But surely in converting the UK DVD player to run with the US mains supply you would be modifying your hardware in such a way as to allow you to bypass the DVD region encoding. And in the process earn a long holiday at the tax payer's expense.
Given that us Brits have the habit of making technological leaps forward - and then handing the specs to someone else to embrace and extend and finaly profit from - I suppose it could be said that we invented Open Source.
I had an interview at a UK university a couple of years back. My final interview was with the Professor who was academic head of the IT services department. During this interview he told me that virtually every technology in the computing industry had it roots in the UK. I challenged him on this with a couple of "but what about" questions. Each time he countered with names, dates, and places.
Now, just imagine how much the US Economy would be worth if we'd locked these ideas away with OTT patent laws.
So it's about time we got back to doing things our way rather than trying to do everything the same as the US. Now, about those "fat-cat" salaries...
The nice value is merely a weighting factor that is used in the calculation of a task's the priority. The actual priority of a task depends upon what the task is, how much CPU time it's used recently, and which run queue the task has been assigned to. Indeed, each process has two priorities, one for user-mode execution, and one for kernel-mode execution. Renicing a process -20 and expecting it to be treated as god may seem a reasonable inferance, but if you ever delve into the internals of BSD you'll discover how wrong you are - and how brain numbingly complex priority scheduling actual is.
Apple should start reading them rumor sites to see how they're doing, and what directions they should take in the future. If not then they risk emulating the behaviour of that other big company we love to hate (the one that passes of tat software designed soley to make them rich - whilst informing us that it's what we want.
Actually switch "apple" to "microsoft" and it would change a "You what!" story into a "I'm not supprised" story.
Been wanting to do this for years.
on
Am I Hot or Not
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· Score: 1
Last time my heating's thermostat and clock died, I hade to fork out a respectable amount of cash. At the time I remember thinking that that 486DX-4 in the cellar could be an amusing solution. After all, I can handle electrical wiring, I've seen games ports used as temperature sensors, and I'm a fairly competant hack programmer
The only problem is that I've absolutely no idea how to switch 240VAC mains with my PC. I usually do things by the seat-of-my-pants, but I don't think this would be too clever with "BIG" electricity.
So, has anyone got some knowlege and/or experience they could pass along?
And what do all SysAdmins have on the shelf?
on
General IT Books?
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· Score: 1
If your current employer has been paying you peanuts, then offers you more money to reject a new job, what does that say to you about what your employer actually thinks of you?
Obviously they were paying you less than what they considered was your actual worth to the firm. And were happy to do this untill they were faced with your leaving. They were taking advantage of your good-will.
So take the new job. Because working somewhere that takes you for granted is not a nice place to work.
I was a sysadmin at an education establishment for a couple of years, several years back. My employment marked the beginning of some major investment. So we setup each user's machine to a standard model. With the default set to storing files on the server. This was simple with DOS/Win3.11 on the old machines but Win95 on the new machines was a complete arse. Did it in the end. But each PC took more than a day to setup until we discovered Ghost (and thanx to that wonderful MS software this wasn't as useful as you'd expect).
So we had to shuffle PC around quite a bit before we managed to level the playing field. We also had a policy replacing "faulty" computers with spares. Taking their PC away for "repair" for a couple of weeks, with a stern warning that we'd do everything we could to keep to avoid reinstalling the OS; but we couldn't guarentee it. Invariably we'd fix it in a day without a reinstall. But we'd developed this illusion that we were always snowed-under (mostly true) so keeping them for a couple of weeks was possible. If they pleaded we'd copy the data onto the servers then rush the PC back within a day or two.
People would change stuff and some people did loose files. But thankfully not too much. The position was that the PC was the College's, not theirs. We had provided it in a state that would ensure data integrity and it was their actions that had caused the loss of data; so blaming the tools was not an available excuse.
Of course the IT Dept (all 2 of us) lost data with regularity as we'd hammer our machines, and never heed our own advice:)
The whole thing was a complete nightmare. But in the end we managed it; and once the mind-set had taken hold even new-employees picked it up without and help from us IT guys.
But of all the computers in the whole place (150 staff PC & 30 student PCs) there were about 25 that we couldn't touch. Five were in a department that thrashed their computers; but they were perfectly capable of taking care of their own; the remainder belonged to people who had sufficient weight to demand we accept responsibility for their mistakes.
After three major disasters in one week - two were wear & tear; one had been taken home and the kid's had "done something" - we got an absolute pasting for not taking care of their precious data. Out of the blue my Boss and I were summoned to a meeting and instructed to make sure in never happened agiain.
So we explained the current backup procedures - OS backed-up with ghost onto a hidden partition - would fix 80% of problems, and the OS could always be re-installed if the HDD died; all PCs set to save to the network; the nightly backup with a detailed outline of the rotation strategy.
Then we explined why we did it this way - only 2 DDS4s; no fancy software.
We went on to explain the alternative, with a detailed (mildly inflated) cost breakdown. Pointing out that this figure was more than the entire IT department budget for the last 18 months and was, therefore, impossible. Although we were referring to backing up ALL the PCs; whereas they thought we meant just their PCs.:)
We were dismissed with a vauge promise to investigate funding. The funding was often prommised and never forthcoming. But we never heard any more about how their data was our responsibility either.
I'll say this for working in education, we managed to build a something which to the users looked like a top class network - with a stupidly small amount of money. And I'm proud of what I acheived. But going to work every day was like going to war. And in the end it destroyed a couple of close friendships when I finally had enough and walked out.
And the moral of this rant? Cover your arse, but remember - in the end - it's just a job.
A while back I saw an interview with Lars wots-'is-name from Metallica stating that he didn't expect a plumber to come round to his place to fix his toilet for free, so why should people be able to download his music for free. And I thought that the day a plumber was able to give an interview, sitting beside his swimming pool, outside his huge mansion would the day that I'd give a toss about Lars's royalties.
The music industry has been a cash cow for years. And in an effort to make even more money they've stopped listening to what we want and tried feeding us over-priced pre-digested pap. And now, thanks to the Internet and the ubiquitous MP3 we have the ability to bypass the latest creation of the marketing department, and listen to what we want. And the music industry is desperately trying to stop us. They've used the law; and lately they've started mucking around with the CD format too.
The greed of the giant corporations has killed the goose which laid the golden egg. And I'm not at all sorry. So perhaps one-day rock-stars like Lars won't have huge mansions with swimming pools and they'll earn what I earn, and live like I live. And that will be the day that I will say copying music is morally wrong.
a "loser pays" system similar to that used in English courts
IIRC the system here in the UK is not "the looser pays". Once the case has been resolved, the winner submits a request for costs to be awarded - which the judge will then consider. It's not automatic.
Anyone from the UK here? You guys are saps for government intrusion. You don't even live in a democracy, but you think you do.
Ah. So America is a democracy where the UK is not.
So who got the most votes in the last presidential election? Besides, I thought the Electoral College thing was created to curb the worst excesses of democracy. The truth is that there is no such thing as democracy - us Brits know this; Yet strangely even after the recent presidential debacle you in the US have yet to realise this.
0 Farenheit is NOT the base point (not that I know what it is...)
AFAIK zero degrees farenheit was taken as the freezing point of brine. And 100 was the temperature of Mrs Farenheit (who must have had a temperature at the time).
Hmmm, couldn't have said it better myself. Except to add that FreeBSD does have rpm support - check the ports.
One thing I don't like about FreeBSD is the lack of an intuative patching mechanism - I prefer to run the RELEASE branch on servers, with upgrades only to fix one or two identified issues. A make world is a bit excessive, but it is just so easy.
One more thing - File systems. Have you noticed both camps see the number of file systems supported as an advantage?
Every time there is a BSD discussion someone posts this. I salute your originallity. Yes, you're a troll, and yes I'm biting, so I suppose I'm no better than you. But for gods sake come up with something more original
And if you can't well I'll just take it as read that spreading anti-BSD FUD.
As for me I'll continue using BSD. It does what I want it to do and it does it well. And I've never used anything that even came close. If it does die then so be it. I'll simply go out and find another OS
But untill I hear otherwise I'll carry on using it.
FreeBSD, but a bit of lurking on their lists and forums reveals plenty of problems there
So just what problems is FreeBSD having? I've been using FreeBSD as my desktop OS for a couple of years now, and I've had no problems - rock solid stability, excelent performance. And I know when I compile a new kernel (which I do at least once a month) that I don't have to worry.
Okay, so when I tried to get my head round 2 terrabytes I failed. So I worked out just how big a 2 terrabyte stack of 1.44 FDDs would be.
Just under 3 kilometers.
Funny, I can't get my head round that either.
Slashdot Mirror
Ooops too late / is at 104%
And here was me thinking I'd simply toggled the "flaky system" option. Can't blame any users either.
I have to agree, it's an absurd law.
I had an interview at a UK university a couple of years back. My final interview was with the Professor who was academic head of the IT services department. During this interview he told me that virtually every technology in the computing industry had it roots in the UK. I challenged him on this with a couple of "but what about" questions. Each time he countered with names, dates, and places.
Now, just imagine how much the US Economy would be worth if we'd locked these ideas away with OTT patent laws.
So it's about time we got back to doing things our way rather than trying to do everything the same as the US. Now, about those "fat-cat" salaries...
The nice value is merely a weighting factor that is used in the calculation of a task's the priority. The actual priority of a task depends upon what the task is, how much CPU time it's used recently, and which run queue the task has been assigned to. Indeed, each process has two priorities, one for user-mode execution, and one for kernel-mode execution. Renicing a process -20 and expecting it to be treated as god may seem a reasonable inferance, but if you ever delve into the internals of BSD you'll discover how wrong you are - and how brain numbingly complex priority scheduling actual is.
And it amazes me that most Americans seem to think that the rest of the world does things in exactly the same way as they do.
Actually switch "apple" to "microsoft" and it would change a "You what!" story into a "I'm not supprised" story.
The only problem is that I've absolutely no idea how to switch 240VAC mains with my PC. I usually do things by the seat-of-my-pants, but I don't think this would be too clever with "BIG" electricity.
So, has anyone got some knowlege and/or experience they could pass along?
The Camel Book.
If your current employer has been paying you peanuts, then offers you more money to reject a new job, what does that say to you about what your employer actually thinks of you?
Obviously they were paying you less than what they considered was your actual worth to the firm. And were happy to do this untill they were faced with your leaving. They were taking advantage of your good-will.
So take the new job. Because working somewhere that takes you for granted is not a nice place to work.
I was a sysadmin at an education establishment for a couple of years, several years back. My employment marked the beginning of some major investment. So we setup each user's machine to a standard model. With the default set to storing files on the server. This was simple with DOS/Win3.11 on the old machines but Win95 on the new machines was a complete arse. Did it in the end. But each PC took more than a day to setup until we discovered Ghost (and thanx to that wonderful MS software this wasn't as useful as you'd expect).
:)
:)
So we had to shuffle PC around quite a bit before we managed to level the playing field. We also had a policy replacing "faulty" computers with spares. Taking their PC away for "repair" for a couple of weeks, with a stern warning that we'd do everything we could to keep to avoid reinstalling the OS; but we couldn't guarentee it. Invariably we'd fix it in a day without a reinstall. But we'd developed this illusion that we were always snowed-under (mostly true) so keeping them for a couple of weeks was possible. If they pleaded we'd copy the data onto the servers then rush the PC back within a day or two.
People would change stuff and some people did loose files. But thankfully not too much. The position was that the PC was the College's, not theirs. We had provided it in a state that would ensure data integrity and it was their actions that had caused the loss of data; so blaming the tools was not an available excuse.
Of course the IT Dept (all 2 of us) lost data with regularity as we'd hammer our machines, and never heed our own advice
The whole thing was a complete nightmare. But in the end we managed it; and once the mind-set had taken hold even new-employees picked it up without and help from us IT guys.
But of all the computers in the whole place (150 staff PC & 30 student PCs) there were about 25 that we couldn't touch. Five were in a department that thrashed their computers; but they were perfectly capable of taking care of their own; the remainder belonged to people who had sufficient weight to demand we accept responsibility for their mistakes.
After three major disasters in one week - two were wear & tear; one had been taken home and the kid's had "done something" - we got an absolute pasting for not taking care of their precious data. Out of the blue my Boss and I were summoned to a meeting and instructed to make sure in never happened agiain.
So we explained the current backup procedures - OS backed-up with ghost onto a hidden partition - would fix 80% of problems, and the OS could always be re-installed if the HDD died; all PCs set to save to the network; the nightly backup with a detailed outline of the rotation strategy.
Then we explined why we did it this way - only 2 DDS4s; no fancy software.
We went on to explain the alternative, with a detailed (mildly inflated) cost breakdown. Pointing out that this figure was more than the entire IT department budget for the last 18 months and was, therefore, impossible. Although we were referring to backing up ALL the PCs; whereas they thought we meant just their PCs.
We were dismissed with a vauge promise to investigate funding. The funding was often prommised and never forthcoming. But we never heard any more about how their data was our responsibility either.
I'll say this for working in education, we managed to build a something which to the users looked like a top class network - with a stupidly small amount of money. And I'm proud of what I acheived. But going to work every day was like going to war. And in the end it destroyed a couple of close friendships when I finally had enough and walked out.
And the moral of this rant? Cover your arse, but remember - in the end - it's just a job.
A while back I saw an interview with Lars wots-'is-name from Metallica stating that he didn't expect a plumber to come round to his place to fix his toilet for free, so why should people be able to download his music for free. And I thought that the day a plumber was able to give an interview, sitting beside his swimming pool, outside his huge mansion would the day that I'd give a toss about Lars's royalties.
The music industry has been a cash cow for years. And in an effort to make even more money they've stopped listening to what we want and tried feeding us over-priced pre-digested pap. And now, thanks to the Internet and the ubiquitous MP3 we have the ability to bypass the latest creation of the marketing department, and listen to what we want. And the music industry is desperately trying to stop us. They've used the law; and lately they've started mucking around with the CD format too.
The greed of the giant corporations has killed the goose which laid the golden egg. And I'm not at all sorry. So perhaps one-day rock-stars like Lars won't have huge mansions with swimming pools and they'll earn what I earn, and live like I live. And that will be the day that I will say copying music is morally wrong.
a "loser pays" system similar to that used in English courts
IIRC the system here in the UK is not "the looser pays". Once the case has been resolved, the winner submits a request for costs to be awarded - which the judge will then consider. It's not automatic.
Anyone from the UK here? You guys are saps for government intrusion. You don't even live in a democracy, but you think you do.
Ah. So America is a democracy where the UK is not.
So who got the most votes in the last presidential election? Besides, I thought the Electoral College thing was created to curb the worst excesses of democracy. The truth is that there is no such thing as democracy - us Brits know this; Yet strangely even after the recent presidential debacle you in the US have yet to realise this.
0 Farenheit is NOT the base point (not that I know what it is...)
AFAIK zero degrees farenheit was taken as the freezing point of brine. And 100 was the temperature of Mrs Farenheit (who must have had a temperature at the time).
LAIN OS is, by all accounts, a new BSD flavour, forked from FreeBSD. So why the hell should a FreeBSD schedule mention it?
Hmmm, couldn't have said it better myself. Except to add that FreeBSD does have rpm support - check the ports.
One thing I don't like about FreeBSD is the lack of an intuative patching mechanism - I prefer to run the RELEASE branch on servers, with upgrades only to fix one or two identified issues. A make world is a bit excessive, but it is just so easy.
One more thing - File systems. Have you noticed both camps see the number of file systems supported as an advantage?
Every time there is a BSD discussion someone posts this. I salute your originallity. Yes, you're a troll, and yes I'm biting, so I suppose I'm no better than you. But for gods sake come up with something more original
And if you can't well I'll just take it as read that spreading anti-BSD FUD.
As for me I'll continue using BSD. It does what I want it to do and it does it well. And I've never used anything that even came close. If it does die then so be it. I'll simply go out and find another OS
But untill I hear otherwise I'll carry on using it.
FreeBSD, but a bit of lurking on their lists and forums reveals plenty of problems there
So just what problems is FreeBSD having? I've been using FreeBSD as my desktop OS for a couple of years now, and I've had no problems - rock solid stability, excelent performance. And I know when I compile a new kernel (which I do at least once a month) that I don't have to worry.
Ahh, but the results would be skewed.
My browser tells the world I'm running Linux 2.2.12. Whereas I'm actually running FreeBSD 4.2.
Okay, so when I tried to get my head round 2 terrabytes I failed. So I worked out just how big a 2 terrabyte stack of 1.44 FDDs would be. Just under 3 kilometers. Funny, I can't get my head round that either.