Air America Radio has one decent show, and that's Al Franken's show, but even that is seriously lacking in many areas. It still has the feel of badly produced college radio.
This is actually what I like best about Franken's show. It comes across as a "basement production," kind of quirky and silly. He does get some really good guests though, and Katherine Lanpher is surprisingly funny. The "Oi Oi Oi Show" is classic Franken.
Randi Rhodes...I can take her in small doses. She does tend to go overboard, but there's one thing she does that a lot of other talk-radio hosts don't do: research. You won't hear her talk about something that's just hearsay or rumor. But I agree with you that she can be abrasive and trashy. But hey, I like trashy.:)
I would hardly call NPR "talk radio." (and I do enjoy NPR. There are only a few call-in shows, none of which really qualify as traditional talk radio. I'm talking about the call-in and argue with the host type of talk radio)
If you're in to talk radio, and inclined to listen to a liberal slant, try
Air America Radio. It's not tech oriented (unless you count electronic voting controversy), but it's a refreshing change from the right-wing dominated talk-radio airways.
Alot of PDAs have WiFi, and you'd probably need it to send anything with a big file size.
Most files are in the sub-gigabyte range. A "pen" with a healthy RAM size should be able to handle most drag-and-drop operations. And quite frankly, if your pen can't handle it, either your or my email system probably has a size-limit filter prohibiting large attachments. Keep in mind this is a technology that's not out to replace the fileserver, it's just a convenient way of simplifying the process of getting information from one device to another quickly. As I mentioned in a previous post, it really is just an elegant USB memory stick.
This would be better than WiFi, because (I think) it's a physical connection. You'll have a decent data transfer rate, and you won't have to worry about someone snooping packets.
This just seems like a waste of time when we already have a simple way of doing it.
You suffer from a lack of imagination. Doing it the current way requires a network and fileservers at a minimum. Which is fine if I'm on your network, have the correct permissions, and know where to go get the file that you're sending to me.
On the other hand, if you and I are in a business meeting in a restaurant, and I've got a document to share with you (maybe we're editing it during the meeting), we can work out all the details, and then I just pick it up from my PDA and drop it onto your laptop. No muss, no fuss. Yes, I could just email it to you when I get back to the office (or perhaps both of us have wireless, and we could do it right there), but there's a lot of overhead involved. Literally picking up a file on my device and dropping it onto yours is just very elegant.
This really is just USB memory sticks taken to the next level.
Instead of using a device to exchange files, wouldn't it be cool if we could somehow connect computers together in such a way that you could transfer files without having to use this funky "pen" interface? Imagine hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of these machines, exchanging information using some kind of graphical interface, where you could use some kind of input device like a joystick to "grab" a file, and "drop" it across to another computer, seamlessly. You might say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one...
How can you take obvious evidence of people hating the bloat and how slow Gnome/KDE are becoming and say, "No, you're wrong."
Hmm...I didn't say anyone was wrong. I said Linux is all about choice. If you want to use KDE and/or Gnome, you have that choice. If you think KDE and Gnome are bloaty, then use something less bloaty like FVWM. Just don't complain to me that it's not feature-rich. And if you liked KDE before it got bloaty, then go to a KDE mirror and install an old version of KDE, or fork KDE to your own tastes. But you can't have it both ways. You either get features, or you get slim.
Hardware is getting faster, and if you choose (or are forced to use) older slower hardware, then you have choices to make. But you should be happy that you have the choice. If the Monopoly had their way, your old machine would be in a landfill.
(By the way, I don't know what you mean by "obvious evidence." It seems to me, from reading message boards and Usenet, that people are clamoring for the next latest-and-greatest features to be implemented in Linux and/or KDE/Gnome. Those that are crying less seem to be very much in the minority. And again, nothing is stopping that minority from forking.)
So I guess the term for Linux is "feature-rich" but the equivalent term for Windows is "bloated".
This is probably flame-bait, but yeah, there is a difference. Feature-rich implies choice. I can pick and choose the features I want. Bloat implies unnecessary cruftiness that I have no choice but to have on my system. Konquerer is a feature. IE is bloat.
Yes, Linux distros are getting "heavier." If you're trying to sell a
distro, or if you want your GUI to be more feature-rich, then it's going
to be heavier. However, this doesn't make the operating system slower,
and the end-user has the ability to customize the OS to their tastes. This
is the key difference between Linux and that other OS.
I haven't heard someone say they use Linux because it's somehow "lighter"
since about 1997. The face of computing has changed, and the Linux
distros have changed with it. More and more users are using Linux because
it's getting more feature-rich. This is not a bad thing.
As long as Linux application developers continue to copy Microsoft, in
a vain attempt to be "compatible," Microsoft will always have the edge.
They will always set the pace for others to follow.
If you want to make a better product, you can't "embrace and extend." You
have to make a better product. By providing file-reading compatibility, you
only re-enforce the proliferation of closed file formats. You also cripple
your application, to maintain compatibility. (if you want a nifty feature,
you have to make sure Excel has it too.)
When people send me Excel files, I kindly ask them to re-send the file in
CSV or some other format. Yes, there are things you can only do in native
file format. But the vast majority of users never do those things.
I'd sure be interested in seeing how they can stop it. (seriously, I'm not being argumentative) Even if they limited the attachment size, you'd just break your files up into multiples.
With 1GB of storage, it won't be long until someone writes a perl script to run backups to multiple Google accounts. The money I'd save on tapes alone--wow!
Get mom an iMac. Install OS X if it doesn't have it already. You can pick
up a decent iMac on eBay for around $300, but make sure it's at least
300Mhz. Enable auto-updates. Install Mozilla or Firefox, ensure popup
blocking is turned on. Done. You will instantly become the favorite child.
No thanks necessary, it's what I do.:)
(and yes, I know he said PC. I consider this a PC solution.)
However, in this case, all the outsourcing was within US borders, as is evident from the contents of the article.
And had you RTFP, you would have noticed that the comment was about outsourcing in general, and that by extension offshore outsourcing was doomed to failure. Disagree with the point if you must, but please don't intentionally misunderstand the meaning.
This is a great example of the risks of outsourcing your IT infrasturcutre, and it's exactly why offshore outsourcing is doomed to failure. One or two high profile cases of millions of records of data being sold to (insert "terrorist" organization of your choice here) by low paid coders, and CIOs won't be able to move their IT infrastructure back in-house fast enough. It will be the IT Enron. Those of us left in IT will rejoice.:)
As a consultant for a large telecom company, I worked in Saudi Arabia for six months. Rhiad wasn't too bad. In Jeddah though, the streets were filled with begging children, many of them with missing or crippled legs. I was informed by one of the locals that most of those childred had been maimed on purpose by their "pimps", so as to attract more sympathy, and hence more handouts.
Sorry for the downer story, but there are some pretty crappy "working conditions" out there.
Slashdot Mirror
This is actually what I like best about Franken's show. It comes across as a "basement production," kind of quirky and silly. He does get some really good guests though, and Katherine Lanpher is surprisingly funny. The "Oi Oi Oi Show" is classic Franken.
Randi Rhodes...I can take her in small doses. She does tend to go overboard, but there's one thing she does that a lot of other talk-radio hosts don't do: research. You won't hear her talk about something that's just hearsay or rumor. But I agree with you that she can be abrasive and trashy. But hey, I like trashy. :)
I would hardly call NPR "talk radio." (and I do enjoy NPR. There are only a few call-in shows, none of which really qualify as traditional talk radio. I'm talking about the call-in and argue with the host type of talk radio)
If you're in to talk radio, and inclined to listen to a liberal slant, try Air America Radio. It's not tech oriented (unless you count electronic voting controversy), but it's a refreshing change from the right-wing dominated talk-radio airways.
Most files are in the sub-gigabyte range. A "pen" with a healthy RAM size should be able to handle most drag-and-drop operations. And quite frankly, if your pen can't handle it, either your or my email system probably has a size-limit filter prohibiting large attachments. Keep in mind this is a technology that's not out to replace the fileserver, it's just a convenient way of simplifying the process of getting information from one device to another quickly. As I mentioned in a previous post, it really is just an elegant USB memory stick.
This would be better than WiFi, because (I think) it's a physical connection. You'll have a decent data transfer rate, and you won't have to worry about someone snooping packets.
You suffer from a lack of imagination. Doing it the current way requires a network and fileservers at a minimum. Which is fine if I'm on your network, have the correct permissions, and know where to go get the file that you're sending to me.
On the other hand, if you and I are in a business meeting in a restaurant, and I've got a document to share with you (maybe we're editing it during the meeting), we can work out all the details, and then I just pick it up from my PDA and drop it onto your laptop. No muss, no fuss. Yes, I could just email it to you when I get back to the office (or perhaps both of us have wireless, and we could do it right there), but there's a lot of overhead involved. Literally picking up a file on my device and dropping it onto yours is just very elegant.
This really is just USB memory sticks taken to the next level.
That would be cool!
Hmm...I didn't say anyone was wrong. I said Linux is all about choice. If you want to use KDE and/or Gnome, you have that choice. If you think KDE and Gnome are bloaty, then use something less bloaty like FVWM. Just don't complain to me that it's not feature-rich. And if you liked KDE before it got bloaty, then go to a KDE mirror and install an old version of KDE, or fork KDE to your own tastes. But you can't have it both ways. You either get features, or you get slim.
Hardware is getting faster, and if you choose (or are forced to use) older slower hardware, then you have choices to make. But you should be happy that you have the choice. If the Monopoly had their way, your old machine would be in a landfill.
(By the way, I don't know what you mean by "obvious evidence." It seems to me, from reading message boards and Usenet, that people are clamoring for the next latest-and-greatest features to be implemented in Linux and/or KDE/Gnome. Those that are crying less seem to be very much in the minority. And again, nothing is stopping that minority from forking.)
I also heard we're in Iraq to promote democracy. I've heard all kinds of crazy shit in 2004. :-)
This is probably flame-bait, but yeah, there is a difference. Feature-rich implies choice. I can pick and choose the features I want. Bloat implies unnecessary cruftiness that I have no choice but to have on my system. Konquerer is a feature. IE is bloat.
I haven't heard someone say they use Linux because it's somehow "lighter" since about 1997. The face of computing has changed, and the Linux distros have changed with it. More and more users are using Linux because it's getting more feature-rich. This is not a bad thing.
Your friends must love you for that.
Friends don't send friends Excel files.
(sorry, I saw the shot and had to take it... :)
If you want to make a better product, you can't "embrace and extend." You have to make a better product. By providing file-reading compatibility, you only re-enforce the proliferation of closed file formats. You also cripple your application, to maintain compatibility. (if you want a nifty feature, you have to make sure Excel has it too.)
When people send me Excel files, I kindly ask them to re-send the file in CSV or some other format. Yes, there are things you can only do in native file format. But the vast majority of users never do those things.
I'd just like to be the first to say that it's an honor, Mister President, to count you amongst the Slashdot readership.
Ernest.
I'd sure be interested in seeing how they can stop it. (seriously, I'm not being argumentative) Even if they limited the attachment size, you'd just break your files up into multiples.
With 1GB of storage, it won't be long until someone writes a perl script
to run backups to multiple Google accounts. The money I'd save on tapes
alone--wow!
No thanks necessary, it's what I do. :)
(and yes, I know he said PC. I consider this a PC solution.)
I always knew he was smoking something!
...if you're drinking Budweiser, you've got bigger problems.
And had you RTFP, you would have noticed that the comment was about outsourcing in general, and that by extension offshore outsourcing was doomed to failure. Disagree with the point if you must, but please don't intentionally misunderstand the meaning.
This is a great example of the risks of outsourcing your IT infrasturcutre, and it's exactly why offshore outsourcing is doomed to failure. One or two high profile cases of millions of records of data being sold to (insert "terrorist" organization of your choice here) by low paid coders, and CIOs won't be able to move their IT infrastructure back in-house fast enough. It will be the IT Enron. Those of us left in IT will rejoice. :)
You obviously never saw the Dungeons & Dragons movie. :)
As a consultant for a large telecom company, I worked in Saudi Arabia for six months. Rhiad wasn't too bad. In Jeddah though, the streets were filled with begging children, many of them with missing or crippled legs. I was informed by one of the locals that most of those childred had been maimed on purpose by their "pimps", so as to attract more sympathy, and hence more handouts.
Sorry for the downer story, but there are some pretty crappy "working conditions" out there.
Well, tip me over with a feather! I never would have seen this coming!
The first example that comes to my mind was the episode where he read the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. "We...THE PEOPLE!"
There are more, I'm sure.