We had assembler. It wasn't portable we had to recompile and rewrite for different platforms. Libraries , (to make things easier and for 'sharing' code), were obscure pointers to areas of memory.
We had C. It was better at porting, but we still had to recompile for each platform. No obscure assembler that required a rocket scientist to figure out what the hell was going on. Wow! We had 'functions' - we could share code a lot easier!
We had C++. Much better at porting, but we still had to recompile for each platform. No obscure assembler that required a rocket scientist to figure out what the hell was going on. Wow! We had 'objects' that virtualized concepts. But why do we suddenly have 'fat' programs.
We had Java. No issue at all with porting. No obscure assembler that required a rocket scientist to figure out what the hell was going on. We had objects that virtualized everything. 'fat' programs? - forget fat these were obese.
We had virtualization. No issue at all with porting. No obscure assembler that required a rocket scientist to figure out what the hell was going on. Forget trying to virtualize program space - heck let's virtualize the whole damn O/S! What's a fat program without a fat O/S?!
So, what's next after O/S virtualization? We've tried in the past to objectify and virtualize program space and to a large extent doesn't work as we either keep changing userland requirements or our methodologies force us to change.
Don't get me wrong - love virtualization for all the right reasons. But, all we have at the end of the day is faster and faster machines that sit there chewing up greenhouse gases, (Bring back the old days of the TRS80!).
I really don't see what the fuss is about. I've tried several mugs of this coffee and both have been.... well OK.... but I wouldn't buy it again. It's as weak as piss, (pun intended). It's just a novelty coffee and nothing more.
Executives, salespeople, etc., do INDEED have a short attention span, and the profession self-selects for it. People with any kind of focus would be bored to death just thinking about these kind of jobs - they'd rather be surgeons, pilots, engineers, etc. Spoken like someone who has probably just experienced a bad group of sales people. In a lot of those jobs attention span has nothing to do with whether you can hold the job or not. There's a lot more to holding a job than just pure attention span. Likewise just because you have a short attention span doesn't mean that you are or are not capable of those jobs either. I know of some very intelligent people who have very short attention spans, to the point that in mid-conversation they forget what they were talking about.
I believe that executives (especially those that have worked their way to the top) would not have a very short attention span. To the contrary, they can see the big picture and work their way towards their ultimate goal.
Some people have short attention spans, can see the big picture, yet cannot reach their goals. 5% of the population suffer from something called ADHD, (in it's six forms). There are some very high execs who have ADHD and have managed to control it, or use it to their advantage. For the others - you just gotta cope with it.
As an aside one good thing about ADHD is hyperfocusing - very cool for those who experience it. Just annoying because it always happens at the wrong time.
But, I agree, if work was more enjoyable we would work harder, (and this applies to people with or without ADHD).
No, on the contrary. This is just another step to outlaw free software and make it illegal. Look at the issues we're having with the MPAA. Then translate that to the software industry. I foresee a time when people who distribute free software will be sent to jail. Think it's funny? You watch - the next steps will be:
Win the case.
Force Redhat Suse, etc, etc to pay royalties.
Those companies will have to jack up their price to cover the royalties.
They will have to shutdown - because they can't compete with M$.
Then Microsoft will attack truly free distributions, (like Debian), and force them to shutdown shop.
Then what's left? People will be sent to jail for installing Linux on their PC?
It looks funny to suggest this until you realize that every step of the way isn't a large leap.
On the contrary it is probably the oil companies who are driving it, (pun). Think about it. The oil companies are at a dead end with their technology. There are numerous alternatives to burning fossil fuels. If they aren't providing or seen to providing 'advances' then the competition will get ahead. You see this with any company or organization who has a monopoly - microsoft, ARIA, MPAA.
After reading the wikipedia entry one thing stuck out like a sore thumb:
PRAM uses the unique behavior of chalcogenide glass, which can be "switched" between two states, crystalline and amorphous, with the application of heat
Riiiight! So when the next summer heat wave happens, everything will be wiped, and I assume that will be the case whether the device is powered on or not. This will definitely be the Achilles' heel of PRAM.
I've tried XDMX on exactly this setup. I had a number of old laptops, (nine to be exact), that I converted to one large X display. Worked really well. The screen was huge - 3x3 17" laptop screens adds up to a big display. The downside? You have to have a dedicated switch to handle the traffic, (because there is a LOT of traffic - even when moving the mouse the switch goes bonkers). Also, it's slow. Much slower than an individual display, but good for displaying static images. Once I had it setup I didn't use it much, and in the end just used each laptop as an network mp3 player in each room of the house. Much better use for them.
and Sun will not be supporting Solaris 7 and older. Pretty much all UNIXes use text based TZ information, or tools that create the correct information, (IE zic). Patches shouldn't be an issue. During the Y2K fiasco^H^H^H^H^H^Hchanges all I did for my 150 odd servers is recompile my own zoneinfo file and distribute via rsync.
Nope, different buildings, different locations. Both examples were separate instances of the 'creative' ideas in my company. BTW there are others, but I fear if I mention too many some people might guess, (and consequently come back to haunt me). Needless to say they all worked very well for many years and I've only had the good fortune to banish some of them forever.
BTW, the computer room actually was built over a part of a factory floor that... er... used the drains extensively.
Remember guys that this was in the days of no ethernet, and users had dumb terminals to their work area. These days things have changed a LOT and there are a lot more options for A/C, and really everything else.....
It probably needs a bit of explanation. The server room in question was very old, (going back to around the pre 10BaseT days - what's ethernet?). All users had serial lines running to their 'workstations' with dumb terminals. The several VAXs chugged away in the room, and the fire control system consisted of, er, water.:-) Remember, no halogen just shove great buckets of water over anything that's on fire. Mind you things did actually catch on fire in those days too!
"At a moment where many people wonder if the use of nanoparticles is safe, it's good to know that nanotechnology has been widely used for a very long time."
That doesn't mean it's safe, just that it was being used. That's like saying thermo-nuclear power plants are safe because we're using them. You can't say they are safe unless you back them up evidence to the contrary.
Yep, that's about right. I'm on Optus cable eher in Oz. I regularly get 820-850kbytes/s download speeds from Optus' mirror. Everywhere else - well could be anything from 2k/s to 300k/s. If I go overseas, I'll never see more than 100k/s - and only for big name sites like hp.com, sun.com, etc. So, what's the problem again?!
Yes it does lack some niche markets. But it does do a good job of doing everything on anything. I run Linux exclusively, but only have an issue with one application, (AVR development tools). This I run under Wine without too much drama.
Because you are a SysAdmin I would expect your boss to do exactly what he did. This isn't so bad, and you shouldn't treat it as a smack in the face. This is to be expected if you hold a position of IT power. Mind you it doesn't always apply to every company. It's just the norm.
From your boss' perspective it's better to force you to leave early than to have to deal with any unpleasentness. Besides, you get 2 weeks real holiday! That's not bad, is it?
I agree with this. The ratio is probably proportionate. But then again, how on earth did they obtain these statistics? It's all guesswork. They don't really know the number of people pirating, because it's all subvertive. If they did know exactly how many people were pirating, then they would know who was pirating and who wasn't. But they don't. It's like trying to count all the rocks bigger than a fist on the moon. This quote says it all really: 'Worldwide revenue loss due to software piracy was estimated at $33 billion for 2004 with about 1/3 of the software used being illegal. Note the work estimated. That's such a throw-away line.
Slashdot Mirror
, (to make things easier and for 'sharing' code), were obscure pointers to areas of memory.
that required a rocket scientist to figure out what the hell was going on. Wow! We had 'functions' - we could
share code a lot easier!
that required a rocket scientist to figure out what the hell was going on. Wow! We had 'objects' that virtualized
concepts. But why do we suddenly have 'fat' programs.
out what the hell was going on. We had objects that virtualized everything. 'fat' programs? - forget fat these
were obese.
figure out what the hell was going on. Forget trying to virtualize program space - heck let's virtualize the whole
damn O/S! What's a fat program without a fat O/S?!
So, what's next after O/S virtualization? We've tried in the past to objectify and virtualize program space
and to a large extent doesn't work as we either keep changing userland requirements or our methodologies force
us to change.
Don't get me wrong - love virtualization for all the right reasons. But, all we have at the end of the day
is faster and faster machines that sit there chewing up greenhouse gases, (Bring back the old days of the
TRS80!).
.... then I wouldn't waste so much time playing them......
I really don't see what the fuss is about. I've tried several mugs of this coffee and both have been.... well OK.... but I wouldn't buy it again. It's as weak as piss, (pun intended). It's just a novelty coffee and nothing more.
Executives, salespeople, etc., do INDEED have a short attention span, and the profession self-selects for it. People with any kind of focus would be bored to death just thinking about these kind of jobs - they'd rather be surgeons, pilots, engineers, etc.
Spoken like someone who has probably just experienced a bad group of sales people. In a lot of those jobs attention span has nothing to do with whether you can hold the job or not. There's a lot more to holding a job than just pure attention span. Likewise just because you have a short attention span doesn't mean that you are or are not capable of those jobs either.
I know of some very intelligent people who have very short attention spans, to the point that in mid-conversation they forget what they were talking about.
So... feel the heat....
This is both correct and incorrect.
I believe that executives (especially those that have worked their way to the top) would not have a very short attention span. To the contrary, they can see the big picture and work their way towards their ultimate goal.
Some people have short attention spans, can see the big picture, yet cannot reach their goals. 5% of the population suffer from something called ADHD, (in it's six forms). There are some very high execs who have ADHD and have managed to control it, or use it to their advantage. For the others - you just gotta cope with it.
As an aside one good thing about ADHD is hyperfocusing - very cool for those who experience it. Just annoying because it always happens at the wrong time.
But, I agree, if work was more enjoyable we would work harder, (and this applies to people with or without ADHD).
It looks funny to suggest this until you realize that every step of the way isn't a large leap.
On the contrary it is probably the oil companies who are driving it, (pun). Think about it. The oil companies are at a dead end with their technology. There are numerous alternatives to burning fossil fuels. If they aren't providing or seen to providing 'advances' then the competition will get ahead. You see this with any company or organization who has a monopoly - microsoft, ARIA, MPAA.
After reading the wikipedia entry one thing stuck out like a sore thumb:
PRAM uses the unique behavior of chalcogenide glass, which can be "switched" between two states, crystalline and amorphous, with the application of heat
Riiiight! So when the next summer heat wave happens, everything will be wiped, and I assume that will be the case whether the device is powered on or not. This will definitely be the Achilles' heel of PRAM.
I've tried XDMX on exactly this setup. I had a number of old laptops, (nine to be exact), that I converted to
one large X display. Worked really well. The screen was huge - 3x3 17" laptop screens adds up to a big display. The downside? You have to have a dedicated switch to handle the traffic, (because there is a LOT of traffic - even when moving the mouse the switch goes bonkers). Also, it's slow. Much slower than an individual display, but good for displaying static images.
Once I had it setup I didn't use it much, and in the end just used each laptop as an network mp3 player in each room of the house. Much better use for them.
I've only ever made one New Year's resolution that I ever stuck to.
That was to 'Never make another New Year's resolution again'.
and Sun will not be supporting Solaris 7 and older.
Pretty much all UNIXes use text based TZ information, or tools that create
the correct information, (IE zic). Patches shouldn't be an issue. During the Y2K
fiasco^H^H^H^H^H^Hchanges all I did for my 150 odd servers is recompile my own
zoneinfo file and distribute via rsync.
Actually in Oz either is acceptable. I originally wrote 'u-bend' for all the :-)
unwashed Slashdot masses.
Nope, different buildings, different locations. Both examples were separate instances
of the 'creative' ideas in my company. BTW there are others, but I fear if I mention
too many some people might guess, (and consequently come back to haunt me). Needless
to say they all worked very well for many years and I've only had the good fortune to
banish some of them forever.
BTW, the computer room actually was built over a part of a factory floor that... er...
used the drains extensively.
Remember guys that this was in the days of no ethernet, and users had dumb terminals
to their work area. These days things have changed a LOT and there are a lot more
options for A/C, and really everything else.....
It probably needs a bit of explanation. The server room in question was very old, (going back to around :-) Remember, no halogen just shove great buckets of water over anything that's on fire. Mind you
the pre 10BaseT days - what's ethernet?). All users had serial lines running to their 'workstations' with
dumb terminals. The several VAXs chugged away in the room, and the fire control system consisted of, er,
water.
things did actually catch on fire in those days too!
It's a shame you weren't working for my company when we had that issue! So many 'engineers'
and not one of them came up with THAT solution. Fantastic.
Except in our case, the A/C for the computer room dried out the water in the U-bend very quickly. So
the best way was to just leave a tape dripping.
BTW, as a side note, at home I have to fill up the U-bends every couple of months with water
otherwise the bathroom starts to stink.
"At a moment where many people wonder if the use of nanoparticles is safe, it's good to know that nanotechnology has been widely used for a very long time."
That doesn't mean it's safe, just that it was being used. That's like saying thermo-nuclear
power plants are safe because we're using them. You can't say they are safe unless you back
them up evidence to the contrary.
Yes, and 640k is more than enough for anyone!
Yep, that's about right. I'm on Optus cable eher in Oz. I regularly get 820-850kbytes/s download speeds from Optus' mirror. Everywhere else - well could be anything from 2k/s to 300k/s. If I go overseas, I'll never see more than 100k/s - and only for big name sites like hp.com, sun.com, etc. So, what's the problem again?!
Yes it does lack some niche markets. But it does do a good job of doing everything on anything. I run Linux exclusively, but only have an issue with one application, (AVR development tools). This I run under Wine without too much drama.
I think it would be really genius to be able to have an OS that runs on anything
there is and it's called linux.
Because you are a SysAdmin I would expect your boss to do exactly what he did. This isn't so bad, and you shouldn't treat it as a smack in the face. This is to be expected if you hold a position of IT power. Mind you it doesn't always apply to every company. It's just the norm.
From your boss' perspective it's better to force you to leave early than to have to deal with any unpleasentness. Besides, you get 2 weeks real holiday! That's not bad, is it?
I agree with this. The ratio is probably proportionate. But then again, how on earth did they obtain these statistics? It's all guesswork. They don't really know the number of people pirating, because it's all subvertive. If they did know exactly how many people were pirating, then they would know who was pirating and who wasn't. But they don't. It's like trying to count all the rocks bigger than a fist on the moon.
This quote says it all really: 'Worldwide revenue loss due to software piracy was estimated at $33 billion for 2004 with about 1/3 of the software used being illegal. Note the work estimated. That's such a throw-away line.
In other words:
"Are we making what the customer wants?"