If Comcast wants to make me demonstrate that I know basic networking security before they sell me bandwidth, that's fine. That's well within their rights, and it might actually in my best interest since my rates would go down (they'd need less of a tech-support staff).
However, why exactly is this anything anywhere NEAR the government's business? The Internet, whatever military origins it might have had, is now a mostly private network. Two people, with two computers, agree to connect wires between them and carry traffic. The government's role in this is solely to prevent crimes (i.e. fraud) and to settle contract disputes. They have no business at all restricting who can contract with whom to run wires between what and carry data, "just because it's the Internet."
Don't get me wrong: meatspace laws against fraud, unauthorized access (cracking), and the like still apply over the Internet, just as they would apply to transactions conducted in person. But this is equivalent to the government saying "Nobody can talk to Mr. Zhang or agree to carry messages for him, because he doesn't speak English well." The fact that it's over a wire makes no difference.
I used to use an eMachines 5312 (Athlon XP-M 2400). Wonderful machine, but it would overheat and shut down whenever the processor was under extreme load for long periods of time (under Windows; under Linux it would throttle back).
I've since traded that machine for an eMachines 6811 (Athlon 64 3400). It's thicker but not much heavier than the 5312, and has more vents; I suspect that extra space is used for increased airflow, because this machine has never had thermal issues.
AMD's mobile processors seem to be worth it to me.
I am posting this on a mobile Athlon 64 3400+. It has a 14.1V 4.4 amp-hour battery, and get slightly under three hours on a charge. Much of this power consumption comes from the large LCD (15" WXGA).
True, some Pentium-M notebooks use less power than my machine. However, when plugged in, I highly doubt that any but the most expensive Centrino notebooks can compete with the Athlon 64's in the number-crunching arena. For me, AC-powered performance (I'm a scientist and a gamer) outweigh the gain in battery life on the Pentium-M's.
The Athlon 64 notebooks I've seen, particularly the eMachines 68xx line (I have a 6811) are relatively inexpensive, get respectable battery life on DC, and have unmatched processor performance on AC.
AMD has done a great job balancing the need to save power while on DC with the need for performance on AC.
This is the whole reason why Google has managed to survive.
(Assembled) computers, for example, are a commodity. Anyone can buy parts off Pricewatch, build them, and sell them. This doesn't stop companies from making money by doing it.
A better example would probably be Logitech. They make keyboards, mice, and speakers--certainly commodity items--and make money from selling them.
Same with Google. Anyone else can, and many other people do, provide relevance-engine searches, but Google does it better for cheaper than anyone else.
This is how capitalism is supposed to work. Google doesn't survive because they don't have relevant competition (like Microsoft), they survive because they can stand up to their competition (like Logitech).
Well, they've got a Radeon 9600, which is enough to play almost anything. I wouldn't think the 9700's (basically, same logic, more VRAM) would cost that much more.
The ironic thing is that a convicted felon, while unable to vote, is eligible to be elected president.
Bush has that DUI conviction... unfortunately, that's not a felony in the US (we have one of the most lenient DUI laws in the world), but it should be.
A couple of other presidential candidates (and probably their advisors -- don't know what the range on Karl Rove's transmitter is) got through that barricade just fine.
Nobody wants to "ban your guns" -- that's NRA FUD.
On the taxes thing: money spent by the government will show up in your tax bill sooner or later. Bush has been spending an absolutely crazy amount of money (the Iraq war, et al.) and putting it on the National Credit Card -- sure, it may feel like he supports lower taxes, but sometime down the road, your taxes are going to be higher because of it.
That's why we have such a high national debt: presidents spend money to look good now, and leave the unpleasant part of paying for it to later administrations.
I've often wondered how effective the parliamentary systems (thinking in particular of Israel, the UK, and such) favored by non-American democracies are. Seems like you get pluralistic politics (with proportional representation) *and* a PM that's not directly elected and thus doesn't have to reduce his entire policy to four seven-second sound bites.
Then again, the lack of direct election could, at least in theory, cause problems.
You misunderstand the grandparent -- all he's saying is that enabling WEP, even if the key is "password", is an unequivocal signal that the public is not welcome to connect.
Wardrivers should respect that.
But an AP with no WEP or MAC filtering, and SSID broadcast on, looks like an invitation to use. This is reinforced by precedent: I know of multiple AP's around town configured like this intentionally by their owners for public use.
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And what, sir, is your IP address?
I was always under the impression that "bleeding-edge" meant that something was not only new, but so new that it didn't work reliably.
For instance, 64-bit computing (on an A64, not talking about Alpha etc.) is bleeding-edge: there are no drivers for anything.
If Comcast wants to make me demonstrate that I know basic networking security before they sell me bandwidth, that's fine. That's well within their rights, and it might actually in my best interest since my rates would go down (they'd need less of a tech-support staff).
However, why exactly is this anything anywhere NEAR the government's business? The Internet, whatever military origins it might have had, is now a mostly private network. Two people, with two computers, agree to connect wires between them and carry traffic. The government's role in this is solely to prevent crimes (i.e. fraud) and to settle contract disputes. They have no business at all restricting who can contract with whom to run wires between what and carry data, "just because it's the Internet."
Don't get me wrong: meatspace laws against fraud, unauthorized access (cracking), and the like still apply over the Internet, just as they would apply to transactions conducted in person. But this is equivalent to the government saying "Nobody can talk to Mr. Zhang or agree to carry messages for him, because he doesn't speak English well." The fact that it's over a wire makes no difference.
I used to use an eMachines 5312 (Athlon XP-M 2400). Wonderful machine, but it would overheat and shut down whenever the processor was under extreme load for long periods of time (under Windows; under Linux it would throttle back).
I've since traded that machine for an eMachines 6811 (Athlon 64 3400). It's thicker but not much heavier than the 5312, and has more vents; I suspect that extra space is used for increased airflow, because this machine has never had thermal issues.
AMD's mobile processors seem to be worth it to me.
I am posting this on a mobile Athlon 64 3400+. It has a 14.1V 4.4 amp-hour battery, and get slightly under three hours on a charge. Much of this power consumption comes from the large LCD (15" WXGA).
True, some Pentium-M notebooks use less power than my machine. However, when plugged in, I highly doubt that any but the most expensive Centrino notebooks can compete with the Athlon 64's in the number-crunching arena. For me, AC-powered performance (I'm a scientist and a gamer) outweigh the gain in battery life on the Pentium-M's.
The Athlon 64 notebooks I've seen, particularly the eMachines 68xx line (I have a 6811) are relatively inexpensive, get respectable battery life on DC, and have unmatched processor performance on AC.
AMD has done a great job balancing the need to save power while on DC with the need for performance on AC.
This is the whole reason why Google has managed to survive.
(Assembled) computers, for example, are a commodity. Anyone can buy parts off Pricewatch, build them, and sell them. This doesn't stop companies from making money by doing it.
A better example would probably be Logitech. They make keyboards, mice, and speakers--certainly commodity items--and make money from selling them.
Same with Google. Anyone else can, and many other people do, provide relevance-engine searches, but Google does it better for cheaper than anyone else.
This is how capitalism is supposed to work. Google doesn't survive because they don't have relevant competition (like Microsoft), they survive because they can stand up to their competition (like Logitech).
And we all get better, cheaper stuff for it.
Well, they've got a Radeon 9600, which is enough to play almost anything. I wouldn't think the 9700's (basically, same logic, more VRAM) would cost that much more.
It's a shame eMachines never made a 6800-line laptop with the Radeon 9700/9800. Those are some sweet machines for the price.
One attractive feature of Mandrake is the ntfsresize support built into the installer. Does Fedora Core 3 do this?
The best way to do that, something that Windows has had for a while:
Working suspend-to-disk.
The best way to minimize boot time is to never have to do it.
Iraq. They have fewer weapons and more oil.
In many ways I consider myself a Libertarian, and thus have no problem with do-nothing politicians.
Action for its own sake is silly.
Wow.
The KDE guys are going to have to get busy if they're going to be competitive with those specs.
Oh, I have.
I also don't think convicted felons should be disenfranchised for life.
But having one set of rules for voters and another for the people they're voting for smacks of hypocrisy.
There's a correlation between political progressiveness and social progressiveness.
Democrats are more likely to use the internet as a primary means of communication (both in and out).
The ironic thing is that a convicted felon, while unable to vote, is eligible to be elected president.
... unfortunately, that's not a felony in the US (we have one of the most lenient DUI laws in the world), but it should be.
Bush has that DUI conviction
A couple of other presidential candidates (and probably their advisors -- don't know what the range on Karl Rove's transmitter is) got through that barricade just fine.
I wouldn't say they're fiscally conservative.
In private life, fiscally conservative means things like looking at your bank balance before writing a check, living within your means, etc.
The US doesn't do that.
Nobody wants to "ban your guns" -- that's NRA FUD.
On the taxes thing: money spent by the government will show up in your tax bill sooner or later. Bush has been spending an absolutely crazy amount of money (the Iraq war, et al.) and putting it on the National Credit Card -- sure, it may feel like he supports lower taxes, but sometime down the road, your taxes are going to be higher because of it.
That's why we have such a high national debt: presidents spend money to look good now, and leave the unpleasant part of paying for it to later administrations.
90% of Americans couldn't understand preference voting.
This is the place where a majority of history, civics, government, etc. courses in school are taught by (American) football coaches on their off-hour.
(I am an American.)
I've often wondered how effective the parliamentary systems (thinking in particular of Israel, the UK, and such) favored by non-American democracies are. Seems like you get pluralistic politics (with proportional representation) *and* a PM that's not directly elected and thus doesn't have to reduce his entire policy to four seven-second sound bites.
Then again, the lack of direct election could, at least in theory, cause problems.
How do these systems work in practice?
Couldn't that be fixed with ex. proxonomitron?
Could you not just block the display of the transparent image? Most browsers will let you do things like that...
You misunderstand the grandparent -- all he's saying is that enabling WEP, even if the key is "password", is an unequivocal signal that the public is not welcome to connect.
Wardrivers should respect that.
But an AP with no WEP or MAC filtering, and SSID broadcast on, looks like an invitation to use. This is reinforced by precedent: I know of multiple AP's around town configured like this intentionally by their owners for public use.
Out of curiosity, are you or grandparent running it on 64-bit laptops? I'm looking around for a distro for one...