One interesting thing, is I have _never_ seen a price increase or decrease for any goods or services due to the price of gasoline/diesel fuel which is pretty volatile compared to other commodities and inflation.
It's all a matter of frame of reference. And of course if yo pick the right frame of reference, the universe is just a few light-minutes wide and about 6000 years old.
Anyone can parse a well-formed XML document, and validate it if a DTD is provided.
In other words, XML makes it easier to reverse-engineer somebody else's format. That's cool, but it just doesn't make that much of difference for word processor or spreadsheet files. The format of Microsoft.doc and.xls files is actually pretty well documented. Parsing them is a nightmare, but the hard work has already been done.
The real problem with these files is that they're very poorly structured. You express this lack of structure in XML instead of binary and you really haven't improved interoperability at all, because you still have a mess when you move the data from one application to another. XML is really only useful if you put a lot of effort into defining conventions for structuring your data, and if all your applications stick to it.
The big fallacy of this measure is based on the assumption that formats like XML and RTF are more open because they're easier to parse. (And in point of fact, RTF is only slightly easier to parse than binary.) Parsing is only a small part of the problem.
It isn't even worth arguing whether or not this study is flawed. Until somebody at least claims to find that Firefox has more than a single-digit market share, any report that Firefox is "gaining ground" is just hype, and actually hurts the product.
Get the hell out of Silicon Valley and you'll find it.
I've been trying to get out of Silicon Valley for a while now. It costs too much to live here, there's lots of air polution, and all pavement and tickytacky boxes wear down the soul. Still, I've been stuck here because this is where the jobs have been.
Except they're not any more, so I really need to get out. But how do I go about that? I can't just pick up and move somewhere and hope I'll find work. And the labor market is ovesupplied everywhere, so nobody will even look at a nonlocal resume. Even if you make it clear that you'll pay your own relocation.
Why do people drive too fast without seatbelts? Why do skiers ignore the skull-and-crossbones signs around avalanche zones? Why do people live in mobile homes in tornado and hurricane zones? People will always ignore non-immediate dangers and problems in favor of immediate costs and inconveniences, even if the risks are high and the costs are low.
I'm not a language nazi. You can mispell, mispunctuate, screw up your grammar, and otherwise horrify your High School English teacher, and I won't flame you, just as long as I understand what you're trying to say. But I draw the line at people who chose their words because they look cool, regardless of meaning. In this case "helm" instead of "direct" is only mildly lame, but "remake" instead of "adaptation"? A remake is a new version of an old movie. Of course, words change their meaning, but "re" and "make" are just to simple and obvious to mutate that far.
Happens everywhere. Once I had to change my seat in a restaurant because I couldn't listen to the technogibberish a guy was spouting to impress his date.
I'm a technical writer, and I think a major reason my profession has such a lousy reputation is that it attracts people who learn a little tech, and then get their egos all bound up in proving how much they know. Which is can be a real problem, since half the job is sitting quietly, listening to people who know more than you do.
But what really bugs me is when otherwise intelligent people just totally overestimate their knowledge. Two of my favorite genre writers are Michael Connelly and John Sandford -- but when they try to write techno-thrillers, they manage to get so much stuff wrong, it's hilarious.
This is pretty typical. Somebody who knows a little something about computers appoints themselves an expert. And they get away with it, because the people around them (in this case the other reporters at AP) know even less. Sad, but not exactly unprecedented. Look at all the other "computer experts" who write total BS in various newspapers and online columns.
Still, the dial turns at 10 clicks per second, even if doesn't turn for a full second. If you're driving at 25 miles an hour, it doesn't mean you driving for a full hour.
I happen to think that X is clunky. The API is a nightmare, and customization or configuration means poking through a mind-boggling maze of resource files and startup scripts.
But you're right, today's platforms suck at network transparency. Windows is at the bottom of the list, which is why network transparency is such an alien concept to most users. Mac does somewhat better, but only by throwing in user-friendly wizards to make network chores a little less intimidating. Unix/Linux has the functionality, but almost nobody uses it.
OSs like CTOS and QNX were doing network-centric computing long before anybody ever heard of X. But CTOS is pretty much dead, and QNX seems to be a niche product. Nowadays people use "personal computers" which evolved out of hardware hacker toys, in which networking is an afterthought.
Apple does pay a lot of attention to making their documentation clear and usable. Which of course goes with their ease-of-use religion. My only quibble is that their docs often leave out important technical details, for fear of confusing or intimidating users.
In any case, this is a reminder that educating your users is a big part of security.
I'm not talking about running Solaris FrameMaker on Mac -- I'm talking about running Solaris FrameMaker on Solaris, and making it available to Mac users on the same network. As I said before, X terminals can be used with software running on remote systems. In fact, X was originally designed for dedicated terminal systems, which wouldn't run any software at all, except for the terminal software. A concept which never caught on, probably because an X Terminal cost more than a PC.
The other people who replied to my post gave some good examples of remote execution in the real world.
I should have thought to mention SSH -- a simple low-resource way to establish a secure connection to a server. Those of us in the Windows world who want to use access company networks have to reply on VPNs -- which are pretty resource-intensive.
I do use SSH to synchronize my Linux-hosted web site with its staging area on my Windows box. But that's done with command-line tools, since I don't have any X-Window support. Can't afford commercial X terminals, and the only free one I know of (X for Cygwin) doesn't work very well.
It's worth remembering that an X application doesn't have to run on the same system as the terminal. So even if you can't get the source code, you might be able to run the software, provided you're willing to spring for a Unix box the software supports. That might be useful for people who need commercial applications (such as FrameMaker) which are no longer available for the Mac, but is still supported for Solaris.
I share your disgust with premium cable, and extend it even to basic cable, which has become grossly overpriced. But it's not logical to assume that any new KYFW technology is just going to make things worse. They could actually make things better. No, I'm not certain about that, I'm not even very optimistic -- but it is possible.
Ask yourself why your VCR can't hook up directly to your scrambled channels. It's because there's no integration between the distribution system and the VCR, except for a very primitive audio/video interface. If you could somehow teach your VCR to unscramble the signal itself, than you'd have a lot more flexibility. And that's exactly what a CableCard is supposed to do. And that goes for other devices. Maybe there will even be a way to plug the CableCard into your PC so you can have a do-it-yourself PVR that groks scrambled cable.
Perhaps you think that providers have no right to make you jump through technological hoops in order to view their content. I don't disagree, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for them to back away from this posture -- or for them to lose the political clout that puts all the legislators and regulators on their side.
I could live with all this if it were just possible to get more content on a cafeteria basis, instead of having to spend $80/month to get 500 channels, just to watch the tiny percentage of shows that you actually want to see. In theory, CableCards and other DRM technology could make it possible for you to just pay for what you actually see. But, as I said, I'm not optimistic: the studios are just too much in love with "bundling" which forces you to pay for big packages. So all this stuff is just irrelevent to those of us who refuse -- or can't afford -- to be gouged.
Using Firefox is a good idea, but I question your other measures. Outlook is a weak link because it uses Internet Explorer to render rich text, and because of its own security issues. Isolating your LAN from the public Internet is an important (nay, necessary) security measure, but you shouldn't fool yourself that it does much to protect you from viruses or spyware.
Security is an active process, not something you buy at CompUSA. You need to educate your users, actively scan your systems, and keep yourself up to date about new kinds of threats. Hiding behind a firewall and telling yourself you're safe is a recipe for disaster.
Yeah, I know, the radiation issue is overstated, yada yada. My point is that your stereotyping anti-nuclear people as knee-jerk anti-tech idiots is lazy thinking. Every POV has adherents that are total idiots -- including yours. People who disagree with a POV should attack the ideas, not the people who hold them. Otherwise their own intelligence comes into question.
Slashdot Mirror
Fuel Surcharges
Inflation due to energy costs.
It's all a matter of frame of reference. And of course if yo pick the right frame of reference, the universe is just a few light-minutes wide and about 6000 years old.
The real problem with these files is that they're very poorly structured. You express this lack of structure in XML instead of binary and you really haven't improved interoperability at all, because you still have a mess when you move the data from one application to another. XML is really only useful if you put a lot of effort into defining conventions for structuring your data, and if all your applications stick to it.
The big fallacy of this measure is based on the assumption that formats like XML and RTF are more open because they're easier to parse. (And in point of fact, RTF is only slightly easier to parse than binary.) Parsing is only a small part of the problem.
It isn't even worth arguing whether or not this study is flawed. Until somebody at least claims to find that Firefox has more than a single-digit market share, any report that Firefox is "gaining ground" is just hype, and actually hurts the product.
You mean, "Can Mossburg count?" and the answer is "Obviously not."
Except they're not any more, so I really need to get out. But how do I go about that? I can't just pick up and move somewhere and hope I'll find work. And the labor market is ovesupplied everywhere, so nobody will even look at a nonlocal resume. Even if you make it clear that you'll pay your own relocation.
Maybe this is a subject for a fresh Ask Slashdot!
Why do people drive too fast without seatbelts? Why do skiers ignore the skull-and-crossbones signs around avalanche zones? Why do people live in mobile homes in tornado and hurricane zones? People will always ignore non-immediate dangers and problems in favor of immediate costs and inconveniences, even if the risks are high and the costs are low.
I'm a technical writer, and I think a major reason my profession has such a lousy reputation is that it attracts people who learn a little tech, and then get their egos all bound up in proving how much they know. Which is can be a real problem, since half the job is sitting quietly, listening to people who know more than you do.
But what really bugs me is when otherwise intelligent people just totally overestimate their knowledge. Two of my favorite genre writers are Michael Connelly and John Sandford -- but when they try to write techno-thrillers, they manage to get so much stuff wrong, it's hilarious.
Excuse me, could you repeat that?
This is pretty typical. Somebody who knows a little something about computers appoints themselves an expert. And they get away with it, because the people around them (in this case the other reporters at AP) know even less. Sad, but not exactly unprecedented. Look at all the other "computer experts" who write total BS in various newspapers and online columns.
...are not nostalgia. You still need them for scratching!
More blasphemy! The Solidus was only used for the Apple ///, and that abomination was the beginning of the end.
But you're right, today's platforms suck at network transparency. Windows is at the bottom of the list, which is why network transparency is such an alien concept to most users. Mac does somewhat better, but only by throwing in user-friendly wizards to make network chores a little less intimidating. Unix/Linux has the functionality, but almost nobody uses it.
OSs like CTOS and QNX were doing network-centric computing long before anybody ever heard of X. But CTOS is pretty much dead, and QNX seems to be a niche product. Nowadays people use "personal computers" which evolved out of hardware hacker toys, in which networking is an afterthought.
Blasphemy! Everybody knows it's ][, not II!
In any case, this is a reminder that educating your users is a big part of security.
The other people who replied to my post gave some good examples of remote execution in the real world.
I do use SSH to synchronize my Linux-hosted web site with its staging area on my Windows box. But that's done with command-line tools, since I don't have any X-Window support. Can't afford commercial X terminals, and the only free one I know of (X for Cygwin) doesn't work very well.
That's a little unclear. What are you backing up? Is Arkeia able to access your laptop files?
It's worth remembering that an X application doesn't have to run on the same system as the terminal. So even if you can't get the source code, you might be able to run the software, provided you're willing to spring for a Unix box the software supports. That might be useful for people who need commercial applications (such as FrameMaker) which are no longer available for the Mac, but is still supported for Solaris.
Ask yourself why your VCR can't hook up directly to your scrambled channels. It's because there's no integration between the distribution system and the VCR, except for a very primitive audio/video interface. If you could somehow teach your VCR to unscramble the signal itself, than you'd have a lot more flexibility. And that's exactly what a CableCard is supposed to do. And that goes for other devices. Maybe there will even be a way to plug the CableCard into your PC so you can have a do-it-yourself PVR that groks scrambled cable.
Perhaps you think that providers have no right to make you jump through technological hoops in order to view their content. I don't disagree, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for them to back away from this posture -- or for them to lose the political clout that puts all the legislators and regulators on their side.
I could live with all this if it were just possible to get more content on a cafeteria basis, instead of having to spend $80/month to get 500 channels, just to watch the tiny percentage of shows that you actually want to see. In theory, CableCards and other DRM technology could make it possible for you to just pay for what you actually see. But, as I said, I'm not optimistic: the studios are just too much in love with "bundling" which forces you to pay for big packages. So all this stuff is just irrelevent to those of us who refuse -- or can't afford -- to be gouged.
Security is an active process, not something you buy at CompUSA. You need to educate your users, actively scan your systems, and keep yourself up to date about new kinds of threats. Hiding behind a firewall and telling yourself you're safe is a recipe for disaster.
Yeah, I know, the radiation issue is overstated, yada yada. My point is that your stereotyping anti-nuclear people as knee-jerk anti-tech idiots is lazy thinking. Every POV has adherents that are total idiots -- including yours. People who disagree with a POV should attack the ideas, not the people who hold them. Otherwise their own intelligence comes into question.
But at the rate we're going we'll be extinct in a century or so. We have to work on this problem now, while we're still around!