I'd reason that a lot of people who just play games and surf on their pc will embrace vista. To them it's just the latest and greatest eye candy. But for many who use the PC as a work tool as well, having a GUI that consumes so much of the PC's resources out of the box will be an annoyance, and will likely be avoided like the plague. MS has *never* been able to supply bang without the bloat.. Vista will be no different.
Large companies are only protecting themselves when they reach the point where IT solutions can not be integrated quickly. It's a fundamental dynamic of business and IT I've observed over the years.
A small business can afford to be more dynamic quickly, upgrading software, hardware, adding new procedure technology into the environment because by their very nature they can adapt and change in a hurry to problems and solutions.
By the authors example, in a small company you could easily go to your manager, express the need, get spending approval, and then order and upgrade the RAM. Problem solved. And if for some reason the RAM fracks up the system, causes some problem and has any number of unforeseen delays that we all know can happen, you can move quickly to repair and fix the issue. Repercussions will be limited because of both the small number of people who can possibly rely on that machine or process, and everyone's ability to adapt to and fix any problem.
Conversely in a large company, the risk of such a failure has to be absolutely minimized as much as possible. When thousands of other processes or tens of thousands of users may be dependent on each other, it's much much more then a simple task. Paperwork and layers of bureaucracy, are a cushion to rapid technology decisions. While yes, that can be frustrating to the guy at the bottom who simply sees a need for more RAM, it protects the company by providing a set procedures and documentation that minimizes risk.
In a large company you absolutely have to follow the bureaucracy. You have to keep things working because momentum is so dramatically hard to recoup in a large company. You must provide analysis of the need for upgrade, work within the budget, insure RAM architecture with both a vendor and the documentation for a server, test it completely on a spare, making sure multiple contingency plans for failure are in place. This protects both the individual and the company from problems.
It will cause large businesses to miss opportunities but maintain over-all productivity. But it is also what allows small businesses to grow, and then eventually insure their success.
Joke waiting to happen: So the government admits to being able to track anything larger then a coke can hundreds of miles above the earth in orbit, but we still can't keep track of millions of illegal aliens on the ground?
If I designed a product that allowed me to invade your home without your knowledge, spy on your behavior, and report it back to me - I would be arrested (or hired by NSA/homeland security).
Yet, all these thousands of products do this with absolutely zero accountability. As far as I am concerned, the programmers and companies who promote this behavior should be just as culpable as any petty crook who selfishly holds no regard for their victims.
My hope is that 2006 will be the year a cheap, easily manufactured portable power cell will become popular. Rechargeable.. disposable.. who cares, just make it better then what we've been using for the past 20 years. Limitations in power supply is really starting to be the limitation for all our fancy high tech gadgets. We can put 3000 songs on ipod.. but you can't play them all. We can put the latest movies on a psp or portable dvd player, but they will barely stay on long enough to play some of today's epics. I can't think of any laptop that can last longer then what.. 8-10 hours? Pathetic!
How the hell does an admin go a week, let alone "November to December" without having a single clue as to why police would raid his servers? Why his site was shut down? Fear or apathy?
His statement strikes me as someone who was simply hoping the problem would go away (as quoted) from the onset. More pressure on both the police and a legal defense from the onset could have both quelled the investigation as groundless and gotten the site back up.
It's an unfortunate truth that law enforcement often only succeeds in setting legal precedent in computer investigations only because people aren't more diligent in defending themselves.
Now every time we hear how stupid people are - this should be the new low bar. Move over Darwin awards, here comes "stupid enough to be on British reality TV show" - Everyone, say it out loud!
ps: imagine the kids in the study 10 years later. "Yeah, that was me, but I swear the chimps were coached better."
TV friendly Top-Gun pilot astronauts get congressional funding, not elevator operators and mechanics. Ppl will always want someone holding a stick first when it comes to space travel, not only pushing buttons.
I have to agree with miketo's post - WOW will pass. Paying 15 a month for the past year and half for LineageII has not stopped me at all from buying other games that have come out that interested me, or trying other MMOG's in their beta form. If anything, it makes me a bit more cautious before investing a lot of time in a MMOG if I don't feel it has the long term playability of my current addiction. That is GOOD for games because when I do switch, it will be to a superior product (RFonline?)as opposed to a flash in the pants (matrix).
Re:Looks like they've got their focus...
on
Longhorn Preview
·
· Score: 1
I'll stick with windows 2000, firefox, and a good firewall.
Everything XP and Longhorn has to offer.. I can download and add on, except for pesky corporations telling me what I can and can't DL or burn on my cd/dvd's.
Just one more way MS wants to get inside your head.
Group sigh of "been there" - for everyone.
on
Family Tech Support
·
· Score: 3, Informative
Great read, the pains of pushing parents into the computer age has been one of my continuing traumas ever since I was old enough to dial a 2400 baud modem. Building and maintaining my own machine was always fine, but working on theirs always involved some sort of voodoo and stab in the dark diagnosis. I swear to god "disk image" technology was not created for replication of server setup and backup of critical business applications, but by some guy tired of fixing his parents computer.
I got smart about 4 years ago, after building and repairing (and being responsible for) about a half a dozen various models of pc for them.
I bought them a 800 number.
We all know a compaq and a dell and a gateway and a sony are all the same pentium chip, variations on a theme behind a mitsui cd-rom, sygate/quantum HD, etc etc etc. It's the tech support and the flashy brand name plastic case you buy. So buying one of these machines for a vastly overpriced sum is merely the cost of peace of mind when stamping in HUGE print on the top of the monitor a 800 support number for -anything- that they have questions about, and save those boxes kids, send it back to wherever if there's a problem for free.
Of course it doesn't reduce the flow of calls completely, (do I need to leave the cd in to play music once it's started?) but it cuts down on them significantly enough to make that 800 number worth any price.
Check out their prices for keyboards on the site too. 795.00$ USD for an aluminum keyboard? Where do the mechanical arm and the hand lotion pop out from?
Popup cop 2.01 on ie6 gets their nasty "come back when you've uninstalled" message. Sorry twits, request denied.
If you're paying for your site with adds, then run a banner in the page with your copy. Most people don't find them anywhere near as intrusive/annoying to the degree that popping up new browser windows does.
I actually managed to watch 20 min of HP at 300k, but then it timed out. This AM they've switched from potter to "cimeron" lol.. 1930's bw western. mmmmm perhaps some hostile emails? or stupidly thinking bw is going to reduce bandwidth. 300k is 300k. color or bw.
Last friday I switched in motorola V60 cell phone and stored away my IPAQ in the hopes that the new Adiovox Thera would combine the two. In terms of product, it did fine. The interface, gui, and features are fantasic, no complaints, and the web service rocks.
However, the physical components, are CRAP. Within 2 days, even with a leather carry case, the screen had become blurred with lint or dust of some kind (?) - I work in a sterile server room, not a construction site. Additionally, literally every bit of paint on the buttons had rubbed off, rendering them useless except by memorization. I was able to rub off the logo above the screen merely by wiping my thumb firmly on it.. The flash card is very sticky to add and remove, and the directional fob is very sticky as well.
I returned it for my vader phone again, and will carry around the IPAQ a little longer. Good idea audiovox.. good features.. bad hardware and cheap asthetics.
I too do a great deal of telecommuting, or as I say, "bathrobe office work," and have a DSL through VZ/Earthlink. They offer business plans for home users that are simply upgraded service packages (IP's, less throttling at the dlsam, etc) but no where was I able to get any type of service level agreement from them, short of having VZ actually run fiber into my home.
However, if residence was zoned as commercial, (duh) Comcast/Excite WILL provide a DSL SLA... but not if it's a home office.
WTF!?
I wonder if they think the presence of cats rather then a bumbling night guard past their Dmark is more of a service risk to their pocketbooks.
A DSL reports user responded with the following (mirrored) URL
http://deekoo.net/peeves/spam/spammers/premiere/ Th eStory.htm
It's essentially an amazing document examination of a spamming company from the viewpoint of a disgruntled network intrusion expert who's domain was abused.
Apologies if this has already been mentioned in the aftermath of this/. article, but I've spent the past 3 hours of my life pooring over the material, and even verified some of it. The idiots have yet to change the pw's listed on some of the documents!
Slashdot Mirror
I'd reason that a lot of people who just play games and surf on their pc will embrace vista. To them it's just the latest and greatest eye candy. But for many who use the PC as a work tool as well, having a GUI that consumes so much of the PC's resources out of the box will be an annoyance, and will likely be avoided like the plague. MS has *never* been able to supply bang without the bloat.. Vista will be no different.
Large companies are only protecting themselves when they reach the point where IT solutions can not be integrated quickly. It's a fundamental dynamic of business and IT I've observed over the years.
A small business can afford to be more dynamic quickly, upgrading software, hardware, adding new procedure technology into the environment because by their very nature they can adapt and change in a hurry to problems and solutions.
By the authors example, in a small company you could easily go to your manager, express the need, get spending approval, and then order and upgrade the RAM. Problem solved. And if for some reason the RAM fracks up the system, causes some problem and has any number of unforeseen delays that we all know can happen, you can move quickly to repair and fix the issue. Repercussions will be limited because of both the small number of people who can possibly rely on that machine or process, and everyone's ability to adapt to and fix any problem.
Conversely in a large company, the risk of such a failure has to be absolutely minimized as much as possible. When thousands of other processes or tens of thousands of users may be dependent on each other, it's much much more then a simple task. Paperwork and layers of bureaucracy, are a cushion to rapid technology decisions. While yes, that can be frustrating to the guy at the bottom who simply sees a need for more RAM, it protects the company by providing a set procedures and documentation that minimizes risk.
In a large company you absolutely have to follow the bureaucracy. You have to keep things working because momentum is so dramatically hard to recoup in a large company. You must provide analysis of the need for upgrade, work within the budget, insure RAM architecture with both a vendor and the documentation for a server, test it completely on a spare, making sure multiple contingency plans for failure are in place. This protects both the individual and the company from problems.
It will cause large businesses to miss opportunities but maintain over-all productivity. But it is also what allows small businesses to grow, and then eventually insure their success.
Joke waiting to happen: So the government admits to being able to track anything larger then a coke can hundreds of miles above the earth in orbit, but we still can't keep track of millions of illegal aliens on the ground?
*rim-shot*
If I designed a product that allowed me to invade your home without your knowledge, spy on your behavior, and report it back to me - I would be arrested (or hired by NSA/homeland security).
Yet, all these thousands of products do this with absolutely zero accountability. As far as I am concerned, the programmers and companies who promote this behavior should be just as culpable as any petty crook who selfishly holds no regard for their victims.
My hope is that 2006 will be the year a cheap, easily manufactured portable power cell will become popular. Rechargeable.. disposable.. who cares, just make it better then what we've been using for the past 20 years. Limitations in power supply is really starting to be the limitation for all our fancy high tech gadgets. We can put 3000 songs on ipod.. but you can't play them all. We can put the latest movies on a psp or portable dvd player, but they will barely stay on long enough to play some of today's epics. I can't think of any laptop that can last longer then what.. 8-10 hours? Pathetic!
How the hell does an admin go a week, let alone "November to December" without having a single clue as to why police would raid his servers? Why his site was shut down? Fear or apathy?
His statement strikes me as someone who was simply hoping the problem would go away (as quoted) from the onset. More pressure on both the police and a legal defense from the onset could have both quelled the investigation as groundless and gotten the site back up.
It's an unfortunate truth that law enforcement often only succeeds in setting legal precedent in computer investigations only because people aren't more diligent in defending themselves.
Now every time we hear how stupid people are - this should be the new low bar. Move over Darwin awards, here comes "stupid enough to be on British reality TV show" - Everyone, say it out loud!
ps: imagine the kids in the study 10 years later. "Yeah, that was me, but I swear the chimps were coached better."
oh, so all that spam in my email box has never once come from people who "didn't give my email to anyone" lol.
Please..
"click to sell your phone number to an advertizing war dial list" probably is too long for googles banner adds.
TV friendly Top-Gun pilot astronauts get congressional funding, not elevator operators and mechanics. Ppl will always want someone holding a stick first when it comes to space travel, not only pushing buttons.
This could be his big break. Now if only they could invent women who look like 7 year old boys he could restart his career and be normal.
I have to agree with miketo's post - WOW will pass. Paying 15 a month for the past year and half for LineageII has not stopped me at all from buying other games that have come out that interested me, or trying other MMOG's in their beta form. If anything, it makes me a bit more cautious before investing a lot of time in a MMOG if I don't feel it has the long term playability of my current addiction. That is GOOD for games because when I do switch, it will be to a superior product (RFonline?)as opposed to a flash in the pants (matrix).
I'll stick with windows 2000, firefox, and a good firewall.
Everything XP and Longhorn has to offer.. I can download and add on, except for pesky corporations telling me what I can and can't DL or burn on my cd/dvd's.
Just one more way MS wants to get inside your head.
Great read, the pains of pushing parents into the computer age has been one of my continuing traumas ever since I was old enough to dial a 2400 baud modem. Building and maintaining my own machine was always fine, but working on theirs always involved some sort of voodoo and stab in the dark diagnosis. I swear to god "disk image" technology was not created for replication of server setup and backup of critical business applications, but by some guy tired of fixing his parents computer.
I got smart about 4 years ago, after building and repairing (and being responsible for) about a half a dozen various models of pc for them.
I bought them a 800 number.
We all know a compaq and a dell and a gateway and a sony are all the same pentium chip, variations on a theme behind a mitsui cd-rom, sygate/quantum HD, etc etc etc. It's the tech support and the flashy brand name plastic case you buy. So buying one of these machines for a vastly overpriced sum is merely the cost of peace of mind when stamping in HUGE print on the top of the monitor a 800 support number for -anything- that they have questions about, and save those boxes kids, send it back to wherever if there's a problem for free.
Of course it doesn't reduce the flow of calls completely, (do I need to leave the cd in to play music once it's started?) but it cuts down on them significantly enough to make that 800 number worth any price.
Wanna know how to bring a 8 processor 40 GBram server to it's knees in 2 seconds? Shove in a floppy and hit FORMAT.
Cd's are now cheaper then floppies in some cases. Someone just needs to make a better rewritable format that will still read in every old cdrom too.
I'm running win2k on alien hardware right now.
http://www.alienware.com
Still waiting for the mothership though.
Check out their prices for keyboards on the site too. 795.00$ USD for an aluminum keyboard? Where do the mechanical arm and the hand lotion pop out from?
Popup cop 2.01 on ie6 gets their nasty "come back when you've uninstalled" message. Sorry twits, request denied.
If you're paying for your site with adds, then run a banner in the page with your copy. Most people don't find them anywhere near as intrusive/annoying to the degree that popping up new browser windows does.
michael
Balance over all use vs. ediquette and the US wins by a landslide. Jamming technology is being invented there for the very same reason.
This spam king should be in the middle, surrounded by red fireworks.
I actually managed to watch 20 min of HP at 300k, but then it timed out. This AM they've switched from potter to "cimeron" lol.. 1930's bw western. mmmmm perhaps some hostile emails? or stupidly thinking bw is going to reduce bandwidth. 300k is 300k. color or bw.
Last friday I switched in motorola V60 cell phone and stored away my IPAQ in the hopes that the new Adiovox Thera would combine the two. In terms of product, it did fine. The interface, gui, and features are fantasic, no complaints, and the web service rocks.
However, the physical components, are CRAP. Within 2 days, even with a leather carry case, the screen had become blurred with lint or dust of some kind (?) - I work in a sterile server room, not a construction site. Additionally, literally every bit of paint on the buttons had rubbed off, rendering them useless except by memorization. I was able to rub off the logo above the screen merely by wiping my thumb firmly on it.. The flash card is very sticky to add and remove, and the directional fob is very sticky as well.
I returned it for my vader phone again, and will carry around the IPAQ a little longer. Good idea audiovox.. good features.. bad hardware and cheap asthetics.
I was building a "Grand theft auto 3" simulator, your honor. Honest.
I too do a great deal of telecommuting, or as I say, "bathrobe office work," and have a DSL through VZ/Earthlink. They offer business plans for home users that are simply upgraded service packages (IP's, less throttling at the dlsam, etc) but no where was I able to get any type of service level agreement from them, short of having VZ actually run fiber into my home.
However, if residence was zoned as commercial, (duh) Comcast/Excite WILL provide a DSL SLA... but not if it's a home office.
WTF!?
I wonder if they think the presence of cats rather then a bumbling night guard past their Dmark is more of a service risk to their pocketbooks.
A DSL reports user responded with the following (mirrored) URL/ Th eStory.htm
/. article, but I've spent the past 3 hours of my life pooring over the material, and even verified some of it. The idiots have yet to change the pw's listed on some of the documents!
http://deekoo.net/peeves/spam/spammers/premiere
It's essentially an amazing document examination of a spamming company from the viewpoint of a disgruntled network intrusion expert who's domain was abused.
Apologies if this has already been mentioned in the aftermath of this