Hmm... I'm wondering why I should give a flying f*** about what MS and IBM think about MySQL. What we are hearing is what Marketroids in competing companies are paid to say. Now that is truly deserving of worldwide attention. I vaguely remember hearing something recently about WAR, Civil Liberties, and Human Rights. But this is truly far more deserving of grey-matter processing time.
I've been thinking about this myself. Aside from the obvious "keep it proprietary so movie studios don't sue us" argument, the reason for segmenting the video may be for performance. AFAIK, one massive mpeg-2 file would likely be rather fragmented. It's also easier to load and seek through smaller files, especially when we're talking about multi-GB mpeg-2 files.
Splitting up the files isn't too much of an issue to me. Capping the audio at 32khz and the video at 640x480 and using a non-standard mpeg-2 format is more bothersome. Even the video streams converted to a "standard" format using Creative's software has been reported to have problems in most mpeg-2 editing software.
I'll still probably get one though. At 1/2 the price of the next cheapest hardware mpeg-2 TV card and 1/3 to 1/6 the price of a dedicated hardware unit, I'm willing to put up with these problems FOR NOW. I'm going to both lobby Creative for better and more open software and also get to work hacking it so it can run on linux and properly on windows. I'll make sure to get it from a store with a generous return policy (like Fry's), just in case.
Heh... I've actually seen the Lone Gunmen Pilot already. It was floating around the ABM newsgroup a while back.
It was actually pretty good IMHO. It is a bit lighter and tounge-in-cheek then the X-Files, though it does attain a fair sense of mystery and intrigue. The the lone gunmen characters are flushed out more then in the X-Files and form a good ensamble.
I think that will be the key to the show's success or failure: whether they can operate as a strong ensamble cast, which is very difficult to do on TV. The writers also have a very tricky job ahead of them in balancing the humor and intrigue. I think the pilot was successful in all of these areas. We'll have to wait to see if they can pull it off for an entire season.
This is not to say that the show is perfect. There were some weak spots, including a number of especially improbable and bizzare fudging of technical aspects (mostly computer related, ironically).
My suggestion: Be sure to watch it, but put on your "suspension of disbelief" hat.:)
-- tjoynt
Re:PKI and other issues
on
SSH v. SRP
·
· Score: 1
How difficult is it to implement a man in the middle attack in the real world? Is it script-kiddie level or NSA level? What conditions are necessary to carry it out?
Seperate question: is there any secure term client that uses PGP-style distributed keyservers transparently? Is one worth developing?
"If there was sarcasm on Slashdot, would anyone notice?"
Apparently not.:)
The poster was irrational, rude, and totally inaccurate; he was also parodying what other people (whom he presumably disagrees with)have stated with total seriousness.
With all due respect, you're arguing with a mirror, my friend.
I know that students aren't really employees, but there are *huge* parallels between being a science student at a major scientific research university.
I personally "work" ~14 hours a *day* M-F: 8am-11pm (an hour in there free somewhere): classes-research-studying. ~15 hours over the weekend, too. 85 hours a week, anyone?
My girlfriend, a grad student (technically an employee), keeps similar hours.
Granted, these hours are at the far end of the spectrum, but I don't imagine most serious science or engineering students put in less then 60 hours a week. (Note: I'm not attempting to slight non-science/eng students; I just have no idea how much time their fields require.)
Part of the reason computer startup employees are willing to put in "insane" (by corporate standards) hours, is that they were used to doing so when in school. Other reasons of course include love of the work, money, accomplishment, etc.
I don't think that those in the "real world" know how good they have it.:)
I'm a student at UCSD and consutant for their Academic Computing Services; here are some of my observations/thoughts on the matter, relating specifically to UCSD undergraduate concerns. I'll leave the consideration of other situations to those with the requisite knowledge and experiance. (So don't flame me with "what ifs"):)
We use Linux (Red Hat specifically, I think) for some low-level operating systems classes, but that's about it. We get many of our engineering/cs related computer through grants, so we have labs full of brand-spanking new Sparc Ultra 10s and zippy Intel (NT) machines. Unless VA or Redhat decides to start giving us computers, this may not change much. Even so, there is a large "Linux following" within our dept and the school in general.
Remember also, that (grants aside) the purchasing decisions are generally not based upon the wishes of the students (though they do have an impact), but upon the requests of the professors and departments. Most professors are more familiar with Solaris then Linux, so that is what they teach.
Another consideration is what systems students should have experiance with when they enter the job market. AFAIK, most established cs/engineering companies use either a commercial Unix and it's accompanying development software or Windows NT and Visual C++ for their development workstations. Linux is beginng to make inroads, but is far from entrenched.
As time goes by, Linux will likely become far more widely used for class purposes because it has some very appealling qualities (low cost of software and hardware, available and modify-able source, use by students at home), but there are quite legitimate factors working against it.
Of course, I may entirely wrong and we will have new labs brimming with glittering new Linux boxen next year. I sure hope so.:)
The above are my own opinions and observations and do not represent the views or policies of my employers.
Any factual and/or logical errors may be blamed on Harry the Drunken Dwarf.
Wow... you just gave words and form to something that's been bothering me for years, but never quite crystalized in my mind. Now that it's stated plainly, it seems so obvioius.
I'd like to add my kudos for this product as well. It's by far the most comfortable mousepad I've ever used. My wrist rests lightly upon the gel at a perfect horizontal inclination and my wrist needs shift *ever* so slighty to move the mouse around. It requires about the same range of range of movement that my trackball requires.
It's cheap, too: $15-19. Much less then a $99 trackball (anything less isn't worth using). I use a wonderful Logitech Mouseman (s/n LZB71151754). Any other mouse bugs me, but it's probably because it just happens to fit my hand and the caselogic mousepad perfectly.
Wow... this was pretty cool. I got 2/3 of the way through this comment and started busting out laughing. To whit:
// begin quote from above "If, however, we imbue all discussions of Communism with a clear and unrelenting focus on the EVIL of Communism, then we achieve true objectivity:" // end quote frmo above
This person is either brilliantly sarcastic or frighteningly confused. Either way, he argues a point very well. (figure out which one yourself)
You are entitled to your opinion, but nothing I have seen in the past 10 years suggests there has been any change in the Chinese government's attitude towards it's citizen's rights. Their attitude toward their economic system is changing, sure... but they are no less totalitarian then a decade ago.
I agree that their adoption of Linux is a good thing overall. You absolutely cannot take passions and politics out of the discussion, though. Many of those who are saying that it has a dark side are talking about the *image* of Open Source.
But who decides when and by whom the goods are "needed"?
The government.
Who decides how and by whom those goods are produced?
The government.
How is this different from "The Goverment tells you what to do and think."?
Please don't feed me the line that "the government will fade away like the morning dew when it is no longer needed". Such a place falls under the true definition of utopia: ou=no + topos=place.
In their press release, Guillement stated that they puchased Hercules for because they had a "first rate brand". They made no mention of their plans for Herc's employees/developers.
Givin that I've heard nothing but the best praise for Herc's technical abilities (e.g. best drivers and fastest boards), I would expect Guillement to keep them. But because they already have developers and are located in Canada, they may decide to let them all go.
That would be a great shame, as Herc would be gone in spirit, if not in name.
I'm just speculating, so please, don't jump to the conclusion that this is nessesarily actually going to happen.:)
In a related note, does anyone know if Guillement will replace their name with Hercules or just release a seperate board under the Herc brand?
One last, final thought: only US$1.5 million? Herc must have been mightily in debt for them to be sold for so little. *I* could probably raise $1.5 million if I needed to...:)
This article was published simply to fill up space. ZDNet has to keep a steady flow of new articles flowing to feed the info-junkies (like myself:>). So they invented an non-existant problem and wrote a quick and topical article about it.
This is nothing new: ZDNet, CNET, and many other media outlets have been doing this for years. Highly "respected" newspapers have been creating filler for decades, only these were called "human interest stories".
Hiring good writers and reporters and giving them the time to write and report something meaningful takes lots of money and time. Far easier to just make up something like this drivel.
I've found that the only writings worthy of my time are books, a few select magazines, scientific journals, and the occasional./ article.:) Sadly, the vast majority of the aricles on the commecial web media sites are simply a waste of time. The cost of publishing these are even less then that of "pulp print" and thus even more disposible
I beleive the idea isn't for Sun to run the "execution" servers, but for the company to buy it and have their IS guys take care of the customizations and stuff. Not unlike current dumb terminal / server setups. Though the $10/mo sounds nice, comitting to a contract for 5 years would give anybody the willies. These things will be paperweights by then.
One thing that is terribly useful about this method is that when you are presented with the install choices, you are able to do some research on the web or dig through your system to better decide which apps to install. "Do I want X-emacs or no...". The same goes for system configuration.
Newbies may find this especially useful, if even to just practice an installation before the "real" one. The little blurbs in the RH install that describe each app are generally good, but it's nowhere near enough info to make an informed decision.
I agree that an ftp - based quickstart would be very cool.:)
The TNT/TNT2 and Voodoo3 don't REALLY use hardware bumpmapping, they use "embossing".
From 3D Gaming website "SharkyExtreme":
"Most other 3D cards (the Voodoo3, TNT2 etc...) use the conventional embossing method to simulate bump mapping- which really isn't all that big of a deal."
" Basically, a TNT2 or Voodoo3 will 'counterfeit' bump mapping because embossing is NOT the real deal..."
PS: Both TomsHardware and AnandTech (as well as many other respectable hardware sites) have said exactly the same thing.
-- Tom Joynt
Re:Mozilla... Is it even worth the download?
on
Mozilla M6 released
·
· Score: 3
I would like to point out that while IE 4 may be pretty, when it crashes (yes, it does crash), it takes out other system resources with it (either explorer.exe or win.exe, can't remember at the moment). And MS says that browser integration is in the best interests of the user!:P -- Tom
I personally think that *ALL* monetary (or otherwise) contributions should be outlawed. All campaign expenditures should come from a small, publically funded pot (no spending your own money either).
This would pretty much destroy the corporate and special interest's hold on our polititions or at least make "bribes" (eg. contributions) illegal.
Sure, I'd pay a wee bit more in taxes (maybe), but it would be totally worth it to give the control of our "representatives" back to the electorate.
Slashdot Mirror
Hmm... I'm wondering why I should give a flying f*** about what MS and IBM think about MySQL. What we are hearing is what Marketroids in competing companies are paid to say. Now that is truly deserving of worldwide attention. I vaguely remember hearing something recently about WAR, Civil Liberties, and Human Rights. But this is truly far more deserving of grey-matter processing time.
;)
Flame away.
I've been thinking about this myself. Aside from the obvious "keep it proprietary so movie studios don't sue us" argument, the reason for segmenting the video may be for performance. AFAIK, one massive mpeg-2 file would likely be rather fragmented. It's also easier to load and seek through smaller files, especially when we're talking about multi-GB mpeg-2 files.
Splitting up the files isn't too much of an issue to me. Capping the audio at 32khz and the video at 640x480 and using a non-standard mpeg-2 format is more bothersome. Even the video streams converted to a "standard" format using Creative's software has been reported to have problems in most mpeg-2 editing software.
I'll still probably get one though. At 1/2 the price of the next cheapest hardware mpeg-2 TV card and 1/3 to 1/6 the price of a dedicated hardware unit, I'm willing to put up with these problems FOR NOW. I'm going to both lobby Creative for better and more open software and also get to work hacking it so it can run on linux and properly on windows. I'll make sure to get it from a store with a generous return policy (like Fry's), just in case.
-- tjoynt
Heh... I've actually seen the Lone Gunmen Pilot already. It was floating around the ABM newsgroup a while back.
:)
It was actually pretty good IMHO. It is a bit lighter and tounge-in-cheek then the X-Files, though it does attain a fair sense of mystery and intrigue. The the lone gunmen characters are flushed out more then in the X-Files and form a good ensamble.
I think that will be the key to the show's success or failure: whether they can operate as a strong ensamble cast, which is very difficult to do on TV. The writers also have a very tricky job ahead of them in balancing the humor and intrigue. I think the pilot was successful in all of these areas. We'll have to wait to see if they can pull it off for an entire season.
This is not to say that the show is perfect. There were some weak spots, including a number of especially improbable and bizzare fudging of technical aspects (mostly computer related, ironically).
My suggestion: Be sure to watch it, but put on your "suspension of disbelief" hat.
-- tjoynt
How difficult is it to implement a man in the middle attack in the real world? Is it script-kiddie level or NSA level? What conditions are necessary to carry it out?
Seperate question: is there any secure term client that uses PGP-style distributed keyservers transparently? Is one worth developing?
::sigh::
.sig:
:)
To quote someone's
"If there was sarcasm on Slashdot, would anyone notice?"
Apparently not.
The poster was irrational, rude, and totally inaccurate; he was also parodying what other people (whom he presumably disagrees with)have stated with total seriousness.
With all due respect, you're arguing with a mirror, my friend.
I know that students aren't really employees, but there are *huge* parallels between being a science student at a major scientific research university.
:)
I personally "work" ~14 hours a *day* M-F: 8am-11pm (an hour in there free somewhere): classes-research-studying. ~15 hours over the weekend, too. 85 hours a week, anyone?
My girlfriend, a grad student (technically an employee), keeps similar hours.
Granted, these hours are at the far end of the spectrum, but I don't imagine most serious science or engineering students put in less then 60 hours a week. (Note: I'm not attempting to slight non-science/eng students; I just have no idea how much time their fields require.)
Part of the reason computer startup employees are willing to put in "insane" (by corporate standards) hours, is that they were used to doing so when in school. Other reasons of course include love of the work, money, accomplishment, etc.
I don't think that those in the "real world" know how good they have it.
-- Tom
VA systems are bullet-proof, eh? Where's my Remington .45... :)
I'm a student at UCSD and consutant for their Academic Computing Services; here are some of my observations/thoughts on the matter, relating specifically to UCSD undergraduate concerns. I'll leave the consideration of other situations to those with the requisite knowledge and experiance. (So don't flame me with "what ifs") :)
:)
We use Linux (Red Hat specifically, I think) for some low-level operating systems classes, but that's about it. We get many of our engineering/cs related computer through grants, so we have labs full of brand-spanking new Sparc Ultra 10s and zippy Intel (NT) machines. Unless VA or Redhat decides to start giving us computers, this may not change much. Even so, there is a large "Linux following" within our dept and the school in general.
Remember also, that (grants aside) the purchasing decisions are generally not based upon the wishes of the students (though they do have an impact), but upon the requests of the professors and departments. Most professors are more familiar with Solaris then Linux, so that is what they teach.
Another consideration is what systems students should have experiance with when they enter the job market. AFAIK, most established cs/engineering companies use either a commercial Unix and it's accompanying development software or Windows NT and Visual C++ for their development workstations. Linux is beginng to make inroads, but is far from entrenched.
As time goes by, Linux will likely become far more widely used for class purposes because it has some very appealling qualities (low cost of software and hardware, available and modify-able source, use by students at home), but there are quite legitimate factors working against it.
Of course, I may entirely wrong and we will have new labs brimming with glittering new Linux boxen next year. I sure hope so.
The above are my own opinions and observations and do not represent the views or policies of my employers.
Any factual and/or logical errors may be blamed on Harry the Drunken Dwarf.
-- Tom Joynt
Wow... you just gave words and form to something that's been bothering me for years, but never quite crystalized in my mind. Now that it's stated plainly, it seems so obvioius.
:)
Thank you.
I'd like to add my kudos for this product as well. It's by far the most comfortable mousepad I've ever used. My wrist rests lightly upon the gel at a perfect horizontal inclination and my wrist needs shift *ever* so slighty to move the mouse around. It requires about the same range of range of movement that my trackball requires.
It's cheap, too: $15-19. Much less then a $99 trackball (anything less isn't worth using). I use a wonderful Logitech Mouseman (s/n LZB71151754). Any other mouse bugs me, but it's probably because it just happens to fit my hand and the caselogic mousepad perfectly.
Just my 0.02 EU. YMMV.
Wow... this was pretty cool. I got 2/3 of the way through this comment and started busting out laughing. To whit:
// begin quote from above
"If, however, we imbue all discussions of Communism with a clear and unrelenting focus on the EVIL of Communism, then we achieve true objectivity:"
// end quote frmo above
This person is either brilliantly sarcastic or frighteningly confused. Either way, he argues a point very well. (figure out which one yourself)
You are entitled to your opinion, but nothing I have seen in the past 10 years suggests there has been any change in the Chinese government's attitude towards it's citizen's rights. Their attitude toward their economic system is changing, sure... but they are no less totalitarian then a decade ago.
I agree that their adoption of Linux is a good thing overall. You absolutely cannot take passions and politics out of the discussion, though. Many of those who are saying that it has a dark side are talking about the *image* of Open Source.
But who decides when and by whom the goods are "needed"?
The government.
Who decides how and by whom those goods are produced?
The government.
How is this different from "The Goverment tells you what to do and think."?
Please don't feed me the line that "the government will fade away like the morning dew when it is no longer needed". Such a place falls under the true definition of utopia: ou=no + topos=place.
In their press release, Guillement stated that they puchased Hercules for because they had a "first rate brand". They made no mention of their plans for Herc's employees/developers.
:)
:)
Givin that I've heard nothing but the best praise for Herc's technical abilities (e.g. best drivers and fastest boards), I would expect Guillement to keep them. But because they already have developers and are located in Canada, they may decide to let them all go.
That would be a great shame, as Herc would be gone in spirit, if not in name.
I'm just speculating, so please, don't jump to the conclusion that this is nessesarily actually going to happen.
In a related note, does anyone know if Guillement will replace their name with Hercules or just release a seperate board under the Herc brand?
One last, final thought: only US$1.5 million? Herc must have been mightily in debt for them to be sold for so little. *I* could probably raise $1.5 million if I needed to...
This article was published simply to fill up space. ZDNet has to keep a steady flow of new articles flowing to feed the info-junkies (like myself :>). So they invented an non-existant problem and wrote a quick and topical article about it.
./ article. :) Sadly, the vast majority of the aricles on the commecial web media sites are simply a waste of time. The cost of publishing these are even less then that of "pulp print" and thus even more disposible
This is nothing new: ZDNet, CNET, and many other media outlets have been doing this for years. Highly "respected" newspapers have been creating filler for decades, only these were called "human interest stories".
Hiring good writers and reporters and giving them the time to write and report something meaningful takes lots of money and time. Far easier to just make up something like this drivel.
I've found that the only writings worthy of my time are books, a few select magazines, scientific journals, and the occasional
I beleive the idea isn't for Sun to run the "execution" servers, but for the company to buy it and have their IS guys take care of the customizations and stuff. Not unlike current dumb terminal / server setups. Though the $10/mo sounds nice, comitting to a contract for 5 years would give anybody the willies. These things will be paperweights by then.
One thing that is terribly useful about this method is that when you are presented with the install choices, you are able to do some research on the web or dig through your system to better decide which apps to install. "Do I want X-emacs or no...". The same goes for system configuration.
:)
Newbies may find this especially useful, if even to just practice an installation before the "real" one. The little blurbs in the RH install that describe each app are generally good, but it's nowhere near enough info to make an informed decision.
I agree that an ftp - based quickstart would be very cool.
The TNT/TNT2 and Voodoo3 don't REALLY use hardware bumpmapping, they use "embossing".
x _g400max/g.shtml" for the context and more information.
From 3D Gaming website "SharkyExtreme":
"Most other 3D cards (the Voodoo3, TNT2 etc...) use the conventional embossing method to simulate bump mapping- which really isn't all that big of a deal."
" Basically, a TNT2 or Voodoo3 will 'counterfeit' bump mapping because embossing is NOT the real deal..."
See " http://w ww.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/reviews/video/matro
PS: Both TomsHardware and AnandTech (as well as many other respectable hardware sites) have said exactly the same thing.
-- Tom Joynt
I would like to point out that while IE 4 may be pretty, when it crashes (yes, it does crash), it takes out other system resources with it (either explorer.exe or win.exe, can't remember at the moment). And MS says that browser integration is in the best interests of the user! :P
-- Tom
Hear, hear!! =)
I personally think that *ALL* monetary (or otherwise) contributions should be outlawed. All campaign expenditures should come from a small, publically funded pot (no spending your own money either).
This would pretty much destroy the corporate and special interest's hold on our polititions or at least make "bribes" (eg. contributions) illegal.
Sure, I'd pay a wee bit more in taxes (maybe), but it would be totally worth it to give the control of our "representatives" back to the electorate.