The Organization header is meant to identify the organization the user belogs to or the machine, the news server itself.
So if I connect to the Internet from one domain, set my email address through another domain, and use the NNTP server of another domain, the NNTP server owners somehow are able to identify themselves in the "Organization:" header?
The above example is true for me. Search for my email address as an author on Google Groups. In addition, my header is set to my current employer (the one that provides me with Internet access). This is in part because my NNTP server and my email address do not give a hint to that organization.
From an NNTP point of view, the "organization" is really the provider hosting the news service
I strongly beg to differ. Your "provider" is simply the first server the article is propogated to, and nothing more.
If you don't like this change in policy, by all means let them know.
But Slashdot should not bring it to your attention so that you might know what is going on and complain?
I completely disagree with your interpretation of the RFC.
"European Car" magazine reviewed the new 7 series in their February, 2002 issue.
They mention that in 1953, the BWM 502 had 26 control and indicator functions. In the late 90's, the 7-series had over 70 functions, with as many indicators, and over 35 control elements (buttons, etc.)
Something *had* to be done to reduce the complexity of the cockpit. While driving down the road you do not want the person in the car next to you trying to figure out which of the 40 buttons on the dash controls what. You can do it by feel with more simple cars, but cars as advanced as the 7-series will be simply too much.
Most reviews I have read (I am a big car buff, especially BMWs) all say that once you get used to the system (go out in your driveway for a Saturday), you can figure the system out fairly quickly, and that using it (once you have it figured out) is actually easier than a bunch of buttons.
Also realize this is the first generation of the system. User interface will only get better.
I recently drove a Mercedes Benz C320 with the navigation system and cell phone options. They were all combined with the stereo onto one LCD. Once I figured out the relatively easy interface, I was able to do more by touch than I have been able to with other cars using buttons.
Having one consistent interface made things much easier.
About the only problem I foud, and the only problem mentioned in most reviews, is the ability to do multiple thigns at once. You cannot raise the stero's volume at the exact same time as you adjust the passenger-side heat.
Buyer: But that means that I will pay you for a product that all of my competitors will get for free. They also get all the advantages I do, including other people improving the code. They get that for free, as well.
Buyer: Why do I not just wait for them to contact you to write an open source solution and then use what you write for free?
Actually, I work in education. I also know that what I view on the Internet while sitting in my office is watched.
The nice thing about this system is that it does not prevent anyone from going to these sites or doing these things. If you find that you need to go to a porn site to help you learn about pornography laws (as I had to do just today - some porn sites have a better defense of pronography, and therefore definitions of common terms such as "indecent" as well as arguments concerning the First Amendment, than most other sites), and you go there frequently enough to make the list, then you can simply tell people what reason you were going to the sites.
If you do not want to explain yourself, then do not.
Get the teacher's union to write it up in the contracts that teachers cannot be fired based on what the reports show.
While you might talk about how you think that you should be able to do personal web browsing on your work computer, let me give you another reason: Someone pays for that bandwidth. If you are working for a school, more than likely it is the state government that is paying for it.
I, for one, do not like the idea that my already under-funded schools are having some of their budgets taken away by a teacher who is browsing the Internet for their own pesonal use. Take a coffee break and drink the coffee that my tax dollars are paying for. But when you start doing a lot of P2P stuff that I have to pay for, that is where I, as a taxpayer, draw the line. This is especially true when you might be downloading copywritten material illegally.
I do not mind a lttle web browsing every now and then. The line is massive bandwidth usage.
One other thing - my friend continues to do personal web browsing while at work. He simply limits it to the amount that he knows will cause him not to make the list. This is a great solution for the employer (who knows that its employees are not using too much time to do personal things) and the employees (who do not have the right to surf taken away completely).
The system is not so much about taking away your ability to surf (blocking ports and domains would do that) so much as limiting the amount that you are able to.
Someone else mentioned the clients on Tucows. I checked each of them, and they are all shareware. They might be willing to allow a site licence if you drew a nice check, but it sounds like a free client would be better.
I could not dig up a freeware client for Windows that will run across the board (3.x up to XP and ME). In fact, I had trouble digging up a free client at all.
About the only thing I found was on a search of SourceForge. Freehost3270 is apparently in alpha testing right now, but it is probably worth a look. You might even be able to help out. It also has the benifit of being on the server side and not the client side.
This past weekend I was speaking with a friend who mentioned that his company had gone to a policy like this. They printed out a simple report that showed the top ten users of bandwidth at each location and the top ten domains that each person was accessing.
The reports were made available to all company employees (I do not remember if they posted the information or just distributed it).
He said that the total bandwidth used at each site had dropped dramatically.
I imagine this system would also help get people to log off the system when not using it, since they do not want someone using a computer while they are logged in to access porn and use bandwidth.
I think this system, combined with blocking several ports used by P2P systems, is the best way of dealing with it.
I believe that years of living under the Microsoft monopoly has scewed your sense of reality when it comes to consumer OSes.
Your logic that closed OSes inheriently cause monopolies is strange. I am not a huge MacOS programmer, but as far as I know all Cocoa APIs *are* completely open. The source may not be, but the APIs are all documented.
This was one of the major complaints against MS - their closed, non-documented APIs (ones that would allow Office to work better than other office suites) in the scope of a monopoly were illegal.
Your jump from a closed-source OS to closed APIs make no sense that I can see.
Yes, specs should be open. I should be able to know all of the Winodws APIs and I should be able to know the exact specification for MS Office documents. Simply because MS does not currently do that does not mean anything, though.
Competition would promote more open standards. Why would anyone want to port/design to your platform if they cannot inter-operate with the other 66% of the market out there?
My argument would be that in a 1/3 market share for each OS, that competition would help drive inter-operability and open standards.
Take TCP/IP, for example. Because there are so many different operating systems out there, TCP/IP, an open standard, is going to be the standard networking protocol.
Sure a specific computer might support AppleTalk or another networking protocol, but something like MS's bastardized Kerberos is never going to take off (realizing that I am slightly moving anaologies here from networkign protocol to auth. schemes) because all of the other platforms are not going to support it.
Does this make sense? Compettion would drive the need for open standards.
(Or maybe I am just missing what you are saying entirely)
The better reason to avoid Wal-Mart is the same reason to avoid Microsoft - both are very guilty of monopolistic abuses (MS has been found guilty, Wal-Mart is just as bad but has not been investigated).
Go into any small town in the American South. Look at the amount of competition both before and after Wal-Mart moved in. Look at what Wal-Mart does to their old buildings after they move into a "Super Wal-Mart" (sometimes less than 1/2 mile away).
Wal-Mart drives all of the smaller competitors out of business. Now they are driving K-Mart out. They refuse to lease their old buildings, preferring to leave them empty.
Premium cable channels like HBO are also nice in the same way as R and NC-17 movies - the directors and writers do not have to change the scripts to fit into the "family acceptable" guidelines that comes with normal broadcasting and a PG or PG-13 rating.
Shows like NYPD Blue show that sometimes you have to do these things for a more advanced audience.
And actually, the platform wars wound down years ago, I think you'll find that the open architecture of the PC, for all it's faults, was the winner.
You are equating popularity with superiority. By that rational, Ford makes a *better* car than BMW and Mercedes Benz sinply because they sell more cars every year.
Mac users would argue that while the i386 platform is more popular, there are better things out there. That is not too hard to grasp, is it? Would you buy an SGI machine if it was only a 5-10% premium over a similar PC?
but because if everybody bought a Mac we'd suddenly be even worse off than we are now. Microsoft showed us what damage a monopoly can do when it controls the standards, a monopoly of Apple would be infinitely worse as they control the hardware too!
This is, without a doubt, one of the most ignorant thigns I have ever read on Slashdot. Yes, if everyone bought Apples instead then Apple would have a monopoly. You not buying a Mac does not prevent Apple from having a monopoly (welcome to the wonderful world of being a MS competitor), but actively encourages the continument of MS's monopoly, since it knocks down MS's only sizable commercial competitor.
The only monopoly that wouldn't cause massive damage would be a monopoly of PC/Linux.
For the love of God, why are you so preoccupied on the fact that there *has* to be a monopoly on computers? Suppose Windows on PCs, Linux on PCs, and MacOS X on Macs all had 33% of the market? Can you say "competition"?
A monopoly is the exception. Regular capitalistic competition is normal. You apparently cannot see that as a possibility. Competition is a *good* thing.
I would go almost as far as to call your post a troll.
You are missing an importat point on this one - the type of informaiton you mention does not need a card following multiple purchases to do.
In addition, the type of information you mention *does not really invade your privacy*.
I did something else to further confuse the grocery people. In addition to lying, I gave out my extra cards to some people I know. They are not good friends, even, but do live in the same area I do so they use the same store I do.
It would be very difficult for the store to find a decent pattern in our purchasing.
I moved last fall. My current card is one that I found on the ground outside the store. I do not know who it belongs to.
When the debates concerning LCD-based iMacs was going on, a lot of education people chimed in with desires *not* to see CRT-based Macs go.
The reasons?
1) Costs. CRTs are cheaper than LCDs. When you are talking about buying thousands of computers for a district, this adds up really quickly.
2) More importantly, CRTs are much more durable currently than LCDs. In education, this makes all the difference.
As far as expandability of the TiBooks, most people are quick to point out that they currently ship with most things you could ever use. Firewire, video, USB, Giga-Ethernet, and a combo-drive. Airport can be added, as well. There is really not that much that can be added.
Sure, Microsoft needs to lose some power here, but I hope they don't swing the pendulum too far the other way. Are we really any better off if Sun or Oracle are given the power to choose the direction of Windows? I hope the decision makers stick to the principle of "What's good for the consumers," and not just "What's bad for Microsoft."
We have proven the Microsoft has a monopoly and the power that goes with it. Now we need to rectify that situation. How do we do this?
Well, a monopoly mans that you can use your power to keep others out of the marketplace unfairly. So we have to force competition back. There are two solutions to this problem: We weaken the monoply (Microsoft) enough that the competition can actually compete, or we strenghen the position of competitors enough that they are able to compete.
The problem with the second solution is that you generally have to pick and choose the companies that you want to set up against the monopoly. For example, how would the federal government effectively help Linux out to compete with Microsoft as a business?
Weakening Microsoft, on the other hand, helps anyone and every compete against them, including competitors who are not even around during this sentencing phase.
The only way that Sun or Oracle will have too much power is if we (the federal government) decide to strengthen them against Microsoft. Weakening MS, on the other hand, will hopefully *increase* competition to the point where no single company will be able to control the market. How will it keep one company from dominating? The remedy to the Microsoft trial should promote competition, and competition is the one thing that will prevent any one company from dominating that market.
I think that Microsoft is going about this all wrong. They are arguing that "If you do this, you will hurt us." Well, boys and girls, that is the point. The governement's solution *is* to hurt MS so as to increase competition. What Microsoft needs to be saying is "This remedy does not work because it will allow another company to simply step in and take our place as a monopoly power."
Unfortunate for Microsoft, no rememdy that has been mentioned thus far has that result.
I hope not. One of the great problems with truly moblie (and wearable) objects is the struggle between portability and interface.
For example, my watch is very good at what it does. However, that screen is going to be way too small to do any long reading (email) or data entry (composing email).
You could do voice recognition, but you still have to worry about a screen.
"Fine," you say, "what about small screens that attach to your glasses?"
Well, I, for one, do not want to have to wear one of those at all times just to see if I have new mail, especially if I have something convinient like a watch already on my wrist.
The point is that a few (but not too many) extremely portable objects is much more flexible than just one integrated product.
I currently have both a cell phone and a Visor. I have a cord to connect the two together to check my email and things like that (the Visor's screen being much better than the cell, obviously).
There are times, however, when all I need/want on me is my cell phone. Having an integrated device, like the Treo, will mean that I still have to carry around a fairly bulky device. Why? Because the Treo is going to have its size dictated by its screen.
I would prefer to have several small things that are very good a what they do and all work together seamlessly.
"Plug and play" without the "plug." I have a hard drive/computer in my wallet, a watch capable of minor alerts (like CallerID and mail alerts). I decide to email someone, so I pick up a keyboard and the devices automatically recognize it and accept wireless input from it. To see the input, I attach a glasses monitor (or a tiny projector) and the other parts see it and imeediately begin to use it as a display.
One of the Smalldognewsletters had some commentary on the comparison. The latest newsletter has not hit the archives yet, but it did bring up some good points:
1) He mentions that on the iMac "but sound quality and volume are limited." Of course, the Sony includes seperate speakers. For the price difference you could easily pick up a pair of aftermarket speakers.
2) He mentions how easy the iMac is to set up (and then complains about the set-up screens), then goes on to comment on the Sony "I think we're going to have some fun with this rig - a thought that helps get me through a 45-minute setup."
3) The author mentions "Windows XP is much more reliable, and somewhat easier to use, than its predecessors." Well, perhaps. How is it in comparison to Mac OS X, though? I have had my new Mac for over three weeks now and have not had a single crash or kernel panic.
4) He often comments about the poor included software on the Sony.
All in all, it is a good review, although I wish he would mention more than a couple of times the drastic price difference and the fact that most short-comings on the iMac could be more than made up by the price difference (i.e. He comments that the included photo manipulation software on the Sony is better than iPhoto for adjusting/cropping/etc. For the price difference, though, you could almost pick up Photoshop for Mac OS X).
Also, I know that GraphicConverter is included on new G4 machines. It is included on the new iMac?
Indeed, the government would never think to move things like vehicle registration online. Or voter registration. Or database access for things like zoning. These things might be done at the state level, but do you think that states will decide to do something vastly different than the Federal government?
Just because the only current use of government services online is people taking advantage of the IRS offering online tax submition does, in no way, mean that this will continue to be the only thing the government offers online.
iCab, which is what I am using currently, is a good example of a fairly well done browser that is fairly mature without too much bloat.
I use K-Meleon when running Windows and I am glad to see a similar browser to that appearing for Mac OS X. I think that Chimera is going to be closer to something like K-Meleon and Galeon than it ever will be to a larger Internet suite. We already have Mozilla for that.
It works fairly well. I currently do not sign up for Sprint's Wireless Web deal, so I pay by the minute (adding it to my plan would require $10/month, and I would like to keep my current plan).
I do not use it that much, only when travelling, which basically means about two weekends a month or so.
I was impressed with how easy it was to set up. After getting the cable, it probably took about ten minutes of fairly easy work to get connected the first time.
Having to carry both items is not that big of a deal. I tyipcaly carry my phone in my front pocket and my Visor in a rear pocket. And since I am usually travelling, I typically have either a backpack or another bag with me, as well.
Connecting takes about 25 seconds. On occasion I will get dropped almost immediately after connecting. I have started to notice that the drops seem dependent on the charge of the battery. As the cell battery gets lower, the more drops I get.
Connection speed is limited to 14.4
I currently only check my email. I have not done any web work with the Visor. I use Eudora's free email client. Being able to leave mail on the server, using POP3, means that I do not have to worry about synching the email with the desktop, a Mac, when I return, which I think is key.
Eudora/Palm also allows you to disconnect immediately after a send/check, which cuts down on the minutes used (nice when I am paying for access by the minute).
I think that eventually I will go with a combination device like the Treo. It will be a while, though. There are many times when I only carry my phone, and I like having its smaller size. Even now I am considering purchasing a phone smaller than the 3500.
Slashdot Mirror
The Organization header is meant to identify the organization the user belogs to or the machine, the news server itself.
So if I connect to the Internet from one domain, set my email address through another domain, and use the NNTP server of another domain, the NNTP server owners somehow are able to identify themselves in the "Organization:" header?
The above example is true for me. Search for my email address as an author on Google Groups. In addition, my header is set to my current employer (the one that provides me with Internet access). This is in part because my NNTP server and my email address do not give a hint to that organization.
From an NNTP point of view, the "organization" is really the provider hosting the news service
I strongly beg to differ. Your "provider" is simply the first server the article is propogated to, and nothing more.
If you don't like this change in policy, by all means let them know.
But Slashdot should not bring it to your attention so that you might know what is going on and complain?
I completely disagree with your interpretation of the RFC.
"European Car" magazine reviewed the new 7 series in their February, 2002 issue.
They mention that in 1953, the BWM 502 had 26 control and indicator functions. In the late 90's, the 7-series had over 70 functions, with as many indicators, and over 35 control elements (buttons, etc.)
Something *had* to be done to reduce the complexity of the cockpit. While driving down the road you do not want the person in the car next to you trying to figure out which of the 40 buttons on the dash controls what. You can do it by feel with more simple cars, but cars as advanced as the 7-series will be simply too much.
Most reviews I have read (I am a big car buff, especially BMWs) all say that once you get used to the system (go out in your driveway for a Saturday), you can figure the system out fairly quickly, and that using it (once you have it figured out) is actually easier than a bunch of buttons.
Also realize this is the first generation of the system. User interface will only get better.
I recently drove a Mercedes Benz C320 with the navigation system and cell phone options. They were all combined with the stereo onto one LCD. Once I figured out the relatively easy interface, I was able to do more by touch than I have been able to with other cars using buttons.
Having one consistent interface made things much easier.
About the only problem I foud, and the only problem mentioned in most reviews, is the ability to do multiple thigns at once. You cannot raise the stero's volume at the exact same time as you adjust the passenger-side heat.
I wonder if the recent announcement of Apple making rackmount computers has anything to do with this.
You forgot one line in there:
Buyer: But that means that I will pay you for a product that all of my competitors will get for free. They also get all the advantages I do, including other people improving the code. They get that for free, as well.
Buyer: Why do I not just wait for them to contact you to write an open source solution and then use what you write for free?
Actually, I work in education. I also know that what I view on the Internet while sitting in my office is watched.
.
The nice thing about this system is that it does not prevent anyone from going to these sites or doing these things. If you find that you need to go to a porn site to help you learn about pornography laws (as I had to do just today - some porn sites have a better defense of pronography, and therefore definitions of common terms such as "indecent" as well as arguments concerning the First Amendment, than most other sites), and you go there frequently enough to make the list, then you can simply tell people what reason you were going to the sites.
If you do not want to explain yourself, then do not.
Get the teacher's union to write it up in the contracts that teachers cannot be fired based on what the reports show.
While you might talk about how you think that you should be able to do personal web browsing on your work computer, let me give you another reason: Someone pays for that bandwidth. If you are working for a school, more than likely it is the state government that is paying for it.
I, for one, do not like the idea that my already under-funded schools are having some of their budgets taken away by a teacher who is browsing the Internet for their own pesonal use. Take a coffee break and drink the coffee that my tax dollars are paying for. But when you start doing a lot of P2P stuff that I have to pay for, that is where I, as a taxpayer, draw the line. This is especially true when you might be downloading copywritten material illegally.
I do not mind a lttle web browsing every now and then. The line is massive bandwidth usage.
One other thing - my friend continues to do personal web browsing while at work. He simply limits it to the amount that he knows will cause him not to make the list. This is a great solution for the employer (who knows that its employees are not using too much time to do personal things) and the employees (who do not have the right to surf taken away completely).
The system is not so much about taking away your ability to surf (blocking ports and domains would do that) so much as limiting the amount that you are able to
I had to access a TN3270 server a while back. Luckily there is a great freeware client for the Mac.
Someone else mentioned the clients on Tucows. I checked each of them, and they are all shareware. They might be willing to allow a site licence if you drew a nice check, but it sounds like a free client would be better.
I could not dig up a freeware client for Windows that will run across the board (3.x up to XP and ME). In fact, I had trouble digging up a free client at all.
About the only thing I found was on a search of SourceForge. Freehost3270 is apparently in alpha testing right now, but it is probably worth a look. You might even be able to help out. It also has the benifit of being on the server side and not the client side.
This past weekend I was speaking with a friend who mentioned that his company had gone to a policy like this. They printed out a simple report that showed the top ten users of bandwidth at each location and the top ten domains that each person was accessing.
The reports were made available to all company employees (I do not remember if they posted the information or just distributed it).
He said that the total bandwidth used at each site had dropped dramatically.
I imagine this system would also help get people to log off the system when not using it, since they do not want someone using a computer while they are logged in to access porn and use bandwidth.
I think this system, combined with blocking several ports used by P2P systems, is the best way of dealing with it.
I believe that years of living under the Microsoft monopoly has scewed your sense of reality when it comes to consumer OSes.
Your logic that closed OSes inheriently cause monopolies is strange. I am not a huge MacOS programmer, but as far as I know all Cocoa APIs *are* completely open. The source may not be, but the APIs are all documented.
This was one of the major complaints against MS - their closed, non-documented APIs (ones that would allow Office to work better than other office suites) in the scope of a monopoly were illegal.
Your jump from a closed-source OS to closed APIs make no sense that I can see.
Yes, specs should be open. I should be able to know all of the Winodws APIs and I should be able to know the exact specification for MS Office documents. Simply because MS does not currently do that does not mean anything, though.
Competition would promote more open standards. Why would anyone want to port/design to your platform if they cannot inter-operate with the other 66% of the market out there?
My argument would be that in a 1/3 market share for each OS, that competition would help drive inter-operability and open standards.
Take TCP/IP, for example. Because there are so many different operating systems out there, TCP/IP, an open standard, is going to be the standard networking protocol.
Sure a specific computer might support AppleTalk or another networking protocol, but something like MS's bastardized Kerberos is never going to take off (realizing that I am slightly moving anaologies here from networkign protocol to auth. schemes) because all of the other platforms are not going to support it.
Does this make sense? Compettion would drive the need for open standards.
(Or maybe I am just missing what you are saying entirely)
Are you so certain that Wal-Mart has not priced commonly purchased products at below-cost so as to drive out competition?
The better reason to avoid Wal-Mart is the same reason to avoid Microsoft - both are very guilty of monopolistic abuses (MS has been found guilty, Wal-Mart is just as bad but has not been investigated).
Go into any small town in the American South. Look at the amount of competition both before and after Wal-Mart moved in. Look at what Wal-Mart does to their old buildings after they move into a "Super Wal-Mart" (sometimes less than 1/2 mile away).
Wal-Mart drives all of the smaller competitors out of business. Now they are driving K-Mart out. They refuse to lease their old buildings, preferring to leave them empty.
Premium cable channels like HBO are also nice in the same way as R and NC-17 movies - the directors and writers do not have to change the scripts to fit into the "family acceptable" guidelines that comes with normal broadcasting and a PG or PG-13 rating.
Shows like NYPD Blue show that sometimes you have to do these things for a more advanced audience.
The last time I tried to register a used car I just bought I had to provide identification and proof of insurance.
Then they matched my named with the license plate number.
I was able to pay for my gas with cash, but by that time it was all over.
And actually, the platform wars wound down years ago, I think you'll find that the open architecture of the PC, for all it's faults, was the winner.
You are equating popularity with superiority. By that rational, Ford makes a *better* car than BMW and Mercedes Benz sinply because they sell more cars every year.
Mac users would argue that while the i386 platform is more popular, there are better things out there. That is not too hard to grasp, is it? Would you buy an SGI machine if it was only a 5-10% premium over a similar PC?
but because if everybody bought a Mac we'd suddenly be even worse off than we are now. Microsoft showed us what damage a monopoly can do when it controls the standards, a monopoly of Apple would be infinitely worse as they control the hardware too!
This is, without a doubt, one of the most ignorant thigns I have ever read on Slashdot. Yes, if everyone bought Apples instead then Apple would have a monopoly. You not buying a Mac does not prevent Apple from having a monopoly (welcome to the wonderful world of being a MS competitor), but actively encourages the continument of MS's monopoly, since it knocks down MS's only sizable commercial competitor.
The only monopoly that wouldn't cause massive damage would be a monopoly of PC/Linux.
For the love of God, why are you so preoccupied on the fact that there *has* to be a monopoly on computers? Suppose Windows on PCs, Linux on PCs, and MacOS X on Macs all had 33% of the market? Can you say "competition"?
A monopoly is the exception. Regular capitalistic competition is normal. You apparently cannot see that as a possibility. Competition is a *good* thing.
I would go almost as far as to call your post a troll.
Even stranger than "Cable without cables" is the idea that there is an alternative to "wireless satellite service."
Do people actually have "wired satelite service"?
/humor
You are missing an importat point on this one - the type of informaiton you mention does not need a card following multiple purchases to do.
In addition, the type of information you mention *does not really invade your privacy*.
I did something else to further confuse the grocery people. In addition to lying, I gave out my extra cards to some people I know. They are not good friends, even, but do live in the same area I do so they use the same store I do.
It would be very difficult for the store to find a decent pattern in our purchasing.
I moved last fall. My current card is one that I found on the ground outside the store. I do not know who it belongs to.
When the debates concerning LCD-based iMacs was going on, a lot of education people chimed in with desires *not* to see CRT-based Macs go.
The reasons?
1) Costs. CRTs are cheaper than LCDs. When you are talking about buying thousands of computers for a district, this adds up really quickly.
2) More importantly, CRTs are much more durable currently than LCDs. In education, this makes all the difference.
As far as expandability of the TiBooks, most people are quick to point out that they currently ship with most things you could ever use. Firewire, video, USB, Giga-Ethernet, and a combo-drive. Airport can be added, as well. There is really not that much that can be added.
Sure, Microsoft needs to lose some power here, but I hope they don't swing the pendulum too far the other way. Are we really any better off if Sun or Oracle are given the power to choose the direction of Windows? I hope the decision makers stick to the principle of "What's good for the consumers," and not just "What's bad for Microsoft."
We have proven the Microsoft has a monopoly and the power that goes with it. Now we need to rectify that situation. How do we do this?
Well, a monopoly mans that you can use your power to keep others out of the marketplace unfairly. So we have to force competition back. There are two solutions to this problem: We weaken the monoply (Microsoft) enough that the competition can actually compete, or we strenghen the position of competitors enough that they are able to compete.
The problem with the second solution is that you generally have to pick and choose the companies that you want to set up against the monopoly. For example, how would the federal government effectively help Linux out to compete with Microsoft as a business?
Weakening Microsoft, on the other hand, helps anyone and every compete against them, including competitors who are not even around during this sentencing phase.
The only way that Sun or Oracle will have too much power is if we (the federal government) decide to strengthen them against Microsoft. Weakening MS, on the other hand, will hopefully *increase* competition to the point where no single company will be able to control the market. How will it keep one company from dominating? The remedy to the Microsoft trial should promote competition, and competition is the one thing that will prevent any one company from dominating that market.
I think that Microsoft is going about this all wrong. They are arguing that "If you do this, you will hurt us." Well, boys and girls, that is the point. The governement's solution *is* to hurt MS so as to increase competition. What Microsoft needs to be saying is "This remedy does not work because it will allow another company to simply step in and take our place as a monopoly power."
Unfortunate for Microsoft, no rememdy that has been mentioned thus far has that result.
I hope not. One of the great problems with truly moblie (and wearable) objects is the struggle between portability and interface.
For example, my watch is very good at what it does. However, that screen is going to be way too small to do any long reading (email) or data entry (composing email).
You could do voice recognition, but you still have to worry about a screen.
"Fine," you say, "what about small screens that attach to your glasses?"
Well, I, for one, do not want to have to wear one of those at all times just to see if I have new mail, especially if I have something convinient like a watch already on my wrist.
The point is that a few (but not too many) extremely portable objects is much more flexible than just one integrated product.
I currently have both a cell phone and a Visor. I have a cord to connect the two together to check my email and things like that (the Visor's screen being much better than the cell, obviously).
There are times, however, when all I need/want on me is my cell phone. Having an integrated device, like the Treo, will mean that I still have to carry around a fairly bulky device. Why? Because the Treo is going to have its size dictated by its screen.
I would prefer to have several small things that are very good a what they do and all work together seamlessly.
"Plug and play" without the "plug." I have a hard drive/computer in my wallet, a watch capable of minor alerts (like CallerID and mail alerts). I decide to email someone, so I pick up a keyboard and the devices automatically recognize it and accept wireless input from it. To see the input, I attach a glasses monitor (or a tiny projector) and the other parts see it and imeediately begin to use it as a display.
I believe a better link would be Top ten viruses reported to Sophos in 2001.
One of the Smalldog newsletters had some commentary on the comparison. The latest newsletter has not hit the archives yet, but it did bring up some good points:
1) He mentions that on the iMac "but sound quality and volume are limited." Of course, the Sony includes seperate speakers. For the price difference you could easily pick up a pair of aftermarket speakers.
2) He mentions how easy the iMac is to set up (and then complains about the set-up screens), then goes on to comment on the Sony "I think we're going to have some fun with this rig - a thought that helps get me through a 45-minute setup."
3) The author mentions "Windows XP is much more reliable, and somewhat easier to use, than its predecessors." Well, perhaps. How is it in comparison to Mac OS X, though? I have had my new Mac for over three weeks now and have not had a single crash or kernel panic.
4) He often comments about the poor included software on the Sony.
All in all, it is a good review, although I wish he would mention more than a couple of times the drastic price difference and the fact that most short-comings on the iMac could be more than made up by the price difference (i.e. He comments that the included photo manipulation software on the Sony is better than iPhoto for adjusting/cropping/etc. For the price difference, though, you could almost pick up Photoshop for Mac OS X).
Also, I know that GraphicConverter is included on new G4 machines. It is included on the new iMac?
[Boycotting the Boycott.]
I agree completely. If Microsoft wants to take tax-payer supported code and integrate it in with the rest of Windows, it should be able to.
Remember that if you want to take that code, make modifications, and release it under the GPL, you are free to do that, as well.
But people should always be able to go and get the original code and *whatever in the world they want with it.*
Indeed, the government would never think to move things like vehicle registration online. Or voter registration. Or database access for things like zoning. These things might be done at the state level, but do you think that states will decide to do something vastly different than the Federal government?
Just because the only current use of government services online is people taking advantage of the IRS offering online tax submition does, in no way, mean that this will continue to be the only thing the government offers online.
The thing is that Adobe has not really used its monopoly to move into other markets where it does not have a monopoly.
The difference between "having a monopoly" and "abusing your monoply" is all the difference in the world.
I am still using GraphicConverter, which is even bundled with new Macs now, for my admittedly-limited graphics needs.
This is not always the case.
iCab, which is what I am using currently, is a good example of a fairly well done browser that is fairly mature without too much bloat.
I use K-Meleon when running Windows and I am glad to see a similar browser to that appearing for Mac OS X. I think that Chimera is going to be closer to something like K-Meleon and Galeon than it ever will be to a larger Internet suite. We already have Mozilla for that.
I currently use a Handspring Visor Platinum and a Samsung SCH-3500 with SprintPCS.
I connect the two via a cable from Gomadic.
It works fairly well. I currently do not sign up for Sprint's Wireless Web deal, so I pay by the minute (adding it to my plan would require $10/month, and I would like to keep my current plan).
I do not use it that much, only when travelling, which basically means about two weekends a month or so.
I was impressed with how easy it was to set up. After getting the cable, it probably took about ten minutes of fairly easy work to get connected the first time.
Having to carry both items is not that big of a deal. I tyipcaly carry my phone in my front pocket and my Visor in a rear pocket. And since I am usually travelling, I typically have either a backpack or another bag with me, as well.
Connecting takes about 25 seconds. On occasion I will get dropped almost immediately after connecting. I have started to notice that the drops seem dependent on the charge of the battery. As the cell battery gets lower, the more drops I get.
Connection speed is limited to 14.4
I currently only check my email. I have not done any web work with the Visor. I use Eudora's free email client. Being able to leave mail on the server, using POP3, means that I do not have to worry about synching the email with the desktop, a Mac, when I return, which I think is key.
Eudora/Palm also allows you to disconnect immediately after a send/check, which cuts down on the minutes used (nice when I am paying for access by the minute).
I think that eventually I will go with a combination device like the Treo. It will be a while, though. There are many times when I only carry my phone, and I like having its smaller size. Even now I am considering purchasing a phone smaller than the 3500.