I'm talking about keeping Windows up to date with patches, not installing new software. Windows pops up an alert telling me I need a new patch. I click on "Review and Install" and it happens.
Your point about clicking EULAs is well taken, but I don't have to go looking for Windows patches, they come looking for me.
For this, Windows is easier. You can argue about other things and I can tell you how I can't get any real work done under windows, etc., but patching the system is still easier in Windows (assuming you don't want to go the fully automatic route with either OS).
5) Make is so that my PC can get updated just by clicking on items and not chasing down library incompatiblites or typing "rpm --force" or "make install" or whatever.
Mandrake. Almost as easy as Windows (no automatic checking mode turned on). Redhat's up2date is pretty much the same.
Re:PowerPC Linux users had compiled boot 'scripts'
on
Booting Linux Faster
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· Score: 1
The latest versions of Mandrake do something like this. They start X after networking but before all the networking services (ntp, ssh, cups, cron) are started. It makes a slight difference.
My only point was that windows users have to get used to different toolkits too since third party apps use them. The situation is worse in Linux with two popular modern toolkits and lots of legacy ones, but it is far from perfect in Windows.
Is that sticker price or what you can negotiate in a deal?
When I was looking only the Prius was available and you had to pay sticker for that. I got my Civic EX for a couple of thousand under sticker (I think).
Will cause gas prices to rise -- see econ 101 supply vs. demand.
How's that again? You must have taken a very different econ class from any I ever did.
The "supply" of oil is a function of the price. Higher prices mean more oil becomes economically recoverable. If the demand for oil drops, the oil that is cheapest to pump gets pumped. The rest sits in the ground.
Of course, the problem is that the cheapest oil to pump isn't governed by free market forces, it is price controlled (OPEC), so requiring less isn't necessarily going to mean much downward pressure on the price, but it certainly won't cause the price to go up.
Maybe you are thinking of economies of scale, but oil production is so far beyond the point where that is changing.
While I agree that consistency is very important, Windows is not very consistent either. Last time I looked, Windows Media Player (a MS product) has a very different interface (look and feel) than windows or IE. Plus there are all the 3rd party apps like WinAmp that are TOTALLY different. The monitoring/overclocking control for my motherboard tries to look like an console game pad.
Mac may be better. I haven't really used one in years.
Why is it illegal for North Korea or Iraq to supposedly have a nuclear / chemical weapons program, when US-Israel have the most enthusiastic nuclear & chemical weapons programs on Earth with full, offical government funding, and no-one bats an eyelid?
Simple. Both Iraq and North Korea have signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. The USA has also signed, which binds it to make progress towards giving up nuclear weapons on an unspecified time table.
Israel, India, Pakistan, and some other countries have not signed.
So as a matter of International law, Iraq's nuclear program (which they did have in the past) and North Korea's were illegal. I believe NK has since withdrawn from the NNPT. There is a timetable for doing that, so I don't know if, by continuing to develop nuclear weapons, they are still in violation.
The people most likely to use their WOMD for terrorism are the US-Israeli people.
That'll be a surprise to those attacked on the Tokyo subway with sarin. (We've already seen terrorists use chemical weapons).
I have a cordless mouse keyboard set from Logitech too. The drivers do a couple of nice things.
First, they can tell you what the battery levels in your devices are. Second, they let you map all the extra buttons on the mouse to actions. (Maybe the default drivers do too, I can't remember).
Finally, since there are no Num/Caps/Scroll lock lights on the keyboard (since it is battery powered) they will flash a notification on the screen when you push these buttons. (Earlier versions would place 3 icons in your system tray.)
So they are useful.
Re:underrated small probe vs. overrated expensive
on
Goodbye, Galileo
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· Score: 1
Both Voyagers sent us a lot less data but the data was publicised much more energetically.
Agreed, but the Pioneers and Voyagers were out there early and were sending back spectacular photographs, which is what the public gets enthused about. By the time Galileo was there, that'd been done several times, so the public was less interested. And they probably don't care at all about the geology of the moons or the make-up of the atmosphere.
I don't know that we should expect anything else.
Re:Communications potential of space probes?
on
Goodbye, Galileo
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· Score: 1
As I recall, Galileo had a failure of an antenna which severely limited its data rate. But, yes, the data rates are not advancing very fast. Probably a power budget issue. This talk (beware, 20 MB) has a plot (page 3) showing the growth of bandwidth b/t Earth and Jupiter. In the 80's-90's there was a real plateu. Now it is rising again, but nowhere near as fast as terrestrial networking.
Basically (also from this talk) what NASA is planning is to increase the CPU power of probes and to do more of the data analysis on the probe sending back higher level, more refined data. (This is possible since the current commercial electronics are intrinsically radiation resistant.)
Re:Building them like they used to
on
Goodbye, Galileo
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· Score: 2
Galileo is reaching the end of its life. Maybe they could keep it running for another year or two, but they've done about all they can do with it and it is having problems more frequently. Combine that with concerns about Europa and they are destroying it.
Keep in mind that the environment around Jupiter is a bit more hostile than low earth orbit (where Hubble is).
I frankly find it amazing that any instrument like this can be built and operated for 15-20 years in such an environment.
Royalties to Musicians: $0.05
Royalties to Songwriter: $0.08
Those rates are per song, not per disc. Also add in the marketing (which is probably the biggest single cost) and the profit margin isn't as high as you think.
Then if the album breaks even (or the label can't find enough trick to keep it from breaking even) a share goes back to the artists.
Others have linked to a great speach by Courtney Love on salon.com on how all this works.
In fact, this could be a great opportunity for OpenOffice or something like it. Imagine a suite that would lock documents such that they could only be decrypted by someone with the right certificate, but that it's done in an open fashion so any program could implement it. Plus, users would have the assurance that the security model is well audited (as opposed to MS Office which has used very weak encryption in the past.
The point is, MS can do this, but a Free/Open project could do it better.
Actually, SoBig mails appear to come from people with one degree of separation from me. People who people I know, know. Even with something like SpamAssassin which has "auto" white/black listing this is unlikely to be a problem since the penalty for sending one bad mail among many is low and very few of the mails I get are coming from addresses I recognize, let alone correspond with.
SoBig.F is actually a trojan (horse) since it doesn't attach itself to any other file. It just convinces you to run a malicious program. *Any* operating system could fall victim to such a program.
I think it's more rigorous that "Linus says its OK." I think the license for the Linux kernel is officially GPL+"binary loadable modules are OK" so the kernel is not strictly under the GPL.
Grey Davis can put his own name on the ballot, and those people can vote for him if he is who they want as govenor... So it is a cut-and-dry situation.
I suppose someone named Grey Davis could, but Gray Davis, the current governor of California, is not allowed on the ballot. Hence, his Lt. Governor is running as the "keep a Democrat in office" candidate.
there is no indication from the quotes or any other thing in the article that SCO has had any contact with people at Tivo, Sharp, or the U.S. government.
On the one hand you have a writer for a government IT audience covering what the impact of SCO's scheme would be on government agencies (notice [agencies] is in brackets, meaning the SCO employee didn't say the word). On the other hand, you have someone writing about SCO's plans, mentioning embedded devices and using Tivo as an example.
There is nothing presented in either that SCO is "targetting" these two institutions any more than they are targetting every other company.
Move along, nothing to see here. This is all just analysis of yesterday's news.
Parody and satire are given more wide ranging rights than other works, if I recall. That's why if you, say, want to make a joke about addictive cola, you would be allowed to use a logo very similar to the Coke logo. But if you want to sell your own, new, cola, you can't because you would be accused of trying to cause confusion to the buyer.
This is trademark stuff, but copyright has similar rules.
Yeah, Tom's is pretty good for hardware reviews, but my impression is that when they do "editorials" it isn't good. Saying nothing real. The other ones I've read were so forgettable, I can't remember what they were about.
Slashdot Mirror
Your point about clicking EULAs is well taken, but I don't have to go looking for Windows patches, they come looking for me.
For this, Windows is easier. You can argue about other things and I can tell you how I can't get any real work done under windows, etc., but patching the system is still easier in Windows (assuming you don't want to go the fully automatic route with either OS).
Mandrake. Almost as easy as Windows (no automatic checking mode turned on). Redhat's up2date is pretty much the same.
The latest versions of Mandrake do something like this. They start X after networking but before all the networking services (ntp, ssh, cups, cron) are started. It makes a slight difference.
or "dumb" as in those who don't speak. But maybe that is giving the editors too much credit.
Maybe you pirate one of his e-books and you like it enough to buy the print version for the "feel."
Maybe you don't buy that one in print, but buy others either in paper or electronically because you like his writing.
Or maybe you decide he sucks as an author and never read anything of his again.
In any of these cases, what has he lost? Nothing. You weren't going to plop down $7 for his paperback anyhow.
The only way he loses is if you decide he is a great author, so you pirate all his books.
My only point was that windows users have to get used to different toolkits too since third party apps use them. The situation is worse in Linux with two popular modern toolkits and lots of legacy ones, but it is far from perfect in Windows.
When I was looking only the Prius was available and you had to pay sticker for that. I got my Civic EX for a couple of thousand under sticker (I think).
How's that again? You must have taken a very different econ class from any I ever did.
The "supply" of oil is a function of the price. Higher prices mean more oil becomes economically recoverable. If the demand for oil drops, the oil that is cheapest to pump gets pumped. The rest sits in the ground.
Of course, the problem is that the cheapest oil to pump isn't governed by free market forces, it is price controlled (OPEC), so requiring less isn't necessarily going to mean much downward pressure on the price, but it certainly won't cause the price to go up.
Maybe you are thinking of economies of scale, but oil production is so far beyond the point where that is changing.
Mac may be better. I haven't really used one in years.
Simple. Both Iraq and North Korea have signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. The USA has also signed, which binds it to make progress towards giving up nuclear weapons on an unspecified time table.
Israel, India, Pakistan, and some other countries have not signed.
So as a matter of International law, Iraq's nuclear program (which they did have in the past) and North Korea's were illegal. I believe NK has since withdrawn from the NNPT. There is a timetable for doing that, so I don't know if, by continuing to develop nuclear weapons, they are still in violation.
The people most likely to use their WOMD for terrorism are the US-Israeli people.
That'll be a surprise to those attacked on the Tokyo subway with sarin. (We've already seen terrorists use chemical weapons).
First, they can tell you what the battery levels in your devices are. Second, they let you map all the extra buttons on the mouse to actions. (Maybe the default drivers do too, I can't remember).
Finally, since there are no Num/Caps/Scroll lock lights on the keyboard (since it is battery powered) they will flash a notification on the screen when you push these buttons. (Earlier versions would place 3 icons in your system tray.)
So they are useful.
Agreed, but the Pioneers and Voyagers were out there early and were sending back spectacular photographs, which is what the public gets enthused about. By the time Galileo was there, that'd been done several times, so the public was less interested. And they probably don't care at all about the geology of the moons or the make-up of the atmosphere.
I don't know that we should expect anything else.
Basically (also from this talk) what NASA is planning is to increase the CPU power of probes and to do more of the data analysis on the probe sending back higher level, more refined data. (This is possible since the current commercial electronics are intrinsically radiation resistant.)
Keep in mind that the environment around Jupiter is a bit more hostile than low earth orbit (where Hubble is).
I frankly find it amazing that any instrument like this can be built and operated for 15-20 years in such an environment.
Royalties to Songwriter: $0.08
Those rates are per song, not per disc. Also add in the marketing (which is probably the biggest single cost) and the profit margin isn't as high as you think.
Then if the album breaks even (or the label can't find enough trick to keep it from breaking even) a share goes back to the artists.
Others have linked to a great speach by Courtney Love on salon.com on how all this works.
The point is, MS can do this, but a Free/Open project could do it better.
If you're worried about draconian EULAs, why would you be running Windows in the first place?
Actually, SoBig mails appear to come from people with one degree of separation from me. People who people I know, know. Even with something like SpamAssassin which has "auto" white/black listing this is unlikely to be a problem since the penalty for sending one bad mail among many is low and very few of the mails I get are coming from addresses I recognize, let alone correspond with.
SoBig.F is actually a trojan (horse) since it doesn't attach itself to any other file. It just convinces you to run a malicious program. *Any* operating system could fall victim to such a program.
I think it's more rigorous that "Linus says its OK." I think the license for the Linux kernel is officially GPL+"binary loadable modules are OK" so the kernel is not strictly under the GPL.
For the "open source community" that middle step is missing (although there are companies who can do this). So the road to a better product would be
- Advertise
- Increase user base
- Get people interested in development
- Get better product
Considering how meager the resources of the "community" are, I think spending the money directly on development is far more effective.Now Redhat may want to use a company like Ernie Ball in "Switch" add aimed at corporations, but Redhat is not "the community."
I suppose someone named Grey Davis could, but Gray Davis, the current governor of California, is not allowed on the ballot. Hence, his Lt. Governor is running as the "keep a Democrat in office" candidate.
On the one hand you have a writer for a government IT audience covering what the impact of SCO's scheme would be on government agencies (notice [agencies] is in brackets, meaning the SCO employee didn't say the word). On the other hand, you have someone writing about SCO's plans, mentioning embedded devices and using Tivo as an example.
There is nothing presented in either that SCO is "targetting" these two institutions any more than they are targetting every other company.
Move along, nothing to see here. This is all just analysis of yesterday's news.
This is trademark stuff, but copyright has similar rules.
Yeah, Tom's is pretty good for hardware reviews, but my impression is that when they do "editorials" it isn't good. Saying nothing real. The other ones I've read were so forgettable, I can't remember what they were about.