The magnetic media on a casette tape is a very low samplerate/low bitrate encoding.
Bitrate? Sample Rate? I think you're still stuck in Digital, as these terms wouldn't apply to analog audio.
Analog tape (and consumer cassette tapes in particular) have a narrow frequency response and a low signal to noise (S/N) ratio, which gives similar results when comparing quality.
This isn't necessarily because it's on magnetic tape, though, as there are still quite a few CDs released today that are recorded and mixed on analog tape -- but this is very high-quality tape, nothing at all like consumer-grade cassette tapes... I doubt you'd be able to tell the difference between an AAD and a DDD recording...
Basically what it means is that if Microsoft had to license any 3rd party patents in order to produce the software, their license to the patents does not cover any derivative versions of the software you make and distribute, meaning if you wanted to be on the up and up, you'd have to license those patents yourself.
This actually makes a lot of sense. Visual Basic has the built-in ability to display GIF images, but the documentation specifically mentions that you need to get permission from Unisys to actually use this feature in a product developed with VB. This was in there long before all of the hype about GIFs and Unisys a couple years ago...
As for shared source itself, I tend to agree that this isn't as bad as some make it sound. I can certainly see some benefits from this, especially if it extended to other Windows versions.
Many times coding for Linux, I've found myself digging deep into/usr/src for a better explanation on how something works. I can use a function a lot more efficiently if I know what's going on behind the scenes. "Look-but-don't-touch" access to the OS source gives you some of the benefits of OSS, when you're developing applications for that OS -- which is the goal here.
Again, though, the real benefits won't be that great unless this is extended to other Windows versions. Others have mentioned that MSDN subscribers have had this for a while, but I suspect CE is being used as a test-bed for the shared source idea.
As much as I hate to admit, I think they're on a good path with this, providing that they do actually open this up to more useful Windows versions (oxymoron?), and without requiring an MSDN subscription. CE seems like a good starting point, to work the bugs out of the licencing scheme. As this evolves, it could be a benefit, again to those who develop Windows applications.
As for those who write GPL software, or don't use/develop for Windows, this really shouldn't make any difference at all (aside from the GPL-bashing, which is another issue)...
And I thought I was the only one. Of all dialogs, this is the one I most wish for a "Don't ask me this again" checkbox... I even uninstalled the Flash plugin and changed file associations, but the warnings persist...
Disable JavaScript and you'll find that many websites use it for stupid reasons -- things that could be easily done without it. Though this isn't an OS specific issue, it would still cause problems if a browser were shipped with JS disabled by default.
Back on topic though, I don't think security should be a requirement. I just think that people will make one of three choices:
1) Ignore security, use the "normal" OS, and reinstall every 30 days or so;
2) Educate themselves on security (perhaps the hard way), and lock down their systems;
3) Switch to an OS that is already more secure out of the box.
Unfortunately, most users fall into #1... But this is the choice the user makes, and that's the important thing: the user makes the choice, not a software corporation, and not any regulations imposed on the software corporations. Things will only get better when users get smarter.
WT News: Early Worm gets the Bird
NYT News: Microsoft Denies Ally with China
WT Ed: Dubya is for Worm?
NYT Ed: default.ida?NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN...
---
I couldn't think of anything clever, nor could I think of anything particularly humorous...
When you rip a CD, it's technically not a 'bit-by-bit' copy. CDs have many levels of error correction, one of which is down to the physical pits on the disc. (IIRC) Each 8-bit byte is encoded to a 14 bit word, which has properties that make it fit in a smaller physical space than the 8 arbitrary bits would. This is done with a lookup table, and it's called EFM (Eight to Fourteen Modulation).
Beyond that, the CD is full of check sums, redundant data, and other things that can fix corrupted data. Entire samples are reproduced in multiple places on the disc, etc.
Consumer CD players generally can reject a single sample (and thus interpolate), but continue to read even the very next sample properly. But when reading the data directly (eg ripping), I believe CD-ROM drives will reject an entire block of data (I don't remember the size of this). You can't interpolate more than a couple of samples in a row. This might just be flawed logic on the part of the CD-ROM design, now being exploited...
As an example, some scratched/dirty CDs will play quite well in a good CD player and even a CD-ROM drive (but not in "digital" mode). However, try to rip it and you'll get pops/clicks at best, read errors and aborted operation at worst.
Also note that some extremely cheap CD players don't properly play scratched CDs, and I suspect these will also have problems with "protected" CDs. Age doesn't have much to do with it, as the error corrections were there from the beginning; but cheap units will take shortcuts.
This reminds me of Macrovision's VHS protection. IIRC, they weakened the V- or H-sync signal (I forget which), or something similar. Most TVs AGC will auto-correct this (and you'll notice newer TVs don't even have V- and H-hold controls any more). But VCRs wouldn't, and would not properly re-record the signal. I think this was partly by design.
Of course you could order the little device in the back of Popular Science magazine to clean up the Macrovision signal (forgot the name of the device), which simply rebuilt the weakened signal (using simple AGC). But with the DMCA this is probably now illegal as well...
I use a different color prompt for each box that I log into to avoid confusion (typing "shutdown -h now" when logged into my webserver, for example). Of course I'm quickly running out of colors... The red one above is my home firewall box, yellow my webserver, green on the notebook...
I have an obnoxiously multi-colored prompt on my MP3 player box - I was really bored one day... but it's the same as above, just more escape codes.
I've seen pre-built systems with hardware conflicts out of the box. My Compaq Presario 1200XL325 notebook has an IRQ conflict between the cardbus and the sound chip's "Legacy Emulation". Unfortunately with a notebook you don't have much choice but to go with a pre-built, though going with Compaq was my own fault. Runs Linux nicely though, except for the modem...
All of my desktop systems are home-built, and I haven't had many problems. As long as you go with quality components (nothing with "Win" or "value" in the product name), you'll be okay. And of course you would be sure your preferred OS was supported by each component.
But all of that aside, I do know a lot of people who do need the support of a pre-manufactured machine, whether or not they know any geeks. More for psychological reasons I suppose, knowing there is an 800 number they can sit on hold with if they have a problem. And they will use the OS that came with the box, the one they have used before, the one everyone uses. They will use whatever dialup service they can get to with the fewest clicks. And if it saves them $20/mo for a year or so, all the better. I can rant at them all day, and it makes no difference... It's all about what is easier.
And if you told them that MSN doesn't support POP, they would just look at you funny. Same as port 25 blocking, or being behind a proxy/cache, etc. Most people aren't sophisticated enough to know (or care) what these things mean, as long as they can click the little icon and check their email.
All you need to do is set up DNS and sendmail on a P-75, register a domain, and you're golden.
I did this for about a week, when I received a bounced email pointing me to the MAPS Dialup User List. Basically, they know you're on a dynamic IP, and thus have a high potential of being a spammer. It was an AOL address that bounced. Over the next week a few more messages bounced, from various ISPs...
I was originally pissed, but considering that most spammers find morons to run their spam software (which is basically a list server that makes direct connections to SMTP servers), it's understandable. The ISPs don't want dialup users connecting directly into their mail servers to send them mail.
It's too difficult to hold a dynamic IP accountable when tons of spam is sent through it. Complaints to that ISP (owning the dynamic IP) only cause that ISP to block ports. Leaving it open causes people to use the MAPS list mentioned above.
As for the original topic, I don't see this as anything new at all. I'm sure I have megs of "Do you Yahoo?" in my inbox, and I don't see how this is any different. If you don't like it, find a better ISP.
Unless this is talking about the opposite direction, which I just realized might be the case... where ads are attached to your outgoing messages (targeting your recipients)... If that is the case, then I'm opposed. But, the same rules apply -- if you don't like it, don't use their services. If you're receiving the ads, tell the sender not to mail you until he gets a better ISP.
And in any case, I agree with another post that mentioned that this is just a bad idea in general; target users of a "free ISP", you're wasting ad dollars on people who are too cheap to spend $10/mo for a decent ISP.
I don't know, my Compaq notebook has a PIII 650, and its fan only comes on when I really push the CPU. MP3 encoding, compiling a kernel, or scrolling in IE (it's dual boot)... Otherwise the thing is pretty silent.
My desktops are just plain loud. I have extra fans thanks to my obsessive overclocking. Most of the noise is actual air flowing, so a quieter fan would almost necessarily mean a less efficient fan, and would defeat the purpose of having extra fans...
I wonder why desktop power supplies don't work like notebooks -- running the fan only when it's needed. Most motherboards have thermal monitoring, so it seems it would be easy enough to spin the fan only when needed... Hm...
I think my DSL actually goes through Sprint, so in reality Earthlink might not be providing any of the services there. I do have a dialup account as well (that comes free with the DSL subscription).
As for port blocking, I have several domain names that I send and receive email through. When I'm home, it works fine, but when I'm working out of town and stuck on dialup, I have to change my outgoing mail server. Then, when at work, I must change it back. If it were consistant either way I probably wouldn't mind so much...
I just have to say that personally I love DSL. I've had DSL through Earthlink for almost two years now, and in that time there's probably been a max of 12 hours downtime. It does happen that there's a DSLAM less than 2 blocks from me, which probably helps... I get a very consistant speed, as opposed to the people in my area with cable...
As for support, forget it. The 12 hours of downtime I mention were at one time, and happened in the first month or two I had DSL. Trying to get any kind of helpful information from Earthlink is impossible. However, luckily I haven't needed to contact them since the one outage...
I have 5 PCs connected (though only one actually logs in and acts as a gateway/firewall), up 24/7, and have sucked tons of bandwidth, and never heard any complaints about it.
As for pricing, I've received the $39 fliers in the mail, but I was pretty sure that only applied to new customers and didn't give it much thought. Plus I'm paying $95 for the 1.5 MBPS (384k up) service anyway (and, even though a cable modem would run me $26/mo, having seen the speed of cable around here the DSL is worth every penny IMO).
Just my thoughts... maybe I'm one of the lucky ones... My only complaints about Earthlink are:
Support sucks (but I have only needed it once in 2 years)
They block port 25 on dialup (but not on the DSL, yet...)
I have to wonder what is meant by %13%10. If you mean this to be a URL-encoded CRLF, this doesn't work -- it would need to be %0D%0A (hex). However, %13%10 evaluates to 19 and 16 in decimal, which is CTRL+S and CTRL+P, or "save" and "print" (at least in Notepad). Interesting either way...:)
...he is dead today because he choose to take his life. I respect his decision, and though I disagree with it, I would not try to persaude him one or the other if he were alive and asking me for this advice.
I wasn't planning on posting, but this caught my attention...
If a 13 year old was asking for advice as to whether or not to commit suicide, you would not try to talk him out of it (or better yet, bring it to someone's attention)?
You might not have any responsibility to this (hypothetical) child, but if you had a shred of decency you would at least tell the kid's parents, or do something other than casually tell the kid that it's his decision to make.
I'm honestly hoping for a reply that I misinterpreted the above post... while the rest of your post seemed reasonable, that last bit almost disturbs me...
This is how I've always developed software. If you can work closely with the end user, this method really works well. Users/clients always change their minds as to what they want once they see the end result, and knowing this early on avoids too much re-design.
I've only recently begun working with a partner. As much as I always thought I'd hate it, it's been a great experience for me. Many times, one of us will be stuck on a problem; quite often, just explaining the problem to someone else is all it takes to find the answer, even if the other person didn't directly help. Other times, just having a second point of view is very helpful as well.
The project we're currently working on has followed XP from the start. Since we're working in the client's offices, we are able to get feedback on features as they are being developed.
Someone noted that documentation ends up being a problem; we personally set aside time just for documentation, both technical specs and user manuals. Documentation is important, and in the process, often times we discover inconsistancies or bugs that would have otherwise gone unnoticed (by us).
We do reuse code however, and I always keep reuse in mind. In fact often times we will resell the entire project to another client with some modifications, so some planning-ahead is needed while writing code to accomodate for changes (terminology differences, etc).
I will admit that my personal programming style (which is to say, not planning too much of the project in advance) partly stems from the fact that I get bored easily. Planning is boring. Generally, I lay out a very basic plan (what language to use, maybe map out the database schema, etc), and then jump right into writing code. I've always found that the more you plan, the more you have to re-plan when you find out the plan is flawed in some way...
I have a 1000ADSL using PPPoE, and I can telnet to the modem directly, and enter "EXPERT" mode, with or without PPPoE running. I do run a dedicated (RH Linux) firewall box, and being paranoid as I am, everything is pretty much blocked out. Since it runs into a separate interface (a second NIC connects to a hub and the other PCs), there's not much risk of being attacked.
I don't think that the modem's internal 'echo' server would be sufficient for attack (as someone above has mentioned), as the modem isn't going to spoof an internal IP as a LAN-connected box would... If this were the case, you wouldn't need a Unix box (or *any* box for that matter) on the LAN side in order to attack the modem.
I do think this has been blown a bit out of proportion, however. In order for someone to be able to attack, one of the following has to happen:
- A hacker would have to have physical access to the DSLAM or the copper loop. If they wanted you that badly, obviously you have something valuable and would hopefully have taken other precautions... Noone would go through that much trouble for a simple DOS attack on a home user's internet access.
- For the other method to work, you'd have to be running a Unix system connected to the modem. I would imagine that anyone running a Unix system would probably have disabled echo, and/or have a good firewall set up -- and if not, they probably have no business running a Unix system anyway (and probably have many other, more exploitable holes)...
I do agree that the flaws in this device are bad, but I still feel that standard Windoze users wouldn't be affected unless someone wanted in that badly (in which case they could probably find much easier ways to get into the Windoze box). Those of us running a Unix-like system have already taken precautions, because we do not trust anyone, especially a closed device connected to the internet... Things like this simply justify our paranoia;)
...this technology, I happen to think, will have an even greater effect on the citizens of the world than what Mr. Bell came up with.
Therefore the telephone, and everything that has come as a result of it (including The Internet (not to mention Internet 2)), pales in comparison to the geniously named Teleportation device.
Seriously though, I can't wait until game programmers adopt this. Think Q3/UT/CS in true 3D...
I've been running XF 4.0.1 for quite a while under RH 6.0 with a Voodoo3 3000 PCI video card. The only problems I've had so far is that once in a great while, switching from X to a console locks my keyboard -- I have to telnet in and reboot the system. Other than that minor issue, X has only crashed on me once, seemingly caused by a screensaver (I forget which one).
Where I have found lots of bugs is when running multiple displays. For experimentational purposes, I booted my Windows box (two PCI Voodoo3 cards) with my Linux drive. Surprisingly it does work (after quite a bit of tweaking (and cursing)), but they have a ways to go on that.
Once X does multiple displays properly, and a decent browser is released, there'll be nothing keeping Windows on my main box...;)
Slashdot Mirror
The magnetic media on a casette tape is a very low samplerate/low bitrate encoding.
Bitrate? Sample Rate? I think you're still stuck in Digital, as these terms wouldn't apply to analog audio.
Analog tape (and consumer cassette tapes in particular) have a narrow frequency response and a low signal to noise (S/N) ratio, which gives similar results when comparing quality.
This isn't necessarily because it's on magnetic tape, though, as there are still quite a few CDs released today that are recorded and mixed on analog tape -- but this is very high-quality tape, nothing at all like consumer-grade cassette tapes... I doubt you'd be able to tell the difference between an AAD and a DDD recording...
- Jman
Basically what it means is that if Microsoft had to license any 3rd party patents in order to produce the software, their license to the patents does not cover any derivative versions of the software you make and distribute, meaning if you wanted to be on the up and up, you'd have to license those patents yourself.
/usr/src for a better explanation on how something works. I can use a function a lot more efficiently if I know what's going on behind the scenes. "Look-but-don't-touch" access to the OS source gives you some of the benefits of OSS, when you're developing applications for that OS -- which is the goal here.
This actually makes a lot of sense. Visual Basic has the built-in ability to display GIF images, but the documentation specifically mentions that you need to get permission from Unisys to actually use this feature in a product developed with VB. This was in there long before all of the hype about GIFs and Unisys a couple years ago...
As for shared source itself, I tend to agree that this isn't as bad as some make it sound. I can certainly see some benefits from this, especially if it extended to other Windows versions.
Many times coding for Linux, I've found myself digging deep into
Again, though, the real benefits won't be that great unless this is extended to other Windows versions. Others have mentioned that MSDN subscribers have had this for a while, but I suspect CE is being used as a test-bed for the shared source idea.
As much as I hate to admit, I think they're on a good path with this, providing that they do actually open this up to more useful Windows versions (oxymoron?), and without requiring an MSDN subscription. CE seems like a good starting point, to work the bugs out of the licencing scheme. As this evolves, it could be a benefit, again to those who develop Windows applications.
As for those who write GPL software, or don't use/develop for Windows, this really shouldn't make any difference at all (aside from the GPL-bashing, which is another issue)...
- Jman
And I thought I was the only one. Of all dialogs, this is the one I most wish for a "Don't ask me this again" checkbox... I even uninstalled the Flash plugin and changed file associations, but the warnings persist...
Disable JavaScript and you'll find that many websites use it for stupid reasons -- things that could be easily done without it. Though this isn't an OS specific issue, it would still cause problems if a browser were shipped with JS disabled by default.
Back on topic though, I don't think security should be a requirement. I just think that people will make one of three choices:
1) Ignore security, use the "normal" OS, and reinstall every 30 days or so;
2) Educate themselves on security (perhaps the hard way), and lock down their systems;
3) Switch to an OS that is already more secure out of the box.
Unfortunately, most users fall into #1... But this is the choice the user makes, and that's the important thing: the user makes the choice, not a software corporation, and not any regulations imposed on the software corporations. Things will only get better when users get smarter.
- Jman
WT News: Early Worm gets the Bird
NYT News: Microsoft Denies Ally with China
WT Ed: Dubya is for Worm?
NYT Ed: default.ida?NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN...
---
I couldn't think of anything clever, nor could I think of anything particularly humorous...
- Jman
When you rip a CD, it's technically not a 'bit-by-bit' copy. CDs have many levels of error correction, one of which is down to the physical pits on the disc. (IIRC) Each 8-bit byte is encoded to a 14 bit word, which has properties that make it fit in a smaller physical space than the 8 arbitrary bits would. This is done with a lookup table, and it's called EFM (Eight to Fourteen Modulation).
Beyond that, the CD is full of check sums, redundant data, and other things that can fix corrupted data. Entire samples are reproduced in multiple places on the disc, etc.
Consumer CD players generally can reject a single sample (and thus interpolate), but continue to read even the very next sample properly. But when reading the data directly (eg ripping), I believe CD-ROM drives will reject an entire block of data (I don't remember the size of this). You can't interpolate more than a couple of samples in a row. This might just be flawed logic on the part of the CD-ROM design, now being exploited...
As an example, some scratched/dirty CDs will play quite well in a good CD player and even a CD-ROM drive (but not in "digital" mode). However, try to rip it and you'll get pops/clicks at best, read errors and aborted operation at worst.
Also note that some extremely cheap CD players don't properly play scratched CDs, and I suspect these will also have problems with "protected" CDs. Age doesn't have much to do with it, as the error corrections were there from the beginning; but cheap units will take shortcuts.
This reminds me of Macrovision's VHS protection. IIRC, they weakened the V- or H-sync signal (I forget which), or something similar. Most TVs AGC will auto-correct this (and you'll notice newer TVs don't even have V- and H-hold controls any more). But VCRs wouldn't, and would not properly re-record the signal. I think this was partly by design.
Of course you could order the little device in the back of Popular Science magazine to clean up the Macrovision signal (forgot the name of the device), which simply rebuilt the weakened signal (using simple AGC). But with the DMCA this is probably now illegal as well...
- Justin
- PS1="\n\[\033[31m\][\u@\h:\w ]\[\033[37m\]\\$ "
I use a different color prompt for each box that I log into to avoid confusion (typing "shutdown -h now" when logged into my webserver, for example). Of course I'm quickly running out of colors... The red one above is my home firewall box, yellow my webserver, green on the notebook...I have an obnoxiously multi-colored prompt on my MP3 player box - I was really bored one day... but it's the same as above, just more escape codes.
- Jman
I've seen pre-built systems with hardware conflicts out of the box. My Compaq Presario 1200XL325 notebook has an IRQ conflict between the cardbus and the sound chip's "Legacy Emulation". Unfortunately with a notebook you don't have much choice but to go with a pre-built, though going with Compaq was my own fault. Runs Linux nicely though, except for the modem...
All of my desktop systems are home-built, and I haven't had many problems. As long as you go with quality components (nothing with "Win" or "value" in the product name), you'll be okay. And of course you would be sure your preferred OS was supported by each component.
But all of that aside, I do know a lot of people who do need the support of a pre-manufactured machine, whether or not they know any geeks. More for psychological reasons I suppose, knowing there is an 800 number they can sit on hold with if they have a problem. And they will use the OS that came with the box, the one they have used before, the one everyone uses. They will use whatever dialup service they can get to with the fewest clicks. And if it saves them $20/mo for a year or so, all the better. I can rant at them all day, and it makes no difference... It's all about what is easier.
And if you told them that MSN doesn't support POP, they would just look at you funny. Same as port 25 blocking, or being behind a proxy/cache, etc. Most people aren't sophisticated enough to know (or care) what these things mean, as long as they can click the little icon and check their email.
- Jman
- All you need to do is set up DNS and sendmail on a P-75, register a domain, and you're golden.
I did this for about a week, when I received a bounced email pointing me to the MAPS Dialup User List. Basically, they know you're on a dynamic IP, and thus have a high potential of being a spammer. It was an AOL address that bounced. Over the next week a few more messages bounced, from various ISPs...I was originally pissed, but considering that most spammers find morons to run their spam software (which is basically a list server that makes direct connections to SMTP servers), it's understandable. The ISPs don't want dialup users connecting directly into their mail servers to send them mail.
It's too difficult to hold a dynamic IP accountable when tons of spam is sent through it. Complaints to that ISP (owning the dynamic IP) only cause that ISP to block ports. Leaving it open causes people to use the MAPS list mentioned above.
As for the original topic, I don't see this as anything new at all. I'm sure I have megs of "Do you Yahoo?" in my inbox, and I don't see how this is any different. If you don't like it, find a better ISP.
Unless this is talking about the opposite direction, which I just realized might be the case... where ads are attached to your outgoing messages (targeting your recipients)... If that is the case, then I'm opposed. But, the same rules apply -- if you don't like it, don't use their services. If you're receiving the ads, tell the sender not to mail you until he gets a better ISP.
And in any case, I agree with another post that mentioned that this is just a bad idea in general; target users of a "free ISP", you're wasting ad dollars on people who are too cheap to spend $10/mo for a decent ISP.
- Jman
I don't know, my Compaq notebook has a PIII 650, and its fan only comes on when I really push the CPU. MP3 encoding, compiling a kernel, or scrolling in IE (it's dual boot)... Otherwise the thing is pretty silent.
My desktops are just plain loud. I have extra fans thanks to my obsessive overclocking. Most of the noise is actual air flowing, so a quieter fan would almost necessarily mean a less efficient fan, and would defeat the purpose of having extra fans...
I wonder why desktop power supplies don't work like notebooks -- running the fan only when it's needed. Most motherboards have thermal monitoring, so it seems it would be easy enough to spin the fan only when needed... Hm...
- Jman
I think my DSL actually goes through Sprint, so in reality Earthlink might not be providing any of the services there. I do have a dialup account as well (that comes free with the DSL subscription).
As for port blocking, I have several domain names that I send and receive email through. When I'm home, it works fine, but when I'm working out of town and stuck on dialup, I have to change my outgoing mail server. Then, when at work, I must change it back. If it were consistant either way I probably wouldn't mind so much...
As for support, forget it. The 12 hours of downtime I mention were at one time, and happened in the first month or two I had DSL. Trying to get any kind of helpful information from Earthlink is impossible. However, luckily I haven't needed to contact them since the one outage...
I have 5 PCs connected (though only one actually logs in and acts as a gateway/firewall), up 24/7, and have sucked tons of bandwidth, and never heard any complaints about it.
As for pricing, I've received the $39 fliers in the mail, but I was pretty sure that only applied to new customers and didn't give it much thought. Plus I'm paying $95 for the 1.5 MBPS (384k up) service anyway (and, even though a cable modem would run me $26/mo, having seen the speed of cable around here the DSL is worth every penny IMO).
Just my thoughts... maybe I'm one of the lucky ones... My only complaints about Earthlink are:
Support sucks (but I have only needed it once in 2 years)
They block port 25 on dialup (but not on the DSL, yet...)
- J-Man
- #define name erik %13%10 name@planetname.com
I have to wonder what is meant by %13%10. If you mean this to be a URL-encoded CRLF, this doesn't work -- it would need to be %0D%0A (hex). However, %13%10 evaluates to 19 and 16 in decimal, which is CTRL+S and CTRL+P, or "save" and "print" (at least in Notepad). Interesting either way...- J-Man
...he is dead today because he choose to take his life. I respect his decision, and though I disagree with it, I would not try to persaude him one or the other if he were alive and asking me for this advice.
I wasn't planning on posting, but this caught my attention...
If a 13 year old was asking for advice as to whether or not to commit suicide, you would not try to talk him out of it (or better yet, bring it to someone's attention)?
You might not have any responsibility to this (hypothetical) child, but if you had a shred of decency you would at least tell the kid's parents, or do something other than casually tell the kid that it's his decision to make.
I'm honestly hoping for a reply that I misinterpreted the above post... while the rest of your post seemed reasonable, that last bit almost disturbs me...
- J-Man
This is how I've always developed software. If you can work closely with the end user, this method really works well. Users/clients always change their minds as to what they want once they see the end result, and knowing this early on avoids too much re-design.
I've only recently begun working with a partner. As much as I always thought I'd hate it, it's been a great experience for me. Many times, one of us will be stuck on a problem; quite often, just explaining the problem to someone else is all it takes to find the answer, even if the other person didn't directly help. Other times, just having a second point of view is very helpful as well.
The project we're currently working on has followed XP from the start. Since we're working in the client's offices, we are able to get feedback on features as they are being developed.
Someone noted that documentation ends up being a problem; we personally set aside time just for documentation, both technical specs and user manuals. Documentation is important, and in the process, often times we discover inconsistancies or bugs that would have otherwise gone unnoticed (by us).
We do reuse code however, and I always keep reuse in mind. In fact often times we will resell the entire project to another client with some modifications, so some planning-ahead is needed while writing code to accomodate for changes (terminology differences, etc).
I will admit that my personal programming style (which is to say, not planning too much of the project in advance) partly stems from the fact that I get bored easily. Planning is boring. Generally, I lay out a very basic plan (what language to use, maybe map out the database schema, etc), and then jump right into writing code. I've always found that the more you plan, the more you have to re-plan when you find out the plan is flawed in some way...
- J-Man
I have a 1000ADSL using PPPoE, and I can telnet to the modem directly, and enter "EXPERT" mode, with or without PPPoE running. I do run a dedicated (RH Linux) firewall box, and being paranoid as I am, everything is pretty much blocked out. Since it runs into a separate interface (a second NIC connects to a hub and the other PCs), there's not much risk of being attacked.
;)
I don't think that the modem's internal 'echo' server would be sufficient for attack (as someone above has mentioned), as the modem isn't going to spoof an internal IP as a LAN-connected box would... If this were the case, you wouldn't need a Unix box (or *any* box for that matter) on the LAN side in order to attack the modem.
I do think this has been blown a bit out of proportion, however. In order for someone to be able to attack, one of the following has to happen:
- A hacker would have to have physical access to the DSLAM or the copper loop. If they wanted you that badly, obviously you have something valuable and would hopefully have taken other precautions... Noone would go through that much trouble for a simple DOS attack on a home user's internet access.
- For the other method to work, you'd have to be running a Unix system connected to the modem. I would imagine that anyone running a Unix system would probably have disabled echo, and/or have a good firewall set up -- and if not, they probably have no business running a Unix system anyway (and probably have many other, more exploitable holes)...
I do agree that the flaws in this device are bad, but I still feel that standard Windoze users wouldn't be affected unless someone wanted in that badly (in which case they could probably find much easier ways to get into the Windoze box). Those of us running a Unix-like system have already taken precautions, because we do not trust anyone, especially a closed device connected to the internet... Things like this simply justify our paranoia
- J-Man
But Gov. Rick Perry said:
...this technology, I happen to think, will have an even greater effect on the citizens of the world than what Mr. Bell came up with.
Therefore the telephone, and everything that has come as a result of it (including The Internet (not to mention Internet 2)), pales in comparison to the geniously named Teleportation device.
Seriously though, I can't wait until game programmers adopt this. Think Q3/UT/CS in true 3D...
- J-Man
...one of the results of a negative index of refraction is that the Doppler Effect will be reversed.
;)
I wonder if one could make automotive paint out of this material? I could think of at least one good reason...
- J-Man
I've been running XF 4.0.1 for quite a while under RH 6.0 with a Voodoo3 3000 PCI video card. The only problems I've had so far is that once in a great while, switching from X to a console locks my keyboard -- I have to telnet in and reboot the system. Other than that minor issue, X has only crashed on me once, seemingly caused by a screensaver (I forget which one).
;)
Where I have found lots of bugs is when running multiple displays. For experimentational purposes, I booted my Windows box (two PCI Voodoo3 cards) with my Linux drive. Surprisingly it does work (after quite a bit of tweaking (and cursing)), but they have a ways to go on that.
Once X does multiple displays properly, and a decent browser is released, there'll be nothing keeping Windows on my main box...