In a perfect world, maybe some IT managers would sit up and say 'hrm, well, maybe we should not keep buying the cheapest piece of junk workstation that ibm/compaq/hp makes..'
Yes, but wouldn't that necessitate IT managers to actually know something about computers before they buy? Most of the ones I deal with definitely don't. Hell, they still think cleaning up after Melissa and ILOVEYOU are the price of 'innovation'. You want them to understand hardware tech too?
...which is why MS stamps theirs out. Intel has competition and has for some time, so they have to innovate the old fashioned way.
Of course, that means mistakes, rush jobs, recalls, and all the problems that go with them. I also tend to think that users are not seeing the bang for the buck out of these new RAM technologies. PC100 was a good thing, but how much farther can we climb in sophistication before there really is no visible difference in performance/the technology itself tops out?
I'm sure M$ will deny that it even exists, talk about dark hearted hackers...then not bother to fix the bug...I'm sorry, feature that allows it to do this.
Not to nitpick, but I feel that a certain degree of misrepresentation is afoot here. Certainly the 'widespread' use of them was not until this century, but at the same time, the NAE make the subtle suggestion that these things weren't even there until after 1900. As a student of history, I point out that:
4. Water Supply and Distribution. - You know, the Romans really were onto something with this, and their achievements were beyond impressive. They also did it 2000 years ago without benefit of seamless copper pipe. Lead issues aside, I'm not sure that this 'achievement' is really that much of one.
7. Agricultural Mechanization - Again, there was mechanization in agriculture before 1900. The Cotton Gin is clearly on this list and clearly a example of 19th century engineering at its finest.
8. Computers - My troll: Difference Engine? No, not actually built until recently, but clearly this was a computer, kids.
9. Telephone - 19th century invention and one even in somewhat serious use by 1900. They had automated wire drawing capability and were stringing the copper. Now automated telephone switching is a whole different matter.
11. Highways - Romans beat us here, too. I'd like to see the shape of out interstate highway system in 2000 years....
15. Household Appliances - Add the word "electric" to this, please.
17. Petroleum and Petrochemical Technologies - I'd have to look this one up, but I believe that there were significant advances in this field prior to 1900.
Things ignored totally, but were invented and have foundational importance as far as engineering acheivements:
Technologies of mass production - Henry Ford anyone?
Radio - Nikola Tesla. Radio and the eventual networking of radio is far more important to the principles of television and even the internet.
Digital - Tesla again. 1 and 0 rock your world and mine.
Sewage treatment - which at the scale we have it is amazing, even if frequently environmentally a problem.
Actually, due to lack of UPS, the presence of small children, and lack of need, the Linux box in the house isn't on 24/7. Thus, it gets booted 4-5 times a week.
Now, when we start actively using it as a firewall, the game changes, neh?
Re:Different opinion from you != Crooks
on
Fighting UCITA
·
· Score: 1
...I know honestly want to do what's best for the constituencies.
The desire to attract businesses from No.VA should hardly justify the implementation of genuinely shoddy legistlation. In a state with such low unemployment in technical fields, and on the whole, I don't see the purpose in passing some ham-handed attempt at 'law' as useful or helpful to the people. It still limits liability for businesses, which has -always- been a formula for disaster, and potentially allows whole segments of business and the private sector to get run over. It's a legislative pavice meant to protect profit, not ultimately promote consumer rights.
If those Delegates really want to do what is best for constituents, then get them all to put UTICA back into committee until they get it right. It actually wouldn't take much to turn this law into something that was a credit to the State of Maryland, something that could set good precedents.
Dealing with the crooks in Annapolis....
on
Fighting UCITA
·
· Score: 3
...on a regular enough basis over the last 14 years, I know that legistlation follows the cash in this state. Delegate Kumar Barve isn't fooling anyone who happens to have dealt with legislators on topics dealing with childbirth choice and other matters where personal rights have been trampled into the mud by powerful special interests.
UTICA is going to screw over the people of Maryland and frankly, I'll join the boycott. Someone put up the website with the software list. I'll tell my family what not to buy and start raising awareness so that we can vote the schmucks out of office.
UTICA can't limit my right to free speech, nor can it prevent me from voting for sensible representatives in November. At least not until the morons in Annapolis make amendments to regulate -that- too.
Well, if you say so. However I note that the government just got out of the business and made NSI let other people play, so it probably isn't real likely.
The point of breaking the hammerlock on DNS by NSI was to prevent that 'monolithic entity running the show' disease. I note NSI had to be sued to get the Internic database from their clutches. If the government, who built the system, farmed it out, it stands to reason they won't be rushing back into it unless total chaos breaks loose.
Just because the machine runs Linux, doesn't mean that there is a free software solution to predict the weather. Let's be a tiny bit realistic about it: they built a BIG box, put a 'free' OS on it, and then had someone write unique, custom software for it. You and I aren't going to get our hands on this weather package anytime soon;).
By the time you count up the costs of that contract, I can readily see $15M. In fact, that figure is probably cheaper than if they had used, say, NT. Besides, absolutely nothing with the Government is 'free': defeats the the whole idea of pork barrel:)
I wondered why the government doesn't use Linux and Open Source software, and more importantly, why don't they create their own distro? Well, with this article, it seems a little clearer...
Allow me to muddy the waters again....
At least one government agency has it's own custom distro of RedHat. NIST(Nat. Institute of Standards and Technology). So, it is happening in some corners. Of course, with Clinton running off half-cocked to 'secure' the government with NT machines, anything could happen.
Send your Representatives and Senators the text, as well as the link. Tell them that you want the US Government to adopt the same standards. Get your friends to do the same.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat every three to six months.
I note to/.ers that snail mail to legistlators works in magical ways. Make all the typical concerns campaign issues. They will eventually pick up the cluephones and start responding.
Apathy is at least as bad as trading freedom for security.
...that basically this whole deal is going to turn into a huge media circus to make some opportunist, -somewhere-, some beaucoup cash. It might just be me, but everytime I see some 'expert' on computer security talking to the media at large, that we're probably dealing with some half-wit who can string the words together to get he sound bite.
Looks a bit like 'resume enhancement' for some has-been/never-was at some company who'd look really good with some press attention, not investigation, n'est ce pas? Too bad that some 15 year old kid in Canada is probably going to take the fall so they can fatten their bottom line.
But I'm an old fogey who checks my electronic fences, writes my letters to congress, opts out of as much as I can, and keeps my nose clean.
Supporting the heavy-handed tactics of a company whose mismanagement of their patent for some 14 years simply proves the ignorance of the author. But this is the guy who was carping about Godzilla a bit ago.::rolls eyes::
Either way, there is no 'benevolent monopoly' at work here, nor does Unisys, a company with a truly spotty record, intend to be one. Unisys didn't protect their patent and were liable to their stockholders for that oversight--now they want everyone else to pay for their incompetence.
Maybe it's just me, but a PI with enough RAM is still usually more computer than most consumers know what to do with. Sheesh, my mom has a perfectly fine iMac and is already making noises like it isn't enough computer for her. Reason? Marketing.
You ask the average PDA or whatever user a few questions about how they use/would like to use their computers and you quickly(and I mean quickly) find that most all of them are usually happily within their range of usefulness(games not withstanding). The only complaints I hear about consistently are small screens and/or games run 'slow'(whatever that really means). A lot of this is pure psychology at work.
I want to get a Palm V when the prices bottom out. A PDA only has to do a few things for me and I'm not sure playing games is really all that high on the list, though I know that being able to play games on a PDA will means more powerful PDAs for the kind of work that I really want them to do:).
I certainly don't want or even expect the kind of performance that I get out of my desktop machine, but then again, I started piddling with a Commodore PET in 1980-81. You know, back when computers were still new enough to still be thought of as tools, not merely game engines;)
Right now Lynx has a bunch of races in file creation that won't be fixed because the code is so bad and the authors aren't addressing it. So opensource is not the cure that ESR makes it out to be since not many people with the knowledge of whats happening look at the code they're compiling
Yet even because these races and bugs exist in Lynx, because its open source, users -can- be informed and make the choice to use or not use. It's not like installing some M$ product and neither knowing something is there or be unable to remove it(IE anyone?).
I think the other issue worth mentioning here is that public awareness creeps up with every passing bug report. I think that I have seen more useful information come out in the last 6 months than the entire year previous in just the realm of consumer-oriented information about possible places for them to look for weaknesses in their systems. This is a good thing. It's good for M$ users, good for Linux, good for Mac, good for everybody.
Slashdot Mirror
...wow.
Imagine a Beowulf cluster of walk-powered, satellite linked PDAs....
For all you Quake Addicts out there, you'd be in hog heaven!
Someone had to say it.
Yes, but wouldn't that necessitate IT managers to actually know something about computers before they buy? Most of the ones I deal with definitely don't. Hell, they still think cleaning up after Melissa and ILOVEYOU are the price of 'innovation'. You want them to understand hardware tech too?
...which is why MS stamps theirs out. Intel has competition and has for some time, so they have to innovate the old fashioned way.
Of course, that means mistakes, rush jobs, recalls, and all the problems that go with them. I also tend to think that users are not seeing the bang for the buck out of these new RAM technologies. PC100 was a good thing, but how much farther can we climb in sophistication before there really is no visible difference in performance/the technology itself tops out?
This is an Outlook trojan. Shocker.
I'm sure M$ will deny that it even exists, talk about dark hearted hackers...then not bother to fix the bug...I'm sorry, feature that allows it to do this.
SO glad I use Eudora and Pine.
Not to nitpick, but I feel that a certain degree of misrepresentation is afoot here. Certainly the 'widespread' use of them was not until this century, but at the same time, the NAE make the subtle suggestion that these things weren't even there until after 1900. As a student of history, I point out that:
4. Water Supply and Distribution. - You know, the Romans really were onto something with this, and their achievements were beyond impressive. They also did it 2000 years ago without benefit of seamless copper pipe. Lead issues aside, I'm not sure that this 'achievement' is really that much of one.
7. Agricultural Mechanization - Again, there was mechanization in agriculture before 1900. The Cotton Gin is clearly on this list and clearly a example of 19th century engineering at its finest.
8. Computers - My troll: Difference Engine? No, not actually built until recently, but clearly this was a computer, kids.
9. Telephone - 19th century invention and one even in somewhat serious use by 1900. They had automated wire drawing capability and were stringing the copper. Now automated telephone switching is a whole different matter.
11. Highways - Romans beat us here, too. I'd like to see the shape of out interstate highway system in 2000 years....
15. Household Appliances - Add the word "electric" to this, please.
17. Petroleum and Petrochemical Technologies - I'd have to look this one up, but I believe that there were significant advances in this field prior to 1900.
Things ignored totally, but were invented and have foundational importance as far as engineering acheivements:
Technologies of mass production - Henry Ford anyone?
Radio - Nikola Tesla. Radio and the eventual networking of radio is far more important to the principles of television and even the internet.
Digital - Tesla again. 1 and 0 rock your world and mine.
Sewage treatment - which at the scale we have it is amazing, even if frequently environmentally a problem.
Actually, due to lack of UPS, the presence of small children, and lack of need, the Linux box in the house isn't on 24/7. Thus, it gets booted 4-5 times a week.
Now, when we start actively using it as a firewall, the game changes, neh?
The desire to attract businesses from No.VA should hardly justify the implementation of genuinely shoddy legistlation. In a state with such low unemployment in technical fields, and on the whole, I don't see the purpose in passing some ham-handed attempt at 'law' as useful or helpful to the people. It still limits liability for businesses, which has -always- been a formula for disaster, and potentially allows whole segments of business and the private sector to get run over. It's a legislative pavice meant to protect profit, not ultimately promote consumer rights.
If those Delegates really want to do what is best for constituents, then get them all to put UTICA back into committee until they get it right. It actually wouldn't take much to turn this law into something that was a credit to the State of Maryland, something that could set good precedents.
...on a regular enough basis over the last 14 years, I know that legistlation follows the cash in this state. Delegate Kumar Barve isn't fooling anyone who happens to have dealt with legislators on topics dealing with childbirth choice and other matters where personal rights have been trampled into the mud by powerful special interests.
UTICA is going to screw over the people of Maryland and frankly, I'll join the boycott. Someone put up the website with the software list. I'll tell my family what not to buy and start raising awareness so that we can vote the schmucks out of office.
UTICA can't limit my right to free speech, nor can it prevent me from voting for sensible representatives in November. At least not until the morons in Annapolis make amendments to regulate -that- too.
Well, if you say so. However I note that the government just got out of the business and made NSI let other people play, so it probably isn't real likely.
The point of breaking the hammerlock on DNS by NSI was to prevent that 'monolithic entity running the show' disease. I note NSI had to be sued to get the Internic database from their clutches. If the government, who built the system, farmed it out, it stands to reason they won't be rushing back into it unless total chaos breaks loose.
Just because the machine runs Linux, doesn't mean that there is a free software solution to predict the weather. Let's be a tiny bit realistic about it: they built a BIG box, put a 'free' OS on it, and then had someone write unique, custom software for it. You and I aren't going to get our hands on this weather package anytime soon ;).
By the time you count up the costs of that contract, I can readily see $15M. In fact, that figure is probably cheaper than if they had used, say, NT. Besides, absolutely nothing with the Government is 'free': defeats the the whole idea of pork barrel :)
Allow me to muddy the waters again....
At least one government agency has it's own custom distro of RedHat. NIST(Nat. Institute of Standards and Technology). So, it is happening in some corners. Of course, with Clinton running off half-cocked to 'secure' the government with NT machines, anything could happen.
Send your Representatives and Senators the text, as well as the link. Tell them that you want the US Government to adopt the same standards. Get your friends to do the same.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat every three to six months.
I note to /.ers that snail mail to legistlators works in magical ways. Make all the typical concerns campaign issues. They will eventually pick up the cluephones and start responding.
Apathy is at least as bad as trading freedom for security.
...that basically this whole deal is going to turn into a huge media circus to make some opportunist, -somewhere-, some beaucoup cash. It might just be me, but everytime I see some 'expert' on computer security talking to the media at large, that we're probably dealing with some half-wit who can string the words together to get he sound bite.
Looks a bit like 'resume enhancement' for some has-been/never-was at some company who'd look really good with some press attention, not investigation, n'est ce pas? Too bad that some 15 year old kid in Canada is probably going to take the fall so they can fatten their bottom line.
But I'm an old fogey who checks my electronic fences, writes my letters to congress, opts out of as much as I can, and keeps my nose clean.
Knee Jerk. Strawman. Pure and simple.
Supporting the heavy-handed tactics of a company whose mismanagement of their patent for some 14 years simply proves the ignorance of the author. But this is the guy who was carping about Godzilla a bit ago. ::rolls eyes::
Either way, there is no 'benevolent monopoly' at work here, nor does Unisys, a company with a truly spotty record, intend to be one. Unisys didn't protect their patent and were liable to their stockholders for that oversight--now they want everyone else to pay for their incompetence.
Please do us a favor and go back under your rock.
This illegal under the 1992 law that regulates telemarketing activities. They aren't allowed to call after 9pm and before, I believe, 8am.
This is a case where you report them for it.
boot loaders, then....
:obligatory drumroll:
Beowulf clusters!
And don't look at me that way. SOMEONE had to say it :)
Maybe it's just me, but a PI with enough RAM is still usually more computer than most consumers know what to do with. Sheesh, my mom has a perfectly fine iMac and is already making noises like it isn't enough computer for her. Reason? Marketing.
You ask the average PDA or whatever user a few questions about how they use/would like to use their computers and you quickly(and I mean quickly) find that most all of them are usually happily within their range of usefulness(games not withstanding). The only complaints I hear about consistently are small screens and/or games run 'slow'(whatever that really means). A lot of this is pure psychology at work.
I want to get a Palm V when the prices bottom out. A PDA only has to do a few things for me and I'm not sure playing games is really all that high on the list, though I know that being able to play games on a PDA will means more powerful PDAs for the kind of work that I really want them to do :).
I certainly don't want or even expect the kind of performance that I get out of my desktop machine, but then again, I started piddling with a Commodore PET in 1980-81. You know, back when computers were still new enough to still be thought of as tools, not merely game engines ;)
Oh great, recruiting the next generation of super soldiers from the ranks of teens who spend too much time playing video games.
Where's my pong, dammit?
Yet even because these races and bugs exist in Lynx, because its open source, users -can- be informed and make the choice to use or not use. It's not like installing some M$ product and neither knowing something is there or be unable to remove it(IE anyone?).
I think the other issue worth mentioning here is that public awareness creeps up with every passing bug report. I think that I have seen more useful information come out in the last 6 months than the entire year previous in just the realm of consumer-oriented information about possible places for them to look for weaknesses in their systems. This is a good thing. It's good for M$ users, good for Linux, good for Mac, good for everybody.