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User: swalve

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  1. Re:If you can't rack it... on Ask Slashdot: Little Boxes Around the Edge of the Data Center? · · Score: 1

    Just buy some rack shelves.

  2. Re:And I shall call him, mini-server. on Ask Slashdot: Little Boxes Around the Edge of the Data Center? · · Score: 1

    I love me some virtual machines, but I would want core services like DNS, DHCP and NAT on a separate machine. Perhaps in VMs if you like, but it seems like a lot of confusion to not have them in a separate "turn this one on first" machine. It seems too recursive to have all your stuff on one machine.

  3. Re:little "virtual" boxes? on Ask Slashdot: Little Boxes Around the Edge of the Data Center? · · Score: 1

    Because it makes it WAY easier to manage. You don't have to worry about varying OS requirements, you don't have to worry about devilish interactions between services, you don't have to worry about things like rebooting a mail server taking down DNS and your website. When the hardware shits itself, you don't have as much worry with reinstalling everything when the replacement inevitably has different drivers or HALs or what have you.

    Also, if you CAN run all that stuff on one box, you probably aren't the target audience for this information. But even then, with VMs, you can expand more easily. When it comes time that your one box gets too overloaded, you can just split the machines to two boxes and off you go.

  4. Re:I got the '76 flu virus on Scientists Move Closer To a Universal Flu Vaccine · · Score: 4, Informative

    There is also the problem where certain flus kill people with good immune systems faster than those with weaker ones. Cytokine Storm.

  5. Re:Accelerated Evolution on Scientists Move Closer To a Universal Flu Vaccine · · Score: 2

    No. At least not as far as recent history has proved. We've eliminated lots of disease, from mundane old cholera to smallpox. Even with the advent of global travel, we really haven't seen any new bugs come in to take their place.

  6. Re:When will this be available? on Scientists Move Closer To a Universal Flu Vaccine · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There are 7 billion people in the world, and thousands of new ones are being made every day. Every new person is a new customer. They would be plenty happy if they could capture just a percentage of that.

  7. Re:Ethernet! on Ask Slashdot: Ideas For a Geek Remodel? · · Score: 1

    Yes. The only thing it really does is move the place the tuners are located. Which, if coax is troublesome or if you want a smaller media center machine, it very convenient.

  8. Re:3000 sq ft?! on Ask Slashdot: Ideas For a Geek Remodel? · · Score: 1

    That's not a mansion, that's a normal house with a large family room hanging off one side. My mom lives in a fairly recent house, and all of the mechanicals are in a fairly small "shaft" of space. All the rooms sort of hang off of it in various directions. Very efficient to build and maintain, and the additional space like family rooms and dining rooms was very cheap to add on because there isn't anything really in it. Just the construction cost really. So a 1200 sq foot house can turn into a 3000 sq foot house easily and cheaply.

  9. Re:that's not a much of a budget... on Ask Slashdot: Ideas For a Geek Remodel? · · Score: 1

    And a dedicated UPS for your door unlocking system. And/or one of those battery operated keypad locks at one door.

  10. Re:Outlets! on Ask Slashdot: Ideas For a Geek Remodel? · · Score: 2

    If the house is of a moderate size, you can save money on wiring by installing a couple of sub-panels. Instead of homerunning 5000 feet of Romex down to a panel with 80 breakers, put a couple of panels in different ends of the house. Even just locating the panel in a centralized location rather than the corner where the service comes in will save wire.

    And while it might seem psychotic and anal-retentive, label the outlets just like they do in commercial buildings. I'm sure there is a way to do it that will blend in with the decor and not look commercial.

  11. Re:Comms and power on Ask Slashdot: Ideas For a Geek Remodel? · · Score: 1

    [Lastly, don't use LED lighting; use halogen. It's just better to live with. ]

    Or at least, learn how the lights look and use appropriate lighting for the use. LEDs in the dining room might not be romantic, but LEDs in the hard to reach foyer pendant seems like a no brainer. But you can get LED lights with all kinds of color temperatures, so choose wisely based on what's available rather than superstition.

  12. Re:An unusual idea on Ask Slashdot: Ideas For a Geek Remodel? · · Score: 1

    Having the ability to have a TV in the room makes it a more flexible room. Maybe you don't want to just eat there? Maybe you'd like a nice slideshow of pictures going? Maybe the kids can watch their Mister Rodgers in there while the grownups watch fisting movies in the rumpus room?

  13. Re:Ethernet! on Ask Slashdot: Ideas For a Geek Remodel? · · Score: 1

    There is probably nothing (cheap) that will do it as well as a good amplifier and a well though out system. The key to RF distribution is getting a clean signal to start with, and then amplifying it carefully. Amplifiers don't pull, they push. Use the good kind of RG6 (I forget which is which, RG6 or RG6-U, one has a thicker conductor for less loss).

    The other option is to get something like a media center with a bunch of tuners, or an HD homerun system that tunes off of the RF and distributes the mpeg programs as datastreams. I have a three tuner one that does great. Surprisingly low network utilization when pulling three HD streams.

  14. Re:Ethernet! on Ask Slashdot: Ideas For a Geek Remodel? · · Score: 2

    Right. Don't forget to install cat5 and an outlet to a couple of high locations for wireless access points. Just like they used to install outlets above the sink for clocks.

  15. Re:Unrealistic budget on Ask Slashdot: Ideas For a Geek Remodel? · · Score: 1

    I think the idea is to show off ALL the different things that can be done. You might not do your whole house they way they are, but you learn about the new technologies and materials in order to complete a new basement or kitchen redo.

  16. Re:I knew cisco was expensive on Cisco Pricing Undercut By $100M In Big Cal State University Network Project · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's very possible. If you read the RFPs for some government things, you'll find things that almost no vendor can possibly adhere to. If you are a top tier vendor like Cisco, you likely CAN meet the requirements, but not cheaply. So instead of trying to compete on price, you compete on being able to fulfill all of the requirements in the RFP. You take the gamble that the people analyzing the proposals will nix the cheaper ones as non-compliant, and you are the only bidder left. Or, that the agency will cancel the RFP and rewrite a new one with different or clarified requirements. Then everyone rebids with full knowledge of each others' pricing, and hopes for the best.

  17. Re:Looks like the AG actually read the law on Texas Attorney General Warns International Election Observers · · Score: 1

    It comes down to what you define as bloated, then, doesn't it? And how that is defined should already be in existing law. No need to sue unless existing law isn't being followed.

    Furthermore, why would any particular party care if the rolls were bloated? Seems like the only consequence is that a bunch of people on the list don't show up to vote. So it does look suspicious when a particular party sues to purge the databases. Especially when they only do it in certain areas, and when those areas tend to be places that support their opponent.

  18. Re:208v? ha! on Open Compute Hardware Adapted For Colo Centers · · Score: 1

    My impression was that their power supplies are rated at 190v, so giving them 208v wastes some energy. But the upside is, I guess, that the power supplies can withstand power sags better, and go into a larger variety of locations without having to upgrade the power at the locations.

  19. Re:to continue the trend? on Windows 7 Not Getting A Second Service Pack · · Score: 1

    You can also slipstream the updates, I'm pretty sure. It's just that it is a giant pain. It would probably be easier to set up one of those windows update proxy servers.

  20. Re:to continue the trend? on Windows 7 Not Getting A Second Service Pack · · Score: 2

    I think the point is that the GUI shell might be different, but the underlying system is mostly the same.

  21. Re:This is not new on NBC Erases SNL Sketch From Digital Archive For Fear of Copyright Lawsuit · · Score: 1

    It's performance rights versus mechanical rights. If you perform a song, you have to pay the songwriter some statutory fee. Meaning: you don't need permission to perform a song that is published through ASCAP. You just pay the appropriate fee. However, if you record and publish your performance (which online streaming is), you have to pay a different fee. I'm not sure if this is statutory or whether you have to obtain permission. If you use someone else's recording, I believe you have to obtain permission.

  22. Re:Just like parity files on Increasing Wireless Network Speed By 1000% By Replacing Packets With Algebra · · Score: 1

    Except that, from what it sounds like, rather than just sending extra data by default as parity information, they are encoding it differently. Sort of like how the FLAC audio codec works to compress audio. By representing the data payload as algebraic expressions, missing data can be extrapolated rather than calculated.

    But it seems to me that the right way to handle problems with the medium (wireless being lossy) is in that layer, rather than in upper layers. Why mess with TCP when the problem isn't in that layer? If the physical layer is lossy, make that layer do the work to ameliorate its own problems. Each link should be doing its own "can you hear me now?" work so that TCP retransmission can do what it is supposed to do, which is correct for congestion.

    Something is also fishy with the technique or the writeup, since isn't most streaming data (like the mentioned youtube videos) sent UDP anyway?

  23. Re:Optimize design - Simply guess "3" on New Quantum Computing Record Set By Recycled Photons · · Score: 1

    25 is not a number below 25.

  24. Re:Personal Telescreen on What To Do With Those First Generation Photo Frames? · · Score: 1

    Finally, a use for sequins.

  25. Re:Why choose to be unhappy? on What To Do With Those First Generation Photo Frames? · · Score: 1

    I think that phrase is meant to refer to solving problems, not creating new ones.