The 'herd' who are trading from their home computer will nearly instantly begin selling their stocks
You seem to be labouring under the impression that Joe Punter and the are worth their current prices. Not because of what they're doing now, but because they're taking up the market share, ready for world domination in the future (OK, a little strong, but you get the picture). A foot in the door now will save megabucks in the future, both in terms of development costs and in terms of keeping customers.
Shops will shut and more effort will be put into selling on-line. Perhaps not next year, or in five years, but maybe in ten this'll start hitting. What does concern me, is the depression which will happen when retail jobs do start disappearing more quickly.
I wasn't going to post this when I saw exactly how many other useful references you've already been given, but then I remembered how useful it was to me to get an understanding of the background, I thought I would anyway.
Phil Zimmermann is the bloke who wrote PGP way way back. The preface to the book "PGP Source Code and Internals" is well worth a read. It gives his background and the curious circumstances surrounding the development of PGP.
While there's not enough to base a whole project on by any stretch of the imagination, it will give some useful background and insights from somebody who is (IMHO) very clearly anti-governmental control.
Anyways, a new Linux release is always good for the community
Pilot said:
And why, pray tell, is that?
Hmmm. OK. I see where you're coming from, however, I'm not talking about the stability of the systems provided. I guess I'm coming from the "there's no such thing as bad publicity" department.
My thinking works like this:
+ More products are released + These are advertised + Therefore there are more and more adverts + Therefore the catchment area for the adverts grows (even by accident, if there are more, then there is a greater chance of a person seeing at least one of them). + Therefore more people get to find hear about Linux + Therefore more good/useful/helpful people move into the Linux community and my original statement stands.
Well, according to their website, it now includes apache and sendmail... isn't that revolutionary?:-)
I realise that you are speaking with tongue in cheek, but this point is worth making anyway:
To us? Of course this isn't revolutionary. You must remember, however, that both Apache and Sendmail have been receiving a lot of press at the moment (at least, they have in the journals I am subscribed to). It would appear that RH are ensuring that 6.2 will be noticed by those PHBs who have heard of Apache and Sendmail - "Hey, Linux, Apache *AND* Sendmail in one package - must try that".
The thing which interests me though is the partionless installation - I can't seem to find any details about that. What is it? Why does the cynic in me think it just means it sorts out all your partitions for you, but that they still exist?
Anyways, a new Linux release is always good for the community, so raise your glasses ladies and gentlemen.....
I wonder if they can refuse to let me take it away without signing up for the service?
I have no doubt that they would argue that your deposit constituted a pledge on your part to purchase the product, and not a down payment on the product; the distinction is important. In the case of it being a pledge, you have no rights other than to your money back if they choose not to supply the equipment to you. In the case of a down payment, the ground is a bit murky, although I suspect that they would say that the product you requested is no longer available in the form you requested it in and just offer you your money back.
Either way, you have no rights unless they agreed, in writing, to supply the (exactly specified) equipment come hell or high water, and which company would be foolish enough to do that?
Even if you decide to take them to court, you stand no chance of winning. The devices were clearly sold to be used under certain terms and conditions, be they implicit or explicit. Regardless of what the licence said, you'd lose.
My advice - Try your luck, but don't complain if they say "new agreement or nothing".
However, as the article points out, the word "coke" is not used to mean the beverage in the French speaking world.
Only one tiny problem with that. French is one of three (four if you include Romanish (sp?)) spoken in Switzerland, the others being German and Italian. I've certainly ordered a coke by asking for "Ein mal Coke, bitte" here in Zuerich.
Managers want results. They also want to bragg about how qualified their staff are.
The result of this is staff who've been trained in techniques for this, that and the other, but managers who won't let them work according to those techniques.
All in all, it's a waste of time. Of course, that hasn't stopped me making a not inconsiderable amount of money by extolling the virtues of such training;-)
I've had people ask me If I thought their cars were Y2K complient! Now come on! Since when does an automobile even CARE what day it is?
While I don't believe the problem will be as great as some people's fears, it's attitudes like this which will be the cause of any problems we do experience.
Rumour has it that the only system to fail Y2K testing on the Boeing 747-400 was the automated machinery which pumps sewerage between holding tanks to maintain balance in the aircraft.
Now, why on earth would that need to know what date it is, let alone what year?
So, please don't assume people are stupid because you make assumptions on how other people write/program/build systems. If anything fails, it will be the obscure things which nobody has even considered.
I wouldn't call this rigging. The fact is that 'Steps' were being voted for by a load of prepubescent girlies and somebody drew a load of students' attentions to that. They (having a slightly better taste in music) voted accordingly.
Just depends whose shoes you're standing in I guess.
I thought he was being very specific - he's saying that you can't write news, news has to happen.
Of course, that completely misses the point of the 'Janes' article which, AFAIUI, is not news, but is an explanation of the threat of cyberterrorism and the possible ramifications. I'm looking forward to reading the finished text.
I'm completely torn now, do I go with Mandrake 6.1, or Caldera? Anyone have any suggestions?
Woah. What a question. Are you trying to start another 'my distro is better than yours' war?
OK. I'll give what is probably the most sensible advice you'll get. Since you didn't say exactly what you'll be doing with the installation, it's my guess that you're not too sure. If this is the case, get both distros (hell, get as many different ones as you can) and try them out. You'll find that you like different aspects of each distro, but you'll probably find one you like best - YMMV.
OK, so I don't know anything about driving a display unit other than by using analogue 15-pin SVGA ports.
Could this display be driven by a PC? If so, what sort of video card would you require? Is it likely to be completely proprietory (sp?) to Apple, or could one manage to get it running on a PC somehow?
Would anybody who knows more than me (i.e. more than nothing) care to explain it?
Hah. Nice try, but since the melting point of a styrofoam cup is about 150 degrees (IIRC) and the hottest a coffee could ever get is, ooh, maybe 103 absolute tops, it's hardly likely to be the truth now, is it?
Let's face it, anybody stupid enough to put a hot coffee between their legs while they're driving pretty much deserves what they get.
Going back to the subject of the Pepsi 7 mil bit, surely it doesn't matter whether it's 'reasonable' or not. They advertised it, they should be forced to stick to it. No questions.
If this is thrown out on appeal, what's to stop cigarette or beer adverts saying "Smoke/drink this and get laid every night" - after all, no 'reasonable' person would believe it, would they?
You can't have a computer without blinking lights. It just isn't right. Of course, they have to be genuine and linked up to a part of the live system though.
I seem to remember a project for the old BBC Model B computer which sat on your floppy cable and displayed track/sector numbers and data flow on some seven segment displays. Is something like this available for modern PCs? I don't know - show something like IDE/SCSI bandwidth and device utilisation or something like that.
Firstly, let me say where I agree with you. I believe that the author completely negated any point he was trying to make by lying in order to prove it. I won't bother to presume whether this attitude was caused by his viewing of particularly 'dodgy' films though.
BUT...
Puh-lease don't bring religion into this.
It's about moral values, yes. It's about people fitting into society, yes. It ain't about religion (now, bigotry, racism, homophobia and general one-upmanship - that's what modern day religion is all about, but don't get me started).
I don't have children, so I can't say hand on heart what I would do in this situation. However, what I can say is that I would be a far better parent than those who let their children wander about without knowing where the hell they are. I'd also let them enjoy their childhood and let them enjoy their innocence. I'd try to teach them right from wrong and to achieve their aims without lying.
Too many problems (at least in England) are caused by parents not giving a hoot about their kids and the state being too afraid to take on the parents job. I can't believe that seeing a film such as South Park will leave a favourable impression on a kid and IMHO, it is only an irresponsible parent who'd let an 8 or 9 year old watch it.
Just one piece of advice from somebody who's been there. Trust the people you delegate jobs to. If you spend your time checking they've done the right thing, or correcting it if it's not done quite the way you like it, you'll lose all the time you just gained.
My ISP in the UK is Demon, who have always charged £10 a month plus tax (total £11.75). Despite being in a different country now, I'm still using their web server and have noticed it really start to crawl (especially uploading at peak time). I've tried out a few of the free ISPs and they seem to have got their arses into gear vis-a-vis decent kit. I'll be staying with Demon though, but mainly cos too many people have got that address for me to move. Having said that, if their service continues to drop, I'll be changing.
A couple of companies in the UK have started up completely free services (i.e. free login, free call), based on targeted advertising. It'll be interesting to see how they survive.
Having read the article, I can't help but think that the problems is caused by two things:
1 - Extremely management 2 - Fools who aren't strong enough to tell their bosses to get stuffed.
The last place I worked at tried it on a couple of times, demanding that I come in at 3AM to sort out a problem caused by an idiot operator. Told them to bog off, they lost their (mission critical) system until I arrived at my normal time the next morning. Funnily enough, later the same day I was told that they'd decided to offer massive payments if I was ever called again.
Eventually I had enough. I left and started contracting. Now I'm paid 5 times as much, work a 42 hour week with no callouts and live in a different country. Still has to be said though that I won't be in IT by the time I hit 40.
Slashdot Mirror
The 'herd' who are trading from their home computer will nearly instantly begin selling their stocks
You seem to be labouring under the impression that Joe Punter and the are worth their current prices. Not because of what they're doing now, but because they're taking up the market share, ready for world domination in the future (OK, a little strong, but you get the picture). A foot in the door now will save megabucks in the future, both in terms of development costs and in terms of keeping customers.
Shops will shut and more effort will be put into selling on-line. Perhaps not next year, or in five years, but maybe in ten this'll start hitting. What does concern me, is the depression which will happen when retail jobs do start disappearing more quickly.
Nick.
I'm still looking forward to the day when transmeta based portables are available. Mmmm many hours of constant use...
OK. You go for Transmeta, I'll go for an ARM CPU. Lower power consumption and faster processing, so even more hours of constant use for me.
Nick (who's expecting to be moderated down by somebody whose God is Transmeta).
I wasn't going to post this when I saw exactly how many other useful references you've already been given, but then I remembered how useful it was to me to get an understanding of the background, I thought I would anyway.
Phil Zimmermann is the bloke who wrote PGP way way back. The preface to the book "PGP Source Code and Internals" is well worth a read. It gives his background and the curious circumstances surrounding the development of PGP.
While there's not enough to base a whole project on by any stretch of the imagination, it will give some useful background and insights from somebody who is (IMHO) very clearly anti-governmental control.
Nick.
I said:
;-)
Anyways, a new Linux release is always good for the community
Pilot said:
And why, pray tell, is that?
Hmmm. OK. I see where you're coming from, however, I'm not talking about the stability of the systems provided. I guess I'm coming from the "there's no such thing as bad publicity" department.
My thinking works like this:
+ More products are released
+ These are advertised
+ Therefore there are more and more adverts
+ Therefore the catchment area for the adverts grows (even by accident, if there are more, then there is a greater chance of a person seeing at least one of them).
+ Therefore more people get to find hear about Linux
+ Therefore more good/useful/helpful people move into the Linux community and my original statement stands.
Works for me anyway
Nick.
Well, according to their website, it now includes apache and sendmail... isn't that revolutionary? :-)
I realise that you are speaking with tongue in cheek, but this point is worth making anyway:
To us? Of course this isn't revolutionary. You must remember, however, that both Apache and Sendmail have been receiving a lot of press at the moment (at least, they have in the journals I am subscribed to). It would appear that RH are ensuring that 6.2 will be noticed by those PHBs who have heard of Apache and Sendmail - "Hey, Linux, Apache *AND* Sendmail in one package - must try that".
The thing which interests me though is the partionless installation - I can't seem to find any details about that. What is it? Why does the cynic in me think it just means it sorts out all your partitions for you, but that they still exist?
Anyways, a new Linux release is always good for the community, so raise your glasses ladies and gentlemen.....
Nick.
I wonder if they can refuse to let me take it away without signing up for the service?
I have no doubt that they would argue that your deposit constituted a pledge on your part to purchase the product, and not a down payment on the product; the distinction is important. In the case of it being a pledge, you have no rights other than to your money back if they choose not to supply the equipment to you. In the case of a down payment, the ground is a bit murky, although I suspect that they would say that the product you requested is no longer available in the form you requested it in and just offer you your money back.
Either way, you have no rights unless they agreed, in writing, to supply the (exactly specified) equipment come hell or high water, and which company would be foolish enough to do that?
Even if you decide to take them to court, you stand no chance of winning. The devices were clearly sold to be used under certain terms and conditions, be they implicit or explicit. Regardless of what the licence said, you'd lose.
My advice - Try your luck, but don't complain if they say "new agreement or nothing".
Nick.
However, as the article points out, the word "coke" is not used to mean the beverage in the French speaking world.
Only one tiny problem with that. French is one of three (four if you include Romanish (sp?)) spoken in Switzerland, the others being German and Italian. I've certainly ordered a coke by asking for "Ein mal Coke, bitte" here in Zuerich.
Nick.
Something's weird about this question.
I'm glad it's not just me who thinks that. The exact same thought passed through my head as I read the question for the first time.
I rather suspect the question was created to get somebody's name up in lights than for any other reason
Nick.
Linux ..... But there isn't a single teacher smart enough to set that up.
I may be missing the point here, but surely teachers are meant to teach, not sysadmin?
Nick.
Managers want results. They also want to bragg about how qualified their staff are.
;-)
The result of this is staff who've been trained in techniques for this, that and the other, but managers who won't let them work according to those techniques.
All in all, it's a waste of time. Of course, that hasn't stopped me making a not inconsiderable amount of money by extolling the virtues of such training
Nick.
I've had people ask me If I thought their cars were Y2K complient! Now come on! Since when does an automobile even CARE what day it is?
While I don't believe the problem will be as great as some people's fears, it's attitudes like this which will be the cause of any problems we do experience.
Rumour has it that the only system to fail Y2K testing on the Boeing 747-400 was the automated machinery which pumps sewerage between holding tanks to maintain balance in the aircraft.
Now, why on earth would that need to know what date it is, let alone what year?
So, please don't assume people are stupid because you make assumptions on how other people write/program/build systems. If anything fails, it will be the obscure things which nobody has even considered.
Nick.
I wouldn't call this rigging. The fact is that 'Steps' were being voted for by a load of prepubescent girlies and somebody drew a load of students' attentions to that. They (having a slightly better taste in music) voted accordingly.
Just depends whose shoes you're standing in I guess.
Nick.
Slash. Period. (British English)
I don't think so matey. Periods is what them girly people have once a month. What you meant was:
Slash. Fullstop. (British English)
Nick.
I thought he was being very specific - he's saying that you can't write news, news has to happen.
Of course, that completely misses the point of the 'Janes' article which, AFAIUI, is not news, but is an explanation of the threat of cyberterrorism and the possible ramifications. I'm looking forward to reading the finished text.
Nick.
Hmm. So, what happens if we all rate our sites as containing hard-core, incest, beastiality and vulgar language?
Easy. The entire system breaks down.
Sorted.
Nick.
Woah. What a question. Are you trying to start another 'my distro is better than yours' war?
OK. I'll give what is probably the most sensible advice you'll get. Since you didn't say exactly what you'll be doing with the installation, it's my guess that you're not too sure. If this is the case, get both distros (hell, get as many different ones as you can) and try them out. You'll find that you like different aspects of each distro, but you'll probably find one you like best - YMMV.
Nick.
OK, so I don't know anything about driving a display unit other than by using analogue 15-pin SVGA ports.
Could this display be driven by a PC? If so, what sort of video card would you require? Is it likely to be completely proprietory (sp?) to Apple, or could one manage to get it running on a PC somehow?
Would anybody who knows more than me (i.e. more than nothing) care to explain it?
Thanks.
Nick.
Hah. Nice try, but since the melting point of a styrofoam cup is about 150 degrees (IIRC) and the hottest a coffee could ever get is, ooh, maybe 103 absolute tops, it's hardly likely to be the truth now, is it?
Let's face it, anybody stupid enough to put a hot coffee between their legs while they're driving pretty much deserves what they get.
Going back to the subject of the Pepsi 7 mil bit, surely it doesn't matter whether it's 'reasonable' or not. They advertised it, they should be forced to stick to it. No questions.
If this is thrown out on appeal, what's to stop cigarette or beer adverts saying "Smoke/drink this and get laid every night" - after all, no 'reasonable' person would believe it, would they?
Nick.
You can't have a computer without blinking lights. It just isn't right. Of course, they have to be genuine and linked up to a part of the live system though.
I seem to remember a project for the old BBC Model B computer which sat on your floppy cable and displayed track/sector numbers and data flow on some seven segment displays. Is something like this available for modern PCs? I don't know - show something like IDE/SCSI bandwidth and device utilisation or something like that.
Nick.
Hmmm.
Firstly, let me say where I agree with you. I believe that the author completely negated any point he was trying to make by lying in order to prove it. I won't bother to presume whether this attitude was caused by his viewing of particularly 'dodgy' films though.
BUT...
Puh-lease don't bring religion into this.
It's about moral values, yes. It's about people fitting into society, yes. It ain't about religion (now, bigotry, racism, homophobia and general one-upmanship - that's what modern day religion is all about, but don't get me started).
I don't have children, so I can't say hand on heart what I would do in this situation. However, what I can say is that I would be a far better parent than those who let their children wander about without knowing where the hell they are. I'd also let them enjoy their childhood and let them enjoy their innocence. I'd try to teach them right from wrong and to achieve their aims without lying.
Too many problems (at least in England) are caused by parents not giving a hoot about their kids and the state being too afraid to take on the parents job. I can't believe that seeing a film such as South Park will leave a favourable impression on a kid and IMHO, it is only an irresponsible parent who'd let an 8 or 9 year old watch it.
Nick.
Well, I'm not going to flame you, sounds to me a pretty fair comment you're making.
I'd make one other suggestion though. How about a upcoming-IPOs-which-will-make-you-very-rich category, or is that asking too much?
Nick Barnes
(who's missed out on every single IPO going so far)
Well done. This is certainly good news.
Just one piece of advice from somebody who's been there. Trust the people you delegate jobs to. If you spend your time checking they've done the right thing, or correcting it if it's not done quite the way you like it, you'll lose all the time you just gained.
Keep up the good work.
Nick.
For 'to NT' read 'from NT'.
;-)
Maybe I'm more mindless than I thought
Nick.
My ISP in the UK is Demon, who have always charged £10 a month plus tax (total £11.75). Despite being in a different country now, I'm still using their web server and have noticed it really start to crawl (especially uploading at peak time). I've tried out a few of the free ISPs and they seem to have got their arses into gear vis-a-vis decent kit. I'll be staying with Demon though, but mainly cos too many people have got that address for me to move. Having said that, if their service continues to drop, I'll be changing.
A couple of companies in the UK have started up completely free services (i.e. free login, free call), based on targeted advertising. It'll be interesting to see how they survive.
Having read the article, I can't help but think that the problems is caused by two things:
1 - Extremely management
2 - Fools who aren't strong enough to tell their bosses to get stuffed.
The last place I worked at tried it on a couple of times, demanding that I come in at 3AM to sort out a problem caused by an idiot operator. Told them to bog off, they lost their (mission critical) system until I arrived at my normal time the next morning. Funnily enough, later the same day I was told that they'd decided to offer massive payments if I was ever called again.
Eventually I had enough. I left and started contracting. Now I'm paid 5 times as much, work a 42 hour week with no callouts and live in a different country. Still has to be said though that I won't be in IT by the time I hit 40.