You don't really think that cell phone you have cost $100 to make do you? I know the one I got for free cost around $500 to make. How do they make a profit? You don't think that it costs that much for airtime do you?
Intels 64 bit solution is the Itanium (which, along with HP, they invested around $10 Billion). Intel is in a bind in that Microsoft will not tolerate another 64 bit instruction set and Intel would be shooting Itanium in the foot to use AMD64 (which they are a licensee of).
Maybe they will support AMD64 or maybe they wont, but they will not create ANOTHER 64 bit ISA and we will not be seeing an Itanium for the average user (it is way too expensive to produce and a royal bitch to program for).
Depends on if it supports distributable shared memory. If not, like OpenMosix, it will have issues with a database. Now something that has been designed to be much less IO intensive (like audio/video processing, etc.) will really benefit.
Mosix would probably be the best bet although it is still missing migratable sockets and distributed shared memory. The distributable shared memory problem has been at least partially addressed with migshm.
The whole Rambus debacle has a lot of layers to it. It includes Enron, the Bush's, Micron, et al. Take a good look, this is big business being true to form. As a company, Micron is one of the better behaved, but when billions of dollars start flying around unfettered or watched, bad things happen.
Remember when every technologist under the sun was poo-pooing Rambus, that every stock analyst was pumping them up. Rambus was one of the darling stocks for the longest time despite a lack of positive cash flow or any real manufacturing capacity. Enron was responsible for a pump up in the DRAM markets before, during and after the plant fire in Japan. From one perspective, this seems like good business, but from another perspective it looks like collusionary and wrong. My spin is that it was an unethical but perfectly legal business practice. Enron got a little greedy and, well, the rest is history. They did a lot of very bad things. The Bush's get in there through Enron's energy division and their buddy Tom White, now secretary of the Army (OBTW, only two people were directly responsible for the day to day ops of the energy division at Enron and the other guy was exonerated from wrong doing over the energy crisis in California...that leaves guess who).
Like I said, lots of layers (and a good consipracy theory). It is also business as usual for the people with power and money every where in the world in all moments in history.
Ok...I probably should have been more thorough talking about my situation. We currently have $200K of digital PBX equipment tied to a T1 that is our phone system. The system cannot handle VoIP. Our phones are older digital phones that cannot handle VoIP directly (switching systems that translate from VoIP to this model exist but the system becomes unreasonably complex and service contracts are involved). So we have a good, working system that does what we want. The idea of going VoIP is that we can route our own long distance (we have satellite offices around the country) and save beaucoup bucks. I know we can use VoIP bridges and other traffic techniques, but the powers that be want to be able to dial an extension in Austin and get someone in Indy. Best method demands going VoIP all the way. Infrastructure changes are NEVER about the initial cost, they are about the value added to the business. Even if this cost millions to do, but in ten years we would be 50% more efficient becuase of the business process change, we would do it. The decision rests on if it makes sense from a process and infrastructure perspective.
Currently it is looking like we will NOT be going VoIP and I have been told to keep an eye on Wireless Mesh networking to use as a transport for our needs in five to ten years. Yes, we plan that far ahead. Our 25 year goal with telecom is to have complete control over every inch of our infrastructure. We have even discussed buying our own satellites ($5 Mil for a transponder on an existing bird).
My office is looking to go to VoIP since we are in the planning stages of a move. The estimated cost savings is around $6000 per month for less than 150 people. The drawback is we would be ditching our entire phone system (and phones) and purchasing new equipment (we are talking about $60K at least). No decision has been made yet.
The other added benefit is that I would be responsible for phone traffic, also, in that it would be routed through the normal network. More job security...heh.
Our Citrix installation is used to push all of our applications. In case you are unfamiliar with Citrix, there is ONE installation of our software from which over 400 users simultaneously can use with ZERO downtime due to clustering and abstraction.
The only thing we have found that came close was from IBM and the hardware alone cost more than $1 million. X11 has the network transparency, but not the abilities we were looking for. We don't push desktops, we push individual apps with integrated license management. Something that is WAY beyond X11's capabilities. Not that someone couldn't do it.
Actually it's not Windows that I am locked into at work, it's Office.
I have yet to find a way to get past Exchange and Citrix effectively. We looked at a few solutions that cames close, but the administration costs FAR outweighed the licensing savings (although Citrix licenses are astronomical). The other problem is that our document management system (necessary by law due to Sarbanes-Oxley Act) is iManage which only works with office and costs $75K.
Actually in group dynamics, three is the worst number as in most situations the two stronger will always gang up on the third. Larger groups of 5 to 7 work well with a creative goal. This is why special ops teams are the size they are.
If information is deemed sensitive, SCO can request that the info be put under protective order and not for public consumption. The flip side of this is that a third party can pierce the protective order if they can prove that the release of the information is more in the public interest (like information about the health issues of a drug, etc.) than the harm it would do to the opposed party.
Agreed...I helped a company go to VoIP to save about $6,000 in office to office long distance (the other option was to switch to cell phones on each desk which also would have saved a ton. We decided on VoIP AND Blackberry service).
They are currently looking 10 years down the line and the possibility of moving all of our data needs to wireless mesh networks (if they are prevalent by that time) or buying our own satelite ($5 million est. by then) since the company will be multinational at that point.
Odd...after looking at the site you posted and combing their forums, it appears you are incorrect. Vorbis won most of the listening tests, especially at lower bitrates (which is more common on a portable device).
Also, note that the reason Vorbis came about was that the people who own the patents on mp3 were starting to become real asses and it looked like the future of mp3 encoders and possibly players on linux was in danger. In addition, mp3pro is considered the next generation audio standard (although there are many unnecessary competitors) and even it has been shown to be inferior to Vorbis.
I was with a group that evaluated biometric authentication as a primary systems. The primary flaw that was pointed out that no one seems to really talk about is, what if someone compromises the key server? In a traditional authentication system, you simply change your keys. Since in a biometric system the keys are based off of the human body, not only has this compromised system been comletely destroyed, but potentially ALL biometric systems used by the same individuals is now compromised until the day they die.
That was a pretty big problem.
We decided on using biometrics as a 3rd or 4th level of authentication (to verify that someone using all of the other levels of authentication are who they say they are to a reasonable level of accuracy).
You pay a programmer $20k a year and you are likely to either get really ugly, non-scalable, non-standard, non-portable code, or a really nice piece of code with a big fat back door.
Ask yourself this...do you think that an architect, lawyer, engineer, or doctor should be payed $20k a year and, if so, how good do you think the quality of their services would be?
My grandfather is a doctor and my uncle a lawyer and they are stunned at the amount of information I must consume to stay on top of my profession. I make sure that the businesses I work for run smoothly and add real value to their bottom line. I deserve my salary. Hell, I deserve more.
Slashdot Mirror
You don't really think that cell phone you have cost $100 to make do you? I know the one I got for free cost around $500 to make. How do they make a profit? You don't think that it costs that much for airtime do you?
Intels 64 bit solution is the Itanium (which, along with HP, they invested around $10 Billion). Intel is in a bind in that Microsoft will not tolerate another 64 bit instruction set and Intel would be shooting Itanium in the foot to use AMD64 (which they are a licensee of).
Maybe they will support AMD64 or maybe they wont, but they will not create ANOTHER 64 bit ISA and we will not be seeing an Itanium for the average user (it is way too expensive to produce and a royal bitch to program for).
There is also the very serious issue of conflicts and contention checking. mDNS is a man-in-the-middle attackers wet dream.
Depends on if it supports distributable shared memory. If not, like OpenMosix, it will have issues with a database. Now something that has been designed to be much less IO intensive (like audio/video processing, etc.) will really benefit.
DVD::Rip will utilise a cluster
Mosix would probably be the best bet although it is still missing migratable sockets and distributed shared memory. The distributable shared memory problem has been at least partially addressed with migshm.
Give it a try.
The whole Rambus debacle has a lot of layers to it. It includes Enron, the Bush's, Micron, et al. Take a good look, this is big business being true to form. As a company, Micron is one of the better behaved, but when billions of dollars start flying around unfettered or watched, bad things happen.
Remember when every technologist under the sun was poo-pooing Rambus, that every stock analyst was pumping them up. Rambus was one of the darling stocks for the longest time despite a lack of positive cash flow or any real manufacturing capacity. Enron was responsible for a pump up in the DRAM markets before, during and after the plant fire in Japan. From one perspective, this seems like good business, but from another perspective it looks like collusionary and wrong. My spin is that it was an unethical but perfectly legal business practice. Enron got a little greedy and, well, the rest is history. They did a lot of very bad things. The Bush's get in there through Enron's energy division and their buddy Tom White, now secretary of the Army (OBTW, only two people were directly responsible for the day to day ops of the energy division at Enron and the other guy was exonerated from wrong doing over the energy crisis in California...that leaves guess who).
Like I said, lots of layers (and a good consipracy theory). It is also business as usual for the people with power and money every where in the world in all moments in history.
Just thinking out loud...cheers.
Personally, I am not happy with either environment (although Ximian Desktop 2 gets really close). I use XFCE. It's clean, lean, and works great.
Ok...I probably should have been more thorough talking about my situation. We currently have $200K of digital PBX equipment tied to a T1 that is our phone system. The system cannot handle VoIP. Our phones are older digital phones that cannot handle VoIP directly (switching systems that translate from VoIP to this model exist but the system becomes unreasonably complex and service contracts are involved). So we have a good, working system that does what we want. The idea of going VoIP is that we can route our own long distance (we have satellite offices around the country) and save beaucoup bucks. I know we can use VoIP bridges and other traffic techniques, but the powers that be want to be able to dial an extension in Austin and get someone in Indy. Best method demands going VoIP all the way. Infrastructure changes are NEVER about the initial cost, they are about the value added to the business. Even if this cost millions to do, but in ten years we would be 50% more efficient becuase of the business process change, we would do it. The decision rests on if it makes sense from a process and infrastructure perspective.
Currently it is looking like we will NOT be going VoIP and I have been told to keep an eye on Wireless Mesh networking to use as a transport for our needs in five to ten years. Yes, we plan that far ahead. Our 25 year goal with telecom is to have complete control over every inch of our infrastructure. We have even discussed buying our own satellites ($5 Mil for a transponder on an existing bird).
My office is looking to go to VoIP since we are in the planning stages of a move. The estimated cost savings is around $6000 per month for less than 150 people. The drawback is we would be ditching our entire phone system (and phones) and purchasing new equipment (we are talking about $60K at least). No decision has been made yet.
The other added benefit is that I would be responsible for phone traffic, also, in that it would be routed through the normal network. More job security...heh.
Our Citrix installation is used to push all of our applications. In case you are unfamiliar with Citrix, there is ONE installation of our software from which over 400 users simultaneously can use with ZERO downtime due to clustering and abstraction.
The only thing we have found that came close was from IBM and the hardware alone cost more than $1 million. X11 has the network transparency, but not the abilities we were looking for. We don't push desktops, we push individual apps with integrated license management. Something that is WAY beyond X11's capabilities. Not that someone couldn't do it.
I never had a problem with it. It was the $1400 price that got me.
Actually it's not Windows that I am locked into at work, it's Office.
I have yet to find a way to get past Exchange and Citrix effectively. We looked at a few solutions that cames close, but the administration costs FAR outweighed the licensing savings (although Citrix licenses are astronomical). The other problem is that our document management system (necessary by law due to Sarbanes-Oxley Act) is iManage which only works with office and costs $75K.
Actually in group dynamics, three is the worst number as in most situations the two stronger will always gang up on the third. Larger groups of 5 to 7 work well with a creative goal. This is why special ops teams are the size they are.
If information is deemed sensitive, SCO can request that the info be put under protective order and not for public consumption. The flip side of this is that a third party can pierce the protective order if they can prove that the release of the information is more in the public interest (like information about the health issues of a drug, etc.) than the harm it would do to the opposed party.
Sorry...that was $6,000 PER MONTH on long distance
Agreed...I helped a company go to VoIP to save about $6,000 in office to office long distance (the other option was to switch to cell phones on each desk which also would have saved a ton. We decided on VoIP AND Blackberry service).
They are currently looking 10 years down the line and the possibility of moving all of our data needs to wireless mesh networks (if they are prevalent by that time) or buying our own satelite ($5 million est. by then) since the company will be multinational at that point.
Personal Jukebox by Remote Solution was the first debuting in early 2000 at over $700. It was co-designed by Compaq and Hango.
Odd...after looking at the site you posted and combing their forums, it appears you are incorrect. Vorbis won most of the listening tests, especially at lower bitrates (which is more common on a portable device).
Also, note that the reason Vorbis came about was that the people who own the patents on mp3 were starting to become real asses and it looked like the future of mp3 encoders and possibly players on linux was in danger. In addition, mp3pro is considered the next generation audio standard (although there are many unnecessary competitors) and even it has been shown to be inferior to Vorbis.
And again, Vorbis is, and always shall be, free.
Actually the original price was $399
Gee...I submitted this yesterday with exactly the same title and it gets rejected...hmmm.
Sorry, the only reason that this resulted in a new record was because of the artifically controlled exchange rate between the Yuan and the dollar.
Sorry, try again.
Wow, you put "Windows 98" and "critical software" in the same sentence. I think a sysadmin's head exploded somewhere.
I was with a group that evaluated biometric authentication as a primary systems. The primary flaw that was pointed out that no one seems to really talk about is, what if someone compromises the key server? In a traditional authentication system, you simply change your keys. Since in a biometric system the keys are based off of the human body, not only has this compromised system been comletely destroyed, but potentially ALL biometric systems used by the same individuals is now compromised until the day they die.
That was a pretty big problem.
We decided on using biometrics as a 3rd or 4th level of authentication (to verify that someone using all of the other levels of authentication are who they say they are to a reasonable level of accuracy).
You pay a programmer $20k a year and you are likely to either get really ugly, non-scalable, non-standard, non-portable code, or a really nice piece of code with a big fat back door.
Ask yourself this...do you think that an architect, lawyer, engineer, or doctor should be payed $20k a year and, if so, how good do you think the quality of their services would be?
My grandfather is a doctor and my uncle a lawyer and they are stunned at the amount of information I must consume to stay on top of my profession. I make sure that the businesses I work for run smoothly and add real value to their bottom line. I deserve my salary. Hell, I deserve more.