I would like to see the Japanese "to do" list. I mean, they come up with some interesting stuff, but it is all filler for Sharper Image or some other yuppie, worthless rag.
Although it is sad to see the Zaurus getting a bad review, this was more or less to be expected. After all the modified version of RTLinux that is included with the Zaurus may offer small footprint, but most people will concur that it's not quite ready for production use yet. I believe Sharp rushed it to market. With development cost on the Zaurus approaching $100 million though, who can blame them.
Sharp has not been good in the past at releasing new technology items that get wide acceptance. I think you hit it on the head about their rush to market. As their product gets used and they identify bad features, problematic options, etc., they will mature their product like all their others. It takes Sharp time to do this, and their development costs are too huge for their budgets.
I tell you that the keyboard and the three-button mouse has become indispensable! I could not switch to trackballs back when they were making it big, and I could not go to a pen now. I cannot even figure out my handwriting anymore, much less work the stylus for my Palm.
Everything has its place. We still use RPG and COBOL where I work. Not because we think they are great languages, but rather because of costs associated with a change-over. So, using that same logic, there are people out there that would prefer to use OS/400 or UNIX over Windows because of long-time familiarity and stability. Hell, we still use Pick and MentorPro in places!
I think that most companies have a situation where a web server is just a front-end displayer to a machine where the real work is being done. We have that here, a Linux box before a IIS system, which has an Oracle system on UNIX behind that. Linux blocks everything not port 443 and filters a few other things, the IIS box displays the web content (forced by a vendor) and the Oracle box does all the work. We are about to purchase a web system that runs on OSX from Apple. Again, not by choice, but rather vendor forcing.
I guess what I am saying is "so what". Microsoft has disclosed the use of Linux for business critical function in their board report a few years ago. We also know that while eBay runs on IIS, the work really is on their database systems, which are on Sun equipment (AFAIK).
It is great to see Linux (a free product) drive major sales in the computer industry for hardware and software solutions. I don't think that anyone thought it possible this soon if ever. I remember everyone I trained with, but there were five people from Compaq (well, there are in Houston), and they were all five vintage DEC people. There was a guy from Texas A&M.
I would have liked it when I was at A&M if we ran Linux.
This is an interesting term, and I would suggest other geek reading that hits closer to our own universe. I recently read The Guns of the South, and I must say that it was really an interesting read. It is a detailed alternate universe were the Confederate states beat the Union in the Civil War. Basically, some guys sympathic to the south come back from the future and bring unlimited ammunition for the AK-47's they provide Lee's troups.
Turtledove has long been talked about on Usenet's alt.history.what-if and is known for his meticulous detailing of historical events. Other books he has out discuss alien invasions in the height of WWII, Columbus finding apemen in the new world, and alien colonization. Check him out -- I picked up all his books at Half Price Books for under $25.
Harris County (Houston, TX)
on
Linux On Big Iron
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
I recently went to the Red Hat Certification class and there were two people from the core data services for Harris County. They were there to get some training on Linux because the county is deploying Linux on their IBM mainframes. And, yes, that means more than one!
By the way, if you are thinking of taking the RHCE course 300 (fast track for UNIX proficient people), I really enjoyed it.
Banks are constantly being bombarded by spam asking them to launder money. I have seen many from African and Middle East origins.
They are something to the effect of
Hello, I am the son of a wealthy national and we are trying to get our money into the country. We will pay you a percentage if you cash our check.
These most of the time are check fraud cases, but sometimes they are legitimate checks used in various money laundering schemes. Don't fall victim yourself.
Just move your email to a server in Michigan. When you get mail you don't want, claim that it goes against the 1979 Michigan Computer Crime Act because someone used a computer to write information to your computer which can quantify some cost in space and processing. Have them arrested for attempting to serve you.
Anyone up for Zork: The Movie?
on
Resident Evil
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
You know, as many hours (days, weeks) as I spent working the games, it might be nice to watch the dynamics in a three-hour movie. Not a bad story, to boot.
Different nerds on Slashdot than FARK ?
on
Resident Evil
·
· Score: 2
On Fark.com they are always complaining that Hollywood has no new ideas. On Slashdot the Hollywood movie posts are usually not ripping the movie industry for this. Aren't the same nerds going to both sites?
Google will just suck less
on
Google Juice
·
· Score: 2
Google is the best search engine going. They are a business, and have done a very good job at putting advertisements in without alienating the core community they started with. Their site is the easiest to work with. It is the fastest, most comprehensive system out there. If people have figured out how to manipulate that, I am sure they will manipulate other search engines as well. As with anything else, buyer beware. Don't just take the first hit on Google to stand as the end-all-be-all of what you were looking for.
I have some boxes at a copy named after Greek gods. Data Services got HADES -- duh!
Also, I have another client where the machines are named after planets, with the server being called THESUN, but one extremely annoying woman has URANUS.
My wife hates the racks in the study, but I have well over 300 CD's now. All of them are hard to replace punk CD's, and I have paid for them all. Now, I have some that over time (used in the truck, or taken out somewhere else) have become scratched. Some of these are irreplaceable (producer out of business or the like), and I have been sucessful using IRC or newsgroups to get MP3 versions of "lost" tracks. I have to date, eventhough I have a burner and am an able geek, never burned a music CD from downloaded MP3 files that I did not already have on a purchased CD. Another example of an MP3 saving the day was with a recent Fear CD I purchased had a screwed up track 3. No problem, I downloaded some songs the other day and burned approximately 20 to one CD that I have at the end of a shelf called "Mistrack/Scratched Track CD".
I for one view this new era of the music industry keeping honest folks from ripping tracks on CD's rediculous. Even when tapes were the classy way to purchase music, I always bought vinyl. Usually for the extra inserts, but mostly for the larger image and the medium would last longer. I was very anal about my records, and would never play them unless I were dumping to a blank tape. Now I have begun this with CD's I play in the vehicles. My new view is that my purchased CD's NEVER leave the house. And, no more do I have to deal with a CD that I only like one song on taking up a slot in the CD changer. If the music industry makes ripping and burning impossible, they are doing honest customers a disservice. Of course, all this is moot in my scenario because the punk industry seems to "get it" with regard to music trading, bootlegs, MP3 files, etc.
hades:~$ uname -a
Linux hades 2.0.36 #7 Sat Jan 9 16:46:55 CDT 1999 i686 unknown
hades:~$ uptime
3:21pm up 469 days, 22:16, 11 users, load average: 0.37, 0.32, 0.28
apollo:~$ uname -a ; uptime
Linux apollo 2.0.36 #3 Sat Jan 9 23:54:29 CST 1999 i686 unknown
3:22pm up 350 days, 19:43, 4 users, load average: 0.17, 0.12, 0.11
Just two of many enterprise boxen. Check out the uptime...Slackware is ready for primetime.
Unless you want obscure stuff. If i hear that XYZ indie punk band has a great album...I want to hear what they sound like before i buy it...
I listen to punk music and have always enjoyed the openness of the companies that sell the music for non-fans and fans alike to listen before buying. Most indie labels have inexpensive samplers or online mp3 download segments from artists. I listen to many obscure punk bands, and almost always there was a venue to hear them before buying. Toxic shock had the Shock Report with floppy 7" recording samplers. Notes in Thrasher Magazine was an excellent review resource. Flipside had samplers. Nowadays you have The Fat Club or Punk-O-Rama. Cheap CD offerings where you get about 10 to 15 different bands showcased. Enjoy!
Everyone knows that Napster was basically a glorified DCC engine rip-off from IRC days of file trading. It made IRC file sharing easy for the average computer user. With the death of Napster as everyone knew it, you still see #mp3 and #mp3tunes and the like on IRC trading files person-to-person like Metallica never existed. I think that when something explodes in popularity you get too many bad people joining in ruining things for the users that are not abusers. When so many people jump on a bandwagon, you get media attention for wrong-doing and that is where the death nail is driven.
Look at ICQ. It was fairly decent as an instant messaging client until the numbers hit one million or so and then it needed to control everything under the sun and companies could spam through it. File sharing happens through it all the time too.
I don't care if Gnutella cannot scale to the levels that Napster saw. Smaller is better in my opinion!
I hope they had the time of their life... -- Green Day
Ad banners have become an overlookable feature in most web pages. I would like to see further studies in targeted advertising. I mean, I hate the outdoors, pop music and fast food. Why show me ads for places to camp, discounts on CD-NOW, and contests with McDonalds?
Slashdot Mirror
Sharp has not been good in the past at releasing new technology items that get wide acceptance. I think you hit it on the head about their rush to market. As their product gets used and they identify bad features, problematic options, etc., they will mature their product like all their others. It takes Sharp time to do this, and their development costs are too huge for their budgets.
I tell you that the keyboard and the three-button mouse has become indispensable! I could not switch to trackballs back when they were making it big, and I could not go to a pen now. I cannot even figure out my handwriting anymore, much less work the stylus for my Palm.
Everything has its place. We still use RPG and COBOL where I work. Not because we think they are great languages, but rather because of costs associated with a change-over. So, using that same logic, there are people out there that would prefer to use OS/400 or UNIX over Windows because of long-time familiarity and stability. Hell, we still use Pick and MentorPro in places!
I guess what I am saying is "so what". Microsoft has disclosed the use of Linux for business critical function in their board report a few years ago. We also know that while eBay runs on IIS, the work really is on their database systems, which are on Sun equipment (AFAIK).
I would have liked it when I was at A&M if we ran Linux.
Turtledove has long been talked about on Usenet's alt.history.what-if and is known for his meticulous detailing of historical events. Other books he has out discuss alien invasions in the height of WWII, Columbus finding apemen in the new world, and alien colonization. Check him out -- I picked up all his books at Half Price Books for under $25.
By the way, if you are thinking of taking the RHCE course 300 (fast track for UNIX proficient people), I really enjoyed it.
They are something to the effect of
These most of the time are check fraud cases, but sometimes they are legitimate checks used in various money laundering schemes. Don't fall victim yourself.
Also, I have another client where the machines are named after planets, with the server being called THESUN, but one extremely annoying woman has URANUS.
I for one view this new era of the music industry keeping honest folks from ripping tracks on CD's rediculous. Even when tapes were the classy way to purchase music, I always bought vinyl. Usually for the extra inserts, but mostly for the larger image and the medium would last longer. I was very anal about my records, and would never play them unless I were dumping to a blank tape. Now I have begun this with CD's I play in the vehicles. My new view is that my purchased CD's NEVER leave the house. And, no more do I have to deal with a CD that I only like one song on taking up a slot in the CD changer. If the music industry makes ripping and burning impossible, they are doing honest customers a disservice. Of course, all this is moot in my scenario because the punk industry seems to "get it" with regard to music trading, bootlegs, MP3 files, etc.
Just my $0.02!
ooops!
Hasn't Arnold about had it with these types of movies? I mean, can his heart take much more?
Linux hades 2.0.36 #7 Sat Jan 9 16:46:55 CDT 1999 i686 unknown
hades:~$ uptime
3:21pm up 469 days, 22:16, 11 users, load average: 0.37, 0.32, 0.28
apollo:~$ uname -a ; uptime
Linux apollo 2.0.36 #3 Sat Jan 9 23:54:29 CST 1999 i686 unknown
3:22pm up 350 days, 19:43, 4 users, load average: 0.17, 0.12, 0.11
Just two of many enterprise boxen. Check out the uptime...Slackware is ready for primetime.
I listen to punk music and have always enjoyed the openness of the companies that sell the music for non-fans and fans alike to listen before buying. Most indie labels have inexpensive samplers or online mp3 download segments from artists. I listen to many obscure punk bands, and almost always there was a venue to hear them before buying. Toxic shock had the Shock Report with floppy 7" recording samplers. Notes in Thrasher Magazine was an excellent review resource. Flipside had samplers. Nowadays you have The Fat Club or Punk-O-Rama. Cheap CD offerings where you get about 10 to 15 different bands showcased. Enjoy!
Look at ICQ. It was fairly decent as an instant messaging client until the numbers hit one million or so and then it needed to control everything under the sun and companies could spam through it. File sharing happens through it all the time too.
I don't care if Gnutella cannot scale to the levels that Napster saw. Smaller is better in my opinion!
Ad banners have become an overlookable feature in most web pages. I would like to see further studies in targeted advertising. I mean, I hate the outdoors, pop music and fast food. Why show me ads for places to camp, discounts on CD-NOW, and contests with McDonalds?