CULT-ture of Mac
on
The Cult of Mac
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Sounds like a good read; I enjoy studying the social aspects of our industry.
Having touched my first Unix system back when I was 9 years old (actually it was a Silent 700 terminal, built-in acoustic coupler modem, dialing into System III) I've been fanatical about the command-line, anc always views Macs as a curiousity more than anything else. Worthy of derision most of the time, and of a nod now and then.
I then got stuck on the Windows platform for the longest period of time, and it was partially my own choice. I was doing Java development at the time, and the JVM from Sun was better than the early JVMs for Linux. That, and the fact that I kept getting more and more Micro$oft-based attachments that when edited with the early Star Office would be mangled beyond hope when I sent them back.
One day last year my wife let me play with her PowerBook running OS X. It had a really nice JVM that ran Java apps with blazing speed. (Yes, "Java" and "blazing" in the same sentence!) It ran Micro$oft Office programs, and in most cases, with more reliability than their Windows counterparts. It was infinitely more usable than Windows' best user interfaces. And best of all, you could fire up a shell and run vi on your.bashrc file.
I went head over heels.
Now, I still have Linux systems (and even a FreeBSD system) in my server room, but my desktop and my laptop are all Mac OS X, and I've never needed to look back to Windows again. Am I a "fanboy"? Probably. (I even got an iPod.) But I'm a fanboy because of what's under the hood now, not because of the path Apple took to get here.
Given how entrenched Micro$oft's clutches are into the US Government, a security guide for Windows based systems would be even more useful.
(I work for NASA; almost everyone in our group has Mac OS X on our desktops and Linux in the server room. Our supervisor is the only Windows user. Yes, he's developing pointy hair.)
Either something incredibly dangerous (Do Not Look Into New Monitor With Remaining Eye) or amazingly trippy (with Pink Floyd playing in the background).
What I mean is that in the end, Wikis are still collections of text, the visual representation of spoken language frozen in time, if I can wax melodramtic a bit. And language is ambiguous. Spelling of the same word varies per dialect; the same word may have different meanings; even scientifically precise measurements can have various representations that vary per discipline. So, in the end, even as cool a search engine as Google, applied to a wiki, is still bound to result in lost data, imprecise matches, and missed opportunities.
As a case in point, consider a web (not a wiki) search I did a couple years ago: I needed to find if anyone had for the Interactive Data Language (IDL) a CORBA-capable client using the Interface Definition Language (IDL).
Or in other words, IDL for IDL.
Needless to say, such a search using plain text was pointless. However, with appropriate metadata vocabularies, I could qualify the search and find either what I was looking for, or assurance that such a thing didn't exist.
When *@aol.com first started appearing on newsgroups I thought AOL would just be a minor nuisance, like a hangnail. Then I got *@aol.com in my email box like there was no tomorrow, and nuisance turned into genuine pain in the neck, like a cancer.
But slowly and surely, AOL has done much to both transform themselves and the user populace into better Internet citizens... and I can't help but think that they've affected the genre tenor of the Internet as a whole in the process.
So now that they're taking a pre-emptive strike against spim, I have to applaud.
But not just because proprietary, expensive behemoths like Lotus Notes are proprietary or expensive, but because the web and HTTP are the current application delivery mechanisms. If you can't view it or use it from a browser, then it may as well not exist.
The next hurdle that wiki-type systems will face, though, is metadata. Even if Google got into the wiki business and provded stellar searching technology for wikis, there's only so far you can go before you face the metadata problem. As the project, team, organization, and inter-organization relationships grow, so does the need for metadata to manage it all. This is where RDF and Berners-Lee's semantic web can certainly help out. RDF-enabled wikis would be just amazing.
Of the/. story, that is? Their website is currently up (this posting will probably be the 10th or so), but is surprisingly minimal. No images at all. Plain, unadorned HTML. Not even a CSS file.
I have a feeling they'll withstand the slashdotting.
... in fact, a fellow nerd/geek/hacker said I should add a Dremel Tool to our wedding gift registry. Best thing we've got.
But back on topic, the Dremel is certainly an excellent tool to use on firm pumpkin flesh. An electric knife is just too flimsy (but are perfect for carving the turkey, so spend the US$20 and get yourself one already), and santokus have blades that are just a bit too thin (but are wonderful for vegetables and fruits, so get yourself one already). You can use a chef's knife, but given all of the static force required to get through pumpkin flesh, it's just an accident waiting to happen (but they're wonderful for getting through bones and for when you've lent your santoku to someone, so get one already). Go Dremel.
(If you visit my kitchen, you'll see I even have the Black-and-Decker modification to the pepper grinder, inspired by Alton Brown.)
Mod parent up, certainly. But bear in mind also that SMTP was born in an environment that never foresaw such threats. DNS, TCP, UDP, and IP were also started in such an environment, and are also buckling under the abuses (address spoofing, SYN floods, etc.)
When do we have to replace the entire Internet? Or is IPv6 sufficiently robust?
OK, for those of us who live in virtual caves (self included), an MPY format file seems to be nothing more than a secure version of an MP3 format file that plays only in RCA/Lyra players.
With more and more small form factor devices that run Java (Sharp Zaurus PDA, HomePod media player, various set top boxes) and even Java processors (aJile, for example), a lightweight database presents some nice application opportunities.
I've played with Cloudscape before and it's not as speedy as MySQL or as rugged as Oracle, but it does get the job done. And having a relational database right in the set top box or PDA means independence from a more heavy duty machine on the LAN, WiFi, etc.
Despite the new photo display capabilities, I for one will welcome the fact that the built-in Solitaire game will actually be in color. I just might be tempted to play it now. ^_^
Slashdot Mirror
Sounds like a good read; I enjoy studying the social aspects of our industry.
.bashrc file.
Having touched my first Unix system back when I was 9 years old (actually it was a Silent 700 terminal, built-in acoustic coupler modem, dialing into System III) I've been fanatical about the command-line, anc always views Macs as a curiousity more than anything else. Worthy of derision most of the time, and of a nod now and then.
I then got stuck on the Windows platform for the longest period of time, and it was partially my own choice. I was doing Java development at the time, and the JVM from Sun was better than the early JVMs for Linux. That, and the fact that I kept getting more and more Micro$oft-based attachments that when edited with the early Star Office would be mangled beyond hope when I sent them back.
One day last year my wife let me play with her PowerBook running OS X. It had a really nice JVM that ran Java apps with blazing speed. (Yes, "Java" and "blazing" in the same sentence!) It ran Micro$oft Office programs, and in most cases, with more reliability than their Windows counterparts. It was infinitely more usable than Windows' best user interfaces. And best of all, you could fire up a shell and run vi on your
I went head over heels.
Now, I still have Linux systems (and even a FreeBSD system) in my server room, but my desktop and my laptop are all Mac OS X, and I've never needed to look back to Windows again. Am I a "fanboy"? Probably. (I even got an iPod.) But I'm a fanboy because of what's under the hood now, not because of the path Apple took to get here.
Given how entrenched Micro$oft's clutches are into the US Government, a security guide for Windows based systems would be even more useful.
(I work for NASA; almost everyone in our group has Mac OS X on our desktops and Linux in the server room. Our supervisor is the only Windows user. Yes, he's developing pointy hair.)
Either something incredibly dangerous (Do Not Look Into New Monitor With Remaining Eye) or amazingly trippy (with Pink Floyd playing in the background).
What I mean is that in the end, Wikis are still collections of text, the visual representation of spoken language frozen in time, if I can wax melodramtic a bit. And language is ambiguous. Spelling of the same word varies per dialect; the same word may have different meanings; even scientifically precise measurements can have various representations that vary per discipline. So, in the end, even as cool a search engine as Google, applied to a wiki, is still bound to result in lost data, imprecise matches, and missed opportunities.
As a case in point, consider a web (not a wiki) search I did a couple years ago: I needed to find if anyone had for the Interactive Data Language (IDL) a CORBA-capable client using the Interface Definition Language (IDL).
Or in other words, IDL for IDL.
Needless to say, such a search using plain text was pointless. However, with appropriate metadata vocabularies, I could qualify the search and find either what I was looking for, or assurance that such a thing didn't exist.
When *@aol.com first started appearing on newsgroups I thought AOL would just be a minor nuisance, like a hangnail. Then I got *@aol.com in my email box like there was no tomorrow, and nuisance turned into genuine pain in the neck, like a cancer.
... and I can't help but think that they've affected the genre tenor of the Internet as a whole in the process.
But slowly and surely, AOL has done much to both transform themselves and the user populace into better Internet citizens
So now that they're taking a pre-emptive strike against spim, I have to applaud.
But not just because proprietary, expensive behemoths like Lotus Notes are proprietary or expensive, but because the web and HTTP are the current application delivery mechanisms. If you can't view it or use it from a browser, then it may as well not exist.
The next hurdle that wiki-type systems will face, though, is metadata. Even if Google got into the wiki business and provded stellar searching technology for wikis, there's only so far you can go before you face the metadata problem. As the project, team, organization, and inter-organization relationships grow, so does the need for metadata to manage it all. This is where RDF and Berners-Lee's semantic web can certainly help out. RDF-enabled wikis would be just amazing.
Read on for the details.
... um ... eek?
OK, clicking "Read more..."
Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.
OK
Of the /. story, that is? Their website is currently up (this posting will probably be the 10th or so), but is surprisingly minimal. No images at all. Plain, unadorned HTML. Not even a CSS file.
I have a feeling they'll withstand the slashdotting.
... in fact, a fellow nerd/geek/hacker said I should add a Dremel Tool to our wedding gift registry. Best thing we've got.
But back on topic, the Dremel is certainly an excellent tool to use on firm pumpkin flesh. An electric knife is just too flimsy (but are perfect for carving the turkey, so spend the US$20 and get yourself one already), and santokus have blades that are just a bit too thin (but are wonderful for vegetables and fruits, so get yourself one already). You can use a chef's knife, but given all of the static force required to get through pumpkin flesh, it's just an accident waiting to happen (but they're wonderful for getting through bones and for when you've lent your santoku to someone, so get one already). Go Dremel.
(If you visit my kitchen, you'll see I even have the Black-and-Decker modification to the pepper grinder, inspired by Alton Brown.)
You run Linux and you can get a choice of Intel i386, IBM PPC G4/G5, and even more ...
Given that there's a plethora of links, the posting's not in italics, and there's no mention of "so-and-so writes," it must be Zonk himself!
Come on, Zonk, 'fess up!
... did they happen to find any rings nearby? One ring, in particular?
From the summary:
...Death treats...
I just gotta get some of those! That'll take care of those pesky costumed kids with their shrill cries of "tricker-treat" about this time each year!
Mod parent up, certainly. But bear in mind also that SMTP was born in an environment that never foresaw such threats. DNS, TCP, UDP, and IP were also started in such an environment, and are also buckling under the abuses (address spoofing, SYN floods, etc.)
When do we have to replace the entire Internet? Or is IPv6 sufficiently robust?
... otherwise the company would've acquired Bunghole Corp instead of Keyhole Corp.
... why not visit this list, which includes country of operation.
OK, for those of us who live in virtual caves (self included), an MPY format file seems to be nothing more than a secure version of an MP3 format file that plays only in RCA/Lyra players.
More info.
With more and more small form factor devices that run Java (Sharp Zaurus PDA, HomePod media player, various set top boxes) and even Java processors (aJile, for example), a lightweight database presents some nice application opportunities.
I've played with Cloudscape before and it's not as speedy as MySQL or as rugged as Oracle, but it does get the job done. And having a relational database right in the set top box or PDA means independence from a more heavy duty machine on the LAN, WiFi, etc.
Open source is just icing on the cake.
From the summary:
... and reported 14,679 kbps download and 1,794 kbps download speeds.
Sorry Verizon, but if I can't upload those HTTP GET requests, I don't need any of your one-way fibre. Talk about asymmetric!
Despite the new photo display capabilities, I for one will welcome the fact that the built-in Solitaire game will actually be in color. I just might be tempted to play it now. ^_^
If so, please visit http://store.apple.com/ ... please?
it's == contraction for "it is": "It's a peltier device."
its == possessive for it: "AMD has a peltier-like effect with its Silicon on Insulator technology."
IT'S (pun intended) NOT THAT HARD, PEOPLE!
Roland Piquepaille, perchance?
Yes. Get 'em while you can.
I mean, come on, really ...