 and N900 is they did not make it easy to install and update the operating system. The last thing you want to have to do is have special hardware, cables and/or software to perform an update. You should be able to update via either WiFi and/or the microSD slot.
Most important MUST HAVE after root access is WiFi and a microSD card slot! I put a 32GB card in mine. Many websites will show you how to make a
If you have the money to spend and do not want to build your own Linux media server (plan to do this with my older ZaReason Breeze 4220 PC), you could checkout ZaReason's product offerings. They build Linux boxes, you tell them what Linux distro you want on them.
ZaReason's small footprint media server, MediaBox 5440 (quad core power in a little bitty living space) or if you have room for a bigger box and are interested in 4 hot swappable sata bays, the Breeze Server 5880 looks like a very nice server.
Of course any Linux server can be made into a media server and any Linux PC can be turned into your personal DVR and a Linux server. Once you start using a Linux box this way, you will not want to 'stream' content over the internet, especially if you are a cable internet subscriber. Especially with a new LG 60 inch LED TV 1080p 300hz (Monitor wall anyone?) costing under $800! Just plug into your Linux PC and enjoy watching what you download!
Remember that 100% of Cable Internet providers throttle their bandwidth, meaning DSL is usually faster than their throttled cable bandwidth promises. DSL is usually cheaper too! The cable company's marketing bandwidth claims are lies based on this throttling!
(Run DD-WRT on a supported device to see your actual bandwidth in real time after the speed test ends, cable users will be shocked and disgusted!
A promise of 20MB/4MB gets throttled to less than 101Kb/20Kb in my experience and I guestimate you need at least 230Kb upstream for the stuttering to stop and they throttle the upstream to less than 20Kbs if you have the means to see it, granted other factors apply) This is why most of us download something before we watch it, forget about streaming over the Internet!
I highly recommend Firefox with the DownloadHelper Plugin in order to download content from the Internet. Don't worry about the proprietary Windows formatted content, there are always other options, usually on the same download site. My friends and I refuse to purchase music that can not be played on any of our Linux devices (mp3, handheld, tablet, laptop, PC, server). If everyone did this, proprietary formats would be useless. And I pay for some content, just not proprietary formatted content. Even in the days of VCRs, I did not want to own every movie that I watched, only the few that I really loved, thus using a PC like a VCR, as in DVR, simply is the way we have always been doing things. If a TV/Cable Series or Movie is that good, I go buy it, usually after multiple seasons our out. Got all 10 Seasons of Stargate for under $300 at Fry's Electronics in CA, think I paid under $199, but its been awhile. Bought DVR version of "Dave" too, wish all our presidents were like Dave! Love that movie.
You can pretty much download anything down to a Linux PC and then stream it from there 'locally' on your network. This basically uses your harddrive like your own personal DVR box, no bandwidth throttling by cable companies to cause your streaming to stutter or stop. And you simply erase it after you watch it, just like we did with VCR tape recorders back in the day.
Full Disclosure, I do not work for ZaReason, just met the owners at SCaLE in Los Angeles a few years back (SCaLE 7x in 2008 I believe) and was very impressed with them, their company and their products. Became a customer i
..Guess what... We've been doing it with freaking a airplanes since at least the 80s where they used it to fly a jumbo jet into a wall to study the crash, might have even been the 70s. It had many cameras feeding all sorts of view points off the unmanned jet...
How did this spot on comment get moderated down. No wonder Slashdot is dying.
Because of the reference to remote controlling airplanes. Yes its been done. Yes it is possible. Yes this reminds people of something that some would prefer not be thought of.
There is a patent on a box that is mounted on the bottom of a jet airliner (airplane, helicopter, etc..) that can 100% control it. I have seen it and if you dig through the conspiracy junk, get the patent number, you can search for it like I did.
Remote controlling airplanes causes anyone with a brain to question the official brain-dead story that was put forth by all American news outlets. Granted there is much better evidence for those willing to keep an open mind and search for themselves.
Any comment that hints at remote controlling airplanes will get modded down so that few if any will read it, heaven help us if people start using their brain to think and see the obvious.
Personally with all the conspiracy facts out there that were once thought to be conspiracy theories, you would think people would be more reasonable, give the benefit of the doubt and research for themselves.
To not use your brain, think, research and reason is insane. The truth always sets one free.
Of course the fearful and haters will continue to mod references like the one you commented on down. Its sad.
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With Linux I simply use ls -alFR (as root user) from root (/):
login as root ( sudo or su - root, depending on how you have it setup)
cd / get to the root directory of that machine and/or drive
ls -alFR > /dirname/yymmdd-ls-alF.txt where yy is 14 for 2014, mm is 03 for March and dd ps 13 for today or this
ls -alFR > /dirname/140313-ls-alF.txt
I I had multiple drives, I would put one of these commands in a script, one for each drive and put the drive name after the date in the name in the filename to differentiate one text file listing from another.
The added plus is if a rootkit gets put on your machine and you have taken the time to get to know what files are put where on your machine, you will find that rootkit.
With Windows 8 requirement of a license by the proprietary hardware in order to perform a simple Linux install, is wrong. Its real bad. Just say NO to proprietary hardware.
Re-purposing a computer for One Laptop per Child or some other education use is why I buy all my hardware (PC, laptop and tablet) from Linux ONLY vendors. I figure I can always purchase a Windows license if I want one, however down the road that Linux hardware will not require a Windows license to run Linux because of some stupid proprietary chipsets in the hardware.
While there are many Linux only vendors, my favorite is ZaReason. System76 is another one, but they seem to focus on only one or two Linux distros, where the ZaReason techs will put on many more. Loving Debian lately and plan to play with Arch down the road.
Do yourself a favor, avoid any vendor that focuses on Windows and buy Linux hardware and if you really must have the latest version of Windows, purchase a license for your better LINUX hardware. At least it can run Windows without hassles, the converse is no longer true.
A Windows 8 device no longer runs Linux without hassles, best to avoid it for this reason alone.
My phone just erased everything it had in it and rebooted. One of the sickest feelings I've ever had in my life!!! ~ Lebron James via Twitter. He later erased the tweet.
Anyone know if this was how NBA player, Lebron James, Samsung was wiped? Its been covered on CNBC's SqwakonStreet today. For those that had not heard, King James basically tweeted the quote above, yesterday(3/12) at 5:03PM, and later erased the tweet. Guessed he realized as a "Famous Samsung Endorser", that might not look great.
End result, his phone was restored...when they announced this I was wondering when his last backup was taken and how many daysold it might have been.
From a German Twitter user, Shibumi @Sh1bumi #Backdoor in #Samsung Smartphones http://www.golem.de/news/samsu... poster, (thank you Google Translate):
Because the modems are always connected basically with a mobile network operator , the backdoor can be used virtually any time . As a possible attack options Kocialkowski lists, in addition to accessing the device memory, the switch on the microphone, activating the GPS module and the access to the camera.
Remotely wiping a stolen mobile phone perhaps? It's just a guess - but by definition that would require the ability to do stuff to the phone's file system without the current user's knowledge or permission.
That is exactly what I was thinking it could be used for, to wipe the device.
Over the years I have been both a Comcast and Time Warner Internet customer in way more than 3 different cities. Avoid them if possible. No fun paying $10 more for more bandwidth and not seeing your bandwidth increase. Thanks to DD-WRT you see your actual bandwidth in real time.
Everyone should learn how to access websites they deem critical via that websites IP address alone. Its simple enough if you know the IP address, which can be discovered via the commands nslookup, dig and traceroute (tracert for you windows users). To learn more, google any of those commands and learn. Once you know the IP address using this in your browser's Location Bar (some browser installations turn off the browser's location bar, but you can turn it back on...if not use a better browser):
http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/ where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IP address of the website you want to reach.
If they (cable company) will not provide you with only a cable modem, go with another provider. You want it to be nothing but a simple modem. No Wifi, no firewall, no router. Then add your own firewall/router that you control 100%.
Since they are going to throttle your cable connection anyway, see if DSL is available. It will be cheaper per month also. Go with DSL if you can not get FTTH. Funny how cable companies only offer you more when they are forced too.
If you must use cable:
Cable Modem (no Wifi, no DNS) + DD-WRT enabled firewall/router ~ is your best option.
The FCC use to define broadband as sustained bandwidth speeds above 768Kbps, that page has since been removed, wonder why? If a cable provider throttles service to below 768Kbps, at any time, should it be allowed to be called Broadband? I think NOT.
If your broadband is symmetrical, not an up to bandwidth lie, there is no business incentive to restrict, limit, throttle and reduce a customer's bandwidth perpetuating the scarcity myth lie related to Internet access. There are less than 30 FTTH communities in the USA where a residential customer can purchase symmetrical Internet bandwidth today. Thankfully more are being planned. Except in the 14 states where the Cable companies have gotten politicians to enact laws preventing competition and FTTH.
To learn more about nslookup, dig and configuring your DNSsee this Google Developer's web page. There are command examples on that page, enjoy.
The point of the mechanism that I suggested is to put the responsibility of final control of the device into the hands of the authorized owner of the device. If the owner of the device is not actually competent enough to exercise that control in a useful manner, that's not really the fault of the mechanism itsef. Either way, it's nothing that a would-be thief has any control over.
Was reading the back and forth and while interesting, the biggest problem are two fold:
1) Abuse and misuse ~ with the advent of all the FEMA data collection centers that many Americans deny exist or are unware of, no way do many of us trust that this would not be abused and misused. As others have stated, it would be utilized to silence speech that one group did not agree with, forget about freedom.
2)This feature however well intended would take the control out of the hands of the owner who purchased the device.
A last thought, you stated above:
... the device would be bricked at a level that is irrevocable....
Such a mechanism would not be able to be turned on and restored should the need arise. Seems like it would cost more problems than it would be worth. I have paid $500 for a new cellphone to avoid the monthly contract with my provider (and was glad I did as I had to churn when they put charges on my bill that they refused to remove after I proved to them that I had never made those calls, ever) and I would have been real upset that I now had a very expensive paperweight. No thank you.
At least with my $299 ZaReason ZaTab ZT2, I can use the micro SSD slot to boot up Linux and restore the device, or even put on another Linux distro other than Android should I desire it. 4 core CPU, 8 Core GPU, 2MB RAM, 8GB internal storage, 32GB micro SD card, 10.1" IPS 1280x800 display and best of all full root access, Ah freedom!
I applaud you for backing up your iPhone to you other Mac devices just in case. I should have tested that when I had an iPhone and MacBook Pro.
I find it ironic and funny when you write
If someone wants to remote erase my device, I say "Bring it on."
That it would be Apple that would be most likely to remotely erase your device, if anyone. For instance if you misplaced or lost your device. Probably why you do not use iCloud. I just find the whole thing ironic and funny.
Since the platform is not open, how would you initiate the restore if your device was wiped clean and would not boot up? Not making fun, seriously curious. I know I can use a micro SSD card in my Android, is their a USB slot or micro SSD card slot in the iPhone? Must be.
I hope they teach about compound interest in the Savings and Interest portion of that class.
When I saw the word scarcity, warning bells went off. Too often people are told something is scarce when it is not. Simply because scarcity is used to drive up prices without reason throughout history. Enron among others comes to mind.
With economics, I hope they emphasize the supply side! Trickle down emphasized demand and we are living that wet dream now...its what devastated the supply side by destroying the middle class that purchased our goods and services in greater quantities than a few wealthy individuals. Good paying (living wages) jobs that increase the number of consumers is exactly what will solve this problem. I am sure I am not alone at being sick of this race to the bottom that right to work for less has created throughout the nation. As Greece, Turkey and Europe have taught us, austerity does not work, so why are the majority of our politicians going along with the banks and pushing us there?
Bet they will not teach that to the kids! At least teach them the power of compounding and the economic sense of securing a job with a living wage so you have a chance at investing, saving and reaching your goals. At least that.
2Mbps would be right about 40X faster than dial-up. That's not "barely".
You missed the "up to" part of the deal. That's a very important part. 2Mbps is the max you will ever see and it is still dirt slow. It also is likely much slower than that upstream, probably 384K or 512K.
I've used service that speed. While I wouldn't trade it for dial-up it is in practical terms barely faster.
If you do not have either dd-WRT, OpenWRT or tomato firmware running on an enabled firewall/router you honestly do not know what you actual throughput, bandwidth wise, is.
If your provider is a cable company, I am 100% certain that is much lower than what you think based on my first hand experience. I am also 100% certain that its much lower than their up to promise.
Please do not apologize for the cable providers stating its because you share the trunk with others, because I tested this at literally every hour of the day and night, was working from home, and during a 24 hour period, they never opened the pipe larger than 300Kbps/30Kbps, except during the Speed Test, then it opened all the way up. I tested this on both weekdays and weekends. They throttle as a matter of practice, not because its necessary or required, else that pipe would open up some of the time during that 24 hour period...think about it. But do not believe me, get dd-WRT and learn the truth for yourself.
If my 20Mb/2Mb and 16Mb/2Mb up to promise was throttled to less than 300Kbps/30Kpbs and even as low as 101Kbps/20Kbps, I shutter to think how low it would be throttled if the service promise was only up to 2Mb/1Mb.
The only time I got the full up to promise was during the Speed Test. The millisecond that Speed Test finished, my bandwidth was immediately throttled back to sub broadband levels. The FCC states broadband as 756Kbps. I rarely saw bandwidths over that, except during the Speed Test.
If a cable internet provider throttles service, 100% of them throttle, to less than 756Kbps, technically their service is no longer broadband per the FCC. How is this not Fraud? Too bad they will not enforce this and help us consumers out.
The reality is if you got the full bandwidth 100% of the time of even 2Mb/1Mb, you would be well over 90% better-off, than all cable internet providers in the US market today based on my personal experience using cable in 3 different cities across the US. Probably approaching better-off than 99% of the cable internet providers. I am sure there is some cable provider who has enough competition somewhere that gives the full 2Mb/1Mb, so I will give you 1%, but ONLY 1%.
The pipe did not open larger when I ordered the additional $10 per month burst mode either. I checked this in 2 of the three cities. So do not waste your money.
Until you have a supported firewall/router running the opensource firmware, you simply do not know.
Thats $15 for 2Mbps down / 1Mbps up... My internet provider here in Sweden don't event have something that slow.
Actually I have had multiple cable internet providers who promised 20Mb/2Mb, yet my dd-WRT enabled firewall/router showed that my actual bandwidth in real time was 300Kb/40Kb or 101Kb/20Kb 80% to 90% of the time. I would have loved 2Mbp/1Mbps. I was paying $50 per month for that throttled and limited bandwidth.
Where I am now has DSL, I pay less than $20 per month and while the advertised speed is lower than cable, the actual speed is much higher than throttled cable and I love it.
I would still switch to FTTH if I could get it, however no way will I ever be a cable internet provider while I live at this location. And when I move, I will purposefully move to one of the less than 30 communities that have symmetrical FTTH, simply because they have no business incentive to limit my upstream bandwidth, thus my streaming content will never stutter, stop or buffer.
No one will probably see this as your comment got rated -1, however with Net Neutrality in the news, your point is very valid.
And when the largest Dutch telco announced plans to charge extra for the "privilege" of being able to use IM or VOIP on a mobile data plan, net neutrality legislation was passed in record time.
You switch to another provider. Good chance DSL and FTTH providers will not do this anyway.
If you have no alternatives, than you encrypt the message and use a VPN tunnel to prevent the provider from knowing what you are doing, thus they are unable to charge you for it. Someone will put up a server that will provide you a wrapper that will obsfucate your encrypted message, thus they will not know if you are using IM or VoIP.
Heck, with Net Neutrality in jeopardy, better learn how to do this sooner rather than later.
Also to get around the DNS salting that will cripple some ranges of IPs, better know the exact IP address for the server so you do not need to resolve the DNS address in order to use the service.
If all this fails, string up two tin cans and a string as your screwed anyway.
Time to buy some soup! ;-)
Whatsapp is successful because it is by far the best user experience you can find in any app. It does not require a login, is as lightweight as it gets, works very very well even in dog slow internet connections or in underpowered phones or even old feature phones, and messages get sent super fast and very reliably. It allows you to share text, images, and videos to a single person or to a group of people.
It does not require a login, yet. My guess is that in order to monetize it and tie in Advertisers, a Facebook login will be required shortly.
For years many of us have been stating how SMS should be free as all the SMS traffic could fit in the spaces in between other traffic, say cellular alone. This is why its laughable that cellular users will pay upwards of $30 per month to add in unlimited text messaging to their plans.
I would be willing to pay $1.00 for unlimited text messaging, why not. Or better yet, put messaging on my own server on the Internet and use it to raise awareness for something more profitable.
So I don't really understand why utility quality doesn't seem to affect realty prices. Maybe if Zillow and Craigslist started including broadband rankings from broadbandreports.com for homes and rentals alongside listings, we'd get somewhere. Thus far, it doesn't seem to appear on the radar, somewhere far beyond "school rankings in standardized testing" and even "price of garbage collection".
I agree with your thoughts on FTTH or no FTTH should increase or decrease prices respectively. In fact they do and here is your proof: It typically costs between $1,500 and $3,000 to put in FTTH and adds $5,000 to the value of the home per this article. If that article does not load, this one will...FTTH adds $5,000 to price of a home.
In reality it is worth way more in economic development and jobs for your community.
Since real estate can be negotiated, feel free to take $5,000 off the price of any home that does not have FTTH. The worse they can say is NO.
Better yet move to one of the less than 30 communities in the USA that has symmetrical FTTH. These communities have more jobs, more prosperity and absolutely no incentive to throtlle / limit your internet broadband in any way.
The reason why USAian broadband is so "slow" is because vendors (all vendors, everywhere) only supply a product that is "good enough", and no more, for people to pay the price they're paying. In the USA broadband is very cheap for what is being supplied.
In other countries around the world people can only dream of having that amount of bandwidth for that price. Suppliers outside of North America simply don't offer packages that cheaply.
While I agree with you that they (providers) usually only give us a little bit of bandwidth when they could easily provide more, I can not agree with your second paragraph. It might be true in a small percentage of countries, but the great majority have been putting in Fiber To The Home and giving their customers fantastic bandwidths (100Mb/100Mb or 1Gb/1GB) for less than what most cable internet providers charge their customers in America.
This was not true in 2007 and is not true today. Americans do NOT have it better with respects to Internet bandwidth. As of 2010, broadband penetration dropped to 25th place worldwide. We are not even on the chart any more, we have dropped that far, however we still pay more for less, no its not better in the US.
We, USA, dropped to 17th from 15th in 2008, but at least the US is on the chart
Wish it were not true, but it is.
"Broadband service here (Japan) is eight to 30 times as fast as (faster) in the United State..." and cheaper as well.
In the year 2000, most Japanese had 100Mb/100Mb, symmetrical FTTH, for less than $52 per month. Most American Cable providers charge well over $50 per month for a promise of 20Mb/2Mb that is throttled (except during the speedtest) to less than 300Kbps/40Kpbs. So in reality Americans pay a heck of allot more for a heck of allot less.
1GB/1GB; And this from 2008, thanks to the Fiber To The Home investment started in the year 2000 with the de-regulation of NTT in Japan, "The Hikari One Home Gigabit service will cost 5,460 (US$51.40) per month and provide an upstream and downstream connection at 1G bps"
Since most cable providers push customers to the $100 to $150 per month range, well it only is worse for Americans, not better. If you think its better, well their marketing works doesn't it.
If you can not get FTTH, only purchase DSL, do NOT purchase cable internet as they have always and will continue to always rip off consumers with higher prices for less service...its their business model, no matter what promises they have made over the years to provide Fiber. They will not unless forced to.
One day we may have it cheaper, but that day is not today...nor has it been for the last two decades. Here is a map that shows you were you can move to in order to get Fiber To The Home (FTTH). Well worth it if the bank took your home as those communities are creating better paying jobs faster than other communities in the US.
Excellent observation!
I want FTTH so bad, to have symmetrical bandwidth, the same upstream as downstream (10Mb/10Mb, 100Mb/100Mb, 1Gb/1Gb) and never bothered by the Cable Company poor scarcity myth laden throttling business models, now there is a thought worthy of every freedom loving American. Especially those that want to encourage small business economic activities and jobs.
For those lucky enough to be looking, here are almost 25 communities that have symmetrical FTTH!
The solution is to not to use the Cable company's last mile segments...in other words, don't purchase a house that does not have either DSL or FTTH.
Why DSL, glad you asked, the lower bandwidth of DSL (2Mb/756Kb) is way superior to a throttled (300Kb/40Kb) cable internet connection. That 300Kb/40Kb was what my dd-WRT firmware enabled router showed that the cable provider was allowing me to have. I was paying for 20Mb/2Mb, even paid $10 extra for additional burst bandwidth, you guessed it, they still throttled at 300Kb/40Kb or lower. I fully understand from first hand experience why most of us hate cable internet providers.
I love H.264. I do not love that its proprietary, nor do I believe it should be. x.264? I hope someone can create a free codec equivalent to or superior to H.264 so I give props to Google for giving it a go with VP8 and VP9.
The founders of Oblong Industries, Inc. were responsible for the visuals in the 2002 movie the Minority Report. Their company started shortly after that movie and has been in the black for more than 10 years.
These images show the technology as conveyed in the movie. The video in the next paragraph showcases it at oblong and is very much worth a watch, enjoy.
No I do not work for Oblong Industries, not that fortunate.
Oblong Industries, Inc. g-speak uses their internally developed software SDK, optical cameras (a bit more expensive right now, but cheaper every year and multiple optical inputs produce less interference than multiple infrared inputs when generating 3-D images and manipulating those images in real time. Thanks to optical, the quality is much better. Imagine 20+ optical cameras, mulitple screens and you can since the data requirements and why they had to develop it internally. They use data pools in memory in order to move massive amounts of data over the network from say your database to your tablet, to your laptop, to a desktop (some at the same time) without stutters, pausing or visible buffering...I am sure you get the idea.
Too bad their current video does not show the gloves as the input device instead of the wand, suppose they are a work in progress.
I wonder if a codec like VP9 could use the concept of data pools to not only compress more efficiently, but to play back using less bandwidth, memory and CPU more efficiently.
Regardless the end goal of an open source, proprietary free, video/audio codec is exactly what ffmpeg is all about. Smart and powerful, if it does not get there today, who knows about tomorrow! You guys rock.
Great post. All too true.
If those that say they support the troops, put their money (or ours, taxpayer, money) where their mouths are, than they would pre-fund the medical and psychiatric needs of our veterans BEFORE they put a boot on the ground overseas.
If they are unwilling to fund the clean-up, than what the heck are they sending are service men and women overseas in the first place.
Hey these HAWKS, required the US Postal Service to pre-fund retirement for 75 years in the future. (I don't agree with that, but they did it, didn't they! So what is their excuses...if they support our troops? Right? They just are trying to force it USPS to fail to get at that ever growing pile of cash. And they are miserly with the money when it comes to taking care of our returning veterans.
We Americans seem to forget the many lessons of history, two that come to mind are Maj Gen Smedley Butler and President Eisenhower. I know you know his famous quotes about the military industrial complex and he was certainly in a position to understand and know the facts.
You can't convince me that they are so inept that they can not create a budget, yet only the Dems have done that in recent history (ie. President Clinton). However not even the Democrats have balanced the budget since then.
We need a third party that is not bought and paid for. And an educated population to stop voting for the insane (those doing the same thing and expecting a different result) and work toward a positive change for the better!
Quick to waste $24 Billion for nothing and not willing to fully fund the needs of our veterans...are you kidding me?
We must remember that the Tea Party got co-opted within a month or two tops as that was when the paid shills in buses started rolling into events. Pathetic. So a third party can not be influenced or controlled by the 9% that own 90% of the wealth of this Country.
I know I am not alone in wondering who the Tea Party thought they were, to unilaterally push the Republicans into not providing a balanced budget, to pay bills already created, ultimately costing American taxpayers well over $24 Billion in additional deficit. Even if deficits do not matter, the heck with them for running it up higher for no valid reason, any politican that does this, should be removed from office, hopefuly their constiuants will wise up before it happens again. They run it up by going to war too, pathetic, and then they blame the other party, are you kidding, enough. You are not fooling the majority of us anymore with your lies.
Pay your bills, lord knows we have too, or we lose everything.
The veterans in my family fought and died so their descendants could be free. It is unacceptable to their ultimate sacrifice that any members of our family settle for so much less that the Republicans, Tea Party, Libertarians and Democrats give us. Pathetic.
Lets see all politicians budget and govern successfully for a change! It would be refreshing.
Unfortunately those that send our men and women to war, do not really care about them, else they would fund the medical expenses for them before they came home. Yet war after war, they do not do this. Since they are being used, wrongly per Maj Gen Smedley Butler, perhaps those businesses that are the beneficiaries should put up as most of them don't pay taxes anyway. Not that I would be for this, but better to hold them responsible, and not get off scott free as they have for hundreds of years already.
Further it rings true based on what other Vietnam vets have told me about the VA...
Fires can of course spread it. Significantly high radiation measurements were made in Tokyo (well over 150 miles away from Fukushima). Imagine what happens in the spring when the pollens get released from the grasses, shrubs and trees. All the pine cones are Cesium-137 laden, probably from the excessively high (more than Chernobyl) levels in the ground water.
Wind, evaporation, percipitation make this a world event.
No Technology to stop the leaks now or for the next 10 years means that every spring will bring more of the radiation out of the ground.
There is so much bad info here its ironic. I will comment on a couple of points for those that are seriously interested, please ignore the trolls
Some facts worth noting first:
And now folks you see why Lamar Smith wants to hobble the EPA.
Meanwhile in North Carolina you have 30 year Duke Energy vetran Governor Pat McCrory who has been using the power of the govt in NC to sheild Duke Energy from lawsuits as a result of massive pollution. Spilling things like arsenic, lead, mercury and other things into NC waterways. In every single lawsuit the McCrory administration intervened and shut the lawsuits down. Now you have the lastest massive spill
Was covered on Rachel Maddow's show last night (Tuesday, 2/11/14, A disastrous toxic spill broke NC interference for governor’s former firm) and was shocking.
officials at the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) invoked a provision in the federal Clean Water Act allowing them to step in as plaintiffs against Duke Energy when Duke was being sued by environmental activists over the toxic coal ash ponds at its facilities.
In N.C. for state residents (citizens) to sue, they have to give a 60 days written notice.
The state reached settlements worth a collective $99,000 for those incidents. (Duke Energy)
You see the new head of the DENR use to work for Duke Energy, when he took over the organization, he changed their charter to one of protecting corporate industry and changing regulations so that the industries would not run afoul of the legislation. And yes he is a Republican. And N.C. Governor is a Republican.
Amy Adams, resigned in November 2013, saying she was dissuaded from levying sanctions against companies like Duke since McCrory took office in 2010. Amy was interviewed by Rachel and it was extremely informative.
I would be very concerned for my health, the health of my children due to the state of my drinking water if I lived in North Carolina. Another fail of
Can someone tell me why BlackBerry is so disregarded? I see a few posters saying that they love their Q10 (I love mine) - and people immediately jump on them saying that it's a sinking ship. Aside from their financial trouble, what exactly is wrong with the phones? The new OS is amazing, based on nerd-friendly QNX, and the keyboard is the best hardware keyboard you can get. The software keyboard on the all-touch devices is pretty damn good too. The only reason I keep hearing that people don't want a BlackBerry is because they're not doing well. Shouldn't quality of a product dictate what phone you get more than their status on the stock market?
Its not rootable.
Its not open.
I can not install the software of my choosing on it.
Does it have a microSD card slot for sharing data between the handheld, your laptop and your desktop PC? (Granted many larger corporations irrationally lock the USB slots down, which would be the same for SD card slots. Those same irrational large corporations are either no longer funding staff to perform the Windows automated updates or are planning too. Thus they lock out use of USB, but stop providing security updates to Windows machines, the most afflicted infection vector in the IT world! I call this mentality insanity. Stop expecting a different result!)
Can I connect via WiFi with a BlackBerry?
I don't need Microsoft Office, love LibreOffice, so any advantage with MS Office is a non-issue for many of us.
I can run LibreOffice on my tablet / Linux handheld and love to not have to worry about the mindless data format upgrades by Microsoft that served no purpose and cost organizations significant dollars to convert their proprietary documents to the new format, only because Microsoft told them, they had too to run the latest version of MS Office.
I don't need Adobe anything (including Flash) on my device, though occasionally I have to update the .so file, thanks to Adobe no longer supporting Linux but putting out a new security update for Windows. Never mind that when you drill down into the security exploits, 98% of the time they require local access. Meaning its a non issue if you do not hand over you device to another or give a cracker the keys to your home/apt!
I could go on, but enough.
BTW, Blackberry is a sinking ship! Its just a fact. Been watching the stock (marketwatch), BBRY (Google Finance), not sure they will survive, such is life for any company stupid enough to get in bed with Microsoft and Microsoft only applications and development tool chains.
Almost every company that gets in bed with Microsoft is acquired or put out of business in 4 - 5 years from the start of that relationship.
If a company's vertical market is lucrative, Microsoft will take it away from them or purchase the company within 4 to 5 years of the arrangement. There are many examples of this happening over the last 30 years. I wonder how many went out of business or saw their market share significantly eroded as Blackberry has? Had Blackberry catered to both Linux and Windows, they might still have a market and a business.
Only Hyper FEARful corporate/government entities are bothering with Blackberry today.
Yes FEAR is a motivator, however when a company acts out of fear primarily, without growing their company through new product offerings, its only a matter of time until they are diminished or gone.
We are finally getting to the point, economically, where companies that have cut their way to stock increases are up against walls created primarily due to their letting so many employees knowledable about their market and business go, they are discovering it very difficult to change their mindsets from one of offshoring/layoffs to one of growth. This too is a normal part of the business cycle. Their loss.
I'd like to avoid supporting Google/Android, but there don't seem to be many options.
I loved my N800 when I bought it years ago. Loved using Skype and WiFi to make all my calls.
Than came the N880, the N900 and finally a Microsoft bonehead exec to Nokia that killed the toolset all those depended on. Even if Nokia were to apolgize and make amends for trashing that product line after realizing their Windows phone offerings are crapola, the same thing would probably just happen again in a year or two with the next bonehead executive that mistakenly thinks only Apple or Microsoft can make a good handheld. This was not true when I purchased my N800 in 2006/2007. So we must stop wasting time looking at anything other than a Linux root-able handheld. Even if they come with Android, if its root-able, you can put other Linux distros on it, just do your homework.
Cellular must have ~ non root-able device that will NOT run the Linux distro of your choice!
Google's Android is the ONLY root-able open source option in the cellular world. Sadly the cellular companies prefer to keep their product offerings locked down with no root access. Why they only offer Android in a restricted limited version. A non-rootable Android would most likely prevent you from adding what you want (a Linux distro other than Android) to add to your device.
Rather than focus on the software that is "Android", focus on the hardware. Is it root-able? Can you install a Linux with a very small footprint on it (there are plenty of options)? If you focus on the hardware, it will run Linux, as all other options (MS Windows or Apple primarily) will be closed to you. Closed as in you can not install Linux on them. Android would be preferrable to these non-rootable, non-admin options!
If it will run Linux, chances are it will run many small foot print distros in addition to Android. The hardware is the KEY!
Only one question to ask, "Will the hardware run Linux?
Linux + root access = a device you can install what you want on, without limitations.
To make sure the hardware does, only purchase from a Linux vendor, my favorite is ZaReason, however there is System76 and probably many others. Even if the device runs Android when you purchase it, and its rootable, it will run Linux. See what hardware others are installing Linux distros on and buy that hardware.
Small foot print Linux distros will run in either 128KB or 256KB, they will run very fast in 512KB or more of RAM. My tablet has 2GB of RAM, yea!
Your biggest headache will be if you want the device to have cellular service, then you will have to do more research as anything you purchase from the Cellular companies is going to include proprietary chipsets on the hardware to prevent you from loading any Linux on it.
Verify the cellular provider of your choice will let you run their software on your device. Most probably will not and Skype is not supporting Linux as well as it use to now that Microsoft bought it up. Shame, loved only paying $9 per month for my phone service that connected via WiFi. Saved a ton of money for way more than 7 years with Skype + WiFi
Even if they say its(hardware) rootable, find someone who has installed another Linux distro on that hardware before you purchase it. One of the biggest headaches with the N800, N880 and N900 is they did not make it easy to install and update the operating system. The last thing you want to have to do is have special hardware, cables and/or software to perform an update. You should be able to update via either WiFi and/or the microSD slot.
Most important MUST HAVE after root access is WiFi and a microSD card slot! I put a 32GB card in mine. Many websites will show you how to make a
If you have the money to spend and do not want to build your own Linux media server (plan to do this with my older ZaReason Breeze 4220 PC), you could checkout ZaReason's product offerings. They build Linux boxes, you tell them what Linux distro you want on them.
ZaReason's small footprint media server, MediaBox 5440 (quad core power in a little bitty living space) or if you have room for a bigger box and are interested in 4 hot swappable sata bays, the Breeze Server 5880 looks like a very nice server.
Of course any Linux server can be made into a media server and any Linux PC can be turned into your personal DVR and a Linux server. Once you start using a Linux box this way, you will not want to 'stream' content over the internet, especially if you are a cable internet subscriber. Especially with a new LG 60 inch LED TV 1080p 300hz (Monitor wall anyone?) costing under $800! Just plug into your Linux PC and enjoy watching what you download!
Remember that 100% of Cable Internet providers throttle their bandwidth, meaning DSL is usually faster than their throttled cable bandwidth promises. DSL is usually cheaper too! The cable company's marketing bandwidth claims are lies based on this throttling!
(Run DD-WRT on a supported device to see your actual bandwidth in real time after the speed test ends, cable users will be shocked and disgusted!
A promise of 20MB/4MB gets throttled to less than 101Kb/20Kb in my experience and I guestimate you need at least 230Kb upstream for the stuttering to stop and they throttle the upstream to less than 20Kbs if you have the means to see it, granted other factors apply) This is why most of us download something before we watch it, forget about streaming over the Internet!
And with the recent net neutrality loss in the DC courts (January 14, 2014), this is going to become more of a problem for those of us wishing to download and stream content. It's going to get ugly folks!
I highly recommend Firefox with the DownloadHelper Plugin in order to download content from the Internet. Don't worry about the proprietary Windows formatted content, there are always other options, usually on the same download site. My friends and I refuse to purchase music that can not be played on any of our Linux devices (mp3, handheld, tablet, laptop, PC, server). If everyone did this, proprietary formats would be useless. And I pay for some content, just not proprietary formatted content. Even in the days of VCRs, I did not want to own every movie that I watched, only the few that I really loved, thus using a PC like a VCR, as in DVR, simply is the way we have always been doing things. If a TV/Cable Series or Movie is that good, I go buy it, usually after multiple seasons our out. Got all 10 Seasons of Stargate for under $300 at Fry's Electronics in CA, think I paid under $199, but its been awhile. Bought DVR version of "Dave" too, wish all our presidents were like Dave! Love that movie.
You can pretty much download anything down to a Linux PC and then stream it from there 'locally' on your network. This basically uses your harddrive like your own personal DVR box, no bandwidth throttling by cable companies to cause your streaming to stutter or stop. And you simply erase it after you watch it, just like we did with VCR tape recorders back in the day.
Full Disclosure, I do not work for ZaReason, just met the owners at SCaLE in Los Angeles a few years back (SCaLE 7x in 2008 I believe) and was very impressed with them, their company and their products. Became a customer i
..Guess what ... We've been doing it with freaking a airplanes since at least the 80s where they used it to fly a jumbo jet into a wall to study the crash, might have even been the 70s. It had many cameras feeding all sorts of view points off the unmanned jet...
How did this spot on comment get moderated down. No wonder Slashdot is dying.
Because of the reference to remote controlling airplanes. Yes its been done. Yes it is possible. Yes this reminds people of something that some would prefer not be thought of.
There is a patent on a box that is mounted on the bottom of a jet airliner (airplane, helicopter, etc..) that can 100% control it. I have seen it and if you dig through the conspiracy junk, get the patent number, you can search for it like I did.
Remote controlling airplanes causes anyone with a brain to question the official brain-dead story that was put forth by all American news outlets. Granted there is much better evidence for those willing to keep an open mind and search for themselves.
Any comment that hints at remote controlling airplanes will get modded down so that few if any will read it, heaven help us if people start using their brain to think and see the obvious.
Personally with all the conspiracy facts out there that were once thought to be conspiracy theories, you would think people would be more reasonable, give the benefit of the doubt and research for themselves.
To not use your brain, think, research and reason is insane. The truth always sets one free.
Of course the fearful and haters will continue to mod references like the one you commented on down. Its sad.