I have to say that I completely disagree with your quality assement of Belkin's line of KVM switches. I have tried several Belkins; a 2 port, 4 port and 16 port and they have all had various problems. Machines randomly freeze after about a month of uptime which is simply unacceptable. My linux boxes never crashed before I had a Belkin connected.
The only line of KVMs I've been able to find which are very reliable (i.e. > 6 months uptime without problems) are made by Raritan. Sure, they cost a little more, but are definitely worth it.
As an aside, Belkin's support was horrendous. My OmniCube actually came with a TurboLinux cd, and had a "linux supported" sticker on the box. Yet, when I phoned in and complained about lockups and said I was using linux, they said, "you're using what? We don't support that."
I would just like to take this opportunity to thank the guys at Precision Insight, SGI, and XFree for the great work they have been doing on the direct rendering infrastructure. I think this is one of the most exciting changes to X for linux, and after hearing the talks on the subject at linux expo, and talking directly to a few of the guys, I honestly believe they are doing a great job.
Daryll makes a good point above that people should realize this impacts not only game playing, but could create a larger general awareness of linux from larger ISVs, and the users of their products.
The latest news that Brian has joined PI has me thrilled. This was the exact right move. Congratulations to all involved in the project.
I would suggest that it is important to get to know your field of interest, and the key players in that field before embarking on your path to a decision. For example, is there a school with a concentration of people who could be considered pioneers, or is there just one person who may not be able to give you the amount of time that you deserve, because they are simply over burdened.
It's often hard as an undergrad to know who is doing what, so you should try to find articles which could be considered "suveys" of the field, as these will often point to other researchers with a small summary of what they have contributed. Keep in mind that grad school is focussed mostly on research, not taking classes. Therefore, any snooping you do in the field will only help you later on.
Once you are armed with references to people, find them on the web and see where they teach. You may be surprised. For example, Tarjan, one of the leaders in data structure research, is at Princeton, although people don't often think of Princeton as a computer science school. Terzopolis (biologically based modelling/animation) is at University of Toronto (also where Cook proved the first NP complete problem!). Although going to a big name school can be enticing, you may be much happier at a smaller (name) school where you can really focus on your research and can actually find your advisor.
As a final comment, I would suggest you not limit your search to the United States. Although they do have strong schools, other countries have equally strong schools, if not stronger. This will become evident to you as you peruse the publications in your field.
Slashdot Mirror
I have to say that I completely disagree with your quality assement of Belkin's line of KVM switches. I have tried several Belkins; a 2 port, 4 port and 16 port and they have all had various problems. Machines randomly freeze after about a month of uptime which is simply unacceptable. My linux boxes never crashed before I had a Belkin connected.
The only line of KVMs I've been able to find which are very reliable (i.e. > 6 months uptime without problems) are made by Raritan. Sure, they cost a little more, but are definitely worth it.
As an aside, Belkin's support was horrendous. My OmniCube actually came with a TurboLinux cd, and had a "linux supported" sticker on the box. Yet, when I phoned in and complained about lockups and said I was using linux, they said, "you're using what? We don't support that."
I would just like to take this opportunity to thank the guys at Precision Insight, SGI, and XFree for the great work they have been doing on the direct rendering infrastructure. I think this is one of the most exciting changes to X for linux, and after hearing the talks on the subject at linux expo, and talking directly to a few of the guys, I honestly believe they are doing a great job.
Daryll makes a good point above that people should realize this impacts not only game playing, but could create a larger general awareness of linux from larger ISVs, and the users of their products.
The latest news that Brian has joined PI has me thrilled. This was the exact right move. Congratulations to all involved in the project.
Eric
I would suggest that it is important to get to know your field of interest, and the key players in that field before embarking on your path to a decision. For example, is there a school with a concentration of people who could be considered pioneers, or is there just one person who may not be able to give you the amount of time that you deserve, because they are simply over burdened.
It's often hard as an undergrad to know who is doing what, so you should try to find articles which could be considered "suveys" of the field, as these will often point to other researchers with a small summary of what they have contributed. Keep in mind that grad school is focussed mostly on research, not taking classes. Therefore, any snooping you do in the field will only help you later on.
Once you are armed with references to people, find them on the web and see where they teach. You may be surprised. For example, Tarjan, one of the leaders in data structure research, is at Princeton, although people don't often think of Princeton as a computer science school. Terzopolis (biologically based modelling/animation) is at University of Toronto (also where Cook proved the first NP complete problem!). Although going to a big name school can be enticing, you may be much happier at a smaller (name) school where you can really focus on your research and can actually find your advisor.
As a final comment, I would suggest you not limit your search to the United States. Although they do have strong schools, other countries have equally strong schools, if not stronger. This will become evident to you as you peruse the publications in your field.
Eric