Option 1: ReadyNAS Duo (built in torrent client) + WD TV Live (simple remote) Option 2: Ubuntu server on network + PS3MediaServer + Sony PS3 (enable HDMI CEC for use with TV remote) Option 3: Fritz!Box 7270 + USB HDD + PS3 as DLNA client / built in DLNA client on TV Option 4: ASRock ION330 + Ubuntu Option 5: Mac Mini + Apple Remote + Plex / XBMC + NAS/USB HDD
The key bottle neck is the network, if you can run LAN cables no worries, if you decide to go wireless 802.11n will do fine for 720p, 1080p is pushing it
Best piece of electronics I've owned, bar none. Sip telephony, answering machine, nas, print server, fax, dsl modem, dect base station, wireless N 300 mbps with triple antennas, usb port for 3g modem fall back connectivity, vpn server, firewall, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some features here.
Runs linux, and hacker community has extended firmware to run p2p daemon for example.
Two undersea telecommunication cables were cut on Tuesday evening, knocking out Internet access to much of Egypt, disrupting the world's back office in India and slowing down service for some Verizon customers.
One cable was damaged near Alexandria, Egypt, and the other in the waters off Marseille, France, telecommunications operators said. The two cables, which are separately managed and operated, were damaged within hours of each other. Damage to undersea cables, while rare, can result from movement of geologic faults or possibly from the dragging anchor of a ship./snip/
One of the affected cables stretches from France through the Mediterranean and Red Seas, then around India to Singapore. Known as Sea Me We 4, the cable is owned by 16 telecommunications companies along its route.
The second cable, known as the Flag (for Fiber-optic Link Around the Globe) System, runs from Britain to Japan.
Internet service providers in India have put the disruption at 60 per cent of normal services while those in Egypt have been affected up to 70 per cent.
Dell actually gives discounts, so it's not uncommon to get 10-30% off the sticker price, Apple is famous for hitting retailers on the head when they offer a discount.
It's actually still more ancient Indian technology, or Egyptian or Mesopotamian or Chinese. The first mathematical proof coming from India.
Written sometime between 800 - 500 BC in India, the Sulba Sutras contain a statement of the Pythagorean theorem and a list of Pythagorean triples discovered algebraically. The Apastamba Sulba Sutra (c. 600 BC) also contains a numerical proof of the theorem, using an area computation. (Numerical proof is a proof that uses specific numbers but in such a way that it can be generalized.) Van der Waerden believes that "it was certainly based on earlier traditions". According to Albert Brk, this is the original proof of the theorem, and Pythagoras copied it. Many scholars find Brk's claim unsubstantiated, however. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras_theorem
Damn straight - yet another India story, and yet another transmogrification of/. into a klan meeting. Actually I'm kinda suprised at the lack of venom in this page; it must be because the primary actors here are WHITE swiss kids.
Exactly when did I begin to peg/. down as a racist cabal? Must have been around the time them India stories started to get noticed. No, this was well after/. had stopped being cool; the good people had left or actively lurked.
Is it the relative anonymity of the web that causes these racist feelings to flow freely ?
Where were the racist bigots on/. hiding when I lived in America ? Were they the ones with the polite plastic smiles that I could never figure out ?
Globalization is good for you. I know I love America, and I love the countless Americans who are friends, bosom buddies, mentors, peers and even family (3 cousins to be exact are married to White Americans).
I got to know first-hand what it feels like to be brown in a white country, but fortunately for those of you planning on moving to India, being non-brown is not a crime here.
The RIAA,MS, Apple and every other online music vendor wants you to think that MP3 is dead. This is just the latest salvo in that direction.
As long as MP3 remains the most popular format people are never going to see protected media formats as the better option. If enough people stop using MP3, the mp3 lifestyle can be killed locking people into one DRM format or the other. The music war will really settle down then between WMA vs. AAC, MS vs. Apple, Sony vs. Ipod - wars that MS/Sony is effective at waging. At the moment Mp3 creates an escape route for the customer from each of these wars. MS doesn't like MP3s for the same reason it doesn't like Linux, it gives customers a choice.
Making MP3 illegal/evil/inferior/useless is the ultimate quest of the evil empire.
I notice a major problem with this operation. What about webmail? Hotmail.com although started by an Indian is located in the USA. Are they also going to monitor all HTTP traffic? Infact 100 to 1 I'd bet that a terrorist wouldn't be using POP3. I mean you'd rather lug an AK47 than a laptop. Plus he can walk into any browsing center and log into his account. What about those super secure webmails that have 128 bit encrypted java applets which act as you MUAs? Heck I can get a web mail account from Russia if I wanted.
BTW, a lot of incorrect facts about India have been bandied about, and being in the heart of it all, (I live and hack in India) I'd like to set facts straight.
a)
Myth: There is only one ISP in India
Fact: There are hundreds of ISPs in India. VSNL was the sole ISP only till 1998. Even the CIA world fact book gets the major ISPs right. There are 48 major ISPs! (read Class A).
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ in.html
I get cable at home in Madras from a gateway in Singapore (singnet). It travels via a dedicated undersea line that is not government controlled. Heck even my DNS lookup goes to Singapore (3000 odd kms.) Mine is a Class B ISP that the CIA page does not even recognise. There are Classes A through E! So, no there isn't one major check point like China.
b)
Myth: Internet penetration in India is low.
Fact:There are millions (literally) of cybercafes in India. Satyam iWay , one of the medium sized chains has some 400 iWays with global profile and roaming facility and they say they have 12.5 million users. And these are only located in the major cities, what about the rest of India. Nin-urban population comprises 85% of India. You are looking at a staggering number of people in the billions.
c)
Myth: Hindi & English are the only languages that are important.
Fact: Hindi & English yes, but India has 2000+ languages, and only 15 official ones. Try any Indian email service even the web based ones like rediff.com and you'll find more than 10 languages in which you can send an email.
d)
Myth: Encryption is not avaialble easily
Fact: Encryption is freely available. Heck ever heard of GPG anyone? or PGP? It's only 5 minutes to download... even in India. Besides we have the largest number of software professionals in the world. Wanna reconsider?
e)
Myth: The government doesn't have mammoth computing resources
Fact: Yes, super computers like the Cray were not allowed into India until recently. So we had to build our own (Param). We built the Like all governments in the world they are still coming to terms with the technology, but they do have tons of cash, so don't put it past them to be on top of things given a while.
Java may have come of age on the server, but as a desktop user experience it still has a long way to go.
The GUI toolkit (AWT / Swing) is fairly slow and prone to problems, especially if you try anything too fancy. Your own words "VERY large scale middleware Java RMI server architecture" and "VERY large website" indicate that almost all of your excellent experience has been on the server.
After those mega projects on Java, obviously Java would be occupying something like 98% of your brain;-), and C / C++ could have been a distant memory. No surprise then that you chose Java.
Speaking to a serial port is speaking to a serial port irrespective of whether it was to a RISC computer on a car or a PC. A C / C++ / Kylix / app would have worked just fine.
I understand the merits of Java lie inherently in its maintainability. As far as portability goes, often one is forced to add a liitle C code via JNI to help out slower portions of Java code. This sort of thing as you should know was standard practice even in the C world where certain things like serial I/O would be done in ASM. There begins your problem of portability.
According to Bjarne Stroustroup his single biggest failing was to create a comprehensive set of packages for C++ as Java has. A platform with a standard set of packages is no doubt enticing.
I don't condemn Java outright, but in the end, you must do a hallway test. Write a nice fat GUI Java app, grab a person (non-techie) walking down the hallway, don't tell her what fantastic things it does over the network, just ask her to play around with it. In a few minutes you'll hear groans like "Why isn't this scroll bar responding? Maybe you should buy a newer machine!". Don't bother explaining to them that you have 128MB of RAM on that machine. Thank them for their time and pick up that old "C++ - Motif" book !:-)
Need I bother with the trivial fact that developer machines are significantly better endowed than a 486 in a college lab?
Also dependancy problems like needing a Java runtime. Most machines on a college network won't have a JRE and that's a significant 9MB or more. Bloatware anyone?
There is MainSoft, which has worked in the past with Microsoft to port the Win32 API to various *nix platforms.
<p>IIRC, IE for Solaris was created using this.
<p>Have a look at this <a href="http://www.mainsoft.com/flashdemo/mainsoft.s wf" target="_blank">flash intro</a>, hmm.. reminds me of those teleshopping ads...., funny but informative. For best effect open it to full screen.
<p>Also look at <a href="http://www.wxwindows.org/">WxWindows</a>. They say it supports network programming, well atleast it's free.
<p><b>Caveat: </b>Mainsoft is $$$_expensive_.
Slashdot Mirror
India to build only the world's 5th ever neutrino observatory at 1/4th the cost of an Indian home http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antilia_(building)
'nuff said - two of the worst security records and they want to merge.
Option 1: ReadyNAS Duo (built in torrent client) + WD TV Live (simple remote)
Option 2: Ubuntu server on network + PS3MediaServer + Sony PS3 (enable HDMI CEC for use with TV remote)
Option 3: Fritz!Box 7270 + USB HDD + PS3 as DLNA client / built in DLNA client on TV
Option 4: ASRock ION330 + Ubuntu
Option 5: Mac Mini + Apple Remote + Plex / XBMC + NAS/USB HDD
The key bottle neck is the network, if you can run LAN cables no worries, if you decide to go wireless 802.11n will do fine for 720p, 1080p is pushing it
http://www.avm.de/en/Produkte/FRITZBox/FRITZ_Box_Fon_WLAN_7270/index.php
Best piece of electronics I've owned, bar none. Sip telephony, answering machine, nas, print server, fax, dsl modem, dect base station, wireless N 300 mbps with triple antennas, usb port for 3g modem fall back connectivity, vpn server, firewall, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some features here.
Runs linux, and hacker community has extended firmware to run p2p daemon for example.
Since when did Apple start taking lessons from M$?
Seriously given the magnitude of this, /. could have come up with a more factual and informative writeup.
/snip/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/business/worldbusiness/31cable.html?ref=business
Two undersea telecommunication cables were cut on Tuesday evening, knocking out Internet access to much of Egypt, disrupting the world's back office in India and slowing down service for some Verizon customers.
One cable was damaged near Alexandria, Egypt, and the other in the waters off Marseille, France, telecommunications operators said. The two cables, which are separately managed and operated, were damaged within hours of each other. Damage to undersea cables, while rare, can result from movement of geologic faults or possibly from the dragging anchor of a ship.
One of the affected cables stretches from France through the Mediterranean and Red Seas, then around India to Singapore. Known as Sea Me We 4, the cable is owned by 16 telecommunications companies along its route.
The second cable, known as the Flag (for Fiber-optic Link Around the Globe) System, runs from Britain to Japan.
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080039928&ch=1/31/2008%208:29:00%20AM
Internet service providers in India have put the disruption at 60 per cent of normal services while those in Egypt have been affected up to 70 per cent.
Dell actually gives discounts, so it's not uncommon to get 10-30% off the sticker price, Apple is famous for hitting retailers on the head when they offer a discount.
It's actually still more ancient Indian technology, or Egyptian or Mesopotamian or Chinese. The first mathematical proof coming from India.
Written sometime between 800 - 500 BC in India, the Sulba Sutras contain a statement of the Pythagorean theorem and a list of Pythagorean triples discovered algebraically. The Apastamba Sulba Sutra (c. 600 BC) also contains a numerical proof of the theorem, using an area computation. (Numerical proof is a proof that uses specific numbers but in such a way that it can be generalized.) Van der Waerden believes that "it was certainly based on earlier traditions". According to Albert Brk, this is the original proof of the theorem, and Pythagoras copied it. Many scholars find Brk's claim unsubstantiated, however.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras_theorem
Damn straight - yet another India story, and yet another transmogrification of /. into a klan meeting. Actually I'm kinda suprised at the lack of venom in this page; it must be because the primary actors here are WHITE swiss kids.
/. down as a racist cabal? Must have been around the time them India stories started to get noticed. No, this was well after /. had stopped being cool; the good people had left or actively lurked.
/. hiding when I lived in America ? Were they the ones with the polite plastic smiles that I could never figure out ?
Exactly when did I begin to peg
Is it the relative anonymity of the web that causes these racist feelings to flow freely ?
Where were the racist bigots on
Globalization is good for you. I know I love America, and I love the countless Americans who are friends, bosom buddies, mentors, peers and even family (3 cousins to be exact are married to White Americans).
I got to know first-hand what it feels like to be brown in a white country, but fortunately for those of you planning on moving to India, being non-brown is not a crime here.
Welcome...
Someone mod the parent up, it's spot on...
The RIAA,MS, Apple and every other online music vendor wants you to think that MP3 is dead. This is just the latest salvo in that direction.
As long as MP3 remains the most popular format people are never going to see protected media formats as the better option. If enough people stop using MP3, the mp3 lifestyle can be killed locking people into one DRM format or the other. The music war will really settle down then between WMA vs. AAC, MS vs. Apple, Sony vs. Ipod - wars that MS/Sony is effective at waging. At the moment Mp3 creates an escape route for the customer from each of these wars. MS doesn't like MP3s for the same reason it doesn't like Linux, it gives customers a choice.
Making MP3 illegal/evil/inferior/useless is the ultimate quest of the evil empire.
I notice a major problem with this operation. What about webmail? Hotmail.com although started by an Indian is located in the USA. Are they also going to monitor all HTTP traffic? Infact 100 to 1 I'd bet that a terrorist wouldn't be using POP3. I mean you'd rather lug an AK47 than a laptop. Plus he can walk into any browsing center and log into his account. What about those super secure webmails that have 128 bit encrypted java applets which act as you MUAs? Heck I can get a web mail account from Russia if I wanted.
/ in.html
BTW, a lot of incorrect facts about India have been bandied about, and being in the heart of it all, (I live and hack in India) I'd like to set facts straight.
a)
Myth: There is only one ISP in India
Fact: There are hundreds of ISPs in India. VSNL was the sole ISP only till 1998. Even the CIA world fact book gets the major ISPs right. There are 48 major ISPs! (read Class A).
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos
I get cable at home in Madras from a gateway in Singapore (singnet). It travels via a dedicated undersea line that is not government controlled. Heck even my DNS lookup goes to Singapore (3000 odd kms.) Mine is a Class B ISP that the CIA page does not even recognise. There are Classes A through E! So, no there isn't one major check point like China.
b)
Myth: Internet penetration in India is low.
Fact:There are millions (literally) of cybercafes in India. Satyam iWay , one of the medium sized chains has some 400 iWays with global profile and roaming facility and they say they have 12.5 million users. And these are only located in the major cities, what about the rest of India. Nin-urban population comprises 85% of India. You are looking at a staggering number of people in the billions.
c)
Myth: Hindi & English are the only languages that are important.
Fact: Hindi & English yes, but India has 2000+ languages, and only 15 official ones. Try any Indian email service even the web based ones like rediff.com and you'll find more than 10 languages in which you can send an email.
d)
Myth: Encryption is not avaialble easily
Fact: Encryption is freely available. Heck ever heard of GPG anyone? or PGP? It's only 5 minutes to download... even in India. Besides we have the largest number of software professionals in the world. Wanna reconsider?
e)
Myth: The government doesn't have mammoth computing resources
Fact: Yes, super computers like the Cray were not allowed into India until recently. So we had to build our own (Param). We built the Like all governments in the world they are still coming to terms with the technology, but they do have tons of cash, so don't put it past them to be on top of things given a while.
Java is a four letter word! ;-)
Java may have come of age on the server, but as a desktop user experience it still has a long way to go.
The GUI toolkit (AWT / Swing) is fairly slow and prone to problems, especially if you try anything too fancy. Your own words "VERY large scale middleware Java RMI server architecture" and "VERY large website" indicate that almost all of your excellent experience has been on the server.
After those mega projects on Java, obviously Java would be occupying something like 98% of your brain ;-), and C / C++ could have been a distant memory. No surprise then that you chose Java.
Speaking to a serial port is speaking to a serial port irrespective of whether it was to a RISC computer on a car or a PC. A C / C++ / Kylix / app would have worked just fine.
I understand the merits of Java lie inherently in its maintainability. As far as portability goes, often one is forced to add a liitle C code via JNI to help out slower portions of Java code. This sort of thing as you should know was standard practice even in the C world where certain things like serial I/O would be done in ASM. There begins your problem of portability.
According to Bjarne Stroustroup his single biggest failing was to create a comprehensive set of packages for C++ as Java has. A platform with a standard set of packages is no doubt enticing.
I don't condemn Java outright, but in the end, you must do a hallway test. Write a nice fat GUI Java app, grab a person (non-techie) walking down the hallway, don't tell her what fantastic things it does over the network, just ask her to play around with it. In a few minutes you'll hear groans like "Why isn't this scroll bar responding? Maybe you should buy a newer machine!". Don't bother explaining to them that you have 128MB of RAM on that machine. Thank them for their time and pick up that old "C++ - Motif" book ! :-)
Need I bother with the trivial fact that developer machines are significantly better endowed than a 486 in a college lab?
Also dependancy problems like needing a Java runtime. Most machines on a college network won't have a JRE and that's a significant 9MB or more. Bloatware anyone?
There is MainSoft, which has worked in the past with Microsoft to port the Win32 API to various *nix platforms.s wf" target="_blank">flash intro</a>, hmm.. reminds me of those teleshopping ads...., funny but informative. For best effect open it to full screen.
<p>IIRC, IE for Solaris was created using this.
<p>Have a look at this <a href="http://www.mainsoft.com/flashdemo/mainsoft.
<p>Also look at <a href="http://www.wxwindows.org/">WxWindows</a>. They say it supports network programming, well atleast it's free.
<p><b>Caveat: </b>Mainsoft is $$$_expensive_.