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User: djve

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Comments · 27

  1. It's just a prototype people on Mazda Switches To USB Keys · · Score: 1

    It's a concept car according to the article. Take a shower and wait a decade.

  2. Old load of "Dow Jones" on Segway Polo · · Score: 1

    This came out several weeks ago and was reported by (belive it or not) ./ back then.

    After the last few years it looks like time to move on.

    [ Looks like my last post and last site view too. ]

    Alas, c'est la vie,

    djve

  3. Re:To avert the usual avalanche on What is the Tech Jobs Situation in Late 2004? · · Score: 1

    Hmm, I'm a green card type so I shouldn't complain too much but this post is wrong in the way "slash fiction" is when they write about Peter Parker (Marvel Comics) and Paul Darrow (Blakes 7).

    The real fact is that HB1's and LB1's are for an adult to take a position. Yet you say they are taken by children. Can you show one example of an HB1 or LB1 being used in this way?

    By my research and your figures it means that from 1999 to 2002 there are 700k jobs held by HB1 visa holders. These won't start to expire until 2006 (due to extensions).

    I believe the above posting is really a troll with very little idea of the laws or reality.

    I forget the original quote about "When one door opens another one closes". However as HB1's are enforced LB1's are going to be the way of choice.

    djve

  4. Rupert Murdoch asking to abolish the FCC on Should The FCC Be Abolished? · · Score: 2, Informative

    Now correct me if I'm wrong but News.Com is part of the Fox network isn't it? And Fox is owned, well controlled at least, by Rupert Murdoch and his progeny.

    Murdoch was known in Australia to be ruthless if you didn't toe the company line.

    To me this is manipulation of public opinion by another corporate soveriegn territory. It may get through but I think it's a bad idea. But I'm against such moves by GE, Sony, M$, Siemens, SAP, HP, IBM, add favourite monolithic giant here.

  5. Re:What bills are necessary? on Changing Jobs for Job Satisfaction? · · Score: 1

    The only people who can afford this sort of attitude has a luxury few can afford. Certainly my wife and I could afford to drop the TV. No problems. But what about the people that need to either pay rent or storage while away.

    Rich and doesn't know it. If I had that life I'd have no books or furniture when I came back.

    Pissed off by yuppie, privileged fools,

    djve

  6. Ahh, but how long. on Oracle Embraces Mozilla · · Score: 1

    Another piecemeal pronouncement.

    I would love it if it were true and that simple.

    Does anyone really think that removing all the hooks in the current Oracle applications that involve IE will happen in a year?

    Yes, it will happen. But like many other PR statements from many other companies - don't expect it to be there in the timeframe they say.

    djve

  7. And around it goes again. on Microsoft's New Core OS Team Learning from Linux · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I remember reading articles back in the 90's (remember, the last decade) that Microsoft was studying Unix and BSD kernels. Some of the impact seems to have shown up but overall it seems like not too much has changed.

    Until Microsoft isolates the the kernel calls from user based calls don't hold your breath waiting for a change. Given the legacy code they support I don't think any big improvement will be soon.

  8. Oh, 20/20 vision in hindsight. on Former Intel Engineer Pleads Guilty To Taliban Aid · · Score: 1

    I had some experience in some investigations. A media outlet always uses the images that reinforces the prejudices of their audience. In this way slashdot is no difference even with the moderation methodology.

    Without being tipped off or having outside information there is nothing to give this guy away. After Adobe vs Dimitry and some blatant abuse of the DMCA and RIAA actions of course a lot of people called the FBI overstepping. We would not have been human to do otherwise.

    On the other hand the moderation system, like that in the mainstream media, reinforces our own prejudices. So this was probably moderated up because of past injustices and our own prejudices.

    Read some Plato. He was relevant in his time, still current 20 years ago and seems even more so with these events. [Start with "The Republic".]

    djve

  9. I still don't understand. on My Segway HT "Month-iversary" · · Score: 1

    So they are saving money by using a Segway. But they discount walking/running because they may run late and need time to change after the distance.

    So explain to my few working neurons:

    1. Why the person can't leave earlier and change?

    2. How the Segway HT being the first model is more prone to failure than either:
    a. an automobile, or
    b. leg (including knee and ankle joints)?

    3. How, given the weather in Washington, it'll be better in the snow and sleet than foot, bicyle, car or motorcycle?

    4. How less polution is caused given the power generation to get the electricity is worse than a car? [Look before you leap people: there is a lot of energy lost in generating energy, transmission down the line, stored in a battery and finally reconverted into a usable form.]

    5. How he really hopes to loose weight using an automation?

    Sounds to me like he has too much money and is too lazy to do his own work. I bet he's a manager.

  10. What about the lack of new material being released on RIAA Now Targeting Retailers · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There has been a dramatic drop in the release of new artists and CDs in the last (approximately) two years. Something around 30% less. These sort of figures would show a court that the RIAA would seem to be interested in nothing more than control and to gain control distortion of the facts is a legimate tactic.

    Distortion of the truth is nothing new. Politicians, newspapers and even myself are guilty of it by omitting facts or over emphasis of point. But all three of us have some accountability, in my case either my manager or my wife.

    Can a group like the EFF get a test case going (like in the original BetaMax case) to see what the courts would decide. Then the FUD would die right off.

    I forget where I read it. It would have been either /. or TheRegister (possibly the BBC or New York Times).

  11. What happened to the earlier links? on Music Industry Seeks Payola Inquiry · · Score: 1

    OK, I know /. is dynamic. That's good. But I wanted a link from this item to make my submission after work and [guess what] the link is no longer there! It ws there 13 hours before, when I got up and did a quick check of the news I follow.

    OK, I will find it later tonight. But how about either linking to earlier versions or keeping the earlier links in?

    And this is one of the many reasons I'll take the adverts and not pay /.

    djve

  12. Don't tell the KMG on Recreating The Lost Art Of Damascus Steel · · Score: 2, Informative

    There are groups around the world, knifemakers guilds, that have this down pat. This is really a nothing story.

    For the US check The Knifemakers' Guild . There are groups around the world making everything from letter-openers to knives, swords and more. There are shows around the place and at least two magazines dedicated to this hobby.

    The "modern" damascus steel is chemically the same as museum pieces. Damascus steel is great to look at but the people charge an arm and leg for it. Good pieces by masters costs hundreds for small items, thousands for big items. With modern methods there are a lot more patterns too. They keep a great edge and you get looks when you bring out a set for the roast.

    djve

  13. Plauger, Tanenbaum and Philosophy on Computer Books For A Library? · · Score: 1

    Well P.J. Plauger's "The Standard C Library" is a good addition to K&R's "The C Programming Language". I really like the item on time calls.

    The above means I think K&R should be in the library.

    If your after a good general text on OS's I like A.S. Tanenbaum's "Modern Operating Systems".

    And on the philosophical side I'd have add my voice to "The Mythical Man Month".

    These are all good solid works. But you may want something lighter in there as well - I think either Dilbert or User Friendly should also be added.

  14. US IP versus European IP standards on Ask an Attorney About Open Source Licensing · · Score: 2
    The difference between European standards for patents and intellectual property has been shown to be vastly different to the rules applied in the US. The EEC has turned down patents in gene technologies and software that have been granted in the USA. Some patents, most of us feel, are less than worthy.

    Unless there is synchronisation between the difference sovereign territories in these issues how does the US or the EEC hope to enforce the issues of copyright and IP in other jurisdictions?

    Obviously without the issue going to a court there is no precedence for these issues directly. So I assume parallels from the state of current legislation for music, video and literature will be the basis. But these have not worked well in the past when considered on an international basis. Is there any hope of agreement for a single standard?

  15. The curse of Shannon V. Puls lives on on The Lone Guns Against Spam · · Score: 2

    I don't have a complaint with UCE/spam when they really do honour unsubscribe requests or have legitimate headers that allow me to contact the people and have my details removed.

    I really hate forged headers as it takes time to cross-reference and check the real routing details. And if you can easily get make a spelling error, the spam sites use close approximations of well know sites.

    And that is what really pisses me off about Puls. Forged headers and bogus unsubscribe details. I think people like him are a bane to society. They chew up bandwith with rubbish I don't want to see and there is no way to get off thier list. If I want to by something I'll do a search for it and I make sure not to use companies that use spam to spread their message.

    Using a private and public email addresses only works until your private one is accidentally made public. It happens all the time. So I now fight to try and keep my private one clean of spam. The many good sites have removed me.

    Obviously I still get crap from Puls. His treatment of people make me wish he has a long, slow degenerative illness resulting in his demise. With my luck he'll live to 1024.

    djve

  16. Getting PR noticed on Getting Good PR for A Small Company? · · Score: 1

    Not an easy job. My mother is a freelance journalist and has done this type of job often and successfully but is often disparaging of others in her area. However she's in Australia so contacting her is out of the question.

    You need to keep the PR simple. You need to show why its earth shattering, even when it's only great. (She wouldn't lie to me would she? :-))

    Normally it helps if they know the people who would be covering the area. Then the PR is framed for the audience. The less work the reporter has to do the more likely it will be given coverage.

    For small companies a senior freelance journalist will often be better than a PR firm. The journalist would do most of the writing anyway. A senior journalist should know about printing and layout. The will know where to send the finished product off to and how to make is suitable for several audiences. And they will be working on the one job: yours.

    If its a slow day a small function may help but don't count on it. Normally the money is wasted. You can get some coverage by taking the targeted reporter out to lunch but the coverage won't be any better. But your PR person may be able to get better coverage at a later time.

    PR is used to get known where you wouldn't be seen. Coverage in /. and other groups is wasted as your preaching to the choir. It's nice to support your local area but it can be a waste of money.

    There's much more but I'm sure all of this stuff is boring you. I've got no interest in it.

    Hope this helps.

  17. Re:OMG LISTEN UP on How Do RGB Monitors Display That 4th Color? · · Score: 1

    I agree. The original was slightly funny but its over now. Kill these jokes, please.

    djve

  18. The curse of /. on Do it Yourself 1U Half-Width Server · · Score: 1

    The site's down. probably due to too many trying to see it. The rest of youget in line, I was here first. :-) Looks like I'll try tomorrow. djve

  19. Not that I know of on Open Source Network Managment Software? · · Score: 1
    You could look at zebra and try and roll your own from the source code (see the GNU site) but I really think your going to better off spending the dollars.

    The few open source network monitoring tools I've seen have been very crude and become commercial anyway. I've looked for them under Linux, Solaris and HP-UX. So there may be a *BSD type or NT solution but they were not viable for the last place this was needed. If you find a good open source one please let us all know. Or hopefully my ignorance will be erased by someone with a better background.

  20. '[34]86 slipup on Top Ten Intel Slipups · · Score: 1

    Yes, it's old. I forget which it was and I don't have a chip to check it on. Either the '386 or the '486 was redisigned at one point. The new chips had two sigma symbols. I forget what the problem was but this goes back to the late eighties. Back when usenet wasn't advertising and computers were not a consumer item.

  21. WHOIS records are needed. on Are Public WHOIS Records Necessary? · · Score: 1

    I'm one of the vocal minority who thinks the WHOIS records and servers are needed. It's frequently the only way to get a contact into a small compnay that is being used to send UCE/spam. And they are frequently glad of the help I can give in cleaning up after an event. It also has other uses such as showing corporate hierarchies. So you may need to get in contact with a company for other reasons but the web site has no details: use a whois lookup. And I do have a whois record and it is available to the public. So I'm not being hipocritical. djve

  22. Re:Stopping SPAM on Mega-ISPs And Spam Support · · Score: 1

    No moderators. And a little flame never hurt me.

    While I don't agree with the rabid reply to my
    post I do have the right to do what I want
    within the bounds of the law.

    djve

  23. Stopping SPAM on Mega-ISPs And Spam Support · · Score: 1

    As /. readers will know CAUCE has been supporting anti-spam legislation. And you can report it to the FTC too. I identify any forged headers, generally there are a few, find out which ISP was first legitimate mail header and attach the following: On 18th July 2000 the House of Representatives passed the bill HR 3113 [Ref: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:h.r.3 113:] which is summarized at CAUCE [http://www.cauce.org/newsletter/v4n1.shtml]. I will investigate my legal rights of redress, and will be reporting this to the Federal Trade Commission as per HR 3113. This has dropped the spam I've recieved but I'm still waiting to hear from the FTC and the ISPs over who I can charge $50 for the hundreds of spam email letters I've kept. I've deliberately left the URLs in non-tagged format.

  24. Download speeds and M$oft on Different View Of MS Code Theft · · Score: 1

    Well, when running news at a small Australian university I worked out that in 24hours at 9600b/s you could easily move more than 9Gb. But the source will be much more than that and and you normally get the most recent versions by default so 2400B/s for two or three days would be more than sufficient.

  25. Solaris, you out there? on Solaris · · Score: 1

    Stanislaw Lem is much underrated. I read this book over 25 years ago and I'm surprised about the response. Many of the ideas were new, or at least presented in a new way. But over the years many SF authors have used the basis in other plots so I doubt I would be as happy reading it for the first time as you were.

    All the same: any book you enjoy is a good book.

    Now where did I put my copies of The Joy of Quantam Mechanics and Everything You Wanted To Know About String Theory (But Were Afraid To Ask)?

    David