I am a very unhappy Speakeasy customer. When DirecTV DSL closed its doors Speakeasy made an offer that included webspace, a domain name and email. After installation they informed us that to use the advertised services would cost twenty to thirty, depending on the rep, additional dollars per month. They will not let me out of the contract, despite not delivering the service promised. As well, they have never sent a promised rebate check for our hardware. I could not recommend Speakeasy to anyone and would be very suspicious that they would deliver all of the promised fees to administrators in this program.
This type of action is being taken by the government to calm hysteria. In south China you have a bizarre interface of uneducated people and modern technology. Rumors spread quickly and frequently lead to bizarre shortages. For example, there was a run on cigarettes after a story circulated that the smoke would protect people from SARS.
Like most everyone else on Slashdot, I have moral issues with the heavy handed nature of the Chinese government. At the same time, quite frankly, I feel more worried about the hidden cameras in the United Kingdom and the TIA in the US. For most people in China, the biggest problems associated with the censorship are related to very slow Internet connections and bizarre blocking of websites. (Sometimes Hotmail, Google, Yahoo, etc. are blocked, sometimes they are not) SMS became very popular among the upper middle class of China specifically because it was not as heavily censoredâ¦but SARS has perhaps proven to the government that their society is not ready for such open communication. The Peopleâ(TM)s government will have to continue to decrease the amount of surveillance within China because the costs of doing so are increasing rapidly, while the benefits decrease. Sure, it is disappointing that the entire world cannot be as free as, say, New Zealand, but hey, we Americans have work to do too.
I've been online since the late 1980s and DirecTV DSL is my first ISP to provide fat low latency pipes and excellent customer service at a great price. What a shame!
I find that getting up an extra hour earlier so that I might be able to go for a run or swim before work makes me feel much more relaxed and focused for the rest of the day. I will echo that response to NewBalance. Especially cool about the company is that they just incrementally improve existing models, so that their shoes are very easy to buy online. You get a better fitting shoe, at a better price, without leaving your computer. What could be better?
I've listened to MP3s in the shower for about four years with my trusty 1998 Powerbook G3/WallStreet. Now that I have 802.11b, I can even listen to shoutcast streams. The only problem is that the touchpad does not work all that well when my dripping arm emarges from the shower to switch stations or listen to a new song!
In the great debate over fair use versus profits we seem to continuously forget the purpose of such laws. With out some way to compensate folks who create intellectual property-be they recording artists, writers, professors or management consultants-the incentives to produce quality content disappears. When Bowie says, "I'm fully confident that copyright, for instance, will no longer exist in 10 years, and authorship and intellectual property is in for such a bashing." I believe that he means that our current form of copyright, something that for all purposes is woefully dated.
The problem is that our current distribution model for intellectual property, especially music, does not work given the nominal distribution costs of internet-based music distribution. No digital form of distribution provides an equivalent level of moderation provided by the music industry, it is almost impossible to find the best quality content out of the giant databases like IUMA or MP3.com. We still need some way to sort the good stuff from the banal. It probably makes sense to use Gnutella to download pop music today, but from a long term perspective, we need to create an entirely new paradigm for music proliferation.
Bridging the Wireless gap
on
Wireless Mania
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I've tried using consume.net and sflan.com. I even used to enjoy Ricochet. I was unable to connect to either free ISP because their node maps were either innaccesible or just wrong. I have visited the consume.net page many times and the node database has not worked for at least a year. At SFLan.com they actually have pictures of base station locations, yet when I have sat in immediate proximity to a base station, no signal at all is available. The problem with the anarchistic, volunteer, free wireless lan projects is that they do not, and perhaps cannot, provide even the most basic quality of service. It should not be easier for me to "hack" (and I use that term very loosly) into an unsecured wireless base station than to connect into a legitimate station. As well, the free base stations tend to be in houses and offices. Although I spend quite a bit of time in my house and office, that someone twenty miles away has a working wireless setup really does not amount to a hill of beans. I think that most of us here on Slashdot would give several major bodily organs to have true pervasive free wireless internet, if only in places like SOMA or SoHo. For even this pipe dream to sober up, we need to vastly increase the signal strength of the wireless access points. Instead of concentrating on building wireless ghettos, we should try to lobby our congress, and for you non-Americans your legislative bodies, to increase the broadcasting strength of our wireless access points (wap). Perhaps it might even be prudent to have two legally allowable types of waps. A legally non-open hub facing the current power restrictions and a hub open to the public, by law, that would have ten times the signal power. That would cause this movement to gain resonance.
ATT and NTT DOCOMO announced a strategic partnership way back in November 2000, " to develop the next generation of mobile multimedia services on a global-standard, high-speed wireless network...As part of the agreement, AT&T Wireless will license from NTT DoCoMo itsi-mode technology platform." As well, over the past few weeks regular advertisements have appeared in the NYT and WSJ promoting the IPO that mention a nationwide roll-out of i-mode in the US.
I still don't really see what the big fuss is about these next generation services. The two basic constraints are bandwidth and device. I bet that ATT uses G2.5 technology to bring about this nationwide roll out, G3 is just too cost prohibitive right now. In that case, you will not receive a high-latency network connection with a theortical thouroughput of ~128kbps. If you have ever used DSL, you will not tolerate this for general web surfing. The bigger problem, imho, is that a cell phone makes a lousy interface to use the internet. The screen is, by definition, far too small. There is no easy way of typing in text. I really believe in the Palm.net approach with applets that cache most data on the handheld device conducting database queries to provide location and time-sensative information. Especially with the new i705 keyboard, it is easy to input web addresses. I think in the short and medium terms that people will receive certain high-value services, like email and location/time sensative databases, on a handheld and will either wait for home/office/hotel/school for wired internet use or will use wi-fi to connect at high traffic areas like Starbucks or airports. Just my two cents.
As a longtime Gnugella user, I will be happy to see Morpheus users join the network. Per Metcalfe's law, this should make our network much more valuable. The past few revisions of the Limewire client in particular have made the service much more responsive. Although the experience has not yet surpassed Napster's brightest hour, given a few more months there will be no reason for that original fileshareing service to return. The limewire folks have even opensourced their client. Now, if only half the people reading this comment could pitch in...
I have been consistantly impressed with my Palm VIIx during the past year of use. The battery life is quite long, around three weeks, service plan inexpensive, averaging $15 per month, and coverage excellent.
What the i705 offers are evolutionary features that sand down imperfections in an otherwise excellent device. There is no need to use an obtrusive, yet fragile, antenna to connect to the network. The device vibrates instead of that annoying beep. The email is "always on" so it is not necessary to pull the device out to check mail every two seconds. The device has USB. I probably wil not replace my existing Palm, but only because I lack USB and the new email features are not really supported on the Mac. Otherwise, this device is everything I could ask for in a wireless handheld, aside from global megabit connectivity, of course.
The killer application is anywhere access to email. This service is most valuable in places where I could use a laptop, but for whatever reason it is inconvenient or expensive. In an airport, it is possible to find a payphone with a telephone jack, play with a phone card and eventually check messages, if you do not miss a flight. I would prefer to pick up a refreshing beverage and read my messages in the departure lounge without the additional stress. Likewise, although I am more than capable of configuring my laptop to use a hotel phone system, with local charges of 75 cents per call it is cost prohibitive to check my email every fifteen minutes.
Other features will be useful, especially instant messanger. Perhaps the best, yet least heralded, feature is airline flight information. The device has already paid for itself in terms of flights I have caught when the airport screens no longer display the gate. Using PQAs from most major airlines, you can figure out gate information even when it is not displayed on screen.
Palm.Net has offered this for years...
on
Time for a Beer?
·
· Score: 1
I'm not all that impressed. Although your precise location is not known, Palm.net uses your rough location, zip code I believe, to provide all sorts of similar services. One particular application, BrandFinder, provides locations of Banks, all sorts of stores, Food, Hotels, Gas Stations, Auto Repair shops and more. Other programs provide directions to the nearest In-N-Out Burger or Starbucks. One program, GasFinder, provides both location and prices of local gas stations. These services have been available for a few years now, but it is still cool to locate that particular fast food restaurant while driving down the highway or to send email while mountain climbing...
When you calculate the value, technically speaking the enterprise value, of a company you take the value of the equity and add the amount of debt. Therefore, the value of Amazon would be the sum of its present market capitalization, US$4.6B, and its long term debt, roughtly $2B, providing an enterprise value of $6.4B.
Just because Amazon has a substantial amount of debt does not really mean all that much. Assuming that they remain profitable and cash flow positive, Amazon could well continue as the preemminent electronic commerce company for a very long time. The current market conditions have created substantial barriers to entry for new competition.
I am not saying that Amazon is a sure thing as a company, they have some rather creative accounting among other things that could spoil the party. As a growth stock it should have more risk than more slowly growing companies like Nordstrom or Federated Department Stores. At the same time, the company has consistantly achieved success against great odds and remained out of chapter 11, even as more established enterprises like K-Mart, Montgomery Ward or even Enron have hit hard times.
If you want to avoid all risk, you should probably stick with treasury bills.
I think that the Salon.com model for a subscription-based sevice would not work for a business like Slashdot.org that is entirely dependant on both the quality and quantity of discussion. A different business model might make more sense. I would suggest selling subscriptions for a premier level of service. At this upgraded membership you would have access to some of the parts of the Slashdot experience that are intangible right now-like automatic +1 on all comments, ability to view/comment to posts before the rest of the members or an increased chance to moderate. I think that many members of the Slashdot community, including myself, might be willing to pay $6 a month for such priviliges.
One of the problems associated with using 802.11b cards to connect to public internet points is the necessity of finding the access points. Last night, despite a good map, I could not find several Consume nodes in London. Perhaps this device will save me the trouble of holding my Powerbook like a baby while I walk down the street in the future.
I am the managing editor for my student newspaper at Lawrence University , the Lawrentian, and think I might be able to provide some insight from the other side of the table. Last year some enterprising students created a website called "DownerSucks.com", a reference to our unfortunately named cafeteria, Downer Commons. After an intense publicity campaign, that included sidewalk chalking and posters around campus, many students and faculty were attracted to the site that featured unmoderated discussion boards. The school newspaper ran a front page article about the site, even though many people in the school power structure were not all that keen about an off-campus discussion board. Although at first people used this tool properly, eventually the discussion fell to the lowest common denominator. Because the site was completely independent of the university, hosted off campus, and without any formal school support, no administrators were able to censor the site. Eventually a strange thing happened. As the quality of discussion declined, the site became irrelevant. Today, DownerSucks.com is just a placeholder. The lesson learned at Lawrence is that perhaps benign neglect might be the best way for administrators to deal with renegade forums. Fortunately several prominent contributors from the message boards have migrated to our opinion page. When the newspaper recently upgraded our website, we have included non-moderated forums. Because our traffic count is just starting to grow (we're growing at 50% a week, albeit from a very low base) we have not run into any problems. If and when people do go over the line, the forums will become moderated.
In terms of your experience, I will echo the other posters who have suggested that you contact a lawyer. Although the ACLU might be better known, perhaps the Student Press Law Center might be a better option. As well, in Wisconsin we have an excellent newspaper association. Their counterpart in Utah might be able to provide you with legal, if not moral support. I wish you best of luck.
"The only thing that counts is the right to know, to speak, to think -- that, and the sanctity of the courts. Otherwise it's not America."
-Edward R. Murrow
Actually back in 1997, Microsoft did release version 3.5 of WindowsNT for the PowerPC. Motorola, which at the time was also a MacOS licencee, shiped a PowerPC computer that ran NT. A good article describing the details behind this change is located in Windows2000 magazine. The bigger question, of course, is why anyone would want to run a server operating system other than some variant of Unix?
If you cannot commit to being a school sysadmin, you might want to help out through a charity called NetDay. Located at http://www.netday.org, this organization places together IT experts with local schools that need internet access. Unfortunately, the event is organized as a one-day event sporadically. The next NetDay is October 28, 2000...it would be cool to have/. teams across America.
Slashdot Mirror
I am a very unhappy Speakeasy customer. When DirecTV DSL closed its doors Speakeasy made an offer that included webspace, a domain name and email. After installation they informed us that to use the advertised services would cost twenty to thirty, depending on the rep, additional dollars per month. They will not let me out of the contract, despite not delivering the service promised. As well, they have never sent a promised rebate check for our hardware. I could not recommend Speakeasy to anyone and would be very suspicious that they would deliver all of the promised fees to administrators in this program.
This type of action is being taken by the government to calm hysteria. In south China you have a bizarre interface of uneducated people and modern technology. Rumors spread quickly and frequently lead to bizarre shortages. For example, there was a run on cigarettes after a story circulated that the smoke would protect people from SARS.
Like most everyone else on Slashdot, I have moral issues with the heavy handed nature of the Chinese government. At the same time, quite frankly, I feel more worried about the hidden cameras in the United Kingdom and the TIA in the US. For most people in China, the biggest problems associated with the censorship are related to very slow Internet connections and bizarre blocking of websites. (Sometimes Hotmail, Google, Yahoo, etc. are blocked, sometimes they are not) SMS became very popular among the upper middle class of China specifically because it was not as heavily censoredâ¦but SARS has perhaps proven to the government that their society is not ready for such open communication. The Peopleâ(TM)s government will have to continue to decrease the amount of surveillance within China because the costs of doing so are increasing rapidly, while the benefits decrease. Sure, it is disappointing that the entire world cannot be as free as, say, New Zealand, but hey, we Americans have work to do too.
I've been online since the late 1980s and DirecTV DSL is my first ISP to provide fat low latency pipes and excellent customer service at a great price. What a shame!
I find that getting up an extra hour earlier so that I might be able to go for a run or swim before work makes me feel much more relaxed and focused for the rest of the day. I will echo that response to NewBalance. Especially cool about the company is that they just incrementally improve existing models, so that their shoes are very easy to buy online. You get a better fitting shoe, at a better price, without leaving your computer. What could be better?
I've listened to MP3s in the shower for about four years with my trusty 1998 Powerbook G3/WallStreet. Now that I have 802.11b, I can even listen to shoutcast streams. The only problem is that the touchpad does not work all that well when my dripping arm emarges from the shower to switch stations or listen to a new song!
The problem is that our current distribution model for intellectual property, especially music, does not work given the nominal distribution costs of internet-based music distribution. No digital form of distribution provides an equivalent level of moderation provided by the music industry, it is almost impossible to find the best quality content out of the giant databases like IUMA or MP3.com. We still need some way to sort the good stuff from the banal. It probably makes sense to use Gnutella to download pop music today, but from a long term perspective, we need to create an entirely new paradigm for music proliferation.
I've tried using consume.net and sflan.com. I even used to enjoy Ricochet. I was unable to connect to either free ISP because their node maps were either innaccesible or just wrong. I have visited the consume.net page many times and the node database has not worked for at least a year. At SFLan.com they actually have pictures of base station locations, yet when I have sat in immediate proximity to a base station, no signal at all is available. The problem with the anarchistic, volunteer, free wireless lan projects is that they do not, and perhaps cannot, provide even the most basic quality of service. It should not be easier for me to "hack" (and I use that term very loosly) into an unsecured wireless base station than to connect into a legitimate station. As well, the free base stations tend to be in houses and offices. Although I spend quite a bit of time in my house and office, that someone twenty miles away has a working wireless setup really does not amount to a hill of beans. I think that most of us here on Slashdot would give several major bodily organs to have true pervasive free wireless internet, if only in places like SOMA or SoHo. For even this pipe dream to sober up, we need to vastly increase the signal strength of the wireless access points. Instead of concentrating on building wireless ghettos, we should try to lobby our congress, and for you non-Americans your legislative bodies, to increase the broadcasting strength of our wireless access points (wap). Perhaps it might even be prudent to have two legally allowable types of waps. A legally non-open hub facing the current power restrictions and a hub open to the public, by law, that would have ten times the signal power. That would cause this movement to gain resonance.
ATT and NTT DOCOMO announced a strategic partnership way back in November 2000, " to develop the next generation of mobile multimedia services on a global-standard, high-speed wireless network...As part of the agreement, AT&T Wireless will license from NTT DoCoMo itsi-mode technology platform." As well, over the past few weeks regular advertisements have appeared in the NYT and WSJ promoting the IPO that mention a nationwide roll-out of i-mode in the US.
I still don't really see what the big fuss is about these next generation services. The two basic constraints are bandwidth and device. I bet that ATT uses G2.5 technology to bring about this nationwide roll out, G3 is just too cost prohibitive right now. In that case, you will not receive a high-latency network connection with a theortical thouroughput of ~128kbps. If you have ever used DSL, you will not tolerate this for general web surfing. The bigger problem, imho, is that a cell phone makes a lousy interface to use the internet. The screen is, by definition, far too small. There is no easy way of typing in text. I really believe in the Palm.net approach with applets that cache most data on the handheld device conducting database queries to provide location and time-sensative information. Especially with the new i705 keyboard, it is easy to input web addresses. I think in the short and medium terms that people will receive certain high-value services, like email and location/time sensative databases, on a handheld and will either wait for home/office/hotel/school for wired internet use or will use wi-fi to connect at high traffic areas like Starbucks or airports. Just my two cents.
As a longtime Gnugella user, I will be happy to see Morpheus users join the network. Per Metcalfe's law, this should make our network much more valuable. The past few revisions of the Limewire client in particular have made the service much more responsive. Although the experience has not yet surpassed Napster's brightest hour, given a few more months there will be no reason for that original fileshareing service to return. The limewire folks have even opensourced their client. Now, if only half the people reading this comment could pitch in...
I have been consistantly impressed with my Palm VIIx during the past year of use. The battery life is quite long, around three weeks, service plan inexpensive, averaging $15 per month, and coverage excellent.
What the i705 offers are evolutionary features that sand down imperfections in an otherwise excellent device. There is no need to use an obtrusive, yet fragile, antenna to connect to the network. The device vibrates instead of that annoying beep. The email is "always on" so it is not necessary to pull the device out to check mail every two seconds. The device has USB. I probably wil not replace my existing Palm, but only because I lack USB and the new email features are not really supported on the Mac. Otherwise, this device is everything I could ask for in a wireless handheld, aside from global megabit connectivity, of course.
The killer application is anywhere access to email. This service is most valuable in places where I could use a laptop, but for whatever reason it is inconvenient or expensive. In an airport, it is possible to find a payphone with a telephone jack, play with a phone card and eventually check messages, if you do not miss a flight. I would prefer to pick up a refreshing beverage and read my messages in the departure lounge without the additional stress. Likewise, although I am more than capable of configuring my laptop to use a hotel phone system, with local charges of 75 cents per call it is cost prohibitive to check my email every fifteen minutes.
Other features will be useful, especially instant messanger. Perhaps the best, yet least heralded, feature is airline flight information. The device has already paid for itself in terms of flights I have caught when the airport screens no longer display the gate. Using PQAs from most major airlines, you can figure out gate information even when it is not displayed on screen.
I'm not all that impressed. Although your precise location is not known, Palm.net uses your rough location, zip code I believe, to provide all sorts of similar services. One particular application, BrandFinder, provides locations of Banks, all sorts of stores, Food, Hotels, Gas Stations, Auto Repair shops and more. Other programs provide directions to the nearest In-N-Out Burger or Starbucks. One program, GasFinder, provides both location and prices of local gas stations. These services have been available for a few years now, but it is still cool to locate that particular fast food restaurant while driving down the highway or to send email while mountain climbing...
When you calculate the value, technically speaking the enterprise value, of a company you take the value of the equity and add the amount of debt. Therefore, the value of Amazon would be the sum of its present market capitalization, US$4.6B, and its long term debt, roughtly $2B, providing an enterprise value of $6.4B.
Just because Amazon has a substantial amount of debt does not really mean all that much. Assuming that they remain profitable and cash flow positive, Amazon could well continue as the preemminent electronic commerce company for a very long time. The current market conditions have created substantial barriers to entry for new competition.
I am not saying that Amazon is a sure thing as a company, they have some rather creative accounting among other things that could spoil the party. As a growth stock it should have more risk than more slowly growing companies like Nordstrom or Federated Department Stores. At the same time, the company has consistantly achieved success against great odds and remained out of chapter 11, even as more established enterprises like K-Mart, Montgomery Ward or even Enron have hit hard times.
If you want to avoid all risk, you should probably stick with treasury bills.
I think that the Salon.com model for a subscription-based sevice would not work for a business like Slashdot.org that is entirely dependant on both the quality and quantity of discussion. A different business model might make more sense. I would suggest selling subscriptions for a premier level of service. At this upgraded membership you would have access to some of the parts of the Slashdot experience that are intangible right now-like automatic +1 on all comments, ability to view/comment to posts before the rest of the members or an increased chance to moderate. I think that many members of the Slashdot community, including myself, might be willing to pay $6 a month for such priviliges.
One of the problems associated with using 802.11b cards to connect to public internet points is the necessity of finding the access points. Last night, despite a good map, I could not find several Consume nodes in London. Perhaps this device will save me the trouble of holding my Powerbook like a baby while I walk down the street in the future.
I am the managing editor for my student newspaper at Lawrence University , the Lawrentian, and think I might be able to provide some insight from the other side of the table. Last year some enterprising students created a website called "DownerSucks.com", a reference to our unfortunately named cafeteria, Downer Commons. After an intense publicity campaign, that included sidewalk chalking and posters around campus, many students and faculty were attracted to the site that featured unmoderated discussion boards. The school newspaper ran a front page article about the site, even though many people in the school power structure were not all that keen about an off-campus discussion board. Although at first people used this tool properly, eventually the discussion fell to the lowest common denominator. Because the site was completely independent of the university, hosted off campus, and without any formal school support, no administrators were able to censor the site. Eventually a strange thing happened. As the quality of discussion declined, the site became irrelevant. Today, DownerSucks.com is just a placeholder. The lesson learned at Lawrence is that perhaps benign neglect might be the best way for administrators to deal with renegade forums.
Fortunately several prominent contributors from the message boards have migrated to our opinion page. When the newspaper recently upgraded our website, we have included non-moderated forums. Because our traffic count is just starting to grow (we're growing at 50% a week, albeit from a very low base) we have not run into any problems. If and when people do go over the line, the forums will become moderated. In terms of your experience, I will echo the other posters who have suggested that you contact a lawyer. Although the ACLU might be better known, perhaps the Student Press Law Center might be a better option. As well, in Wisconsin we have an excellent newspaper association. Their counterpart in Utah might be able to provide you with legal, if not moral support. I wish you best of luck.
"The only thing that counts is the right to know, to speak, to think -- that, and the sanctity of the courts. Otherwise it's not America." -Edward R. Murrow
Actually back in 1997, Microsoft did release version 3.5 of WindowsNT for the PowerPC. Motorola, which at the time was also a MacOS licencee, shiped a PowerPC computer that ran NT. A good article describing the details behind this change is located in Windows2000 magazine. The bigger question, of course, is why anyone would want to run a server operating system other than some variant of Unix?
If you cannot commit to being a school sysadmin, you might want to help out through a charity called NetDay. Located at http://www.netday.org, this organization places together IT experts with local schools that need internet access. Unfortunately, the event is organized as a one-day event sporadically. The next NetDay is October 28, 2000...it would be cool to have /. teams across America.