Granted, the VMWare approach is not as efficient as that of Xen but it is still very fast. VMWare does not emulate the CPU... it's more accurate to say that it emulates the rest of the hardware through drivers. The guest OS and software run on the host CPU without significant (if any) translation. We use VMWare ESX Server for production and even with 8 light to moderately loaded guest operating systems running on a 2-way box, there is no noticeable speed decrease. I'm not saying you should move a fully loaded SQL or Exchange server to it but for most production uses it works extremely well. There is a trial available that will convert non-believers in short order.
Hell, they went on and on about how Windows 2000 was the future of the platform and spent huge amounts of money and effort getting customers to migrate to it. How much time lapsed between the release of 2000 and XP? 18 months? As soon as XP hit the streets they stopped serious updates to 2000. Decent, integrated wireless support is the first thing that comes to mind but there are countless others. And then no service pack five? WTF? There are tons of real bugs remaining that don't require obscure configurations to surface. Hell, just the other day I found that I can't have a (long) group policy-defined logon banner that works on 2K and XP machines simultaneously without an unreleased QFE patch for 2K. Windows 2000 was essentially a preview or beta of XP as far as Microsoft is concerned. It was more stable and secure by sheer luck... they hadn't yet had a chance to integrate the portions that made XP so unreliable. As soon as the "final" product made it to market, Microsoft was ready to kill off Windows 2000. Every tool, utility, add-on, and feature update they have done since XP's release has been handled accordingly.
The FCC may have investigated your complaint and found nothing wrong. It is possible for consumer electronics to improperly receive a signal from a properly maintained, legal radio transmitter of any kind (ham or other) if the they are close enough together. It's a matter of your equipment receiving signals it's not supposed to, not a matter of the signal being improper. If you have cable television, it's also possible that your cable company isn't maintaining its wiring properly. "Leaky" cable TV wiring can act like an antenna and pick up strong signals nearby. You might really consider reading the brochures or checking out http://www.arrl.org/fcc/tvibook.html for additional information.
"Oh, and some businesses NEED a browser that can view IE code, because some business apps require it. "
Holy crap, that's a good point. I was seriously ready to dismiss Netscape since it's little more than a rebranded Firefox. On the other hand, I have been unable to deploy Firefox in my shop because 99% of packaged intranet solutions seem to be written for IE. Netscape 8 (with a less vomitous theme) could break the IE stranglehold in businesses. Hell, my bosses all recognize the name and I can presumably set it to render intranet pages with the IE engine and other pages with Gecko. There might be redeeming qualities about this release after all.
To use a cliché, I'd be rich if I had a nickel for every time I've seen an employee frantically clear his or her browser cache or send an email then delete it from the sent items folder. Surprise! The device on your desktop is not the center of the universe! Maybe abiding by policies and staying away from any shady dealings is a better way to cover your ass.
Setting this specific case aside, is it possible that the reason we've heard of so many incidents lately is that green laser pointers have become more widely available? I suspect that many of these cases (again, this one aside) result from people pointing their green lasers in the sky randomly just to see the beam. I imagine that it can easily look like someone is shining a laser at you if the beam is visible. Add in the difficulty of determining distance when looking horizontally out of a cockpit window and you have the ingredients to fuel serious paranoia.
"Active X was MS attempt to control this market by making web apps work only with internet explorer. Fortunetly it didn't catch."
Huh? Where have you been? I can't look at any type of business application without a dozen vendors tripping over themselves trying to come show me a "web-based" application that is in reality an ActiveX-based one. It's insane but no one except the Slashdot crowd seems to recognize that ActiveX applications are in fact Win32 applications framed inside Internet Explorer and that they provide none of the benefits one is normally looking for when considering true web-based applications. It didn't catch-on on the Internet at large but unfortunately, in intranet applications, ActiveX is doing very well.
It's not like Microsoft is the only shop where a bunch of programmers and engineers are local admins. Hell, if it were I suspect that I'd spend a lot less time troubleshooting apps that want to write user preferences to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or insist on storing temporary data in %windir%. My job would be much simpler if the typical programmer had to use a non-admin account for his or her regular work.
"Are you serious about auto jobs? Have you seen Detroit or Flint Michigan? Auto jobs, by and large, ARE gone!"
I'm getting paid a pretty much average wage as a network engineer here in Birmingham, Alabama. I can get on the interstate and travel 30 minutes in two directions or 60 in a third and find relatively new auto manufacturing plants. All three have jobs at wages competitive with my own. While plants do close from time to time and companies are always looking out for the dollar, I'm not sure that it's fair to say these jobs are gone or that they can no longer provide a decent living.
I've never been convinced that the 300mW that a cell phone puts out can cause any harm. If it could there would have already been catastrophies caused by people who ignored the rules or simply forgot to turn their phones off.
It's worth noting that caller ID and ANI are two separate technologies. Most toll free and "important" business / government agency lines use ANI, not caller ID. I seriously doubt that this service has any effect on ANI.
Or would that be Perl harbor? Seriously though, I am about sick of the Pearl Harbor references. I suspect that such a widespread attack will take place sooner or later but I doubt that it will be terrorists at fault... More likely some antisocial 17yr old script kiddie.
This memo is two years old. One has to wonder if they've already taken the action HP anticipated. Taking a second look at the MS / SCO conspiracy theories with this memo in hand makes them seem that much more likely.
She constantly embarrasses me by explaining to visitors that our wireless network is secure because "we only use the lower power equipment that is hard to pick up outside the building". Never mind the DMZ, L2TP tunnel, MAC filtering, client firewalls, etc. Oh well, at least she is letting me keep the access points turned on more often these days.
To release early but with the video hardware in an easily swapped cartridge. They don't have to make a big deal out of it but 12 or 18 months later they can release the same system with upgraded card as the "XBox 2+" or "XBox 3". It would presumably play all of the Xbox 2 titles since they would be written against DirectX (or equivalent). Early purchasers could upgrade when a "XBox 2+" title appeared that they wanted to be able to play.
They would have to immediately discontinue sales of the classic Xbox 2 at this point to avoid the fates of the Commodore 128, Sega 32X, and other upgrades that were sold alongside their predecessors.
I still fondly remember my first experience with a 486. What was it? Watching a bad BSA propaganda video clip entitled "Don't copy that floppy." Sounds kinda dirty now but at the time the fact that I was watching real motion video on a PC screen was enough to make me forget the source.
I find it highly amusing that Microsoft chose to use PDF files on this particular page when throughout the rest of their site they've pretended that Word documents are some sort of universal standard. Finally an admission by Microsoft itself that Word isn't the best format for publications you acually want EVERYONE to be able to read.
About seven years ago I traded a mechanic / low-end used car salesman a 486DX2 PS/2 for a car. I was worried that the guy would regret the trade after the fact but a couple of months later I ended up putting together a P90 machine and a peer-to-peer network (classic use of the term, obviously) in exchange for another car. Granted, both cars were several years old with 100K miles or more but considering that the machines were well past their prime even at the time, I think I got a great deal.
I too work for a credit union. We just put in ATMs running Windows 2000. Though I'm not happy with the decision I think it at least could be made to be manageable. Unfortunately, the entire support structure of our vendor and perhaps even the manufacturer seems to be designed to preclude this. We are not "allowed" to maintain the machines in any way. This includes the installation of patches, service packs, antivirus software, etc. When we installed the last batch of machines, they were delivered with service pack two... this was six weeks ago. There's a lot of mudslinging on Slashdot about paper MCSEs who think they can attach Windows machines to their networks and forget about them but I think that ridiculous vendor support requirements are equally troublesome. It seems that arbitrary requirements such as these are showing up more and more often. I'd like to think that the current trend in security consciousness might turn things around but I fear that it will take a major worm incident (think thousands of machines spitting out cash) to bring everyone around.
I know it is one of their big selling points but I have yet to have used a Transmeta device that actually had a longer run time than my huge Latitude C series with second battery. Why? Because for some reason manufacturers seem to have a fetish for the 2.5 - 3 hour benchmark. Once they reach it, they concentrate on size instead. Surely I can't be the only one who would be happy with a smallish (12-13") notebook with long battery life. I certainly find that more interesting than devices that are so tiny as to be unusable yet have comparable run time to normal laptops.
Having fond memories of the Huntsville Space and Rocket center from my youth, I recently went with my wife and a friend. We were shocked to find the entire place in utter disrepair. Most of the rockets on display outside (including the Saturn V) were visibly rusted with many completely rusted through in spots. Most of the paint was either flaking or so sun-damaged that it would come off on your fingers with the slightest touch. Not only was the rocket park essentially a scrap heap, but the museum seemed to be now devoted almost entirely to military technology. One exhibit, the "future warrior" exhibit was particularly disturbing. I hate to think that one of our country's biggest sources of pride has shifted from scientific progress and exploring frontiers to the presumption that we are a bunch of badasses who can annihilate anyone who crosses us.
"The device is robust and elegant with it's light metal case and the glass plate. You can attach a keyboard and use it as a (sub-) notebook."
You sure can... And as an added benefit, the screen wobbling as you type acts as test for motion sickness. Thanks to my TC1000, I now know that I need to pick up some Dramamine before getting on a boat.
"You can detach it and snuggle up on a couch and read e-books."
Yep, the 5-degree viewing angle makes it very comfortable to read as a book or use as a notepad. I know that when I use either a book or a notepad I naturally hold them perfectly perpendicular to my line of sight rather than at an angle. It's just more comfortable that way.
"In summer, he also brought it to the park for use as a mobile mp3 and video player. (The display is not transreflexive. Works ok in the shadow, but not in the full sun)."
Ummm... It works ok in the closet but the display is completely washed out with a normal office florescent light fixture overhead... Or in the presence of a candle for that matter.
"My friend uses it as his main machine for development (no, really). The transmeta processor is a bit slow for a workhorse."
It's a bit slow for clicking through the Windows start menu with all of the eye candy turned off. I can't imagine trying to compile code on it.
"Personally, I already got a laptop. But I'm thinking about getting a TC1100 nonetheless."
Personally, I bought a TC1000 for work and I'm using my old laptop instead. I kick myself daily for buying the TC1000. I try to tell myself "hey, at least it wasn't your money" but then I have to lug the damn thing to a meeting just for show and to avoid having to explain why I wasted $2400 of company money.
Because all I've been waiting for is a crappy on-screen keyboard that takes up 60% of my 10 inches of screen real-estate. Long gone will be the days of handwriting recognition that is unthinkably accurate (after a week of training).... Now I can switch to Linux and peck at 2mm buttons with a stylus that is accurate to half of that at best. Way to go!
Seriously, I'm afraid that this falls into the category of products that make "Joe User" think that Linux (+GNU) is a cheap knock-off of Windows. I mean, the functionality is truely useful but it really doesn't warrant the creation of a separate product. To do so only puts its shortcomings in the spotlight.
My organization has roughly 120 Internet email users and a quick grep -c of the logs reveals that in the last week my server has denied 700 messages from open relays or known sources of UCE. In spite of this I have to wade through around ten spam emails each morning before I can get to work and I regularly get questioned by vice presidents and the CEO about why I'm "not blocking pornographic emails". RMX, micropayments, filtering, and other solutions may not be ideal. They may, to some degree, restrict free speech. They could require extra effort on the part of legitimate senders or admins of spam-unfriendly ISPs. It's possible that such schemes may do away with Internet email as we know it... but after deleting the fourth email this week (each from different network) containing an animated GIF of a woman sucking a horse's penis I don't give a crap. The problem has to be dealt with and if that means that you have to change email clients, switch to a email service that supports authentication, use a web-based service when traveling, update your DNS records, or close your open relay that is fine by me.
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Come on, Windows 2000 is solid and designed to let you get work done. XP is constantly getting in your way. It's the revenge of MS Bob. Enough said.
Granted, the VMWare approach is not as efficient as that of Xen but it is still very fast. VMWare does not emulate the CPU... it's more accurate to say that it emulates the rest of the hardware through drivers. The guest OS and software run on the host CPU without significant (if any) translation. We use VMWare ESX Server for production and even with 8 light to moderately loaded guest operating systems running on a 2-way box, there is no noticeable speed decrease. I'm not saying you should move a fully loaded SQL or Exchange server to it but for most production uses it works extremely well. There is a trial available that will convert non-believers in short order.
Hell, they went on and on about how Windows 2000 was the future of the platform and spent huge amounts of money and effort getting customers to migrate to it. How much time lapsed between the release of 2000 and XP? 18 months? As soon as XP hit the streets they stopped serious updates to 2000. Decent, integrated wireless support is the first thing that comes to mind but there are countless others. And then no service pack five? WTF? There are tons of real bugs remaining that don't require obscure configurations to surface. Hell, just the other day I found that I can't have a (long) group policy-defined logon banner that works on 2K and XP machines simultaneously without an unreleased QFE patch for 2K. Windows 2000 was essentially a preview or beta of XP as far as Microsoft is concerned. It was more stable and secure by sheer luck... they hadn't yet had a chance to integrate the portions that made XP so unreliable. As soon as the "final" product made it to market, Microsoft was ready to kill off Windows 2000. Every tool, utility, add-on, and feature update they have done since XP's release has been handled accordingly.
The FCC may have investigated your complaint and found nothing wrong. It is possible for consumer electronics to improperly receive a signal from a properly maintained, legal radio transmitter of any kind (ham or other) if the they are close enough together. It's a matter of your equipment receiving signals it's not supposed to, not a matter of the signal being improper. If you have cable television, it's also possible that your cable company isn't maintaining its wiring properly. "Leaky" cable TV wiring can act like an antenna and pick up strong signals nearby. You might really consider reading the brochures or checking out http://www.arrl.org/fcc/tvibook.html for additional information.
"Oh, and some businesses NEED a browser that can view IE code, because some business apps require it. "
Holy crap, that's a good point. I was seriously ready to dismiss Netscape since it's little more than a rebranded Firefox. On the other hand, I have been unable to deploy Firefox in my shop because 99% of packaged intranet solutions seem to be written for IE. Netscape 8 (with a less vomitous theme) could break the IE stranglehold in businesses. Hell, my bosses all recognize the name and I can presumably set it to render intranet pages with the IE engine and other pages with Gecko. There might be redeeming qualities about this release after all.
To use a cliché, I'd be rich if I had a nickel for every time I've seen an employee frantically clear his or her browser cache or send an email then delete it from the sent items folder. Surprise! The device on your desktop is not the center of the universe! Maybe abiding by policies and staying away from any shady dealings is a better way to cover your ass.
Setting this specific case aside, is it possible that the reason we've heard of so many incidents lately is that green laser pointers have become more widely available? I suspect that many of these cases (again, this one aside) result from people pointing their green lasers in the sky randomly just to see the beam. I imagine that it can easily look like someone is shining a laser at you if the beam is visible. Add in the difficulty of determining distance when looking horizontally out of a cockpit window and you have the ingredients to fuel serious paranoia.
"Active X was MS attempt to control this market by making web apps work only with internet explorer. Fortunetly it didn't catch."
Huh? Where have you been? I can't look at any type of business application without a dozen vendors tripping over themselves trying to come show me a "web-based" application that is in reality an ActiveX-based one. It's insane but no one except the Slashdot crowd seems to recognize that ActiveX applications are in fact Win32 applications framed inside Internet Explorer and that they provide none of the benefits one is normally looking for when considering true web-based applications. It didn't catch-on on the Internet at large but unfortunately, in intranet applications, ActiveX is doing very well.
It's not like Microsoft is the only shop where a bunch of programmers and engineers are local admins. Hell, if it were I suspect that I'd spend a lot less time troubleshooting apps that want to write user preferences to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or insist on storing temporary data in %windir%. My job would be much simpler if the typical programmer had to use a non-admin account for his or her regular work.
"Are you serious about auto jobs? Have you seen Detroit or Flint Michigan? Auto jobs, by and large, ARE gone!"
I'm getting paid a pretty much average wage as a network engineer here in Birmingham, Alabama. I can get on the interstate and travel 30 minutes in two directions or 60 in a third and find relatively new auto manufacturing plants. All three have jobs at wages competitive with my own. While plants do close from time to time and companies are always looking out for the dollar, I'm not sure that it's fair to say these jobs are gone or that they can no longer provide a decent living.
I've never been convinced that the 300mW that a cell phone puts out can cause any harm. If it could there would have already been catastrophies caused by people who ignored the rules or simply forgot to turn their phones off.
It's worth noting that caller ID and ANI are two separate technologies. Most toll free and "important" business / government agency lines use ANI, not caller ID. I seriously doubt that this service has any effect on ANI.
Or would that be Perl harbor? Seriously though, I am about sick of the Pearl Harbor references. I suspect that such a widespread attack will take place sooner or later but I doubt that it will be terrorists at fault... More likely some antisocial 17yr old script kiddie.
This memo is two years old. One has to wonder if they've already taken the action HP anticipated. Taking a second look at the MS / SCO conspiracy theories with this memo in hand makes them seem that much more likely.
She constantly embarrasses me by explaining to visitors that our wireless network is secure because "we only use the lower power equipment that is hard to pick up outside the building". Never mind the DMZ, L2TP tunnel, MAC filtering, client firewalls, etc. Oh well, at least she is letting me keep the access points turned on more often these days.
To release early but with the video hardware in an easily swapped cartridge. They don't have to make a big deal out of it but 12 or 18 months later they can release the same system with upgraded card as the "XBox 2+" or "XBox 3". It would presumably play all of the Xbox 2 titles since they would be written against DirectX (or equivalent). Early purchasers could upgrade when a "XBox 2+" title appeared that they wanted to be able to play.
They would have to immediately discontinue sales of the classic Xbox 2 at this point to avoid the fates of the Commodore 128, Sega 32X, and other upgrades that were sold alongside their predecessors.
I still fondly remember my first experience with a 486. What was it? Watching a bad BSA propaganda video clip entitled "Don't copy that floppy." Sounds kinda dirty now but at the time the fact that I was watching real motion video on a PC screen was enough to make me forget the source.
I find it highly amusing that Microsoft chose to use PDF files on this particular page when throughout the rest of their site they've pretended that Word documents are some sort of universal standard. Finally an admission by Microsoft itself that Word isn't the best format for publications you acually want EVERYONE to be able to read.
About seven years ago I traded a mechanic / low-end used car salesman a 486DX2 PS/2 for a car. I was worried that the guy would regret the trade after the fact but a couple of months later I ended up putting together a P90 machine and a peer-to-peer network (classic use of the term, obviously) in exchange for another car. Granted, both cars were several years old with 100K miles or more but considering that the machines were well past their prime even at the time, I think I got a great deal.
I too work for a credit union. We just put in ATMs running Windows 2000. Though I'm not happy with the decision I think it at least could be made to be manageable. Unfortunately, the entire support structure of our vendor and perhaps even the manufacturer seems to be designed to preclude this. We are not "allowed" to maintain the machines in any way. This includes the installation of patches, service packs, antivirus software, etc. When we installed the last batch of machines, they were delivered with service pack two... this was six weeks ago. There's a lot of mudslinging on Slashdot about paper MCSEs who think they can attach Windows machines to their networks and forget about them but I think that ridiculous vendor support requirements are equally troublesome. It seems that arbitrary requirements such as these are showing up more and more often. I'd like to think that the current trend in security consciousness might turn things around but I fear that it will take a major worm incident (think thousands of machines spitting out cash) to bring everyone around.
I know it is one of their big selling points but I have yet to have used a Transmeta device that actually had a longer run time than my huge Latitude C series with second battery. Why? Because for some reason manufacturers seem to have a fetish for the 2.5 - 3 hour benchmark. Once they reach it, they concentrate on size instead. Surely I can't be the only one who would be happy with a smallish (12-13") notebook with long battery life. I certainly find that more interesting than devices that are so tiny as to be unusable yet have comparable run time to normal laptops.
Having fond memories of the Huntsville Space and Rocket center from my youth, I recently went with my wife and a friend. We were shocked to find the entire place in utter disrepair. Most of the rockets on display outside (including the Saturn V) were visibly rusted with many completely rusted through in spots. Most of the paint was either flaking or so sun-damaged that it would come off on your fingers with the slightest touch. Not only was the rocket park essentially a scrap heap, but the museum seemed to be now devoted almost entirely to military technology. One exhibit, the "future warrior" exhibit was particularly disturbing. I hate to think that one of our country's biggest sources of pride has shifted from scientific progress and exploring frontiers to the presumption that we are a bunch of badasses who can annihilate anyone who crosses us.
"The device is robust and elegant with it's light metal case and the glass plate. You can attach a keyboard and use it as a (sub-) notebook."
You sure can... And as an added benefit, the screen wobbling as you type acts as test for motion sickness. Thanks to my TC1000, I now know that I need to pick up some Dramamine before getting on a boat.
"You can detach it and snuggle up on a couch and read e-books."
Yep, the 5-degree viewing angle makes it very comfortable to read as a book or use as a notepad. I know that when I use either a book or a notepad I naturally hold them perfectly perpendicular to my line of sight rather than at an angle. It's just more comfortable that way.
"In summer, he also brought it to the park for use as a mobile mp3 and video player. (The display is not transreflexive. Works ok in the shadow, but not in the full sun)."
Ummm... It works ok in the closet but the display is completely washed out with a normal office florescent light fixture overhead... Or in the presence of a candle for that matter.
"My friend uses it as his main machine for development (no, really). The transmeta processor is a bit slow for a workhorse."
It's a bit slow for clicking through the Windows start menu with all of the eye candy turned off. I can't imagine trying to compile code on it.
"Personally, I already got a laptop. But I'm thinking about getting a TC1100 nonetheless."
Personally, I bought a TC1000 for work and I'm using my old laptop instead. I kick myself daily for buying the TC1000. I try to tell myself "hey, at least it wasn't your money" but then I have to lug the damn thing to a meeting just for show and to avoid having to explain why I wasted $2400 of company money.
Because all I've been waiting for is a crappy on-screen keyboard that takes up 60% of my 10 inches of screen real-estate. Long gone will be the days of handwriting recognition that is unthinkably accurate (after a week of training).... Now I can switch to Linux and peck at 2mm buttons with a stylus that is accurate to half of that at best. Way to go!
Seriously, I'm afraid that this falls into the category of products that make "Joe User" think that Linux (+GNU) is a cheap knock-off of Windows. I mean, the functionality is truely useful but it really doesn't warrant the creation of a separate product. To do so only puts its shortcomings in the spotlight.
My organization has roughly 120 Internet email users and a quick grep -c of the logs reveals that in the last week my server has denied 700 messages from open relays or known sources of UCE. In spite of this I have to wade through around ten spam emails each morning before I can get to work and I regularly get questioned by vice presidents and the CEO about why I'm "not blocking pornographic emails". RMX, micropayments, filtering, and other solutions may not be ideal. They may, to some degree, restrict free speech. They could require extra effort on the part of legitimate senders or admins of spam-unfriendly ISPs. It's possible that such schemes may do away with Internet email as we know it... but after deleting the fourth email this week (each from different network) containing an animated GIF of a woman sucking a horse's penis I don't give a crap. The problem has to be dealt with and if that means that you have to change email clients, switch to a email service that supports authentication, use a web-based service when traveling, update your DNS records, or close your open relay that is fine by me.