Re:The cost of Solaris
on
The Faded Sun
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Do you actually own a Sun? You should probably open it up and compare it to your uber-clocked Althon-space-heater sometime. Their hardware is very high quality. Their support is as well.
Since I own both I feel I can field this one. Take the case off your workstation someday, you may be in for some surprises. First off, my Sunblade 100 has ecc pc133 sdram(4x512M) - my Athlon has ecc pc2100 ddr (4x512). The Sunblade shipped without a SCSI controller or drives - I don't know if the stock IDE was ATA/33, 66, 100, or 133 - but I'm willing to bet it was probably ATA/66. No matter -- added an Adaptec SCSI controller and ultra 160 drives. My Athlon shipped with on-board u/320 SCSI controllers with the same U160 drives. The Sun box has firewire, the Athlon Gigabit Ethernet - don't use or care about either. Don't know about your Sun box, but mine sure looked like a cheap-ass Dell on the inside. I suspect Sun is doing the same cost cutting on the 'premium' parts..... Both have been rock solid, and all the vendors give top notch support at this level.
Here is where it counts - one I use for active code development, the other just sits there as a DB, LDAP, and whatever else I can sluff off to it. My dual 1.73ghz Athlon/Linux workstation spanks the 500mhz Sunblade/Solaris box. Similar specs (sans CPU), but god almighty, it is not even close at firing up Mozilla, building an EJB, using OpenOffice, or getting anything done.
The rules are a bit different for what makes a solid server (I/O rather than CPU speed) - but stick a fork in it, it is done in the workstation market. Something where you need the 64-bit environment might give you an edge, but with the new 64-bit AMD and Intel chips working their way to market, even the new 1.05G UltraSparc III's seems a bit hollow.
Well, maybe it's different in US but here (Finland and rest of Europe) that isn't the case.
You guessed it... US. My commodore 64 had better connectivity than my phone. I really hope we can catch up some day. I'm green with envy when I fly across the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean.
While the phones may run linux/java... I would not expect the phone companies to let you create your own apps and upload them to the phone.
A more than a few years back, JavaOne (has it been that long?) it seamed every session was in a lather about the micro edition or kvm running on cell phones and their ilk. Session after session and after hours at the bar, the general consensus was 'we love the platform, but we want to control the entire revenue stream'. Expect some serious license / formal development kits if you want to code for these things. I don't think they have hobbyist in mind. If I end up being wrong, I'll be racing to the store - but uploading apps to phones (not pda's) still seems pretty limited.
I've watched demo/poc code go into production land way too often. The customer demands 'mars mission' grade code, but pays for enough time to duct tape a couple milk cartons together.
I agree though, if you have the time -- for the love of god do it right. Few things are as ugly as being the next one in after a krufty hack-fest.
Verizon has a service that will block incoming calls who's caller ID is marked private or out of area. It doesn't entirely block them however, it presents them with a message that they must leave their name and wait for me to accept the call.
Let me give another opinion...
I was the lucky stiff to get to do the technical interviews - since these were preliminary, it was over the phone. Several people had this service and it made life very difficult for me to call them. It might be worth dealing with the telemarketers for a month if you are job hunting...IMHO.
Take a lesson on MVC and learn why that is the 'bad' way to do things.
Usually followed by some crazy deadline - good people do bad things all the time. God knows I've hacked out some ugly stuff while the sales guy is doing a demo....
Yeah, well they tried something a little different with Dune: Emperor and it pretty much failed.
I'd say they did the same bloody thing _over_ and _over_ and _over_ again in Dune:Emperor. Missions were not unique, rehashing the same maps got old, and it was real flacky on my laptop until one of the later patches fixed the graphics issues. Anything 'new' with units retreating was lost on me... What a waste of time/money.
with old_lady .give.flowers .take.dinner .take.movie .attempt.pork end with
Damn, it would be just my luck that the code won't compile.... Even with the lifetime license agreement and constant service packs, these API's just don't work in a predictable mannor.
2. Don't just implement something for the sake of doing it, or because it will look cool on your resume. Make sure you have valid reasons for what you do, preferably backed up by some research.
Making sure your resume is fully buzzword compliant is a perfect justification for picking up a technology. To this day, I consider Java to be C++ for dummies, yet that is what puts food on the table. There are patterns that emerge regardless of the specific technology, so it is usually a good idea to optimize the pocket book while picking up a new skill.
I'd made the number two spot - do it for love. Love of coding, creating, problem solving, and other aspects of software development.
The example had an evil twist. The customer driving the specifications was internal, while the users were not. In the end, the business really needed a unique ID for each user and group, but tried to implement it by giving us only the information we needed at the time. There was no initial design meeting, just a steady stream of ever shifting requirements since we 'refactored' and drove the process through regression testing. Their interpretation of XP...
Natural selection fixed the problem - everyone (myself included) lost their job and options.
I think you are missing the point. You seem to realize that you are never going to get rock solid requirements, which I think most people would agree with. But then you use that as an excuse to throw away XP?
I'm not sure I have. First off, I'll qualify this - I've done some XP development and I am bit cynical at this point in time. I'm not expecting a 200 page specification document, use cases, etc. Normally I'd settle for a return phone call, email, or some sort of feedback/response. The business users tended to be vague or rotate the requirements faster than a borg's shields if they responded. That was a pretty big if, btw... Poor communication is a major hurdle for any methodology, and XP suffers 'when business behaves badly'.
In the above example, what the business really wanted was a unique identifier - they just did not know it at the time. The phone number changed to an email address, to a SSN, and a few other things. The XP process puts too much emphasis on testing at the wrong time, IMHO. The forest was lost in the trees.
Don't think I'm against test scripts... I create drivers in my own code, and also expect someone to test the veracity as well. To be honest, I think it is better if I don't create the final test script as users tend to have an unlimited imagination when it comes to using things improperly. The lack of faith in XP does not translate into dumping QA at the development, staging, or production level.
I've got opinions on paired programming, and a few other aspects of XP too. The short of it is if you have strong communication, teamwork, and realistic expectations, almost any methodology will deliver. Success when things are going to hell in a hand basket? XP is not a silver bullet. I've seen management cut the number of workstations in half, but when was the last time you saw a 40 hour work week?
Anyhow, I concur about test based development. Same idea, different denomination... (grin)
I know, I know... there are going to be tons of posts lambasting admins for not updating their boxes. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. Hell, last week a live update caused a catastrophic failure to the email systems. The IS boys were not lazy, did what they should, and lost 36 hours of their lives rebuilding the boxes from tape because of a bad patch.
Patches that fix something specific are fine. Patches that add new features or change API behavior can really make a mess. I've seen plenty of kit that requires xx service pack and the latest yy version breaks it.
As a side note, make sure you get the patch if you are running the MSDE on any of your boxes.... Same problem as SQL server - way to many vendors will fold that one into a dev version of a product. I know I almost found out the hard way...
Requirements are the Achilles heel of XP. Without rock solid requirements, you are just guessing for the test scripts.
Take a trivial example -- an entry form for a phone number. What is a valid phone number? Add in real world things like extensions, folks using alphanumeric substitution (1-800-DISCOVER), and internationalization and it gets interesting. Now a test driver is not that big of a deal if you know what to put in it. From a design standpoint, it would really be nice to have solid requirements and test scripts that provide concrete examples as to what the business was asking for. Real world? I could only dream for mediocre requirements that might resemble not only what they asked for, but what they want.... At least enough to try and read their minds.
Give MAME a try and play the real thing. You should be able to find the MAME program anywhere, but the ROM files are a little more difficult. Depending on your citizenship, you may or may not be allowed to legally download the qbert ROM. Place qbert.zip in the roms directory, fire up MAME, and enjoy a piece of history.
(Standard disclaimer: You may be in violation of several copyright laws if you don't actually own the physical ROM. Just because you can download it does not mean you should - depending on the litigious nature of what country you call home)
Many moons ago I did a little ice racing with an RX7. You are correct, the computer does dumb down the driving experience. These settings are for residential / highway driving, not the track. You might be able to slide a corner fine, but having wheels operate independently is wonderful if you want to stay off the sidewalk. Since DSC has an on/off button, the option is always there.
I'd even let my wife or even her mom drive it in a snowstorm.... Would you do the same with your car?
It's about sending millions/billions to defense contractors. (snip) Two words for those that say I am wrong. "Superconductor Supercollider".
I might add defense contracts - those millions/billions of dollars are the closest thing a person can get to 'pure research'. Companies won't do it because they have to show profit (usually fast profit). You may not like the fact that money goes to fund weapon systems and their ilk first, but like any for-profit company would ever do sub atomic research? Doubtful.
Really. I prefer to count on the steering wheel and brakes.
I don't know if they changed it the E65/66 to front wheel drive, but I seriously doubt they did. The computer optimizes actions. I mash the break pedal and the ABS system modulates the braking action for me. I mash the gas and it throttles back rather than leaving a black patch on the cement. Most cars have this - with more getting advanced traction control systems too..
I turn a corner that was slicker than I thought and the Dynamic Stability Control kicks in. It breaks individual wheels, throttles back the engine, and makes intersections rather dull. That is a good thing.
From edmunds.com...
The yaw-rate sensor determines how far off-axis a car is "tilting" in a turn. This information is then fed into a microcomputer that correlates the data with wheel speed, steering angle and accelerator position, and, if the system senses too much yaw, the appropriate braking force is applied.
There are a couple of things you may want to know about stability control. First, the system will do most of the "thinking" for you. Depending on the particular driving situation, the system may activate an individual wheel brake or any combination of the four, as well as control the throttle, until the vehicle is once again stable.
Second, the system is fully independent of the driver's actions. Even if the car is free-rolling (no acceleration or braking input from the driver), the stability control system will kick in and perform its duty. All you need to do is steer.
Don't get me wrong, I love to drive. The computer lets me pull off tricks that you can't do with one break peddle. Bootlegger reverse, Mr Sulu....
Jaguar quality has improved greatly. From the butt of jokes, to one of the best in Europe
The XK8 is quite a car. I came very close, but my little one was a bit claustrophobic in the back and was a little much for Minnesota winters - the computer kept it from getting squirrelly, but not what you want to drive up an icy hill with. I had a XJS with the V12 a few years back.... I agree, they have come a LONG way and expanded my mechanic skills to boot. An unfair jab, but I did my time...
The E38's are a pleasure to wrench on. Point being most folks buying a BMW E65/66 won't be pleased with a wonky dash, much less the transmissions dropping from forth to first gear because of a glitch. I don't buy new either and problems like these tend to grow as a car gets older. Course, might be able to flash the BIOS to 'fix' these issues. (grin) Anyhow, you are right. My bad...
The new 7 series has lots of 'ghosts in the shell' problems. I knew some of the stuff used windows ce, but this was a bad idea if this tied into anything other than peripheral structures. I've got a 740I, and while I'll complain about bad pixels in the dash, the current system is rock solid. The transmission in the 745I uses wince? I would expect critical systems to be treated as most embedded systems. Here in Minnesota, I count on the onboard computer to keep me out of the ditch.
I also own a pocket pc, and don't trust the thing to do anything more than mp3's and email. Why in god's name would you pick that? I've done a little C++ on the platform, so I know why someone might use it to pound out something with a quick GUI... but for the amount of cash you pay, I know I have expectations. Hearing about this type of thing is not uncommon. Kwality is one of the reasons I don't trust Jaguar... and when you are dealing with a $70K budges, there are plenty of options out there.
Dumb, dumb, dumb... if all they were looking to do is save a couple bucks by using the embedded version of wince.
Here in Minnesota, taxes are not optional - it does not matter whether you buy stuff on the Internet, mail order, or purchase goods the old fashion way. You buy it in state, you pay sales tax; buy it out of state, pay use tax.
Use tax protects Minnesota businesses from unfair competition. If tax is not paid on items brought into your community, the local businesses are at a competitive disadvantage.
(note bitter sarcasm in my voice) So you see, it was never about maximizing revenue in tough times - it is about unfair competition.
I dual boot my box to run a couple different flavors of Windows and Linux. (removable hard drives). Will the BIOS auto detect something that supports the Palladium and turn it on, or will I have to drop into the BIOS and change the 'enable palladium' settings every time. I expect a future cut of Windows to require such a thing to be enabled before it runs.
In short, if the boot sector is not 'trusted' by AMIBIOS will the default behavior be boot with a warning or not boot until the BIOS changes?
(Disclaimer: For the record, this is a feature I want to see die the same way Intel's CPU identification did. I'll be one of those dragging my feet making existing hardware and software last longer than I usually do hoping the market corrects the situation.)
A crime is a crime is a crime. Aren't there plenty of existing standards to base this on? Tie it to the harm done. Some will be misdemeanors, some will be felonies.
Except that just is not the case. Take a look at drunk driving cases - you know the ones where the guy does it ten times or more? It was a felony around number three (I think, long time since driver's test) yet these guys just do not spend quality jail time.
Even better? Way back in college, I worked at a home shopping network and did some of their security work. Set up the cameras, figured out how and where they were getting the loot out, and confronted them. It was well over 5K, so it was a felony at that point. They confessed, we called in the cops, they confessed and signed a statement there too. So how much 'time' did they do for the felony? None, zero, nada. The prosecuting attorney did not bother to do anything. This happened a couple times in my short career.
I'd say, lets make sure the crime fits the punishment... because whenever I hear these cases, the 'damage' is usually the entire retail price of Solaris, the development time for the entire site, or something along that line of thought. You know that is not what Amazon from their SLA's for hardware or net servivce...
I wish there were standards too...
The Antec / Chieftech / Chenming cases
on
Hardware Block
·
· Score: 2
The Antec / Chieftech / Chenming cases are all manufactured by the same folks. Good stuff, however. For building boxes, this is my standard non-rackmount chassis. No sharp edges, solid structure, good ventilation and fan placement. If you watch, these things go on sale often... The last chassis I picked up was for my bride - with 420w PS and a window, $75USD. Lots of color options out there too.
Not sure if this will link, but her are some better photo from newegg.
Slashdot Mirror
Do you actually own a Sun? You should probably open it up and compare it to your uber-clocked Althon-space-heater sometime. Their hardware is very high quality. Their support is as well.
Since I own both I feel I can field this one. Take the case off your workstation someday, you may be in for some surprises. First off, my Sunblade 100 has ecc pc133 sdram(4x512M) - my Athlon has ecc pc2100 ddr (4x512). The Sunblade shipped without a SCSI controller or drives - I don't know if the stock IDE was ATA/33, 66, 100, or 133 - but I'm willing to bet it was probably ATA/66. No matter -- added an Adaptec SCSI controller and ultra 160 drives. My Athlon shipped with on-board u/320 SCSI controllers with the same U160 drives. The Sun box has firewire, the Athlon Gigabit Ethernet - don't use or care about either. Don't know about your Sun box, but mine sure looked like a cheap-ass Dell on the inside. I suspect Sun is doing the same cost cutting on the 'premium' parts..... Both have been rock solid, and all the vendors give top notch support at this level.
Here is where it counts - one I use for active code development, the other just sits there as a DB, LDAP, and whatever else I can sluff off to it. My dual 1.73ghz Athlon/Linux workstation spanks the 500mhz Sunblade/Solaris box. Similar specs (sans CPU), but god almighty, it is not even close at firing up Mozilla, building an EJB, using OpenOffice, or getting anything done.
The rules are a bit different for what makes a solid server (I/O rather than CPU speed) - but stick a fork in it, it is done in the workstation market. Something where you need the 64-bit environment might give you an edge, but with the new 64-bit AMD and Intel chips working their way to market, even the new 1.05G UltraSparc III's seems a bit hollow.
Well, maybe it's different in US but here (Finland and rest of Europe) that isn't the case.
You guessed it... US. My commodore 64 had better connectivity than my phone. I really hope we can catch up some day. I'm green with envy when I fly across the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean.
While the phones may run linux/java ... I would not expect the phone companies to let you create your own apps and upload them to the phone.
A more than a few years back, JavaOne (has it been that long?) it seamed every session was in a lather about the micro edition or kvm running on cell phones and their ilk. Session after session and after hours at the bar, the general consensus was 'we love the platform, but we want to control the entire revenue stream'. Expect some serious license / formal development kits if you want to code for these things. I don't think they have hobbyist in mind. If I end up being wrong, I'll be racing to the store - but uploading apps to phones (not pda's) still seems pretty limited.
I've watched demo/poc code go into production land way too often. The customer demands 'mars mission' grade code, but pays for enough time to duct tape a couple milk cartons together.
I agree though, if you have the time -- for the love of god do it right. Few things are as ugly as being the next one in after a krufty hack-fest.
Verizon has a service that will block incoming calls who's caller ID is marked private or out of area. It doesn't entirely block them however, it presents them with a message that they must leave their name and wait for me to accept the call.
Let me give another opinion...
I was the lucky stiff to get to do the technical interviews - since these were preliminary, it was over the phone. Several people had this service and it made life very difficult for me to call them. It might be worth dealing with the telemarketers for a month if you are job hunting...IMHO.
Take a lesson on MVC and learn why that is the 'bad' way to do things.
Usually followed by some crazy deadline - good people do bad things all the time. God knows I've hacked out some ugly stuff while the sales guy is doing a demo....
Yeah, well they tried something a little different with Dune: Emperor and it pretty much failed.
I'd say they did the same bloody thing _over_ and _over_ and _over_ again in Dune:Emperor. Missions were not unique, rehashing the same maps got old, and it was real flacky on my laptop until one of the later patches fixed the graphics issues. Anything 'new' with units retreating was lost on me... What a waste of time/money.
So we've got Medipacks, StimPacks, and Anti Personnel Rocket Launchers.
Where's the Quad Damage and the Redeemer?
I think the redeemer is covered too...
Kids rarely just "show up." People choose to have them.
Being irresponsible is the fastest way to become parents. (Even for us married folk)
2. Don't just implement something for the sake of doing it, or because it will look cool on your resume. Make sure you have valid reasons for what you do, preferably backed up by some research.
Making sure your resume is fully buzzword compliant is a perfect justification for picking up a technology. To this day, I consider Java to be C++ for dummies, yet that is what puts food on the table. There are patterns that emerge regardless of the specific technology, so it is usually a good idea to optimize the pocket book while picking up a new skill.
I'd made the number two spot - do it for love. Love of coding, creating, problem solving, and other aspects of software development.
The example had an evil twist. The customer driving the specifications was internal, while the users were not. In the end, the business really needed a unique ID for each user and group, but tried to implement it by giving us only the information we needed at the time. There was no initial design meeting, just a steady stream of ever shifting requirements since we 'refactored' and drove the process through regression testing. Their interpretation of XP...
Natural selection fixed the problem - everyone (myself included) lost their job and options.
I think you are missing the point. You seem to realize that you are never going to get rock solid requirements, which I think most people would agree with. But then you use that as an excuse to throw away XP?
I'm not sure I have. First off, I'll qualify this - I've done some XP development and I am bit cynical at this point in time. I'm not expecting a 200 page specification document, use cases, etc. Normally I'd settle for a return phone call, email, or some sort of feedback/response. The business users tended to be vague or rotate the requirements faster than a borg's shields if they responded. That was a pretty big if, btw... Poor communication is a major hurdle for any methodology, and XP suffers 'when business behaves badly'.
In the above example, what the business really wanted was a unique identifier - they just did not know it at the time. The phone number changed to an email address, to a SSN, and a few other things. The XP process puts too much emphasis on testing at the wrong time, IMHO. The forest was lost in the trees.
Don't think I'm against test scripts... I create drivers in my own code, and also expect someone to test the veracity as well. To be honest, I think it is better if I don't create the final test script as users tend to have an unlimited imagination when it comes to using things improperly. The lack of faith in XP does not translate into dumping QA at the development, staging, or production level.
I've got opinions on paired programming, and a few other aspects of XP too. The short of it is if you have strong communication, teamwork, and realistic expectations, almost any methodology will deliver. Success when things are going to hell in a hand basket? XP is not a silver bullet. I've seen management cut the number of workstations in half, but when was the last time you saw a 40 hour work week?
Anyhow, I concur about test based development. Same idea, different denomination... (grin)
I know, I know... there are going to be tons of posts lambasting admins for not updating their boxes. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. Hell, last week a live update caused a catastrophic failure to the email systems. The IS boys were not lazy, did what they should, and lost 36 hours of their lives rebuilding the boxes from tape because of a bad patch.
Patches that fix something specific are fine. Patches that add new features or change API behavior can really make a mess. I've seen plenty of kit that requires xx service pack and the latest yy version breaks it.
As a side note, make sure you get the patch if you are running the MSDE on any of your boxes.... Same problem as SQL server - way to many vendors will fold that one into a dev version of a product. I know I almost found out the hard way...
Requirements are the Achilles heel of XP. Without rock solid requirements, you are just guessing for the test scripts.
Take a trivial example -- an entry form for a phone number. What is a valid phone number? Add in real world things like extensions, folks using alphanumeric substitution (1-800-DISCOVER), and internationalization and it gets interesting. Now a test driver is not that big of a deal if you know what to put in it. From a design standpoint, it would really be nice to have solid requirements and test scripts that provide concrete examples as to what the business was asking for. Real world? I could only dream for mediocre requirements that might resemble not only what they asked for, but what they want.... At least enough to try and read their minds.
Give MAME a try and play the real thing. You should be able to find the MAME program anywhere, but the ROM files are a little more difficult. Depending on your citizenship, you may or may not be allowed to legally download the qbert ROM. Place qbert.zip in the roms directory, fire up MAME, and enjoy a piece of history.
(Standard disclaimer: You may be in violation of several copyright laws if you don't actually own the physical ROM. Just because you can download it does not mean you should - depending on the litigious nature of what country you call home)
Many moons ago I did a little ice racing with an RX7. You are correct, the computer does dumb down the driving experience. These settings are for residential / highway driving, not the track. You might be able to slide a corner fine, but having wheels operate independently is wonderful if you want to stay off the sidewalk. Since DSC has an on/off button, the option is always there.
I'd even let my wife or even her mom drive it in a snowstorm.... Would you do the same with your car?
It's about sending millions/billions to defense contractors. (snip) Two words for those that say I am wrong. "Superconductor Supercollider".
I might add defense contracts - those millions/billions of dollars are the closest thing a person can get to 'pure research'. Companies won't do it because they have to show profit (usually fast profit). You may not like the fact that money goes to fund weapon systems and their ilk first, but like any for-profit company would ever do sub atomic research? Doubtful.
I don't know if they changed it the E65/66 to front wheel drive, but I seriously doubt they did. The computer optimizes actions. I mash the break pedal and the ABS system modulates the braking action for me. I mash the gas and it throttles back rather than leaving a black patch on the cement. Most cars have this - with more getting advanced traction control systems too..
I turn a corner that was slicker than I thought and the Dynamic Stability Control kicks in. It breaks individual wheels, throttles back the engine, and makes intersections rather dull. That is a good thing.
From edmunds.com...
Don't get me wrong, I love to drive. The computer lets me pull off tricks that you can't do with one break peddle. Bootlegger reverse, Mr Sulu....
Jaguar quality has improved greatly. From the butt of jokes, to one of the best in Europe
The XK8 is quite a car. I came very close, but my little one was a bit claustrophobic in the back and was a little much for Minnesota winters - the computer kept it from getting squirrelly, but not what you want to drive up an icy hill with. I had a XJS with the V12 a few years back.... I agree, they have come a LONG way and expanded my mechanic skills to boot. An unfair jab, but I did my time...
The E38's are a pleasure to wrench on. Point being most folks buying a BMW E65/66 won't be pleased with a wonky dash, much less the transmissions dropping from forth to first gear because of a glitch. I don't buy new either and problems like these tend to grow as a car gets older. Course, might be able to flash the BIOS to 'fix' these issues. (grin) Anyhow, you are right. My bad...
The new 7 series has lots of 'ghosts in the shell' problems. I knew some of the stuff used windows ce, but this was a bad idea if this tied into anything other than peripheral structures. I've got a 740I, and while I'll complain about bad pixels in the dash, the current system is rock solid. The transmission in the 745I uses wince? I would expect critical systems to be treated as most embedded systems. Here in Minnesota, I count on the onboard computer to keep me out of the ditch.
I also own a pocket pc, and don't trust the thing to do anything more than mp3's and email. Why in god's name would you pick that? I've done a little C++ on the platform, so I know why someone might use it to pound out something with a quick GUI... but for the amount of cash you pay, I know I have expectations. Hearing about this type of thing is not uncommon. Kwality is one of the reasons I don't trust Jaguar... and when you are dealing with a $70K budges, there are plenty of options out there.
Dumb, dumb, dumb... if all they were looking to do is save a couple bucks by using the embedded version of wince.
To quote our lovely tax form,
(note bitter sarcasm in my voice)
So you see, it was never about maximizing revenue in tough times - it is about unfair competition.
I dual boot my box to run a couple different flavors of Windows and Linux. (removable hard drives). Will the BIOS auto detect something that supports the Palladium and turn it on, or will I have to drop into the BIOS and change the 'enable palladium' settings every time. I expect a future cut of Windows to require such a thing to be enabled before it runs.
In short, if the boot sector is not 'trusted' by AMIBIOS will the default behavior be boot with a warning or not boot until the BIOS changes?
(Disclaimer: For the record, this is a feature I want to see die the same way Intel's CPU identification did. I'll be one of those dragging my feet making existing hardware and software last longer than I usually do hoping the market corrects the situation.)
A crime is a crime is a crime. Aren't there plenty of existing standards to base this on? Tie it to the harm done. Some will be misdemeanors, some will be felonies.
Except that just is not the case. Take a look at drunk driving cases - you know the ones where the guy does it ten times or more? It was a felony around number three (I think, long time since driver's test) yet these guys just do not spend quality jail time.
Even better? Way back in college, I worked at a home shopping network and did some of their security work. Set up the cameras, figured out how and where they were getting the loot out, and confronted them. It was well over 5K, so it was a felony at that point. They confessed, we called in the cops, they confessed and signed a statement there too. So how much 'time' did they do for the felony? None, zero, nada. The prosecuting attorney did not bother to do anything. This happened a couple times in my short career.
I'd say, lets make sure the crime fits the punishment... because whenever I hear these cases, the 'damage' is usually the entire retail price of Solaris, the development time for the entire site, or something along that line of thought. You know that is not what Amazon from their SLA's for hardware or net servivce...
I wish there were standards too...
The Antec / Chieftech / Chenming cases are all manufactured by the same folks. Good stuff, however. For building boxes, this is my standard non-rackmount chassis. No sharp edges, solid structure, good ventilation and fan placement. If you watch, these things go on sale often... The last chassis I picked up was for my bride - with 420w PS and a window, $75USD. Lots of color options out there too.
1 -1 25-132-01.JPG/11-125-132-02.jpg/11-125-132-03.jpg/ 11-125-132-04.jpg/11-125-132-05.jpg/11-125-132-06. jpg/11-125-132-07.jpg
Not sure if this will link, but her are some better photo from newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?image=1