And your comment that was rated (+5, Insightful) is repeating the exact urban myths that the article's author was talking about. "Greedy Sony" notwithstanding, did you even RTFA? You're perpetuating the problem that this whole article was addressing.
The "whole product" concept is interesting, and one that I will keep in my foreground memory for some time to come...
I'm not sure advocating PostgreSQL over some firewall tuning is the right thing to do.
MS SQL server is a good product - and is well supported and well documented for 3rd party products. MySQL and PostgreSQL are fine for small-to-medium size applications, but databases such as DB2, SQL, and Oracle handle millions of transactions daily. Migrating away from SQL can be difficult, costly, time consuming, and sometimes impossible.
If you're going to advocate an alternative to SQL Server, perhaps consider DB2 instead.
Yes, yes, I know, Open Source Will Save the World (TM), but you're spreading your own version of FUD over this worm.
Feh. You're deliberately missing the point I attempted to make. What's very frustrating for most admins is the repeated visits to Ms. Jones machine because she insists on changing, deleting, or adding this to her machine. You can ask her, you can tell her, but you can't change it.
I'm not advocating a total lockdown. But some simple constraints can enormously streamline admin time and user time - I've known many, many users who will spend hours mucking about with desktop colors/schemes, surfing for 'just that right' background image, etc. Yes, they should be fired for wasting time; if they stood around the water cooler that long they'd surely be noticed.
I'd be interested in the feedback from admins who've worked at other LARGE corporations - I'm talking thousands of desktops here, not ten or twenty.
You're exactly right, and you highlight the reason that good admins have peer review, procedures, and approval from management before just rolling shit out across the network.
And while you're being incredibly sarcastic, your examples aren't quite what I was citing in regards to Open Source or Freeware. I'm a huge advocate of both, and would support any effort to further them.
As it stands, I did say that on a Windows desktop, I would recommend a premade color scheme.
You're being silly with the rest of your little comments.
OK, you've all made good points. However, when corporate policy comes down that 'all desktops will be made to conform to XXX standard', it's the IT/SysAdmins job to do just that.
Personally, I don't give a damn about the pictures of kids on your computer. But when I have to visit the same desktops again and again and again because of the same problems - "I installed this program", "I deleted this directory to have more space" - then it becomes an issue.
"eye-tee professionals" or Wannabe-Nazis with 'a little bit of adminstrative privilege' notwithstanding, when people are fired/quit/are replaced - or switch departments - having some conformity among the desktops is a good thing.
As an employee, it's not "your computer". It's the property of the company. I wish more end users would remember that. "Why are you messing with *my* computer? I've got it just the way I like it!" Sorry. Pink fonts in Monotype Corsiva on a light blue background makes it tough for me to troubleshoot. Don't put your kid's picture up as wallpaper (less of a gripe, I don't really care, but give an inch...). Don't install the "little program" you brought from home.
**These machines are not for your personal use.** Please reread that statement again and again when you feel like it's "Your Computer". If you didn't pay for it, it ain't. If you did, and you're accessing a corporate network, you are still subject to the rules of your employer/contractee. The computers you were provided as PART OF YOUR EMPLOYMENT are a tool you use to get your job done. Microsoft spent millions of dollars and countless man-hours on the multitude of color schemes you can pick from. Use one of those. If I find non-approved themes of software, it's gone. That's how it works, and makes less downtime for you and less headache for me.
Yeah, you're right - it's the Image Management System that makes me want to cry in the corner./em shudders:) We ran on the system that had the 'scaled-down' version of Oracle that you could do *nothing* with - except minor performance tunings, etc. What didn't help us was proprietary in-house code touching the IMS in ways that FileNET never dreamed of...
Once you get past the administration and user training of FileNET, the other large drawback to FileNET is the incredible cost and yearly fees. While FileNET may be of use in the enterprise, it's a bit spendy as a replacement for a file hierarchy system.
As someone said, this will require discipline - which, if you look at the haphazard way most of us just toss shit in our "My Documents" folder (damn Microsoft, I even created a/home/djpotter/My Documents folder on my Linux box!), it's going to be a huge headache to implement and get used to using this.
The other thing to consider is that in 6 months, will you remember what criteria you used when saving the document?
OK. So when your cruise control lets you drift 1 mph over the speed limit, you're breaking the law. And when the laws are changed to make your current behavior illegal, will you still cry "Don't break the law" like a good little sheep?
Crashing a car in most any event is dangerous. 60kph vs. 50kph - the car, and likely you, are going to sustain some damage.
Interestingly, the Autobahn in Germany is one of the safest roadways in the world. Oh yeah, the same Autobahn with 100+ mph traffic.
When Montana dropped their speed limits a few years ago, they found the average speed was 78 miles per hour. 3 mph over the previously posted limit. When the government threatened to pull their funding, they reinstated 75mph speed limits.
Define "better driving habits". Driving like you? Like me? Take a mother with 4 kids in the SUV, yapping on the cell phone. She's never had an accident, her insurance is clean. Are those good driving habits?
A 75-year old man on the Interstate doing 55mph - he's well within the legal limits, but when a group of traffic doing 80mph comes up on him, that creates a tense moment and a lot of brake lights. Is he displaying good driving habits?
I set my cruise at 78mph for my 25-mile commute. I wear my seatbelt, use my signals, don't talk on my cell, don't eat breakfast while I drive, etc. OK, sometimes I sing with the CD I've got in. Are my habits good? I'm 3 mph over the speed limit - moving with the flow of traffic. Should all of us be arrested?
Speed limits are an artificial creation designed as a fee collector for cities. People will drive at the speed they are comfortable with. If someone is doing 50 in a residential, they should be cited, by all means. If 50 becomes a median speed in that area, why is that? Is it a quicker way across town, etc.? Traffic patterns are so poorly researched and not planned ahead for that many thoroughfares become chokepoints, forcing people to alternate routes.
Bah, I'm way off-topic./em wrenches mind back
"If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about", you claim. What about when what you're doing legally now *becomes* something to hide? Your drive to your AA meeting? The surprise shopping for your wife becomes a reason to pull you over? A desire to try a new dish leads you to a neighborhood you've never visited - and a reason to stop you? How about when you and your wife just decide to "see where that road goes" - that's unusual activity and should be flagged. Complacency is the problem, and our government and corporations are preying on it.
While I have sympathy for your pain and fear, there is no evidence to support the theory that any of these means will prevent terror. All it will do is provide our government a massive database about private, law-abiding citizens that they can monitor and control.
The attacks on 9/11/2001 *could* have been stopped - that's the truth behind all this. As soon as a commercial airliner deviates from its flight path, contact is immediately established. If they can't make contact for some reason, aircraft are launched to intercept and identify the problem. A pair of F15's launched from any airbase in the region would have had plenty of time to intercept and destroy the aircraft. Yeah, yeah, cry me a river for the poor innocents on board. However, 250 lives to save 2500 (or more) is acceptable.
What is not acceptable is the continual erosion of our civil liberties. It's these fears that you're describing that our government is counting on in order to keep us better under control.
There's an old saying, "I love my country, but I fear my government." I believe that statement more than ever now with the pattern of control and dictatorship that they're demonstrating daily.
Join the EFF. Use cryptography. DON'T buy into the conception that all this shit is done in the name of "Preventing Terror". Compare our political climate today to the "Red Scare" of the 50's - replace Communism with Terrorism, and you're right there. Was there a Red Menace? Apparently not...
I thought about posting this anonymously, but "THEY" will be able to subpeona my IP address from my provider and from Slashdot logs, so what the hell.
I'm not trying to belittle your fears and the pain you suffered, but we need to take the much longer view, here.
In the top 10 design goals of Bose engineers, Sound Quality is NOT on the list. Affordability, appearance, and saleability are.
If you've heard the "wonderful sound of Bose" because someone told you they were great, consider this. Budweiser is unlikely a fine beer, but it's the "King of Beers" due to superior marketing and brand awareness. Same thing with Bose. They've gotten their name out there, and made people aware. "Big Bass from a small space" does not equate to better sound. Proper speaker construction, good crossovers, and matched drivers *do* contribute to better sound. The fancy-ass "Bose 901's" that some people drool over? They're made up of (9) cheap 5.25" drivers, of which ONE points forward. The rest fire backward to give you the "reflection" of the Direct/Reflection equation, and make the speaker sound bigger. If you like the 'Reflection' theory, try a pair of Definitive Technology's Bi-Polar Power Towers - they'll impress you.
You want to try some really nice moderately priced speakers? Boston Acoustics, Definitive Technology, and Klipsch are all phenomenal performers without a staggering price tag. Moving up, you've got options that will astound you.
If you want a good comparison, buy a Bose waveradio. Take it to a stereo dealer who sells the little Sony or Yamaha bookshelves - the Bose sucks in comparison.:) Since you don't have a comparison at the Bose dealer, you can't make a good decision. That's why they do "Outlet Stores" that only sell Bose, so you can't do a good A/B comparison. After you retunn your $500 Bose, spend the difference on some good Guiness.:)
Holy good Christ. Good thing I don't have to see your face as you tell me that I have to spend over $500 to get a good VCR. Or an $11000 television set.
Lemme check:
$80 RCA VCR, bought in like 1995 - still working.
$290 27" RCA TV bought in 1997 - still working.
$300 Kenwood "theater-in-a-box" system bought in 2000 - still working.
Jordan, I appreciate your salesmanship and your dedication to Tweeter, but some of your comments are flat-out wrong and why people dislike salesmen. You may be able to swing a $500 VCR with some of your custom home clients, but 99% of people cannot tell the difference between a tape recorded on a 2-head or 4-head or 6-head VCR. Hell, most people can't tell the difference when you're playing back from a mono or stereo VCR.
DVD players are another area that people are easily duped. Yeah, I'll grant you that a $49 DVD player is shit. But seriously, spend more than $500 for a single-tray DVD player and you got taken. "24 bit Burr/Brown D/A converters, multipath signals, isolated power supplies, etc." You've made the pitches, I've heard the pitches. Now put the two DVD players side by side on a 36" TV - the average size, I would assume for most people - and again, 95% or more *cannot tell the difference*.
Same with audio. Stevie Ray Vaughn's excellent "Texas Flood". Play it on CD, then on SACD for people. No difference for most people unless you lead them into it. "Now listen to this!" They don't want to appear stupid, so they'll say "YEAH! That sounds awesome!"
Don't get me wrong. A pair of Klipsch RF7's is lightyears above any piece of shit Bose, and I'll sing the praises of Yamaha receivers all day - but there's a point where you're just reaching.
I disagree with you. Anonymity is absolutely necessary. Your HTTP anonymizing services would of course divulge any and all information about the original IP address to the Ministry of Truth - sorry, I mean Homeland Security - if the post was from a suspected terrorist sympathizer or possible terrorist.
Freedom of speech needs anonymity in order for people to not fear retribution. As it stands now, our first amendment rights are in dire straits, anyway.
As far as 'spamming, worm injection, DOS attacks, etc.' - those things are already happening without much help from WiFi. This is just another excuse to regulate something the government and big business fears.
The reason I have my box dual-booting with RedHat and the Codeweavers/Transgaming plugins is because I *do* care about freedom and where I'd like to see Linux go. That's why I support the community as I am best able - with my purchases and support.
My comment was about the validity of an argument that Linux was superior to Windows without the very evidence the poster was complaining about.
_This very attitude_ - the one you're displaying about "extremely powerful criminals who want to control you!!!!!" is the attitude that immediately turns off the non-geek, non-Linux, non-computer-using public - which makes up about 97% of the world. We are a minority with a passion - in other, less polite circles, we'd be called a cult.
I would personally like to see these attitudes change, and then we can really start to have Linux win on the desktop, and be able to move away from a Microsoft-dominated desktop.
Damn, I think I've been trolled. But I do earnestly believe what I've written.
However, your zealotry is also devoid of factual content. With your cavalier attitude towards a contrary opinion, it will be hard to persuade people to try Linux or any other 'new' technology.
I'll ask you some of the same questions: What about Linux is more stable? Examples, please.
Yes, Linux is very fast on a command line - there's no UI loaded up. But comparing XP to RedHat's BlueCurve on my Athlon XP 1500+ w/ 512MB memory and GeForce 3 Ti500 - running the latest Detonator drivers in Windows, and the latest NVidia drivers in Linux - they're both pretty quick. Yeah, that's not "scientific" - but neither one is *appreciably* slower than the other. MS Office XP is fast. StarOffice is slower, however. Normal usage of the core OS is about the same.
In the early part of your comment, you made a sarcastic comment about "Yeah, all those cross-platform apps you tested." Please, post the information you've got about cross-platform applications.
Well, my Linux side does run the Codeweavers and Transgaming plugins - the plugin versions are fast enough to use, but they *do* slightly lag behind the Windows versions in their "native" environment.
Windows XP - with Windows certified drivers - is very stable. I've had ONE BSOD in 13 months - from a Beta Detonator driver. Since then, not one.
Zealotry will get us nowhere in the halls of Corporate America, the desktops of Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Joe Sixpack. It makes us look like little children who ignore reality because it's our favorite toy.
I like Linux as much as the next geek/wannabe-geek, but I'm objective enough to see where we need to go, not where we imagine we are.
I installed a Starband system at a very remote location in Wyoming for a former employer - dialup was only capable of 33.6 at best, and the phone service itself was spotty.
Snow, heavy rain, fog, and sunspots (!) all affect the reception of this piece.
I've done a couple more since then, and have been able to plug directly into a Linux box. Take the little plate off next to the USB port on the satellite modem - and boom, there's the Ethernet jack. Do DHCP on that interface, and you're in good shape.
The largest problem with this, however, is that by "buying nothing!" you're not helping the weak economy in our country. We need to stimulate the economy so people have more confidence in buying items, and helping to climb out of recession. Everyone sitting on their cash isn't helping, contrary to what you may think. I'm not advocating blowing your entire check, but by all means, do your Christmas/holiday shopping. We all cry about how we can't find jobs, and how pitiful the economy is, but these little protests aren't helping the situation any.
The comments about 'maddened consumerism' and 'rampant consumption' are strongly worded and designed to elicit an emotional response - and yet you claim the *retailers* play dirty? Wow.
Seriously. Our economy is dependent on the buying and selling of goods. Or, as a wiser man once said, "You've got to spend money to make money."
Has to belong to Harley Davidson. No other company in the world has the following. Tattoos, vehicle editions, etc.
They're not the best motorcycle technically (stop, I love HD's, don't hammer me) - but they're the coolest/sexiest/most sought-after two-wheeled piece of machinery on many lists.
Why? They have a culture, a 'feel', a mystique that Honda or Yamaha doesn't. Yeah, a YZF-R1 can smoke any Harley. Yeah, a Gold Wing is more comfortable. But dammit, H-D is "The One."
I would imagine Mac zealots/fans feel much the same way. Like with a Harley, don't knock it until you try it. If it's not for you, that's cool. Those of us who 'get it' will keep hope alive for you.;)
Slashdot Mirror
Simple mistake. Hrm.
;)
Mach 18==(18x(speed of sound @ sea level for comparison)) == 13,680 mph
Warp 18 (to use Star Trek-style indication) == 200,880,000 mph
Slight difference.
And your comment that was rated (+5, Insightful) is repeating the exact urban myths that the article's author was talking about. "Greedy Sony" notwithstanding, did you even RTFA? You're perpetuating the problem that this whole article was addressing.
The "whole product" concept is interesting, and one that I will keep in my foreground memory for some time to come...
I'm not sure advocating PostgreSQL over some firewall tuning is the right thing to do.
MS SQL server is a good product - and is well supported and well documented for 3rd party products. MySQL and PostgreSQL are fine for small-to-medium size applications, but databases such as DB2, SQL, and Oracle handle millions of transactions daily. Migrating away from SQL can be difficult, costly, time consuming, and sometimes impossible.
If you're going to advocate an alternative to SQL Server, perhaps consider DB2 instead.
Yes, yes, I know, Open Source Will Save the World (TM), but you're spreading your own version of FUD over this worm.
If a cat lives in your home, you know you're already a willing and obedient slave!
And while I'm sure you thought you were being funny, your personal attack shows that basically, you're a fuck.
Feh. You're deliberately missing the point I attempted to make. What's very frustrating for most admins is the repeated visits to Ms. Jones machine because she insists on changing, deleting, or adding this to her machine. You can ask her, you can tell her, but you can't change it.
I'm not advocating a total lockdown. But some simple constraints can enormously streamline admin time and user time - I've known many, many users who will spend hours mucking about with desktop colors/schemes, surfing for 'just that right' background image, etc. Yes, they should be fired for wasting time; if they stood around the water cooler that long they'd surely be noticed.
I'd be interested in the feedback from admins who've worked at other LARGE corporations - I'm talking thousands of desktops here, not ten or twenty.
*grin*
You're exactly right, and you highlight the reason that good admins have peer review, procedures, and approval from management before just rolling shit out across the network.
And while you're being incredibly sarcastic, your examples aren't quite what I was citing in regards to Open Source or Freeware. I'm a huge advocate of both, and would support any effort to further them.
As it stands, I did say that on a Windows desktop, I would recommend a premade color scheme.
You're being silly with the rest of your little comments.
OK, you've all made good points. However, when corporate policy comes down that 'all desktops will be made to conform to XXX standard', it's the IT/SysAdmins job to do just that.
Personally, I don't give a damn about the pictures of kids on your computer. But when I have to visit the same desktops again and again and again because of the same problems - "I installed this program", "I deleted this directory to have more space" - then it becomes an issue.
"eye-tee professionals" or Wannabe-Nazis with 'a little bit of adminstrative privilege' notwithstanding, when people are fired/quit/are replaced - or switch departments - having some conformity among the desktops is a good thing.
As an employee, it's not "your computer". It's the property of the company. I wish more end users would remember that. "Why are you messing with *my* computer? I've got it just the way I like it!" Sorry. Pink fonts in Monotype Corsiva on a light blue background makes it tough for me to troubleshoot. Don't put your kid's picture up as wallpaper (less of a gripe, I don't really care, but give an inch...). Don't install the "little program" you brought from home.
**These machines are not for your personal use.** Please reread that statement again and again when you feel like it's "Your Computer". If you didn't pay for it, it ain't. If you did, and you're accessing a corporate network, you are still subject to the rules of your employer/contractee. The computers you were provided as PART OF YOUR EMPLOYMENT are a tool you use to get your job done. Microsoft spent millions of dollars and countless man-hours on the multitude of color schemes you can pick from. Use one of those. If I find non-approved themes of software, it's gone. That's how it works, and makes less downtime for you and less headache for me.
Yeah, you're right - it's the Image Management System that makes me want to cry in the corner. /em shudders :) We ran on the system that had the 'scaled-down' version of Oracle that you could do *nothing* with - except minor performance tunings, etc. What didn't help us was proprietary in-house code touching the IMS in ways that FileNET never dreamed of...
Hehe. Glad I'm not the only one.
Ack! FileNET! /em runs screaming...
/home/djpotter/My Documents folder on my Linux box!), it's going to be a huge headache to implement and get used to using this.
Once you get past the administration and user training of FileNET, the other large drawback to FileNET is the incredible cost and yearly fees. While FileNET may be of use in the enterprise, it's a bit spendy as a replacement for a file hierarchy system.
As someone said, this will require discipline - which, if you look at the haphazard way most of us just toss shit in our "My Documents" folder (damn Microsoft, I even created a
The other thing to consider is that in 6 months, will you remember what criteria you used when saving the document?
OK. So when your cruise control lets you drift 1 mph over the speed limit, you're breaking the law. And when the laws are changed to make your current behavior illegal, will you still cry "Don't break the law" like a good little sheep?
/em wrenches mind back
Crashing a car in most any event is dangerous. 60kph vs. 50kph - the car, and likely you, are going to sustain some damage.
Interestingly, the Autobahn in Germany is one of the safest roadways in the world. Oh yeah, the same Autobahn with 100+ mph traffic.
When Montana dropped their speed limits a few years ago, they found the average speed was 78 miles per hour. 3 mph over the previously posted limit. When the government threatened to pull their funding, they reinstated 75mph speed limits.
Define "better driving habits". Driving like you? Like me? Take a mother with 4 kids in the SUV, yapping on the cell phone. She's never had an accident, her insurance is clean. Are those good driving habits?
A 75-year old man on the Interstate doing 55mph - he's well within the legal limits, but when a group of traffic doing 80mph comes up on him, that creates a tense moment and a lot of brake lights. Is he displaying good driving habits?
I set my cruise at 78mph for my 25-mile commute. I wear my seatbelt, use my signals, don't talk on my cell, don't eat breakfast while I drive, etc. OK, sometimes I sing with the CD I've got in. Are my habits good? I'm 3 mph over the speed limit - moving with the flow of traffic. Should all of us be arrested?
Speed limits are an artificial creation designed as a fee collector for cities. People will drive at the speed they are comfortable with. If someone is doing 50 in a residential, they should be cited, by all means. If 50 becomes a median speed in that area, why is that? Is it a quicker way across town, etc.? Traffic patterns are so poorly researched and not planned ahead for that many thoroughfares become chokepoints, forcing people to alternate routes.
Bah, I'm way off-topic.
"If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about", you claim. What about when what you're doing legally now *becomes* something to hide? Your drive to your AA meeting? The surprise shopping for your wife becomes a reason to pull you over? A desire to try a new dish leads you to a neighborhood you've never visited - and a reason to stop you? How about when you and your wife just decide to "see where that road goes" - that's unusual activity and should be flagged. Complacency is the problem, and our government and corporations are preying on it.
One comment and it's already unavailable... How about "Dual Web Servers for Load Balancing"?
Excellent points, all. I'm heading on over to read that story now...
While I have sympathy for your pain and fear, there is no evidence to support the theory that any of these means will prevent terror. All it will do is provide our government a massive database about private, law-abiding citizens that they can monitor and control.
The attacks on 9/11/2001 *could* have been stopped - that's the truth behind all this. As soon as a commercial airliner deviates from its flight path, contact is immediately established. If they can't make contact for some reason, aircraft are launched to intercept and identify the problem. A pair of F15's launched from any airbase in the region would have had plenty of time to intercept and destroy the aircraft. Yeah, yeah, cry me a river for the poor innocents on board. However, 250 lives to save 2500 (or more) is acceptable.
What is not acceptable is the continual erosion of our civil liberties. It's these fears that you're describing that our government is counting on in order to keep us better under control.
There's an old saying, "I love my country, but I fear my government." I believe that statement more than ever now with the pattern of control and dictatorship that they're demonstrating daily.
Join the EFF. Use cryptography. DON'T buy into the conception that all this shit is done in the name of "Preventing Terror". Compare our political climate today to the "Red Scare" of the 50's - replace Communism with Terrorism, and you're right there. Was there a Red Menace? Apparently not...
I thought about posting this anonymously, but "THEY" will be able to subpeona my IP address from my provider and from Slashdot logs, so what the hell.
I'm not trying to belittle your fears and the pain you suffered, but we need to take the much longer view, here.
In the top 10 design goals of Bose engineers, Sound Quality is NOT on the list. Affordability, appearance, and saleability are.
:) Since you don't have a comparison at the Bose dealer, you can't make a good decision. That's why they do "Outlet Stores" that only sell Bose, so you can't do a good A/B comparison. After you retunn your $500 Bose, spend the difference on some good Guiness. :)
If you've heard the "wonderful sound of Bose" because someone told you they were great, consider this. Budweiser is unlikely a fine beer, but it's the "King of Beers" due to superior marketing and brand awareness. Same thing with Bose. They've gotten their name out there, and made people aware. "Big Bass from a small space" does not equate to better sound. Proper speaker construction, good crossovers, and matched drivers *do* contribute to better sound. The fancy-ass "Bose 901's" that some people drool over? They're made up of (9) cheap 5.25" drivers, of which ONE points forward. The rest fire backward to give you the "reflection" of the Direct/Reflection equation, and make the speaker sound bigger. If you like the 'Reflection' theory, try a pair of Definitive Technology's Bi-Polar Power Towers - they'll impress you.
You want to try some really nice moderately priced speakers? Boston Acoustics, Definitive Technology, and Klipsch are all phenomenal performers without a staggering price tag. Moving up, you've got options that will astound you.
If you want a good comparison, buy a Bose waveradio. Take it to a stereo dealer who sells the little Sony or Yamaha bookshelves - the Bose sucks in comparison.
Remember: "No highs, no lows, must be BOSE!"
Holy good Christ. Good thing I don't have to see your face as you tell me that I have to spend over $500 to get a good VCR. Or an $11000 television set.
Lemme check:
$80 RCA VCR, bought in like 1995 - still working.
$290 27" RCA TV bought in 1997 - still working.
$300 Kenwood "theater-in-a-box" system bought in 2000 - still working.
Jordan, I appreciate your salesmanship and your dedication to Tweeter, but some of your comments are flat-out wrong and why people dislike salesmen. You may be able to swing a $500 VCR with some of your custom home clients, but 99% of people cannot tell the difference between a tape recorded on a 2-head or 4-head or 6-head VCR. Hell, most people can't tell the difference when you're playing back from a mono or stereo VCR.
DVD players are another area that people are easily duped. Yeah, I'll grant you that a $49 DVD player is shit. But seriously, spend more than $500 for a single-tray DVD player and you got taken. "24 bit Burr/Brown D/A converters, multipath signals, isolated power supplies, etc." You've made the pitches, I've heard the pitches. Now put the two DVD players side by side on a 36" TV - the average size, I would assume for most people - and again, 95% or more *cannot tell the difference*.
Same with audio. Stevie Ray Vaughn's excellent "Texas Flood". Play it on CD, then on SACD for people. No difference for most people unless you lead them into it. "Now listen to this!" They don't want to appear stupid, so they'll say "YEAH! That sounds awesome!"
Don't get me wrong. A pair of Klipsch RF7's is lightyears above any piece of shit Bose, and I'll sing the praises of Yamaha receivers all day - but there's a point where you're just reaching.
I disagree with you. Anonymity is absolutely necessary. Your HTTP anonymizing services would of course divulge any and all information about the original IP address to the Ministry of Truth - sorry, I mean Homeland Security - if the post was from a suspected terrorist sympathizer or possible terrorist.
Freedom of speech needs anonymity in order for people to not fear retribution. As it stands now, our first amendment rights are in dire straits, anyway.
As far as 'spamming, worm injection, DOS attacks, etc.' - those things are already happening without much help from WiFi. This is just another excuse to regulate something the government and big business fears.
The reason I have my box dual-booting with RedHat and the Codeweavers/Transgaming plugins is because I *do* care about freedom and where I'd like to see Linux go. That's why I support the community as I am best able - with my purchases and support.
My comment was about the validity of an argument that Linux was superior to Windows without the very evidence the poster was complaining about.
_This very attitude_ - the one you're displaying about "extremely powerful criminals who want to control you!!!!!" is the attitude that immediately turns off the non-geek, non-Linux, non-computer-using public - which makes up about 97% of the world. We are a minority with a passion - in other, less polite circles, we'd be called a cult.
I would personally like to see these attitudes change, and then we can really start to have Linux win on the desktop, and be able to move away from a Microsoft-dominated desktop.
Damn, I think I've been trolled. But I do earnestly believe what I've written.
However, your zealotry is also devoid of factual content. With your cavalier attitude towards a contrary opinion, it will be hard to persuade people to try Linux or any other 'new' technology.
I'll ask you some of the same questions: What about Linux is more stable? Examples, please.
Yes, Linux is very fast on a command line - there's no UI loaded up. But comparing XP to RedHat's BlueCurve on my Athlon XP 1500+ w/ 512MB memory and GeForce 3 Ti500 - running the latest Detonator drivers in Windows, and the latest NVidia drivers in Linux - they're both pretty quick. Yeah, that's not "scientific" - but neither one is *appreciably* slower than the other. MS Office XP is fast. StarOffice is slower, however. Normal usage of the core OS is about the same.
In the early part of your comment, you made a sarcastic comment about "Yeah, all those cross-platform apps you tested." Please, post the information you've got about cross-platform applications.
Well, my Linux side does run the Codeweavers and Transgaming plugins - the plugin versions are fast enough to use, but they *do* slightly lag behind the Windows versions in their "native" environment.
Windows XP - with Windows certified drivers - is very stable. I've had ONE BSOD in 13 months - from a Beta Detonator driver. Since then, not one.
Zealotry will get us nowhere in the halls of Corporate America, the desktops of Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Joe Sixpack. It makes us look like little children who ignore reality because it's our favorite toy.
I like Linux as much as the next geek/wannabe-geek, but I'm objective enough to see where we need to go, not where we imagine we are.
Glad to help out, guys. ;) Have fun.
D
I installed a Starband system at a very remote location in Wyoming for a former employer - dialup was only capable of 33.6 at best, and the phone service itself was spotty.
Snow, heavy rain, fog, and sunspots (!) all affect the reception of this piece.
I've done a couple more since then, and have been able to plug directly into a Linux box. Take the little plate off next to the USB port on the satellite modem - and boom, there's the Ethernet jack. Do DHCP on that interface, and you're in good shape.
The largest problem with this, however, is that by "buying nothing!" you're not helping the weak economy in our country. We need to stimulate the economy so people have more confidence in buying items, and helping to climb out of recession. Everyone sitting on their cash isn't helping, contrary to what you may think. I'm not advocating blowing your entire check, but by all means, do your Christmas/holiday shopping. We all cry about how we can't find jobs, and how pitiful the economy is, but these little protests aren't helping the situation any.
The comments about 'maddened consumerism' and 'rampant consumption' are strongly worded and designed to elicit an emotional response - and yet you claim the *retailers* play dirty? Wow.
Seriously. Our economy is dependent on the buying and selling of goods. Or, as a wiser man once said, "You've got to spend money to make money."
Has to belong to Harley Davidson. No other company in the world has the following. Tattoos, vehicle editions, etc.
;)
They're not the best motorcycle technically (stop, I love HD's, don't hammer me) - but they're the coolest/sexiest/most sought-after two-wheeled piece of machinery on many lists.
Why? They have a culture, a 'feel', a mystique that Honda or Yamaha doesn't. Yeah, a YZF-R1 can smoke any Harley. Yeah, a Gold Wing is more comfortable. But dammit, H-D is "The One."
I would imagine Mac zealots/fans feel much the same way. Like with a Harley, don't knock it until you try it. If it's not for you, that's cool. Those of us who 'get it' will keep hope alive for you.
I volunteer! :-)
Now to get my Gixxer...