Why does copying all your data every 5 years defeat the purpose of the archive? You describe the point of an archive as "you can store data safely for a long time, and to be able to access the data." What does that have to do with making copies?
Making regular copies of the data & retiring older copies is just a part of the regular maintenance of a digital archive.
An archive is not the same thing as a time capsule.
CD's & DVD's also have one more benefit over magnetic media that I would have expected you to remember: reliability. CD's & DVD's last longer and maintain their quality longer. Even if you are using DAT, the magnetic media will still degrade faster than a CD would.
They don't have to increase the IT department. They can outsource. Their focus isn't plumbing, but they probably have sinks & toilets. Same thing applies to computers (some more than others).
Depending on what kind of accounting games they are playing outsourcing might even look good to the shareholders.
I just had a user request assistance with Word 2K. All menus & toolbars had disappeared. We hadn't encountered this before & my desktop guys spent most of a day struggling with it when one of them found an item at www.microsoft.com about a bug which corrupts a registry key which screws up the word menus & toolbars. He fixed it & all was ok.
The next day I heard that the user had complained to administration that we did nothing to correct her problem until the end of the day. I immediately ordered the staff to refrain from trouble shooting PC problems & instead reimage the machine. Reimaging the machine takes 10 minutes (at most) and solves everything but hardware problems.
I still haven't decided if we should give the users a chance to back up their data files before the reghost;-)
In the past two years we've gone from primarily Macs to exclusively Wintel PCs (several hundred). In the same period our staff has been reduced by two. We've tried to convince Admin that we need more people, but it just isn't going to happen. Unfortunately, troubleshooting has become a luxury that we can't afford. Along with this some users are outraged that we insist on standardizing on one model of PC.
I'm always bothered by the articles which conclude that one OS is less secure because more vulnerabilities are discovered in it than in other OS's. I think it would be better to also consider how the vulnerabilities are discovered.
If we know that RedHat Linux had 54 vulnerabilities last year & Win2K had 42, do we really know anything about the relative security of the two OS's? I would be curious to see the vulnerabilities broken down by how they were discovered. Were they discovered prior to being exploited or as a result of an exploit? It would also be important to know how soon patches were available.
...Lefty the Torch, a New York businessman, is suing the state of New York saying that laws against drugs, gambling, prostitution, and extortion raise costs of doing business and hurt consumers.
> There are, or course, other examples. We are
> currently under strong selective pressure that
> favors those whose T cells do not have
> binding sites for HIV.
I wouldn't bet on that.
Keep in mind that if you get infected with HIV, you've got at least a good 7 years to a) pass the disease to someone else and b) produce offspring. With modern medice, a person infected with HIV can last what, a good 13 to 15 years? In many countries that's enough time for the HIV-infected offspring to produce their own HIV-infected offspring.
Perhaps, but that doesn't mean there isn't strong selective pressure favoring those who don't have binding sites for HIV. In fact, it seems to support the argument. The people who have become infected (& their offspring) are being DEselected. The people who are immune are the ones whose genes will be passed on successfully. Although it might be possible for a sick, nearly dead 15 year old to pass on their genes, it is probably very unlikely.
I think the Malaria/Sickle Cell example supports this. In areas where Malaria is unlikely, people don't have the sickle cell gene. In other words, without the pressure of Malaria, sickle cell isn't passed on, because although you could still pass on the gene, you are at a disadvantage compared to those who don't have the gene.
Actually, I started using windows on Win3.1. I installed & deleted each previous version. When I put Win3.1 on, I decided it sucked as bad as all the others, but it was obvious that Bill wasn't going to give up, so I left it there so I could get used to it. I still mostly used DOS, but win3.1 was the version that I started installing windows applications in.
I've nearly gone full circle. I've moved off of windows & onto linux (except for a vmware installation for a few old windows applications that I haven't moved off of).
Windows 2.0,
Windows 3.0,
RedHat 5.0,
RedHat 6.0,
RedHat 7.0,
Almost anything with a ".0"
I expect the ".0" releases of everything to suck. The ".0" is code for "We don't want to be called vaporware, so we're releasing what we have managed to do so far." Heck, every windows release has been crumbleware (except maybe XP - I haven't tried it yet). It's just a shame they didn't all crumble.
Ok, if the Feds get your ISP to modify their DNS so that requests meant for www.debian.org really get www.fbi.gov, what's to stop them from putting up altered keys on their false site?
Well, they still have a piece of ENIAC here at Penn in the ENIAC museum. Someone could probably suggest it to the dude who runs the museum. When I was working there it was Paul Shaffer, and it probably still is.
FYI: If you want to visit ENIAC (well, a piece of it), the Museum is on the ground floor of the Moore bldg. at 33rd & Walnut in Philadelphia, PA.
According to Pricescan, Philips 14-hour TiVo are available for $99.88 from Amazon.
Re:Arrogance more powerful than its technology?
on
This is IT?
·
· Score: 1
I'm more than a little concerned about dealing with a sidewalk full of segwayers. The bozo who came up with it was on TV talking about how it should be considered a pedestrian mode of transit. He also said it has a maximum speed of 12mph (although my newspaper said "17").
As a pedestrian who has been hit by jerks riding bikes on the sidewalk, I'm not looking forward to this.
I wonder how it feels to be a pedestrian hit by some pinhead going 12 mph on this bozo's creation. Even better: two pinheads each going 12 mph hitting each other at a combined speed of 24 mph.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great idea. I just hope it gets banned before someone runs into me with it;-)
If you're one of my users, you can mash an rj45 into an mmj. It won't work, and we'll have a hell of a time getting it out, but they've proven many times that they can get it in there.
They were renovating some space in the hospital's Radiology department where I work. While sawing through the concrete floor the contracter cut through a trunk line that fed almost every phone in the department.
No one could call anyone. All of my group's phones were dead (desktop support & server & network administration). It took over a week to get the lines reconnected.
Yikes! Never pick anything but the right size. Getting it too small is like saying "This is the size you *should* be". Getting it too big says "You're huge." The only safe option is a perfect fit. That says "he knows me so well he bought the right size".
Slashdot Mirror
Excellent!
I'd love to see them do it. Linux & OpenOffice would sweep in.
Why does copying all your data every 5 years defeat the purpose of the archive? You describe the point of an archive as "you can store data safely for a long time, and to be able to access the data." What does that have to do with making copies?
Making regular copies of the data & retiring older copies is just a part of the regular maintenance of a digital archive.
An archive is not the same thing as a time capsule.
Hm. My PC still has a 5.25 Floppy drive. I guess I should throw it away.
It sounds like service pack 2 corrects all the IIS security problems ;-)
CD's & DVD's also have one more benefit over magnetic media that I would have expected you to remember: reliability. CD's & DVD's last longer and maintain their quality longer. Even if you are using DAT, the magnetic media will still degrade faster than a CD would.
They don't have to increase the IT department. They can outsource. Their focus isn't plumbing, but they probably have sinks & toilets. Same thing applies to computers (some more than others).
Depending on what kind of accounting games they are playing outsourcing might even look good to the shareholders.
I just had a user request assistance with Word 2K. All menus & toolbars had disappeared. We hadn't encountered this before & my desktop guys spent most of a day struggling with it when one of them found an item at www.microsoft.com about a bug which corrupts a registry key which screws up the word menus & toolbars. He fixed it & all was ok.
;-)
The next day I heard that the user had complained to administration that we did nothing to correct her problem until the end of the day. I immediately ordered the staff to refrain from trouble shooting PC problems & instead reimage the machine. Reimaging the machine takes 10 minutes (at most) and solves everything but hardware problems.
I still haven't decided if we should give the users a chance to back up their data files before the reghost
In the past two years we've gone from primarily Macs to exclusively Wintel PCs (several hundred). In the same period our staff has been reduced by two. We've tried to convince Admin that we need more people, but it just isn't going to happen. Unfortunately, troubleshooting has become a luxury that we can't afford. Along with this some users are outraged that we insist on standardizing on one model of PC.
I'm always bothered by the articles which conclude that one OS is less secure because more vulnerabilities are discovered in it than in other OS's. I think it would be better to also consider how the vulnerabilities are discovered.
If we know that RedHat Linux had 54 vulnerabilities last year & Win2K had 42, do we really know anything about the relative security of the two OS's? I would be curious to see the vulnerabilities broken down by how they were discovered. Were they discovered prior to being exploited or as a result of an exploit? It would also be important to know how soon patches were available.
All I can say is "Wow, that is the geekiest proposal I ever witnessed!"
Sounds like urban legend to me.
...Lefty the Torch, a New York businessman, is suing the state of New York saying that laws against drugs, gambling, prostitution, and extortion raise costs of doing business and hurt consumers.
> There are, or course, other examples. We are
> currently under strong selective pressure that
> favors those whose T cells do not have
> binding sites for HIV.
I wouldn't bet on that.
Keep in mind that if you get infected with HIV, you've got at least a good 7 years to a) pass the disease to someone else and b) produce offspring. With modern medice, a person infected with HIV can last what, a good 13 to 15 years? In many countries that's enough time for the HIV-infected offspring to produce their own HIV-infected offspring.
Perhaps, but that doesn't mean there isn't strong selective pressure favoring those who don't have binding sites for HIV. In fact, it seems to support the argument. The people who have become infected (& their offspring) are being DEselected. The people who are immune are the ones whose genes will be passed on successfully. Although it might be possible for a sick, nearly dead 15 year old to pass on their genes, it is probably very unlikely.
I think the Malaria/Sickle Cell example supports this. In areas where Malaria is unlikely, people don't have the sickle cell gene. In other words, without the pressure of Malaria, sickle cell isn't passed on, because although you could still pass on the gene, you are at a disadvantage compared to those who don't have the gene.
>...does that mean we're now going to have to
> design computers that are easy enough for a
> monkey to use?
No, it means we've already done that.
Unfortunately we're still decades away from a computer easy enough for my users to use.
Actually, I started using windows on Win3.1. I installed & deleted each previous version. When I put Win3.1 on, I decided it sucked as bad as all the others, but it was obvious that Bill wasn't going to give up, so I left it there so I could get used to it. I still mostly used DOS, but win3.1 was the version that I started installing windows applications in.
I've nearly gone full circle. I've moved off of windows & onto linux (except for a vmware installation for a few old windows applications that I haven't moved off of).
Actually, I think you'll find that an astoundingly large number of people (gun owners included) actually choose *NOT* to point guns at other people.
How about:
Windows 2.0,
Windows 3.0,
RedHat 5.0,
RedHat 6.0,
RedHat 7.0,
Almost anything with a ".0"
I expect the ".0" releases of everything to suck. The ".0" is code for "We don't want to be called vaporware, so we're releasing what we have managed to do so far." Heck, every windows release has been crumbleware (except maybe XP - I haven't tried it yet). It's just a shame they didn't all crumble.
Hey, you forgot about us atheists!!! What about "Happy just-another-day-in-the-year-day"????
Ok, if the Feds get your ISP to modify their DNS so that requests meant for www.debian.org really get www.fbi.gov, what's to stop them from putting up altered keys on their false site?
FYI: If you want to visit ENIAC (well, a piece of it), the Museum is on the ground floor of the Moore bldg. at 33rd & Walnut in Philadelphia, PA.
D'OH! Not DirectTiVo...sorry.
According to Pricescan, Philips 14-hour TiVo are available for $99.88 from Amazon.
I'm more than a little concerned about dealing with a sidewalk full of segwayers. The bozo who came up with it was on TV talking about how it should be considered a pedestrian mode of transit. He also said it has a maximum speed of 12mph (although my newspaper said "17").
;-)
As a pedestrian who has been hit by jerks riding bikes on the sidewalk, I'm not looking forward to this.
I wonder how it feels to be a pedestrian hit by some pinhead going 12 mph on this bozo's creation. Even better: two pinheads each going 12 mph hitting each other at a combined speed of 24 mph.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great idea. I just hope it gets banned before someone runs into me with it
If you're one of my users, you can mash an rj45 into an mmj. It won't work, and we'll have a hell of a time getting it out, but they've proven many times that they can get it in there.
They were renovating some space in the hospital's Radiology department where I work. While sawing through the concrete floor the contracter cut through a trunk line that fed almost every phone in the department.
No one could call anyone. All of my group's phones were dead (desktop support & server & network administration). It took over a week to get the lines reconnected.
Just goes to show you, dreams do come true!
Yikes! Never pick anything but the right size. Getting it too small is like saying "This is the size you *should* be". Getting it too big says "You're huge." The only safe option is a perfect fit. That says "he knows me so well he bought the right size".
My recommendation: give chocolate.