This is the most amazing technology I've ever heard of. Maybe in 5 or 10 years, the whole "Lego" technology would be developed so well that it will begin to apply to a lot of computer hardware in general, so that when you wish to construct a network, you'll pick out a bunch of "blocks", put them together much like toys, and power them up. Want a web server? Simply add this "brick" to your system. The bricks don't necessarily have to look like toys, but the idea is about the same: miniture little devices that perform one operation and perform it well, which can be combined in any numbers and any combination to produce some effect. The processing for any given task might automatically distribute itself across all the processors in the system that perform that operation.
I applaud SGI for finally releasing a new high end graphics workstation.
Other readers claim that this machine is "too slow" compared to current technical capabilities. This may be due to the fact that in the 80's, SGI machines were much faster than commodity systems, percentagewise, than they are now. I believe, however, that this SGI machine is just right for science, government, and media, just as SGI claim. My belief is that such organizations have a complete computing environment, so to speak, in the form of a network. Although the enthusiast, such as many Slashdot readers, likes to install fancy shmancy computers on a network for the "power trip", I believe that in a serious workplace environment, every machine on a network has a defined purpose. This SGI workstation fits perfectly in such an environment, where most tasks take place on back-end server machines, leaving the workstation free to process the user's application and display high quality graphics. Besides that, don't forget that SGI's systems offer services and reliability not found on your typical Dell running Windows. Speed isn't the only reason for buying an SGI machine.
I applaud ElcomSoft for filing for dismissal of the E-Book case.
Seeing how they are a Russian company, and they did not violate Russian law, I believe that this entire case is a moot point anyway. Furthermore, I believe that Adobe made a very bad decision, and they should pay for it, by providing full legal defence for ElcomSoft, and for lobbying heavily to have the DMCA recalled.
Until Adobe shifts their entire focus to recalling the DMCA, I won't purchase any of their products.
Scientists should not share information. in fact, i believe that all publically funded research should be paid for publically (duh) but the scientist or whatever would retain all rights to it, AND, for added convenience, the public would then pay the scientist's patent fees, AND the public would ALSO pay for an elaborate marketing campaign, for the scientist's exclusive benefit. For fairness, patents resulting from publically funded research NEVER expire, and if licensed, the licensing fees MUST be ridiculously high. Finally, all scientists who profit from their publically funded research would be exempt from paying taxes on all income that results from the research. At that point, we'd have a concise, simple, effective, and most of all, FAIR law regarding publically funded research.
And I forgot to mention one thing: The public would also pay a "beer fee" to cover the cost of beer consumed by the scientists and their partners/employees/whatever during the research.
I believe that all the governments of the entire world shall rule that region coding, encryption, and the other "digital rights denial" technologies in DVDs are illegal, and rule that not only must they be banned, but that consumers should be encouraged to make copies of DVDs and distribute them. There would be a massive, multitrillion dollar marketing campaign to get people to copy and distribute DVDs. In fact, every DVD you buy should cost one cent, and it should come with 1000 blank recordable DVDs. DVD players would come equipped with a DVD copier which would simultaeously make 10 exact digital duplicates of a DVD in one minute. Each copy made by a consumer would allow him to claim a $1,000 tax deduction. And if you make 10,000 or more total copies of DVDs in a year, you automatically don't pay taxes, and get all your taxes refunded for the past 10 years, or 100,000 dollars, whichever is greater. To cover for this, the entertainment industry would repay the government all that money, with interest, penalties, and interest on the penalties. Finally, these laws would apply to music as well.
I applaud and commend you fine folks at Symantec for allowing the free download of DesqView/X. When this software was new, it was far ahead of its time. I believe it contains technology that much new software would do well to have. In that light, I'm asking you to consider releasing the source code to DesqView/X, so that software such as Linux might benefit from its innovative features.
Hi there. I read your comment late last night, after going out, coming back, and having too much beer. (Negra Modelo, because Guiness sucks.) Your comment was extremely funny when I was drunk, especially the part about Intel's d00dz being unmatchably staid and steadfast compiler writers. "A staid, steadfast man, whose life was a telling pantomime of something or other, not a tame chapter of sounds" or something like that, is the quote from Moby Dick. It's chapter 27, if I remember correctly. Maybe later I'll dig through my books and look it up, just to be sure. Oh well.
Oh yeah... thanks for reading my comment in its entirety.
From memory:
"You!"
"Marty is that you?"
"Hey, hey doc, where are you?"
"Working."
"Where's Einstein, is he with you?"
"Yeah, he's right here."
"What's going on, where've you been all week?"
"Never mind you Marty, can you meet me at Twin Pines Mall tonight at 1:15? I've made a major breakthrough and I'll need your assistance."
"Wait a minute, 1:15 in the morning?"
"Precisely."
"You know doc, you left your equipment on all week."
"Never mind you Marty; you better not hook up to the amplifier, there's a slight possibility of overload."
"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind."
[clocks go off]
"Are those my clocks I hear?"
"Yeah, it's, uh, eight o'clock."
"Perfect! My experiment worked! They're all exactly 25 minutes slow!"
"What a minute, wait a minute Doc, are you telling me that it's 8:25?"
I'm almost sick of hearing about all the "spyware", "policeware" and other [insert bad connotation here]-wares making their ways into consumer products. This can only lead to one thing, in my view, and that's eventually having all of our own belongings spy on us and rat us out. Why?
I strongly believe that the stronger "they" push for more control over our lives, the worst things will get in terms of "their" profits or whatever, because people will want to work around. It's like the parent telling their kid what not to do, so the kid does it just to be a rebel.
Perhaps Intel's C/C++ compiler produces faster code because, uh, Intel knows exactly how their processor works inside and out? I'm sure that their guides to optimization and whatnot are nothing nearly as effective as having the actual engineers around to answer your questions about what's faster under what circumstances.
Who knows, maybe the folks who wrote the compiler had the fsckingschematics to the flipping processor?!??!?!?!
On the other hand, perhaps it's some sort of a coincidence that Intel's compiler happens to produce 47% faster code. For a real analysis, they should have tested against Borland's compiler, andWATCOM's compiler. I happen to have been using WATCOM for a number of years now, and I can tell you that, being a staid and steadfast compiler (likening it to Melville's fine description of Starbuck, in the first "Knights and Squires" chapter in Moby Dick), it produces DAMN good code. I cannot compare it to the compiler Intel has authored, because I have never used their compiler.
Astute readers may notice the author's prominent omission of Microsoft's compiler. The reasoning behind said omission centers around the fact that Microsoft is a giant squid, and therefore, their products will sell just fine whether they work correctly, efficiently, both, or neither. Oh well.
In any case, I believe that whether or not Intel's compiler is the best out there, they should release the entire product under some sort of open source license that allows its inclusion in GPL'd code, such as, hmmm... GCC perhaps. Please allow me to explain my reasoning behind this idea. Intel is in the business of making microprocessors. I believe that if they give the world access to the source code (and technical documentation) to one hell of a darn good compiler, and allow others to modify or copy it, will encourage people to make more and faster software for Intel platforms. Imagine if there is an "experimental" new branch of GCC, where the entire system has been completely overhauled on an algorithm basis. Perhaps the compiler can be made to execute more quickly, while still producing better code for whatever platforms... There are endless possibilities in the world of compilers, and I think that a truly good compiler could be produced with the help of engineers from the world's top microprocessor companies, which means not just Intel, but their competitors as well. I say this because I surmise that if Intel took this move, other processor vendors would find themselves in a position where they need to do the same or better for their clients, or some such bullshoot like that. Well, as the saying goes, "Oh well." Because I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, because I'm tired, because I've been working all freakin' day long, and that's tiring, and sh*t.
Oh yeah, and I almost forgot to mention something that I consider pretty interesting. SLASHDOT'S LAMENESS FILTER IS A PEACE OF SHIT. I MEAN, YOU CAN'T EVEN INCLUDE A CODE SNIPPET IN YOUR COMMENT, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. LIKE SOMEONE'S SIG SAYS, A LAMENESS FILTER ON SLASHDOT IS LIKE A SHIT FILTER ON YOUR ASS. It's anything but staid and steadfast! GET RID OF THAT DAMN THING!!! If you don't get rid of that stupid lameness filter thing, leave it in, but ALLOW THE USER TO POST THEIR COMMENT, but put an option in your preferences and stuff to GLOBALLY HIDE "LAME" comments, just like the OPTION to HIDE ANONYMOUS COWARDS' COMMENTS, d00dz. That way, the user can decide whether to look at that '1337 stuff or n0t. BUT DON'T MAKE THIS SYSTEM SO STUPID!
Now, finally, I'll put in my closing "OH WELL", and be on my way:
"As you can see, we've had our eye on you for some time now Mr. Anderson. It seems that you've been living two lives. In one, you're Thomas A. Anderson, program writer for a respectible software company. You have a social security number, you pay your taxes, and you help your landlady carry out her garbage. The other life is lived in computers, where you go by the hacker alias Neo and are guilty of virtually every computer crime we have a law for. One of these lives has a future, and one of them does not. Now, I'm going to be as forthcoming with you as I can, Mr. Anderson. You're here because we need your help. We know that you've been contacted by a certain individual, a man who calls himself Morpheus. Whatever you think you know about this man is irrelevant; he is considered by some authorities to be the most dangerous man alive. My partners think I'm wasting my time with you, but I think you wish to do the right thing. We're willing to wipe the slate clean; give you a fresh start; all we're asking is your cooperation in bringing a known terrorist to justice."
"That sounds like a really good deal, but I think I got a better one. How 'bout I give you the finger, and you give me my phone call."
"Hmmm... Mr. Anderson. You disappoint me."
"You can't scare me with this gestapo crap. I know my rights. I want my phone call."
"Tell me, Mr. Anderson, what good is a phone call, if you're unable to speak?"
Now, seriously, this is the end of my comment. Finis.
I applaud Borland for choosing to put more of their fine products on Linux. I have personally used Borland's products since version 3 of their Pascal compiler, which was a pretty long time ago. In conjunction with TurboPower's libraries, which were distributed with complete source code and no royalties, Borland's compilers, both for Pascal and C/C++, were always truly amazing products.
Now, with the increasing popularity and acceptance of Linux, I believe that Borland's products have found a new home, better than on DOS and Windows. I strongly believe that if Borland continues to implement their fine software on Linux, some great applications, brand-name commercial as well as free, will show up on Linux, making it a strong and competitive alternative to the Windows family of operating systems.
Perhaps someday, a couple of years down the road, Microsoft will begin implementing their software, such as a Microsoft Office for Linux package, just as some years ago, IBM sold native Windows versions of their OS/2 applications. Hopefully, this move by Borland will bring that a bit closer to reality.
I'm running FreeBSD 6.8-RELEASE, and it's the greatest piece of software ever made. As an operating system, it's a lean, mean serving machine. For example, my 386 SX with 4 megs of RAM typically serves about 10,000 FTP users simultaneously. And X Window System, running KDE and GNOME simultaneously, along with about a thousand highly intensive applications, continue to run and function with perfect responsiveness. In fact, I could probably run twice the load, and it would make everything execute even faster.
"This is because I'm from the future. I came here in a time machine that you invented. Now I need your help to get back to the year 1985."
"Hmmm... Mr. Anderson. You disappoint me."
"You can't scare me with this gestapo crap. I know my rights, I want my fluxcapacitor back."
"Well, tell me, Mr. Anderson, what good is a fluxcapacitor, if you're, unable, to flux?"
***** OK! OK! JUST KIDDING! *****
The release of FreeBSD 4.5 is just around the corner. The good folks in core are doing a marvelous job, and I am confident that this release will be the best yet, and that as always, the next one following this will be even better.
As it is, amazing improvements have been made to the system since 4.4-RELEASE. I know because that's what my production servers are running right now, but for my desktop, I like to use -STABLE, which is pretty darn good.
This interview is simply amazing. After reading it, I strongly believe that Robert Bork is very knowledgeable in his field of work, and at the same time, he understands technology--and the business of technology--quite well, making him the ideal person to bridge the gaps, so to speak, between corporate executives, legal departments, and the technical community.
I applaud Robert Bork for having the interview with LinuxPlanet, and for making such a good impression in the technical community.
Oh man! I'm gonna have to be the first one in my town to see that in the theater! I think this is the greatest movie ever made! Hey, I've only seen it about 10 times, but it couldn't hurt to see it again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again.
Actually, I'm just kidding. I think this movie is really poorly made. The director must have been sleeping when they filmed this. Seriously, the dialog seemed "fake", the sound effects were horrible... In short, this movie is a waste of time, and I strongly suggest against going to the theater, and spending a bunch of money on
tickets,
popcorn,
nachos,
drinks,
candy,
and whatever else you normally spend all your money on in the movie theater,
because that would be a big waste of money if this is the movie you choose to go to the theater in order to see it. When it comes down to it, I think there was only one movie ever made in the entire world that is worthy of being displayed on the big screen, and that movie was How the West was Won. It was the most incredible movie ever made. Escaflowne & Metropolis remind me of How the West was Won every time I see them.
Please allow me to share with you a story about a good friend of mine. He is a doctor, and doctors need to keep patient records.
Since there wasn't enough room to keep "historical" patient records in his clinic, he brought them home one box at a time and stored them in the attic. When the ceiling began to sag, and he feared that the house would cave in, he built a barn out side, and had the documents moved there. When the barn filled up, he built a second one, then a third one, until all three were full. At that point, he got an "annex" downtown, until that filled up with patient records.
At that point, he contacted the state government, to ask them how long he really needs to keep those patient records. Their answer, in his words, was, "When you die, your heirs better be able to produce those patient records."
And that, my friend, is what "to the pain" means. It means I leave you in pain, wallowing in freakish misery forever.
By the way, I would like to add that this is a true story.
I hate to be the one to break this to you, but this is a hoax.
Here's the proof: I haven't personally seen it. That means it doesn't exist. It is a fact of the universe. You know why? Because the entire universe revolves around me. Hey, that's the proof. It's a hoax..O.H..W.E.L.L.
This is not a hoax. I happen to have seen the device working, and I can tell you that it does create energy out of nowhere, something we've been taught that we cannot do. Just like turning lead into gold, which is also very much possible.
Actually, not only have I seen the device, but I once met one of the inventors. As a matter of fact, I know one of the inventors personally. To be perfectly honest, I am actually the lead inventor of this system. I'm going to market it and make a fortune that will make Bill Gates look like a beggar on the streets! I will use this device to create warp drive, and the conquest of the universe will begin!
I believe that a service should be created to benefit users of Windows and Mac OS. Every click should be paid for by users, including clicks on advertisements. Windows and Mac OS, being the only two operating systems in existance, would count the number of clicks a user makes with the mouse, for any reason, and send this value directly to Yahoo. At the end of each month, users will receive a bill totalling $1.00 for each click, $5.00 access fee, and a $25.00 monthly service charge, for the priveledge of paying to click.
This would be beneficial to users because:
It would encourage use of the keyboard, so that mice might someday be abolished.
It would encourage use of operating systems, rather than Windows or Mac OS.
Amazon is the best ePortal in the world! I think that Amazon should buy every corporation in the world, and patent every tiny detail of every operation that takes place in the resulting massive huge enormous multinational corporation. For example, "Method and Apparatus Attaching Manually Recorded Hardcopy," meaning, a patent on paperclipping some handwritten notes together, or, "Method and Apparatus for Disposing of Manually Generated Hardcopy of Temporary Use," meaning, a patent on tossing a piece of paper in the trash.
Then, once all these actions take place, every person will pay an Amazon Tax on every transaction they make. Amazon will then buy all the governments of the world, enslave the human people, put a computer in command of those people, patent that, charge ridiculous license fees for it, put all the people of the world into chambers in a power plant and use them as batteries, and next thing you know, we have The Matrix.
Personally, I believe that AOL's service sucks. Furthermore, I disagree with the whole AOL/TW thing. In my opinion, content providers and connection providers should be separate entities.
But let's ignore those comments for a moment. I feel I must applaud AOL for filing an Antitrust suit against Microsoft.
Further, although I dislike AOL, I believe it would be beneficial to the consumer if AOL makes strategic alliances with every company that competes with Microsoft. This means they wouldn't buy those companies, but the group of companies can, together, provide quality, lower-priced products and services and crush Microsoft.
Consider the recent rumors of AOL buying Red Hat. If, instead of buying, AOL made a strategic alliance with Red Hat, began providing a native Linux AOL client, and mass-mailed CDs containing a Linux distro with the client, this would give millions of AOL users a choice in operating systems, increase the amount of Linux installations out there, and decrease Microsoft's market share.
Suppose AOL and Linux distributors got together and made such alliances with other companies that produce brand-name commercial software that competes with Microsoft's products. Thousands of titles and hundreds of companies are in this position. And suppose that this large alliance now makes deals with computer manufacturers. If only one large manufacturer, like Dell or Compaq, sold PCs with preinstalled Linux and bundled brand-name software, it would heavily reduce Microsoft's market share and bring the entire software community one step closer to winning the fight against the giant squid.
But it'll probably never happen. And besides, RMS would probably commit suicide, so it's probably best, for his sake, that this never happens.xxxxxOxxxxxHxxxxxxxxxxWxxxxxExxxxxLxxxxxLxxxxx
This particular conflict concerning the fine OpenBSD operating system is not as simple as it seems at first glance. As a matter of fact, I believe this is a huge conspiracy by Darren Reed and his organization to eventually distribute an operating system nearly identical to OpenBSD, but with one slight modification: Darren Reed's version will include IPFilter.
A little more investigation on your part will reveal that this is more or less what's actually going on, rather than what we're being told.
The other day, I saw an auction on eBay for an SGI Octane. The price was over 100,000 bucks. Looking at the pictures, I could tell why: It included a rack with a bunch of really fancy stuff on it, and an SGI Octane. That is why I consider sexy.
Actually, here is what I really want. I want to have several of every brand of computer, running all the operating systems available for each brand. That way, I'll be able to access software and information for any of them. It'll cost a ton of money, and that's money I don't have, but hey, who said you can't imagine stuff?!
Technology nowadays makes many things possible that weren't possible even a year ago. Although I hate Microsoft in no uncertain terms, I believe the best thing for them is to continue the Xbox development and release an Xbox II or something like that. It would include everything a complete home theater system would include, in one small box, except for the television set. Furthermore, Xbox II's will have wireless networking built-in, so that you could put a bunch of Xbox II's and they'd be connected automatically, allowing you, for example, to stream some Internet "radio" station once, but listen to it in two separate rooms. (I often want to do that with my computers, but I couldn't figure out how yet.)
Secondly, Microsoft should make deals with telecommunications companies to make broadband a reality once again. This would give consumers an additional reason to get a bunch of Xboxes. With televisions and computer monitors rapidly converging into a single display, you'll be able to use an Xbox as a home theater component or a computer.
Now, all you Linux Internet Appliance folks better get cracking and implement a slick, easy-to-use, quiet, and efficient box that does the same thing, cheaper and better.
Actually, I'm not done yet. I just wanted to say that we're moving towards a moneyless, paperless society. One day, and it might not be so far off in the distant future, there will be no money, and all documents will be electronic and signed with digital signatures. All your personal information will be stored on a so-called "chip card." This will be a sort of global identification card, which will simultaneously serve as:
Identification:
Birth certificate.
Driver license, including complete driving record.
Whatever other licenses you might have.
Retinal scan, fingerprints, DNA, voice identification, and whatever other methods are invented.
Money: (at this point, money will simply be credit)
Debit and credit card for all checking, savings and credit accounts that you have.
Record of every transaction you make, for tax purposes. (This will be so convenient because you won't have to balance your accounts anymore. It'll be done automatically. Of course, taxes will automatically be deducted from every transaction, so you don't have to worry about that anymore, either.)
School:
Transcripts for every educational institution you attend.
Instructor comments.
In fact, every individual grade (for each assignment and test) will be recorded.
Attendance record.
Medical:
Entire medical history.
Prescriptions.
Allergies.
Complete insurance information.
Convictions. Need I say more?
Global Positioning System:
Never get lost again, even if you want to. And of course, everywhere you go, you'll need your card, so you can't just leave it behind.
This will be so convenient because if you lose your card, it'll be found very quickly.
With tiny storage medium such as microdrives reaching capacities of a gigabyte or more, such a card is not far off. It could even come from the government already in a nice waterproof protective wallet. After a few years go by, they'll start implanting this technology in peoples' bodies, and sell you on the added conveniences, such as monitoring of your life functions, the impossibility of getting kidnapped, huge reduction in crimes, etc. That way, Big Brother can really be in control of your life.
Slashdot Mirror
Oh well.
Other readers claim that this machine is "too slow" compared to current technical capabilities. This may be due to the fact that in the 80's, SGI machines were much faster than commodity systems, percentagewise, than they are now. I believe, however, that this SGI machine is just right for science, government, and media, just as SGI claim. My belief is that such organizations have a complete computing environment, so to speak, in the form of a network. Although the enthusiast, such as many Slashdot readers, likes to install fancy shmancy computers on a network for the "power trip", I believe that in a serious workplace environment, every machine on a network has a defined purpose. This SGI workstation fits perfectly in such an environment, where most tasks take place on back-end server machines, leaving the workstation free to process the user's application and display high quality graphics. Besides that, don't forget that SGI's systems offer services and reliability not found on your typical Dell running Windows. Speed isn't the only reason for buying an SGI machine.
Well; that's a deep subject.
I applaud ElcomSoft for filing for dismissal of the E-Book case.
Seeing how they are a Russian company, and they did not violate Russian law, I believe that this entire case is a moot point anyway. Furthermore, I believe that Adobe made a very bad decision, and they should pay for it, by providing full legal defence for ElcomSoft, and for lobbying heavily to have the DMCA recalled.
Until Adobe shifts their entire focus to recalling the DMCA, I won't purchase any of their products.
And I forgot to mention one thing: The public would also pay a "beer fee" to cover the cost of beer consumed by the scientists and their partners/employees/whatever during the research.
I believe that all the governments of the entire world shall rule that region coding, encryption, and the other "digital rights denial" technologies in DVDs are illegal, and rule that not only must they be banned, but that consumers should be encouraged to make copies of DVDs and distribute them. There would be a massive, multitrillion dollar marketing campaign to get people to copy and distribute DVDs. In fact, every DVD you buy should cost one cent, and it should come with 1000 blank recordable DVDs. DVD players would come equipped with a DVD copier which would simultaeously make 10 exact digital duplicates of a DVD in one minute. Each copy made by a consumer would allow him to claim a $1,000 tax deduction. And if you make 10,000 or more total copies of DVDs in a year, you automatically don't pay taxes, and get all your taxes refunded for the past 10 years, or 100,000 dollars, whichever is greater. To cover for this, the entertainment industry would repay the government all that money, with interest, penalties, and interest on the penalties. Finally, these laws would apply to music as well.
Here is my petition to Symantec.
xxxxxxxxxx O xxxxxxxxxx H xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx W xxxxxxxxxx E xxxxxxxxxx L xxxxxxxxxx L xxxxxxxxxx.
I applaud and commend you fine folks at Symantec for allowing the free download of DesqView/X. When this software was new, it was far ahead of its time. I believe it contains technology that much new software would do well to have. In that light, I'm asking you to consider releasing the source code to DesqView/X, so that software such as Linux might benefit from its innovative features.
xxxxxxxxxx O xxxxxxxxxx H xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx W xxxxxxxxxx E xxxxxxxxxx L xxxxxxxxxx L xxxxxxxxxx.
It probably won't happen though.
xxxxxxxxxx O xxxxxxxxxx H xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx W xxxxxxxxxx E xxxxxxxxxx L xxxxxxxxxx L xxxxxxxxxx.
Oh yeah... thanks for reading my comment in its entirety.
From memory:
"You!"
"Marty is that you?"
"Hey, hey doc, where are you?"
"Working."
"Where's Einstein, is he with you?"
"Yeah, he's right here."
"What's going on, where've you been all week?"
"Never mind you Marty, can you meet me at Twin Pines Mall tonight at 1:15? I've made a major breakthrough and I'll need your assistance."
"Wait a minute, 1:15 in the morning?"
"Precisely."
"You know doc, you left your equipment on all week."
"Never mind you Marty; you better not hook up to the amplifier, there's a slight possibility of overload."
"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind."
[clocks go off]
"Are those my clocks I hear?"
"Yeah, it's, uh, eight o'clock."
"Perfect! My experiment worked! They're all exactly 25 minutes slow!"
"What a minute, wait a minute Doc, are you telling me that it's 8:25?"
"Precisely."
"Damn. I'm late for school!"
I'm almost sick of hearing about all the "spyware", "policeware" and other [insert bad connotation here]-wares making their ways into consumer products. This can only lead to one thing, in my view, and that's eventually having all of our own belongings spy on us and rat us out. Why?
I strongly believe that the stronger "they" push for more control over our lives, the worst things will get in terms of "their" profits or whatever, because people will want to work around. It's like the parent telling their kid what not to do, so the kid does it just to be a rebel.
Perhaps Intel's C/C++ compiler produces faster code because, uh, Intel knows exactly how their processor works inside and out? I'm sure that their guides to optimization and whatnot are nothing nearly as effective as having the actual engineers around to answer your questions about what's faster under what circumstances.
Who knows, maybe the folks who wrote the compiler had the fscking schematics to the flipping processor?!??!?!?!
On the other hand, perhaps it's some sort of a coincidence that Intel's compiler happens to produce 47% faster code. For a real analysis, they should have tested against Borland's compiler, and WATCOM's compiler. I happen to have been using WATCOM for a number of years now, and I can tell you that, being a staid and steadfast compiler (likening it to Melville's fine description of Starbuck, in the first "Knights and Squires" chapter in Moby Dick), it produces DAMN good code. I cannot compare it to the compiler Intel has authored, because I have never used their compiler.
Astute readers may notice the author's prominent omission of Microsoft's compiler. The reasoning behind said omission centers around the fact that Microsoft is a giant squid, and therefore, their products will sell just fine whether they work correctly, efficiently, both, or neither. Oh well.
In any case, I believe that whether or not Intel's compiler is the best out there, they should release the entire product under some sort of open source license that allows its inclusion in GPL'd code, such as, hmmm... GCC perhaps. Please allow me to explain my reasoning behind this idea. Intel is in the business of making microprocessors. I believe that if they give the world access to the source code (and technical documentation) to one hell of a darn good compiler, and allow others to modify or copy it, will encourage people to make more and faster software for Intel platforms. Imagine if there is an "experimental" new branch of GCC, where the entire system has been completely overhauled on an algorithm basis. Perhaps the compiler can be made to execute more quickly, while still producing better code for whatever platforms... There are endless possibilities in the world of compilers, and I think that a truly good compiler could be produced with the help of engineers from the world's top microprocessor companies, which means not just Intel, but their competitors as well. I say this because I surmise that if Intel took this move, other processor vendors would find themselves in a position where they need to do the same or better for their clients, or some such bullshoot like that. Well, as the saying goes, "Oh well." Because I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, because I'm tired, because I've been working all freakin' day long, and that's tiring, and sh*t.
xxxxxxxxxx O xxxxxxxxxx H xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx W xxxxxxxxxx E xxxxxxxxxx L xxxxxxxxxx L xxxxxxxxxx
Oh yeah, and I almost forgot to mention something that I consider pretty interesting. SLASHDOT'S LAMENESS FILTER IS A PEACE OF SHIT. I MEAN, YOU CAN'T EVEN INCLUDE A CODE SNIPPET IN YOUR COMMENT, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. LIKE SOMEONE'S SIG SAYS, A LAMENESS FILTER ON SLASHDOT IS LIKE A SHIT FILTER ON YOUR ASS. It's anything but staid and steadfast! GET RID OF THAT DAMN THING!!! If you don't get rid of that stupid lameness filter thing, leave it in, but ALLOW THE USER TO POST THEIR COMMENT, but put an option in your preferences and stuff to GLOBALLY HIDE "LAME" comments, just like the OPTION to HIDE ANONYMOUS COWARDS' COMMENTS, d00dz. That way, the user can decide whether to look at that '1337 stuff or n0t. BUT DON'T MAKE THIS SYSTEM SO STUPID!
Now, finally, I'll put in my closing "OH WELL", and be on my way:
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From memory, and this may be totally wrong...
"As you can see, we've had our eye on you for some time now Mr. Anderson. It seems that you've been living two lives. In one, you're Thomas A. Anderson, program writer for a respectible software company. You have a social security number, you pay your taxes, and you help your landlady carry out her garbage. The other life is lived in computers, where you go by the hacker alias Neo and are guilty of virtually every computer crime we have a law for. One of these lives has a future, and one of them does not. Now, I'm going to be as forthcoming with you as I can, Mr. Anderson. You're here because we need your help. We know that you've been contacted by a certain individual, a man who calls himself Morpheus. Whatever you think you know about this man is irrelevant; he is considered by some authorities to be the most dangerous man alive. My partners think I'm wasting my time with you, but I think you wish to do the right thing. We're willing to wipe the slate clean; give you a fresh start; all we're asking is your cooperation in bringing a known terrorist to justice."
"That sounds like a really good deal, but I think I got a better one. How 'bout I give you the finger, and you give me my phone call."
"Hmmm... Mr. Anderson. You disappoint me."
"You can't scare me with this gestapo crap. I know my rights. I want my phone call."
"Tell me, Mr. Anderson, what good is a phone call, if you're unable to speak?"
Now, seriously, this is the end of my comment. Finis.
I applaud Borland for choosing to put more of their fine products on Linux. I have personally used Borland's products since version 3 of their Pascal compiler, which was a pretty long time ago. In conjunction with TurboPower's libraries, which were distributed with complete source code and no royalties, Borland's compilers, both for Pascal and C/C++, were always truly amazing products.
Now, with the increasing popularity and acceptance of Linux, I believe that Borland's products have found a new home, better than on DOS and Windows. I strongly believe that if Borland continues to implement their fine software on Linux, some great applications, brand-name commercial as well as free, will show up on Linux, making it a strong and competitive alternative to the Windows family of operating systems.
Perhaps someday, a couple of years down the road, Microsoft will begin implementing their software, such as a Microsoft Office for Linux package, just as some years ago, IBM sold native Windows versions of their OS/2 applications. Hopefully, this move by Borland will bring that a bit closer to reality.
I'm running FreeBSD 6.8-RELEASE, and it's the greatest piece of software ever made. As an operating system, it's a lean, mean serving machine. For example, my 386 SX with 4 megs of RAM typically serves about 10,000 FTP users simultaneously. And X Window System, running KDE and GNOME simultaneously, along with about a thousand highly intensive applications, continue to run and function with perfect responsiveness. In fact, I could probably run twice the load, and it would make everything execute even faster.
"This is because I'm from the future. I came here in a time machine that you invented. Now I need your help to get back to the year 1985."
"Hmmm... Mr. Anderson. You disappoint me."
"You can't scare me with this gestapo crap. I know my rights, I want my fluxcapacitor back."
"Well, tell me, Mr. Anderson, what good is a fluxcapacitor, if you're, unable, to flux?"
***** OK! OK! JUST KIDDING! *****
The release of FreeBSD 4.5 is just around the corner. The good folks in core are doing a marvelous job, and I am confident that this release will be the best yet, and that as always, the next one following this will be even better.
As it is, amazing improvements have been made to the system since 4.4-RELEASE. I know because that's what my production servers are running right now, but for my desktop, I like to use -STABLE, which is pretty darn good.
Oh well.
This interview is simply amazing. After reading it, I strongly believe that Robert Bork is very knowledgeable in his field of work, and at the same time, he understands technology--and the business of technology--quite well, making him the ideal person to bridge the gaps, so to speak, between corporate executives, legal departments, and the technical community.
I applaud Robert Bork for having the interview with LinuxPlanet, and for making such a good impression in the technical community.
Oh man! I'm gonna have to be the first one in my town to see that in the theater! I think this is the greatest movie ever made! Hey, I've only seen it about 10 times, but it couldn't hurt to see it again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again.
Actually, I'm just kidding. I think this movie is really poorly made. The director must have been sleeping when they filmed this. Seriously, the dialog seemed "fake", the sound effects were horrible... In short, this movie is a waste of time, and I strongly suggest against going to the theater, and spending a bunch of money on
- tickets,
- popcorn,
- nachos,
- drinks,
- candy,
- and whatever else you normally spend all your money on in the movie theater,
because that would be a big waste of money if this is the movie you choose to go to the theater in order to see it. When it comes down to it, I think there was only one movie ever made in the entire world that is worthy of being displayed on the big screen, and that movie was How the West was Won . It was the most incredible movie ever made. Escaflowne & Metropolis remind me of How the West was Won every time I see them.Oh well.
Please allow me to share with you a story about a good friend of mine. He is a doctor, and doctors need to keep patient records.
Since there wasn't enough room to keep "historical" patient records in his clinic, he brought them home one box at a time and stored them in the attic. When the ceiling began to sag, and he feared that the house would cave in, he built a barn out side, and had the documents moved there. When the barn filled up, he built a second one, then a third one, until all three were full. At that point, he got an "annex" downtown, until that filled up with patient records.
At that point, he contacted the state government, to ask them how long he really needs to keep those patient records. Their answer, in his words, was, "When you die, your heirs better be able to produce those patient records."
And that, my friend, is what "to the pain" means. It means I leave you in pain, wallowing in freakish misery forever.
By the way, I would like to add that this is a true story.
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Perhaps Loki Games will somehow find a buyer, and they'll continue to operate under a different name. Like AOL/Loki.
OH WELL.
I hate to be the one to break this to you, but this is a hoax.
Here's the proof: I haven't personally seen it. That means it doesn't exist. It is a fact of the universe. You know why? Because the entire universe revolves around me. Hey, that's the proof. It's a hoax..O.H. .W.E.L.L.
This is not a hoax. I happen to have seen the device working, and I can tell you that it does create energy out of nowhere, something we've been taught that we cannot do. Just like turning lead into gold, which is also very much possible.
Actually, not only have I seen the device, but I once met one of the inventors. As a matter of fact, I know one of the inventors personally. To be perfectly honest, I am actually the lead inventor of this system. I'm going to market it and make a fortune that will make Bill Gates look like a beggar on the streets! I will use this device to create warp drive, and the conquest of the universe will begin!
OH WELL.
I applaud the good folks at Caldera for taking this course of action. This will benefit many people:
This is also a good marketing move by Caldera. Hey, what have they got to lose by this? I think they have only to gain.
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I believe that a service should be created to benefit users of Windows and Mac OS. Every click should be paid for by users, including clicks on advertisements. Windows and Mac OS, being the only two operating systems in existance, would count the number of clicks a user makes with the mouse, for any reason, and send this value directly to Yahoo. At the end of each month, users will receive a bill totalling $1.00 for each click, $5.00 access fee, and a $25.00 monthly service charge, for the priveledge of paying to click.
This would be beneficial to users because:
OH WELL.
Amazon is the best ePortal in the world! I think that Amazon should buy every corporation in the world, and patent every tiny detail of every operation that takes place in the resulting massive huge enormous multinational corporation. For example, "Method and Apparatus Attaching Manually Recorded Hardcopy," meaning, a patent on paperclipping some handwritten notes together, or, "Method and Apparatus for Disposing of Manually Generated Hardcopy of Temporary Use," meaning, a patent on tossing a piece of paper in the trash.
Then, once all these actions take place, every person will pay an Amazon Tax on every transaction they make. Amazon will then buy all the governments of the world, enslave the human people, put a computer in command of those people, patent that, charge ridiculous license fees for it, put all the people of the world into chambers in a power plant and use them as batteries, and next thing you know, we have The Matrix.
oooooOoooooHooooo oooooWoooooEoooooLoooooLooooo
Personally, I believe that AOL's service sucks. Furthermore, I disagree with the whole AOL/TW thing. In my opinion, content providers and connection providers should be separate entities.
But let's ignore those comments for a moment. I feel I must applaud AOL for filing an Antitrust suit against Microsoft.
Further, although I dislike AOL, I believe it would be beneficial to the consumer if AOL makes strategic alliances with every company that competes with Microsoft. This means they wouldn't buy those companies, but the group of companies can, together, provide quality, lower-priced products and services and crush Microsoft.
Consider the recent rumors of AOL buying Red Hat. If, instead of buying, AOL made a strategic alliance with Red Hat, began providing a native Linux AOL client, and mass-mailed CDs containing a Linux distro with the client, this would give millions of AOL users a choice in operating systems, increase the amount of Linux installations out there, and decrease Microsoft's market share.
Suppose AOL and Linux distributors got together and made such alliances with other companies that produce brand-name commercial software that competes with Microsoft's products. Thousands of titles and hundreds of companies are in this position. And suppose that this large alliance now makes deals with computer manufacturers. If only one large manufacturer, like Dell or Compaq, sold PCs with preinstalled Linux and bundled brand-name software, it would heavily reduce Microsoft's market share and bring the entire software community one step closer to winning the fight against the giant squid.
But it'll probably never happen. And besides, RMS would probably commit suicide, so it's probably best, for his sake, that this never happens.xxxxx O xxxxx H xxxxx xxxxx W xxxxx E xxxxx L xxxxx L xxxxx
This particular conflict concerning the fine OpenBSD operating system is not as simple as it seems at first glance. As a matter of fact, I believe this is a huge conspiracy by Darren Reed and his organization to eventually distribute an operating system nearly identical to OpenBSD, but with one slight modification: Darren Reed's version will include IPFilter.
A little more investigation on your part will reveal that this is more or less what's actually going on, rather than what we're being told.
Oh well.
The other day, I saw an auction on eBay for an SGI Octane. The price was over 100,000 bucks. Looking at the pictures, I could tell why: It included a rack with a bunch of really fancy stuff on it, and an SGI Octane. That is why I consider sexy.
Actually, here is what I really want. I want to have several of every brand of computer, running all the operating systems available for each brand. That way, I'll be able to access software and information for any of them. It'll cost a ton of money, and that's money I don't have, but hey, who said you can't imagine stuff?!
Oh well.
Technology nowadays makes many things possible that weren't possible even a year ago. Although I hate Microsoft in no uncertain terms, I believe the best thing for them is to continue the Xbox development and release an Xbox II or something like that. It would include everything a complete home theater system would include, in one small box, except for the television set. Furthermore, Xbox II's will have wireless networking built-in, so that you could put a bunch of Xbox II's and they'd be connected automatically, allowing you, for example, to stream some Internet "radio" station once, but listen to it in two separate rooms. (I often want to do that with my computers, but I couldn't figure out how yet.)
Secondly, Microsoft should make deals with telecommunications companies to make broadband a reality once again. This would give consumers an additional reason to get a bunch of Xboxes. With televisions and computer monitors rapidly converging into a single display, you'll be able to use an Xbox as a home theater component or a computer.
Now, all you Linux Internet Appliance folks better get cracking and implement a slick, easy-to-use, quiet, and efficient box that does the same thing, cheaper and better.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH WELL.
What about forged signatures?
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Actually, I'm not done yet. I just wanted to say that we're moving towards a moneyless, paperless society. One day, and it might not be so far off in the distant future, there will be no money, and all documents will be electronic and signed with digital signatures. All your personal information will be stored on a so-called "chip card." This will be a sort of global identification card, which will simultaneously serve as:
With tiny storage medium such as microdrives reaching capacities of a gigabyte or more, such a card is not far off. It could even come from the government already in a nice waterproof protective wallet. After a few years go by, they'll start implanting this technology in peoples' bodies, and sell you on the added conveniences, such as monitoring of your life functions, the impossibility of getting kidnapped, huge reduction in crimes, etc. That way, Big Brother can really be in control of your life.
Ok, now I'm done.
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