Someday when we all have extraordinarily fast computers, we'll simply be able to send somebody an MD5 sum and the computers will be able to "crack" it back into the original file. At that point, commercial software wouldn't even have to come on a CD... just print the hash on a slip of paper and the user could type it in.
Interesting topic, because I was just thinking about this the other day. I'm planning on building an ISO server, and you should consider the same.
The server will be based on Linux, and have plenty of disk space to hold the large number of ISO files. I'd write a script that would read a directory listing and mount all ISO files via the/dev/loopN and iso9660 support.
From there, the ISO mount points are going to be accessible via an SMB (Samba) share.
This will allow users on the network to use their "Network Neighborhood" or "Computers Near Me" interfaces to browse the files. In fact, most users will probably never know about the ISO files, nor will they know that they're browsing a linux machine. Its going to be ultra transparent.
What does this mean for local advertising that dominates traditional FM radio? Lets say "Larry's Local Lobster Shack" advertises on the radio and generates a lot of business. There really isn't anything attractive about satellite radio advertising for local business owners to get excited about. Plus, its probably a lot more expensive to match the likes of the larger national companies.
I'm sure FM radio isn't going anyway, but will FM become to XM what AM is to FM?
I'm not really interested in satellite radio because I'm 99.99% sure I won't find anything I want to listen to. Yeah, this sh*t is nation wide, but who wants that? From my experience, anything nation wide isn't interesting because the presentation is ultra-bland, assumably so nobody is offended. I hear nation wide style broadcasts on my local radio stations mostly on the weekend, which is filler content the station uses to fill the void. "Your listening to the we're going to tell you whats cool this week show, and I'm your host, ultra fake ultra boring radio guy!"
I believe that localized (or regional) traditional FM radio is more interesting to listen to because of its local identity. The DJs are people that are part of the localized culture, we can easily identify with those people, and the presentation is interesting. People identify with their favorite radio stations... its one way we can identify "who we are" in a social context. I certainly would have a hard time identifying with a bland nation-wide pop-culture type of satellite radio "station".
I regularly buy Cento anchovies, because it helps with the fresh breath problem. I never thought I'd see it in a weird canned foods collection, let alone linked from slashdot!
I really like the idea of better changelogs explaining fixes and problems to the "end users". Granted, the "end users" compiling their own kernels are generally not typical computer users... some changelog lines are easy to understand while others aren't. The understanding is based solely on the users knowledge of the inner workings of the system.
I don't necessarily think that end user style changelogs should be of much concern to core kernel developers. Obviously, they should be concentrating on fixing problems. However, I have an idea that should make everybody happy...
A group of kernel savvy & knowledgeable systems experts should get together and form an open changelog review project. This project could work alongside the core kernel team for the sole purpose of documenting kernel changes, answering the questions of why, where, how, etc.
This would achieve great kernel documentation, and avoid putting that added stress on the kernel team. Thoughts?
I think $49.95 per month is too expensive for something I can't justify as a necessity. Even before the monthly expenses, there is a setup cost and initial investment in the modem of $200-$300.
I would be willing to make the investment if perhaps they threw in the modem for free with an annual contract and a smaller monthly fee. I think that is a reasonable deal if they are truly interested in attracting customers to the wireless/PDA market.
I've been tantilized by the omnisky service ever since I bought my Visor Platinum, but I haven't been able to justify the cost in order to get online with my PDA. If they really want the wireless/PDA industry to take off, they'd be a pioneer in finding a way to offer the service for cheap... as in perhaps $15 per month or something like that. I realize that operating this type of service has a high cost, but I'm sure there are ways a company could bring the service to the market in an attractive manner. Right now, the lack of service area and price aren't attractive.
While I'd like to have wireless access on my PDA, I don't need it. I'm not the only PDA user with this mindset.
If they could make the service affordable, I'd definetely sign up without hesitation. When masses of people are able to sign up for the service, then the industry will boom and the OmniSky service could be the backbone of the industry.
I saw this very type of ad on Yahoo! the other day... it was a lemon that bounced around the screen for a bit, then moved off to the side. Its pretty annoying, and I fully expect to see a lot more of that in the coming months.
These people have to understand how it is going to effect their site! I think it detracts from what the site is really offering, and I'm willing to bet that a lot of viewers won't be inclined to use the site as they had previously. Once this type of advertising demonstrates the damage it can cause to a site's image and readership, then we'll move on the next phase of advertising... how about something that doesn't suck?
I think these lawyers are smoking crack... the newest "solution" is to have m$ extend its reach to other popular platforms? Great! I don't get it... nor do I find the idea of "Office for Linux" pleasant to think about.
I run a skiing portal/weblog community type site... I haven't had any problem getting members. I attribute this mostly to how I've built the site.
1. I don't have any expenses, so I don't care whether I get readers or not. Not a primary concern.
2. I concentrate on making my site interesting and easy to use. This should be your 1st goal, because most weblog/portals suck. IF a potential new user navigates to your site, and there is nothing there that interests him/her, that user won't ever come back.
Slashdot is targeted at the right kind of people for this type of media... geeks. The target demographic has a lot to do what people expect to get from your site. The vast majority of internet users don't understand what a weblog is. From that aspect, you need to provide content in a manner that normal users would understand. For example, my skiing portal is layed out like a magazine, with complete articles, and other diversions.
Have interesting subject matter. Understand your target reader.
The installer is the heart of any operating system? Ummm... ok. I wasn't completely sure about that kernel thing... glad you clarified it for me. Thanks.
This "copy protection" is silly. It won't be long before somebody cracks it... even then, there is still nothing stopping me from putting one of these CDs into a regular CD player, piping the audio into my line input jack, and encoding from that.
In fact, I prefer to encode all my CDs because I can mix/equalize them easier on my PC making them sound much better than unequalized CD audio. I do that because my PC is primary entertainment device... I made an investment in a nice sound system for my PC, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one.
This whole "copy protection" concept is really silly, and I believe it violates my right to fair use of the products I will purchase. I will continue to encode my CDs, thats all there is to it.
Re:DRDOS isn't open- read the newsforge article
on
Lineo Frees CP/M
·
· Score: 1
Yeah, I realized this after I dug deep into lineo looking for the source! I really want it badly, and I'm tempted to ask how much $$.
Re:Where acutally IS the the source??
on
Lineo Frees CP/M
·
· Score: 3, Informative
The CPM source can be downloaded from http://www.cpm.z80.de
CLARIFICATON, DR-DOS is not OPEN, however the source is for sale if you'd like to purchase it.
FreeDOS, and some random thoughts
on
Lineo Frees CP/M
·
· Score: 2
FreeDOS has been an interesting and successful project. Its kernel based. Now that DR-DOS is open, it'll be interesting to see what kind of projects and distros become of DR-DOS. DR-DOS is closer to *real* MS-DOS than FreeDOS. Does this mean that perhaps FreeDOS will be pushed aside for preference of DR-DOS, in such arenas as DOSEMU support of legacy applications? Just some points to think about. I'm sure FreeDOS isn't going away anwyay, because it rocks as much as DR-DOS, as much as DOS can rock.
Ijust read the patent, and here are a few observations...
1. The patent specifically specifies a "telephone network", and use of a modem. (which is why they're not suing the W3C)
2. The patent specifically states use of a a "terminal aperatus", stating not a "traditional computer terminal".
It also lays out a plan for non-crt use via alphanumeric display and keypad. No mention of a mouse.
There are some other vague points in there, but I believe the patent is practically invalid due to the fact that it was built around technology available in 1976. Technology has grown so rapidly that this patent is nearly garbage today.
I'm a bit confused at the concept of "running out of licenses". It seems to me, that m$ has a virtually unlimited qty of these "licenses". A "license" is a completely arbitrary item. I didn't realize a "license" was something tangeable.
So, to help me out a bit, are we referring to the physical medium the "licenses" are printed on? Or, are they distributed on a CD? (I'm really out of the loop on m$ products). Do "licenses" come in a physical cardboard box?
Sort of... I'm writing the code anyway, so why not put it in a library so it can be easily reused. Then, its easy to use mulitple languages in a single app, because the shared object (.dll,.so, etc) is basically a wrapper for code written in other languages.
Also, almost every language has hooks for executing C or ASM code, which can be used for other tasks. I have many low level routines written in ASM, which are then hooked from the controlling app.
When I had all I could take with NSi, I decided to start using a different registrar. So, I went with [anonymous registrar]. [anonymous registrar] does business in Germany, so all the prices are in Euros... and its wicked cheap! EUR 12.00 for 1 year.
When I placed my first order with them, it was for 3 domains at 1 year each. Somehow through the magic of the internet, my order ended up incorrect, and I was charged EUR 144.00 directly from my bank account. I filed a charge dispute with my bank. Instead of trying to deal with a company in Germany, my bank decided to simply refund the money. Best part, is that I ended up with 3 domains @ 4 years each for *free*.
This is a fairly common practice in VB development. I often use.DLLs written in other languages (VC++, etc) to make up for weaknesses in VB, and to generally improve performance where the VB equivalent would be a nasty piece of code.
Other than that, I don't usually mix languages. I've some tricky things with C/PHP, but limited.
Slashdot Mirror
Someday when we all have extraordinarily fast computers, we'll simply be able to send somebody an MD5 sum and the computers will be able to "crack" it back into the original file. At that point, commercial software wouldn't even have to come on a CD... just print the hash on a slip of paper and the user could type it in.
word.
Interesting topic, because I was just thinking about this the other day. I'm planning on building an ISO server, and you should consider the same.
/dev/loopN and iso9660 support.
The server will be based on Linux, and have plenty of disk space to hold the large number of ISO files. I'd write a script that would read a directory listing and mount all ISO files via the
From there, the ISO mount points are going to be accessible via an SMB (Samba) share.
This will allow users on the network to use their "Network Neighborhood" or "Computers Near Me" interfaces to browse the files. In fact, most users will probably never know about the ISO files, nor will they know that they're browsing a linux machine. Its going to be ultra transparent.
What does this mean for local advertising that dominates traditional FM radio? Lets say "Larry's Local Lobster Shack" advertises on the radio and generates a lot of business. There really isn't anything attractive about satellite radio advertising for local business owners to get excited about. Plus, its probably a lot more expensive to match the likes of the larger national companies.
I'm sure FM radio isn't going anyway, but will FM become to XM what AM is to FM?
I'm not really interested in satellite radio because I'm 99.99% sure I won't find anything I want to listen to. Yeah, this sh*t is nation wide, but who wants that? From my experience, anything nation wide isn't interesting because the presentation is ultra-bland, assumably so nobody is offended. I hear nation wide style broadcasts on my local radio stations mostly on the weekend, which is filler content the station uses to fill the void. "Your listening to the we're going to tell you whats cool this week show, and I'm your host, ultra fake ultra boring radio guy!"
I believe that localized (or regional) traditional FM radio is more interesting to listen to because of its local identity. The DJs are people that are part of the localized culture, we can easily identify with those people, and the presentation is interesting. People identify with their favorite radio stations... its one way we can identify "who we are" in a social context. I certainly would have a hard time identifying with a bland nation-wide pop-culture type of satellite radio "station".
I regularly buy Cento anchovies, because it helps with the fresh breath problem. I never thought I'd see it in a weird canned foods collection, let alone linked from slashdot!
I really like the idea of better changelogs explaining fixes and problems to the "end users". Granted, the "end users" compiling their own kernels are generally not typical computer users... some changelog lines are easy to understand while others aren't. The understanding is based solely on the users knowledge of the inner workings of the system.
I don't necessarily think that end user style changelogs should be of much concern to core kernel developers. Obviously, they should be concentrating on fixing problems. However, I have an idea that should make everybody happy...
A group of kernel savvy & knowledgeable systems experts should get together and form an open changelog review project. This project could work alongside the core kernel team for the sole purpose of documenting kernel changes, answering the questions of why, where, how, etc.
This would achieve great kernel documentation, and avoid putting that added stress on the kernel team. Thoughts?
I think $49.95 per month is too expensive for something I can't justify as a necessity. Even before the monthly expenses, there is a setup cost and initial investment in the modem of $200-$300.
I would be willing to make the investment if perhaps they threw in the modem for free with an annual contract and a smaller monthly fee. I think that is a reasonable deal if they are truly interested in attracting customers to the wireless/PDA market.
I've been tantilized by the omnisky service ever since I bought my Visor Platinum, but I haven't been able to justify the cost in order to get online with my PDA. If they really want the wireless/PDA industry to take off, they'd be a pioneer in finding a way to offer the service for cheap... as in perhaps $15 per month or something like that. I realize that operating this type of service has a high cost, but I'm sure there are ways a company could bring the service to the market in an attractive manner. Right now, the lack of service area and price aren't attractive.
While I'd like to have wireless access on my PDA, I don't need it. I'm not the only PDA user with this mindset.
If they could make the service affordable, I'd definetely sign up without hesitation. When masses of people are able to sign up for the service, then the industry will boom and the OmniSky service could be the backbone of the industry.
I saw this very type of ad on Yahoo! the other day... it was a lemon that bounced around the screen for a bit, then moved off to the side. Its pretty annoying, and I fully expect to see a lot more of that in the coming months.
These people have to understand how it is going to effect their site! I think it detracts from what the site is really offering, and I'm willing to bet that a lot of viewers won't be inclined to use the site as they had previously. Once this type of advertising demonstrates the damage it can cause to a site's image and readership, then we'll move on the next phase of advertising... how about something that doesn't suck?
I think these lawyers are smoking crack... the newest "solution" is to have m$ extend its reach to other popular platforms? Great! I don't get it... nor do I find the idea of "Office for Linux" pleasant to think about.
I run a skiing portal/weblog community type site... I haven't had any problem getting members. I attribute this mostly to how I've built the site.
1. I don't have any expenses, so I don't care whether I get readers or not. Not a primary concern.
2. I concentrate on making my site interesting and easy to use. This should be your 1st goal, because most weblog/portals suck. IF a potential new user navigates to your site, and there is nothing there that interests him/her, that user won't ever come back.
Slashdot is targeted at the right kind of people for this type of media... geeks. The target demographic has a lot to do what people expect to get from your site. The vast majority of internet users don't understand what a weblog is. From that aspect, you need to provide content in a manner that normal users would understand. For example, my skiing portal is layed out like a magazine, with complete articles, and other diversions.
Have interesting subject matter. Understand your target reader.
The installer is the heart of any operating system? Ummm... ok. I wasn't completely sure about that kernel thing... glad you clarified it for me. Thanks.
This "copy protection" is silly. It won't be long before somebody cracks it... even then, there is still nothing stopping me from putting one of these CDs into a regular CD player, piping the audio into my line input jack, and encoding from that.
In fact, I prefer to encode all my CDs because I can mix/equalize them easier on my PC making them sound much better than unequalized CD audio. I do that because my PC is primary entertainment device... I made an investment in a nice sound system for my PC, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one.
This whole "copy protection" concept is really silly, and I believe it violates my right to fair use of the products I will purchase. I will continue to encode my CDs, thats all there is to it.
Yeah, I realized this after I dug deep into lineo looking for the source! I really want it badly, and I'm tempted to ask how much $$.
The CPM source can be downloaded from http://www.cpm.z80.de
CLARIFICATON, DR-DOS is not OPEN, however the source is for sale if you'd like to purchase it.
FreeDOS has been an interesting and successful project. Its kernel based. Now that DR-DOS is open, it'll be interesting to see what kind of projects and distros become of DR-DOS. DR-DOS is closer to *real* MS-DOS than FreeDOS. Does this mean that perhaps FreeDOS will be pushed aside for preference of DR-DOS, in such arenas as DOSEMU support of legacy applications? Just some points to think about. I'm sure FreeDOS isn't going away anwyay, because it rocks as much as DR-DOS, as much as DOS can rock.
Cool stuff.
In related news, the FBI is planning to release project Brain Drain, following in the footsteps of project Midnight Lantern.
Ijust read the patent, and here are a few observations...
1. The patent specifically specifies a "telephone network", and use of a modem. (which is why they're not suing the W3C)
2. The patent specifically states use of a a "terminal aperatus", stating not a "traditional computer terminal".
It also lays out a plan for non-crt use via alphanumeric display and keypad. No mention of a mouse.
There are some other vague points in there, but I believe the patent is practically invalid due to the fact that it was built around technology available in 1976. Technology has grown so rapidly that this patent is nearly garbage today.
I refer to my previous post on this very subject a few days ago...
3 071
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=23995&cid=259
I'm a bit confused at the concept of "running out of licenses". It seems to me, that m$ has a virtually unlimited qty of these "licenses". A "license" is a completely arbitrary item. I didn't realize a "license" was something tangeable.
So, to help me out a bit, are we referring to the physical medium the "licenses" are printed on? Or, are they distributed on a CD? (I'm really out of the loop on m$ products). Do "licenses" come in a physical cardboard box?
Well, that finally explains the magic carpet thing...
When I started out, I had an itch to scratch.
Phew! Good thing you didn't say "I had to scratch an itch", because thats would have been silly.
Sort of... I'm writing the code anyway, so why not put it in a library so it can be easily reused. Then, its easy to use mulitple languages in a single app, because the shared object (.dll, .so, etc) is basically a wrapper for code written in other languages.
Also, almost every language has hooks for executing C or ASM code, which can be used for other tasks. I have many low level routines written in ASM, which are then hooked from the controlling app.
When I had all I could take with NSi, I decided to start using a different registrar. So, I went with [anonymous registrar]. [anonymous registrar] does business in Germany, so all the prices are in Euros... and its wicked cheap! EUR 12.00 for 1 year.
When I placed my first order with them, it was for 3 domains at 1 year each. Somehow through the magic of the internet, my order ended up incorrect, and I was charged EUR 144.00 directly from my bank account. I filed a charge dispute with my bank. Instead of trying to deal with a company in Germany, my bank decided to simply refund the money. Best part, is that I ended up with 3 domains @ 4 years each for *free*.
This is a fairly common practice in VB development. I often use .DLLs written in other languages (VC++, etc) to make up for weaknesses in VB, and to generally improve performance where the VB equivalent would be a nasty piece of code.
Other than that, I don't usually mix languages. I've some tricky things with C/PHP, but limited.