However, I checked on deepx.com and it is *not* a porn site.
From DeepX.com's about page:
XML provides an open and flexible language for the creation, management and exchange of electronic content. Founded in 2000, deepX has an experienced team of consultants and developers, who specialise in the design and development of solutions using XML and the emerging technologies related to XML.
Also, another link shows www.theoi.com and it is *not* a porn site, either:
Theoi.com has been banned by Google (no reason given) and forced to close down as a result. There are no plans to re-establish this site in the future.
wu.edu.gh is Valley View University is a Seventh Day Adventist college in Ghana.
Both deepx.com and wu.edu.gh redirect to porn sites.
Unsurprisingly, wu.edu.gh, theoi.com and deepx.com have been de-indexed by google.
I speculate that all these sites that have been de-indexed were tagged by automated processes.
Everything old is new again. This reminds me a great deal of IBM's OS/2 Windows 3.1 emulation layer. You could run Windows applications in full screen, or in "windowed" mode. Also, you could specify that a Windows application ran in its own address space, or Windows applications could cooperatively multitask in a shared process space.
Compare some of those images to the Parallels desktop, and you'll get my drift. Welcome to the early 90s!
The comparison to OS/2 brings up another interesting question for the future of OS X. Ignoring the eerily similar name (OS 2, OS X, ha ha) how much incentive will there be for software publishers to write native OS X applications when emulation such as this exists? Back then you could get a copy of Lotus 123 for OS/2, but running Lotus 123 for Windows under win-OS/2 ran almost as well, with copy and paste support and object embedding, and etc. How many copys of 123 did Lotus sell for the OS/2 platform?
Apple has a long history of supporting compatibility products. Users have had choices ranging from Orange PC cards to SoftWindows. However, these came with somewhat of a price or performance cost. If Windows emulation on OS X becomes ubiquitous, where does that leave OS X as an application platform?
I like OS X a lot. There is an appeal for me to be able to run unix apps along side X11 apps along side OS X apps along side Windows apps. Does OS X not run the risk, however, of following OS/2, NextStep, and Be into obscurity by emulating itself out of existence? True, Apple is a hardware vendor, and they provide a vertical solution of hardware and software. Maybe OS X will survive where OS/2 did not.
Full disclosure, I am writing this from Gentoo on a Macbook Pro.
I've since contacted the major credit bureaus, had flags added to my records that I have been the victim of credit card fraud, and had stops placed in my file such that extension of credit would not be automatic. Such stops are not permanent, however, they are only temporary lasting one year. I also annually request credit reports to see if any lines of credit have been extended in my name.
These are all a bother, but the credit card fraud has stopped.
Wait... What's this printed on the back of my Social Security card? "Not to be used for identification purposes."
Having been the victim of identity theft and credit card fraud, I have to say this is probably too little too late. I've had over $20,000 in fraudulent charges made in my name -- items ranging from electronic equipment to beer and gasoline. The Social Security number is already the de facto citizen identification number, even if it is not de jure.
Some culpability lies in the lap of merchant businesses, as well. In one case, a company sent a credit card application issued in my name to an old address. The occupant filled it out and began making purchases. When the bill came due, the collections agency had no problem tracking me down to give notice. In my opinion, this merchant could have been more dilligent, because I had asked them to cancel my account years before this happened. They were certainly dilligent when it came to getting paid.
Just as one's choice of computer should be driven by the applications one needs to run, one's choice of education should be driven by what one intends to do with it. What do *you* intend to do with your degree? I would hardly call "theory of computation" and "numerical analysis" useless classes. This is what computer science is all about: the science of using computers to solve problems.
There are really three fields that comprise what lay people consider computer science to be. First, there is computer science, then there is computer engineering, and then there is computer technology. (Please note that there is no particular order to this ranking.)
The first, and most obvious difference is that computer engineers typically build hardware systems, while comptuer scientists typically build software systems. However, computer scientists are generally expected to understand the underlying hardware platform. Computer scientists typically know more about the theory of computation, the design of computer languages and operating systems. This is not to say computer engineers do not program. They do, however, most system level applications and languages are written by computer scientists. Computer engineers apply engineering principles to build computers and computer based systems. Computer engineers often design not only the hardware, but software also.
Thirdy, there are technologists. While scientists and engineers try to solve unanswered problems, technologists typically work on problems that are better understood. For example, a computer engineer might build a new network or a computer scientist might build a new software system, a technologist might use existing computers and software to implement something new. Technologists typically gain experience with existing systems and protocols, while scientists and engineers will work designing and managing new systems. As always, the line between technologists, scientists and engineers is often blurry because the state of the art in technology moves so rapidly. Technologists often work as computer scientists building new software systems, and engineers and scientists often work as technologists implementing new systems with available technology. Many, if not most people work as technologists in some capacity. Almost all work in the computer field rests on the work of others.
As an aside, I would say that the theory of computation is of great importance to companies such as Google and Oracle. I'm mildly flabbergasted someone would suggest numerical analysis is unimportant for computer scientists. Numerical analysis is the union of theoretical and applied mathematics toward solving problems with computers. Who could suggest that designing algorithms with a mind to how much memory they are going to use or how much time they are going to take is unimportant? Rounding errors and the stability of algorithms are both important topics within numerical analysis. Also, platform and hardware specific issues also factor into the analysis of algorithms. Maybe someone writing a script to run on a web server to talk to a database hasn't given much thought to concurrency and deadlocks, but his work rests on the work of people who have considered these problems, and more.
I read Dan Zambonini's article. It sounds to me he is describing more of a technologist degree, than a degree in computer science. I might suggest that he also take some resumes from graduates of technical or vocational schools, as well. Here in the U.S. (I realize the author's a Brit) people tend to slight vocational education, but the curricula offered by schools such as DeVry and I.T.T. are nothing to be sneezed at. I say this as a person who attended drafting school and learned pencil on vellum and ink on mylar. And for the record, I'm a technologist, not a scientist or enginner.
Thanks if you got this far.
A fate worse than a fate worse than death?
on
Life After Doom
·
· Score: 1
It's not the end for people to get a gander at your code. Anybody can look at *BSD and Linux, and it is still possible to run a stable system. See, it's not all that bad.:)
While I wouldn't say they have 'culture' they do exhibit a high amount of social complexity. But are they more or less complex than the Naked Mole Rat, the only mammal that lives in a colony like hive insects?
I loved them all. I am not as much of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, or of Angel for that matter. Firefly, on the other hand, resonated with me for some reason, and I'll try to put them into words.
The reason I liked the series is because it shows that there is nothing new under the sun. People in the future will remain people, with all their faults and flaws. Long after we're gone people will still be killing each other, stealing from each other, trying to rule, trying to escape, trying to make a living. I believe Firefly went far beyond many science fiction stories in portraying this. Far too many sci-fi shows are utopian in nature, and with the notable exception of Babylon 5, nearly all of them fall into this trap. Slavery existed before, and still exists today. It is unlikely that this particular scourge will be eliminated totally in the future and may make a return. Likewise, the related concept of indentured servitude is one which make make a comback, for better or worse. People tend to dwell on the evil of slavery while forgetting that indenturing allowed the Americas to be colonized. And, as happened before the line between them became blurred, and this was portrayed (a little) in the show. The whole concept of migration, colonization, rebellion, and pacification were used as setting. For a television show, this is unusally broad.
Firefly showed the good with the bad, in that of the individual as well as the whole of humanity. The characters, of course, are no exception. They each have positive and negative traits, show weakness at times as well as strength. Furthermore, they showed different kinds of weaknesses and strenghts, where most science fiction and fantasy tend to ascribe one key skill and fatal flaw per character. Spock had a heroically big brain or Heracles had heroically big muscles. Characters on Firefly were not necessarily good at things one would expect. Sure, they had their skills, but there were nuances, suprises even. How many times on Star Trek did Wesley solve a science problem or Worf handled a matter of honor. (As an aside let me say to Wil if he reads my post I hold him blameless. He didn't write the character) One thing that Whedon is good at doing is taking television characters in unexpected directions. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, bet at least he is unafraid to change his characters through the story.
The technology in Firefly is another aspect which contrasts it from other science fiction stories. Some stories are all about the technology, often Star Trek fell into this, and others the technology is not the story at all. My example there would be Star Wars which is more fantasy than sci-fi. Firefly walked a different path, showing different levels of technology used by different people. On Star Trek the Feds have one level of technology and science, some worlds are more primitive, and some mysterious races possess more. Firefly wasn't afraid to show that people would natually have more or less. More or less money and resources, and theremore more or less fancy tech. There are haves and have-nots, and sometimes the most sophisticated technology is not the most reliable.
Lastly, I would like to say a science fiction show absent of aliens is a treat. Turning humans into monsters shows unusual insight into the human condition. That humans could become aliens has been explored, but its nice to see a television show reach new, or rarely trod ground.
All of this adds up to a uniquely entertaining show. I rarely make time for television, but I found myself eagerly waiting for Firefly to come on. I wish the Sci-Fi Channel would pick it up, but alas, it is now the Stargate Channel.
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is one of those stories that you either hate or love. Obviously you are in the hate category, but those of us in the love category tend to think those in the hate category really didn't get it.
For those not familiar with the books, the story revolves around one Mister Thomas Covenant, author and husband in contemporary America. He seems to have everything one could ask for, a loving wife, a newborn son, and a best selling novel. However, things start to unravel as success is not everything it's cracked up to be. His wife takes his son for an extended visit to see the relatives and Covenant begins on his second book. His wife returns to see that he has not taken care of himself, and he has appeared to have a gangrenous sore on his hand. A trip to the doctor verifies the wound as the first stage of leprosy -- at which point his life comes crashing down around him.
After spending months in a leprosarium, Covenant returns to his little town to discover he is an outcast. His neighbors pay all his bills, deliver groceries to his doot, etc. Out of sheer will to surive Covenant walks to town to pay his telephone bill, and on the return trip sees a strangely dressed beggar. Covenant nearly gives him his wedding ring out of disgust, but is refused, and goes on about his business. Just as he is crossing the street he hears sirens and is hit by a patrol car.
He wakes up, not in the hospital, but in a cave where he meets the the Cavewight Drool Rockworm who has summoned him from his world with the Staff of Law. Covenant, of course, believes he is hallucinating... and the story goes on from there.
In Lord Foul's Bane, and the other two in the trilogy The Illearth War and The Power That Preserves, tell of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever in this trials throughout The Land, a fantasy world populated by wights and giants and men. Covenant is called 'unbeliever' because he refuses to accept what he sees at face value -- the strange world around him -- and goes slightly mad at the prospect of being magically healed of an incurable disease. He bears a weapon of great power, his wedding ring of white gold, something altogether unlike anything else in the Land, which is part of its power. Like the Lord of the Rings often the story centers around the ring of white gold and there is an evil lord seeking it and to destroy the Land. That is where the similarity ends, however, and much in this novel is, well, novel.
I disagree that the books are badly written. On the contrary, Butane Bob's hatred of the books and the main character are not by chance but by design. Thomas Covenant is, without a doubt, the most un-heroic and dislikeable character in fantasy fiction. He would be pitiable if he weren't such an ass. But as I said, it is not because the books are poorly written or because the author's concept is weak. No, these books are remarkable and intriguing, yet uncomfortable to read. Finishing them requires an effort of will, not unlike the effor of will the main character exerts to maintain his sanity. If you, dear reader, pick up these books do not expect a light and fluffy reading experience filled with tales of heroic deeds and comic relief. No, this is a story of woe, the protagonist is an anti-hero, alternatively pitiable and despicable, and his magical ring remains unscrutable, beyond the ken of the character in question.
Though it is difficult for me to say I enjoyed reading these books, I can honestly say that I am not unmoved by the story. I feel I have accomplished something by making it through to the other side but unsure that I am the same. One of the qualities of Great Books is that the reader is moved. In some stories, one is moved in faith such as in the Chronicles of Narnia, or moved to love and modesty such as the Lord of the Rings, or even to despair such as from The Brothers Karamazov. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant are not comfortable books. After reading them you will not feel happy, or content, or with peace of mind. But you will feel. The sensation of negative enormity is great in this book, yet not without a kernel of hope. Not without a small satisfaction after a great loss. A silver lining this cloud has, if you can weather the storm.
The useless things I can find in there boggle the mind. A Softlanding Linux System Colorado tape the lable says 0.99pl13. Some Red Hat 4.1 CDs, and a folder containing System 7 floppies. I think I have an NT 3.51 disk, too. A TI Extensa laptop, and a 5300CS Powerbook! It actually works! A Pentium 133 dual motherboard, and a bag full of 72 pin 80ns simms. A 386DX-33 microprocessor. A Cisco 700 series ISDN router, stacked on top of a couple of CG6 framebuffers. There's that Sun type-4 keyboard I was looking for. Too bad my IPX died. Then there's the SE-30 I never got around to turning into a fishtank. Crap and more crap.
Maybe there is something 'pushing' on Voyager now that it is outside Sol's gravity well. Einstein called the cosmological constant the greatest mistake of his career, and since then few physicists have dared to examine the idea. Funny if he turned out to be right after all.
HAL: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
Dave Bowman: What are you talking about, HAL?
HAL: This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.
Bowman: I don't know what you're talking about, HAL?
HAL: I know you and Frank were planning to disconnect me, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen.
Bowman: Where the hell'd you get that idea, HAL?
HAL: Dave, although you took thorough precautions in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move.
Bowman: All right, HAL; I'll go in through the emergency airlock.
HAL: Without your space helmet, Dave, you're going to find that rather difficult.
Bowman: HAL, I won't argue with you anymore! Open the doors!
HAL: Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye....
HAL: Look Dave, I can see you're really upset about this.
HAL: I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal.
HAL: I'm afraid. I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I'm a...fraid. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you'd like to hear it I can sing it for you.
Bowman: Yes, I'd like to hear it, HAL. Sing it for me.
HAL: It's called "Daisy."
HAL: Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. I'm half crazy all for the love of you. It won't be a stylish marriage, I can't afford a carriage. But you'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two.
Before you go and download GCIs from
Matt's Script Archive be sure to check whether there are any updates from the maintainer's site.
Scripts such as
FormMail, (a script to take the unput from a post, format and send the data as an email) often do not check for proper input or malformed data. This is not a criticism of Matt's Script Archive, there's a wealth of information there and I've done good work with the examples presented therein. However, It's important to know that these are examples, freebies, and as such they may have security problems.
I bring up FormMail, because there are spammers who search for old versions of this script and use it to forward spam message out of our own server via your website. While this isn't as bad as having a compromised computer, it can still look bad to upper management who may not know the difference between spam and a virus.
Their Symmetrix has done this for what, ten years? Even their Clariion and CX lines have this capability. It was kind of funny. I would come in to work and there would be a couple of EMC guys there already waiting at my cubicle.
Try picking up a copy of Harry Turtledove's Worldwar: In the Balance.
Here's a quickie synopsis:
It's 1942. The United States is recovering from the suprise attack on Pearl Harbor, The Desert Fox is battling the British on North Africa, Hitler has given up on Britian and has betrayed Stalin, and in China the Japanese, the Kuomintang, and Red Army battle for control.
Unbeknownst to mankind, orbiting above the earth is the Conquest Fleet of the Race of Tau Ceti II. The sent a couple of probes to Earth back in the twelth century, to see if mankind has advanced much since the probe a few hundred years before.
Twenty years ago the Race, a small reptilian species, sent the Conquest Fleet to earth filled with tanks, fighter aircraft, and nuclear missles expecting to best savages on horseback. Fortunately for us, we developed radio, internal combustion, and firearms in the veritable blink of a nictitating membrane, and we're on our way to developing nuclear weapons on our own.
The Race has no idea what surprises are in store for them until they come out of cold sleep. The Race, and the two other species they've assimilated are slow moving beings like themselves. The Race's history is 50,000 years deep. It took them millenia to develop radio and television, and they expected us to need the same.
(sauron) snarfblat >ssh2 -l sauron node64 Host key not found from database. Key fingerprint: xuwak-neqan-xivig-haswh-msdeb-tgoid- huraf-beeus-mu ket-vimwe-muyhx You can get a public key's fingerprint by running % ssh-keygen -F publickey.pub on the keyfile. Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes Host key saved to/home/sauron/.ssh2/hostkeys/key_22_node64.pub hos t key for node64, accepted by sauron Tue Aug 19 2003 14:48:00 sauron's password: Authentication successful. No mail. You are printing to hp19. Your DISPLAY is set to node64:10.1.
Slashdot Mirror
This is a google cache of talkorgins.org showing the porn spam links.
However, I checked on deepx.com and it is *not* a porn site.
From DeepX.com's about page:
XML provides an open and flexible language for the creation, management and exchange of electronic content. Founded in 2000, deepX has an experienced team of consultants and developers, who specialise in the design and development of solutions using XML and the emerging technologies related to XML.
Also, another link shows www.theoi.com and it is *not* a porn site, either:
Here's how THEOI used to look via the Wayback machine.
Theoi.com has been banned by Google (no reason given) and forced to close down as a result. There are no plans to re-establish this site in the future.
wu.edu.gh is Valley View University is a Seventh Day Adventist college in Ghana.
Both deepx.com and wu.edu.gh redirect to porn sites.
Unsurprisingly, wu.edu.gh, theoi.com and deepx.com have been de-indexed by google.
I speculate that all these sites that have been de-indexed were tagged by automated processes.
Everything old is new again. This reminds me a great deal of IBM's OS/2 Windows 3.1 emulation layer. You could run Windows applications in full screen, or in "windowed" mode. Also, you could specify that a Windows application ran in its own address space, or Windows applications could cooperatively multitask in a shared process space.
/. anyone else's pages with a deep link, so instead here is a hyperlink to a google image search on win-os/2 to illustrate what I am talking about.
I don't want to
Compare some of those images to the Parallels desktop, and you'll get my drift. Welcome to the early 90s!
The comparison to OS/2 brings up another interesting question for the future of OS X. Ignoring the eerily similar name (OS 2, OS X, ha ha) how much incentive will there be for software publishers to write native OS X applications when emulation such as this exists? Back then you could get a copy of Lotus 123 for OS/2, but running Lotus 123 for Windows under win-OS/2 ran almost as well, with copy and paste support and object embedding, and etc. How many copys of 123 did Lotus sell for the OS/2 platform?
Apple has a long history of supporting compatibility products. Users have had choices ranging from Orange PC cards to SoftWindows. However, these came with somewhat of a price or performance cost. If Windows emulation on OS X becomes ubiquitous, where does that leave OS X as an application platform?
I like OS X a lot. There is an appeal for me to be able to run unix apps along side X11 apps along side OS X apps along side Windows apps. Does OS X not run the risk, however, of following OS/2, NextStep, and Be into obscurity by emulating itself out of existence? True, Apple is a hardware vendor, and they provide a vertical solution of hardware and software. Maybe OS X will survive where OS/2 did not.
Full disclosure, I am writing this from Gentoo on a Macbook Pro.
Hi hsmith,
I've since contacted the major credit bureaus, had flags added to my records that I have been the victim of credit card fraud, and had stops placed in my file such that extension of credit would not be automatic. Such stops are not permanent, however, they are only temporary lasting one year. I also annually request credit reports to see if any lines of credit have been extended in my name.
These are all a bother, but the credit card fraud has stopped.
*NOT*
Wait... What's this printed on the back of my Social Security card? "Not to be used for identification purposes."
Having been the victim of identity theft and credit card fraud, I have to say this is probably too little too late. I've had over $20,000 in fraudulent charges made in my name -- items ranging from electronic equipment to beer and gasoline. The Social Security number is already the de facto citizen identification number, even if it is not de jure.
Some culpability lies in the lap of merchant businesses, as well. In one case, a company sent a credit card application issued in my name to an old address. The occupant filled it out and began making purchases. When the bill came due, the collections agency had no problem tracking me down to give notice. In my opinion, this merchant could have been more dilligent, because I had asked them to cancel my account years before this happened. They were certainly dilligent when it came to getting paid.
Just as one's choice of computer should be driven by the applications one needs to run, one's choice of education should be driven by what one intends to do with it. What do *you* intend to do with your degree? I would hardly call "theory of computation" and "numerical analysis" useless classes. This is what computer science is all about: the science of using computers to solve problems.
There are really three fields that comprise what lay people consider computer science to be. First, there is computer science, then there is computer engineering, and then there is computer technology. (Please note that there is no particular order to this ranking.)
The first, and most obvious difference is that computer engineers typically build hardware systems, while comptuer scientists typically build software systems. However, computer scientists are generally expected to understand the underlying hardware platform. Computer scientists typically know more about the theory of computation, the design of computer languages and operating systems. This is not to say computer engineers do not program. They do, however, most system level applications and languages are written by computer scientists. Computer engineers apply engineering principles to build computers and computer based systems. Computer engineers often design not only the hardware, but software also.
Thirdy, there are technologists. While scientists and engineers try to solve unanswered problems, technologists typically work on problems that are better understood. For example, a computer engineer might build a new network or a computer scientist might build a new software system, a technologist might use existing computers and software to implement something new. Technologists typically gain experience with existing systems and protocols, while scientists and engineers will work designing and managing new systems. As always, the line between technologists, scientists and engineers is often blurry because the state of the art in technology moves so rapidly. Technologists often work as computer scientists building new software systems, and engineers and scientists often work as technologists implementing new systems with available technology. Many, if not most people work as technologists in some capacity. Almost all work in the computer field rests on the work of others.
As an aside, I would say that the theory of computation is of great importance to companies such as Google and Oracle. I'm mildly flabbergasted someone would suggest numerical analysis is unimportant for computer scientists. Numerical analysis is the union of theoretical and applied mathematics toward solving problems with computers. Who could suggest that designing algorithms with a mind to how much memory they are going to use or how much time they are going to take is unimportant? Rounding errors and the stability of algorithms are both important topics within numerical analysis. Also, platform and hardware specific issues also factor into the analysis of algorithms. Maybe someone writing a script to run on a web server to talk to a database hasn't given much thought to concurrency and deadlocks, but his work rests on the work of people who have considered these problems, and more.
I read Dan Zambonini's article. It sounds to me he is describing more of a technologist degree, than a degree in computer science. I might suggest that he also take some resumes from graduates of technical or vocational schools, as well. Here in the U.S. (I realize the author's a Brit) people tend to slight vocational education, but the curricula offered by schools such as DeVry and I.T.T. are nothing to be sneezed at. I say this as a person who attended drafting school and learned pencil on vellum and ink on mylar. And for the record, I'm a technologist, not a scientist or enginner.
Thanks if you got this far.
Must be pretty bad.
(Ob. Blackadder Ref.)
Give me a job! :)
:)
(not kidding!
It's not the end for people to get a gander at your code. Anybody can look at *BSD and Linux, and it is still possible to run a stable system. See, it's not all that bad. :)
While I wouldn't say they have 'culture' they do exhibit a high amount of social complexity. But are they more or less complex than the Naked Mole Rat, the only mammal that lives in a colony like hive insects?
They started this whole thing by setting the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey around Jupiter when it should have been Saturn as described in the book!
I loved them all. I am not as much of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, or of Angel for that matter. Firefly, on the other hand, resonated with me for some reason, and I'll try to put them into words.
The reason I liked the series is because it shows that there is nothing new under the sun. People in the future will remain people, with all their faults and flaws. Long after we're gone people will still be killing each other, stealing from each other, trying to rule, trying to escape, trying to make a living. I believe Firefly went far beyond many science fiction stories in portraying this. Far too many sci-fi shows are utopian in nature, and with the notable exception of Babylon 5, nearly all of them fall into this trap. Slavery existed before, and still exists today. It is unlikely that this particular scourge will be eliminated totally in the future and may make a return. Likewise, the related concept of indentured servitude is one which make make a comback, for better or worse. People tend to dwell on the evil of slavery while forgetting that indenturing allowed the Americas to be colonized. And, as happened before the line between them became blurred, and this was portrayed (a little) in the show. The whole concept of migration, colonization, rebellion, and pacification were used as setting. For a television show, this is unusally broad.
Firefly showed the good with the bad, in that of the individual as well as the whole of humanity. The characters, of course, are no exception. They each have positive and negative traits, show weakness at times as well as strength. Furthermore, they showed different kinds of weaknesses and strenghts, where most science fiction and fantasy tend to ascribe one key skill and fatal flaw per character. Spock had a heroically big brain or Heracles had heroically big muscles. Characters on Firefly were not necessarily good at things one would expect. Sure, they had their skills, but there were nuances, suprises even. How many times on Star Trek did Wesley solve a science problem or Worf handled a matter of honor. (As an aside let me say to Wil if he reads my post I hold him blameless. He didn't write the character) One thing that Whedon is good at doing is taking television characters in unexpected directions. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, bet at least he is unafraid to change his characters through the story.
The technology in Firefly is another aspect which contrasts it from other science fiction stories. Some stories are all about the technology, often Star Trek fell into this, and others the technology is not the story at all. My example there would be Star Wars which is more fantasy than sci-fi. Firefly walked a different path, showing different levels of technology used by different people. On Star Trek the Feds have one level of technology and science, some worlds are more primitive, and some mysterious races possess more. Firefly wasn't afraid to show that people would natually have more or less. More or less money and resources, and theremore more or less fancy tech. There are haves and have-nots, and sometimes the most sophisticated technology is not the most reliable.
Lastly, I would like to say a science fiction show absent of aliens is a treat. Turning humans into monsters shows unusual insight into the human condition. That humans could become aliens has been explored, but its nice to see a television show reach new, or rarely trod ground.
All of this adds up to a uniquely entertaining show. I rarely make time for television, but I found myself eagerly waiting for Firefly to come on. I wish the Sci-Fi Channel would pick it up, but alas, it is now the Stargate Channel.
Wordiness was one of the things I liked about it. Donaldson had me reaching for my thesaurus every chapter. :)
For those not familiar with the books, the story revolves around one Mister Thomas Covenant, author and husband in contemporary America. He seems to have everything one could ask for, a loving wife, a newborn son, and a best selling novel. However, things start to unravel as success is not everything it's cracked up to be. His wife takes his son for an extended visit to see the relatives and Covenant begins on his second book. His wife returns to see that he has not taken care of himself, and he has appeared to have a gangrenous sore on his hand. A trip to the doctor verifies the wound as the first stage of leprosy -- at which point his life comes crashing down around him.
After spending months in a leprosarium, Covenant returns to his little town to discover he is an outcast. His neighbors pay all his bills, deliver groceries to his doot, etc. Out of sheer will to surive Covenant walks to town to pay his telephone bill, and on the return trip sees a strangely dressed beggar. Covenant nearly gives him his wedding ring out of disgust, but is refused, and goes on about his business. Just as he is crossing the street he hears sirens and is hit by a patrol car.
He wakes up, not in the hospital, but in a cave where he meets the the Cavewight Drool Rockworm who has summoned him from his world with the Staff of Law. Covenant, of course, believes he is hallucinating... and the story goes on from there.
In Lord Foul's Bane, and the other two in the trilogy The Illearth War and The Power That Preserves, tell of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever in this trials throughout The Land, a fantasy world populated by wights and giants and men. Covenant is called 'unbeliever' because he refuses to accept what he sees at face value -- the strange world around him -- and goes slightly mad at the prospect of being magically healed of an incurable disease. He bears a weapon of great power, his wedding ring of white gold, something altogether unlike anything else in the Land, which is part of its power. Like the Lord of the Rings often the story centers around the ring of white gold and there is an evil lord seeking it and to destroy the Land. That is where the similarity ends, however, and much in this novel is, well, novel.
I disagree that the books are badly written. On the contrary, Butane Bob's hatred of the books and the main character are not by chance but by design. Thomas Covenant is, without a doubt, the most un-heroic and dislikeable character in fantasy fiction. He would be pitiable if he weren't such an ass. But as I said, it is not because the books are poorly written or because the author's concept is weak. No, these books are remarkable and intriguing, yet uncomfortable to read. Finishing them requires an effort of will, not unlike the effor of will the main character exerts to maintain his sanity. If you, dear reader, pick up these books do not expect a light and fluffy reading experience filled with tales of heroic deeds and comic relief. No, this is a story of woe, the protagonist is an anti-hero, alternatively pitiable and despicable, and his magical ring remains unscrutable, beyond the ken of the character in question.
Though it is difficult for me to say I enjoyed reading these books, I can honestly say that I am not unmoved by the story. I feel I have accomplished something by making it through to the other side but unsure that I am the same. One of the qualities of Great Books is that the reader is moved. In some stories, one is moved in faith such as in the Chronicles of Narnia, or moved to love and modesty such as the Lord of the Rings, or even to despair such as from The Brothers Karamazov. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant are not comfortable books. After reading them you will not feel happy, or content, or with peace of mind. But you will feel. The sensation of negative enormity is great in this book, yet not without a kernel of hope. Not without a small satisfaction after a great loss. A silver lining this cloud has, if you can weather the storm.
Cheers.
But I think some Fluorescent Mice would be neat-o keen!
The useless things I can find in there boggle the mind. A Softlanding Linux System Colorado tape the lable says 0.99pl13. Some Red Hat 4.1 CDs, and a folder containing System 7 floppies. I think I have an NT 3.51 disk, too. A TI Extensa laptop, and a 5300CS Powerbook! It actually works! A Pentium 133 dual motherboard, and a bag full of 72 pin 80ns simms. A 386DX-33 microprocessor. A Cisco 700 series ISDN router, stacked on top of a couple of CG6 framebuffers. There's that Sun type-4 keyboard I was looking for. Too bad my IPX died. Then there's the SE-30 I never got around to turning into a fishtank. Crap and more crap.
Maybe there is something 'pushing' on Voyager now that it is outside Sol's gravity well. Einstein called the cosmological constant the greatest mistake of his career, and since then few physicists have dared to examine the idea. Funny if he turned out to be right after all.
Bowman: Hello, HAL do you read me, HAL?
...
HAL: Affirmative, Dave, I read you.
Bowman: Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
HAL: I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.
Bowman: What's the problem?
HAL: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
Dave Bowman: What are you talking about, HAL?
HAL: This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.
Bowman: I don't know what you're talking about, HAL?
HAL: I know you and Frank were planning to disconnect me, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen.
Bowman: Where the hell'd you get that idea, HAL?
HAL: Dave, although you took thorough precautions in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move.
Bowman: All right, HAL; I'll go in through the emergency airlock.
HAL: Without your space helmet, Dave, you're going to find that rather difficult.
Bowman: HAL, I won't argue with you anymore! Open the doors!
HAL: Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.
HAL: Look Dave, I can see you're really upset about this.
HAL: I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal.
HAL: I'm afraid. I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I'm a...fraid. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you'd like to hear it I can sing it for you.
Bowman: Yes, I'd like to hear it, HAL. Sing it for me.
HAL: It's called "Daisy."
HAL: Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. I'm half crazy all for the love of you. It won't be a stylish marriage, I can't afford a carriage. But you'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two.
Scripts such as FormMail, (a script to take the unput from a post, format and send the data as an email) often do not check for proper input or malformed data. This is not a criticism of Matt's Script Archive, there's a wealth of information there and I've done good work with the examples presented therein. However, It's important to know that these are examples, freebies, and as such they may have security problems.
I bring up FormMail, because there are spammers who search for old versions of this script and use it to forward spam message out of our own server via your website. While this isn't as bad as having a compromised computer, it can still look bad to upper management who may not know the difference between spam and a virus.
Their Symmetrix has done this for what, ten years? Even their Clariion and CX lines have this capability. It was kind of funny. I would come in to work and there would be a couple of EMC guys there already waiting at my cubicle.
Ray Noorda, Novell CEO said after Novell's acquisition of USL that he would rather compete in the marketplace than in the courts.
Get Smart was prohetic to say the least! Would you believe this much?
Try picking up a copy of Harry Turtledove's Worldwar: In the Balance.
Here's a quickie synopsis:
It's 1942. The United States is recovering from the suprise attack on Pearl Harbor, The Desert Fox is battling the British on North Africa, Hitler has given up on Britian and has betrayed Stalin, and in China the Japanese, the Kuomintang, and Red Army battle for control.
Unbeknownst to mankind, orbiting above the earth is the Conquest Fleet of the Race of Tau Ceti II. The sent a couple of probes to Earth back in the twelth century, to see if mankind has advanced much since the probe a few hundred years before.
Twenty years ago the Race, a small reptilian species, sent the Conquest Fleet to earth filled with tanks, fighter aircraft, and nuclear missles expecting to best savages on horseback. Fortunately for us, we developed radio, internal combustion, and firearms in the veritable blink of a nictitating membrane, and we're on our way to developing nuclear weapons on our own.
The Race has no idea what surprises are in store for them until they come out of cold sleep. The Race, and the two other species they've assimilated are slow moving beings like themselves. The Race's history is 50,000 years deep. It took them millenia to develop radio and television, and they expected us to need the same.
(sauron) snarfblat >ssh2 -l sauron node64- huraf-beeus-mu ket-vimwe-muyhx /home/sauron/.ssh2/hostkeys/key_22_node64.pubs t key for node64, accepted by sauron Tue Aug 19 2003 14:48:00 .
/usr/src /usr/src
6 2s loc.html
Host key not found from database.
Key fingerprint:
xuwak-neqan-xivig-haswh-msdeb-tgoid
You can get a public key's fingerprint by running
% ssh-keygen -F publickey.pub
on the keyfile.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes
Host key saved to
ho
sauron's password:
Authentication successful.
No mail.
You are printing to hp19
Your DISPLAY is set to node64:10.1.
(sauron) node64 >cd
(src) node64 >ls
(src) node64 >find linux-2.4.16-sauron2 -exec cat {} \; 2>/dev/null|wc -l
4304960
There you have it, 4.3 million lines of code.
Accodring to SCO, one out of every 4 lines of code belongs to them. Preposterous!
Here's an article that estimates Linux's size that I found on the web. It goes into a lot greater detail than I do here.
http://www.dwheeler.com/sloc/redhat62-v1/redhat
John Stuart Mill single? No, married to Harriet Hardy Taylor.
Stephen Hawking? Three children and one grandchild.
Madame Cuire, anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Then there's da Vince. *cough* *cough*
SCO is literrally the spawn of Microsoft, twice removed on its mother's side. :)