The fact that Microsoft has, with great support from the masses (eg, the people that, for the most part, don't read this site) co-opted the generic term to mean their specific brand (as opposed to cases where a specific brand name (Band-Aid, Kleenex, etc) has been co-opted to mean a similar product regardless of brand, doesn't change the fact that that is NOT what the generic term means.
Perhaps "PC" means a specific type hardware actually made by any number of brands/vendors (including homebuilt from components) running an x86 processor with an architecture that is an very evolved form of what was originally first sold by IBM. (to which you refer in your reply.) But that machine is not limited to running Microsoft OS's.
The use by many (most notably other proprietary software vendors) of the term "PC" when they really mean "Windows" is in fact one of the things that helps prop up Microsofts stranglehold on this technology. People buy something that *IS* a "PC", that happens to not be running Microsoft, and they get pissed when they buy some game or other program that says "runs on PC" on the box, and - alas it doesnt run on any PC, but in fact only one with Windows.
Of course they get pissed off at whoever sold them the PC when their anger should rightfully be directed at the software vendor.
You and I know that when the mass media says "PC" they almost always mean one running Windows. But the masses don't even grasp the concept that a PC might or might not be running Windows, and using the term in that manner only helps Microsoft keep the barrier to entry into its monopolized market so high its not even visible.
Tell the average person you dont use Windows, and they might assume you use a Mac. Proceed to tell them that you don't use Mac's either, and they will either look at your strangely or assume you just don't like computers. Tell them you use something else and they will assume you are from another planet.
I realize my one little rant about it here isn't going to even reach a fraction of a percent of those people. But/. at least used to have a much higher percentage of persons who knew better. But I suppose we have a higher percentage of MS astroturfers and the PHB's that believe the crap they are fed by MS salesdroids participating. Oh, and those who've built their business on top of Microsofts, who risk losing out as the world slowly (sadly, too slowly) switches away.
The Amiga was a PC. So is an iMac, or a Dell desktop with an Intel CPU running Windows, or an Acer laptop with an Athlon running Ubuntu. Yep, they all are(were) '(P)ersonal (C)omputers'
If by "PC" you mean "Intel-based computer running a Microsoft OS", then say "Windoze Box". Don't say "PC".
My laptop is a "PC" too, and there is no trace of any Microsoft product on it.
As far as 'what to develop for' - don't develop for a particular browser or OS or hardware platform, if you are developing web site/pages for public access.
Develop for the standard first, which gives all platforms an equal chance to be compliant and usable, then if you *must* support one non-standard proprietary piece of garbage (you know which one I'm talking about), add exceptions for it specifically.
Optimizing for the garbage first and then adding exceptions for everything else one at a time is back-asswards.
Everytime you brake, you are turning speed (that you used fuel to attain) into heat.
If you accelerate hard and get up to speed, only to reach the next light before it turns green, then you just wasted all that gas. They key is to accelerate slowly, and try to arrive at each light when its green.
Stop signs of course you have to stop for - but do you want to rush right up, and be the third car in line, and have to go, and stop, and go, and stop over and over? No, slow down, and leave enough space ahead of you so that when you reach the stop sign, the car ahead of you has already gone through, so you only have to stop once.
(Oh, and a side effect of leaving plenty of space between you and the car ahead of you, if they have to slow or stop suddenly, you are less likely to become a resident of their trunk. Not to mention the costs for the ticket you'll get, as well as increased premiums after your insurance pays for their damages)
For more in-depth info about getting better gas mileage, see http://www.avoidgaspain.com/ (Disclaimer: I am a relative of the author of that site)
The confusion is simple, really - the telco carriers are using a different definition of the term than the FCC.
The FCC is using it like any technical person would, referring to multiple radio signals causing distortion between each other and making it difficult to correctly tune and receive a desired signal.
The carriers are using it to mean 'if they offer it free, it will interfere with our plans to monopoize the market and make piles of cash making customers pay for each bit they transfer'
to suggest not using "myspace", or anything on the Internet as the starting point, but instead use some computers that were *not* connected to the Internet at all, and teach actual programming, but others have suggested starting without computers entirely, and that makes sense too.
To be perfectly honest, it wouldnt hurt to find a copy of DOS and GW-BASIC, and teach that. (Apple II's, using either Apple Basic, or Pascal would probably be harder to find)
If you absolutely have to use something modern, I suggest shell scripting on either Linux or even OSX. Maybe some perl. Yes, I know these are considered old and archaic, but either one avoids all the bells and whistles and distractions of Visual-(anything), and would give them a solid understand of what actual programming is. Thats assuming that programming is the object of the course.
You might also get a bit better description of the course than it sounds like you have. From what you've said, it sounds like they told you 'go teach something about computers', so that student who have to take a 'computer' elective to graduate can do so, but they don't really expect you to teach them anything.
If thats the situation, you would serve them (and the IT field in general) well to introduce them to non-Microsoft systems, so they understand something else exists. Requisition some systems, and burn some copies of your favorite Linux distribution and let them install it.
But when supply is infinite, price becomes zero, regardless of demand. If a magic formula were discovered, and widely published, that let anyone anywhere in the world convert air into gold, at no cost, you think many people would be paying whatever ludicrous figure per ounce that gold current demands? I tend to doubt it. What I don't doubt, is that the existing gold dealers would have a fit over it, and would try to find a way to use the DMCA to make sharing the magic formula illegal.
And here is a bonus thought - what would happen to the demand for air, or its supply?:)
Well for me, one of the 'killer apps' for iphone will be a music player that doesn't require me to 'manage' my music in a proprietary program that only runs on Windoze and OSX.
Another might be a SIP client that works over Edge.
Call me up when you think Apple/ATT is going to let either of those happen officialy.
Is WiMax intended to upgrade/replace Wifi (eg, I buy my own WiMax router, connect it to my own Ethernet network, and can then access said network wirelessly at extended range and/or speed with off-the-shelf hardware?) or is it intended to replace GPRS/3G/etc cell data networks (Eg, I bend over and get fscked with a long overpriced contract to a cellco, have to buy their proprietary hardware to use with it [which isnt of using standards like ethernet, plugs in with pcmcia only, and requires windoze-only proprietary software drivers], and then get the "privilege" of being billed per-kbyte of data I transfer over it)
If the former, than Yay WiMax. If the latter, then *yawn*.
last week I decided to let my kid (7) have an email account. I looked around, and hit upon zoobuh.com Its like $1/mo, and it is completely kid-safe. You can restrict emails (in and out) to pre-set contacts. I wont try to describe the rest of it - kit the site for their info.
Conveniently, within about a year, all tv stations will have to broadcast in digital, requiring new all-digital tuners. So it won't matter, as the older, cheaper designs wont work anymore anyway.
Yes, actually I do. I've been setting up DNS servers since before you knew what one was.
I know how to directly query an authoritative server for any given zone, bypassing any local resolver cache. Do you?
Oh, and given that further reading of the court order finds that 'the domain configurations shall otherwise remain the same', it seems I really do know wtf I am talking about, doesn't it?
Who said anything about a 'little server on a T1'? I would suggest colo a box at one of any number of facilities that provide that service, that certainly have more than a DS1.
And even if he was using a 'little server on a T1', running your own server doesnt mean you can't arrange for slave service from any number of providers around the net, who certainly have more than a DS1.
Since a keyboard is a piece of hardware, and 'Windows' is a piece of sh.. ahem.. software, I don't think there should be any relationship at all.
If Windows needs a 'fuck off' function, it would best be implemented in software. Of course the simplest way is just deleting it in its entirety, of course, and I'd rather not have remnants of it left in hardware.
I suspect, that its not the PDF format itself that has 'vulnerabilities' but it is in fact a certain well-known software the *reads* PDF format. And possibly only when running on a certain well-known software platform that is itself not famous for its lack of vulnerabilities.
Of course, the vast majority of PHB's and Joe Sixpacks don't have the capacity or inclination to understand those distinctions, so TFA didn't bother to make it.
The difference of course is that airplanes are bought by the airlines, which have to pay for their fuel, and employ people who are intelligent enough to demand that the airplane makers produce more efficient engines, and if they do, they get to sell more planes.
Automobiles are bought by the 'uneducated public' who are much more easily influenced by slick advertising, or by 'buy american' slogans than they are by hard scientific information.
We already have a way to do that - its called the CD.. About the only disadvantage is you have to physically go buy it, or order it and wait around for it to be mailed to you.
Perhaps 'order a CD online, but get some instant-download DRM-crippled version while you wait for it to ship' would be a workable business model. (As long as it didn't cost more than the CD would by itself, and the CD was a *real* audio CD)
I dont know what crap software you are using to try to rip, but if it plays in a stock CD player, you mail me the CD, and I will rip a copy for you, and mail you back the CD and the rip.
Slashdot Mirror
Of course, if its about software tools, generally the tools that arent free and open, also don't have multiple sources.
The fact that Microsoft has, with great support from the masses (eg, the people that, for the most part, don't read this site) co-opted the generic term to mean their specific brand (as opposed to cases where a specific brand name (Band-Aid, Kleenex, etc) has been co-opted to mean a similar product regardless of brand, doesn't change the fact that that is NOT what the generic term means.
Perhaps "PC" means a specific type hardware actually made by any number of brands/vendors (including homebuilt from components) running an x86 processor with an architecture that is an very evolved form of what was originally first sold by IBM. (to which you refer in your reply.) But that machine is not limited to running Microsoft OS's.
The use by many (most notably other proprietary software vendors) of the term "PC" when they really mean "Windows" is in fact one of the things that helps prop up Microsofts stranglehold on this technology. People buy something that *IS* a "PC", that happens to not be running Microsoft, and they get pissed when they buy some game or other program that says "runs on PC" on the box, and - alas it doesnt run on any PC, but in fact only one with Windows.
Of course they get pissed off at whoever sold them the PC when their anger should rightfully be directed at the software vendor.
You and I know that when the mass media says "PC" they almost always mean one running Windows. But the masses don't even grasp the concept that a PC might or might not be running Windows, and using the term in that manner only helps Microsoft keep the barrier to entry into its monopolized market so high its not even visible.
Tell the average person you dont use Windows, and they might assume you use a Mac. Proceed to tell them that you don't use Mac's either, and they will either look at your strangely or assume you just don't like computers. Tell them you use something else and they will assume you are from another planet.
I realize my one little rant about it here isn't going to even reach a fraction of a percent of those people. But /. at least used to have a much higher percentage of persons who knew better. But I suppose we have a higher percentage of MS astroturfers and the PHB's that believe the crap they are fed by MS salesdroids participating. Oh, and those who've built their business on top of Microsofts, who risk losing out as the world slowly (sadly, too slowly) switches away.
The Amiga was a PC. So is an iMac, or a Dell desktop with an Intel CPU running Windows, or an Acer laptop with an Athlon running Ubuntu. Yep, they all are(were) '(P)ersonal (C)omputers'
If by "PC" you mean "Intel-based computer running a Microsoft OS", then say "Windoze Box". Don't say "PC".
My laptop is a "PC" too, and there is no trace of any Microsoft product on it.
As far as 'what to develop for' - don't develop for a particular browser or OS or hardware platform, if you are developing web site/pages for public access.
Develop for the standard first, which gives all platforms an equal chance to be compliant and usable, then if you *must* support one non-standard proprietary piece of garbage (you know which one I'm talking about), add exceptions for it specifically.
Optimizing for the garbage first and then adding exceptions for everything else one at a time is back-asswards.
http://www.chatterboxchallenge.com/
Although the site is using some broken CSS that causes the text to render too far off to the right side, at leas in FF3
Its how fast you go fast.
Braking and accelerating hard both waste fuel.
Everytime you brake, you are turning speed (that you used fuel to attain) into heat.
If you accelerate hard and get up to speed, only to reach the next light before it turns green, then you just wasted all that gas. They key is to accelerate slowly, and try to arrive at each light when its green.
Stop signs of course you have to stop for - but do you want to rush right up, and be the third car in line, and have to go, and stop, and go, and stop over and over? No, slow down, and leave enough space ahead of you so that when you reach the stop sign, the car ahead of you has already gone through, so you only have to stop once.
(Oh, and a side effect of leaving plenty of space between you and the car ahead of you, if they have to slow or stop suddenly, you are less likely to become a resident of their trunk. Not to mention the costs for the ticket you'll get, as well as increased premiums after your insurance pays for their damages)
For more in-depth info about getting better gas mileage, see http://www.avoidgaspain.com/ (Disclaimer: I am a relative of the author of that site)
The confusion is simple, really - the telco carriers are using a different definition of the term than the FCC.
The FCC is using it like any technical person would, referring to multiple radio signals causing distortion between each other and making it difficult to correctly tune and receive a desired signal.
The carriers are using it to mean 'if they offer it free, it will interfere with our plans to monopoize the market and make piles of cash making customers pay for each bit they transfer'
to suggest not using "myspace", or anything on the Internet as the starting point, but instead use some computers that were *not* connected to the Internet at all, and teach actual programming, but others have suggested starting without computers entirely, and that makes sense too.
To be perfectly honest, it wouldnt hurt to find a copy of DOS and GW-BASIC, and teach that. (Apple II's, using either Apple Basic, or Pascal would probably be harder to find)
If you absolutely have to use something modern, I suggest shell scripting on either Linux or even OSX. Maybe some perl. Yes, I know these are considered old and archaic, but either one avoids all the bells and whistles and distractions of Visual-(anything), and would give them a solid understand of what actual programming is. Thats assuming that programming is the object of the course.
You might also get a bit better description of the course than it sounds like you have. From what you've said, it sounds like they told you 'go teach something about computers', so that student who have to take a 'computer' elective to graduate can do so, but they don't really expect you to teach them anything.
If thats the situation, you would serve them (and the IT field in general) well to introduce them to non-Microsoft systems, so they understand something else exists. Requisition some systems, and burn some copies of your favorite Linux distribution and let them install it.
I would strongly recommend avoiding anything email related from Microsoft (services or software) or Yahoo (services, afaik they dont selll software).
Assuming the three options you mentioned are the only ones being considered, that of course leaves only one.
Are you considering only hosted/serviced options, or is 'in-house' yet an option? If so, there are a wide variety of F/OSS solutions that could work.
If the decision has already been made to definitely outsource this, then I would suggest you consider adding outblaze.com to the list of possibles.
Cough. dTunes is old news.
http://www.errrick.com.ar/
But when supply is infinite, price becomes zero, regardless of demand. If a magic formula were discovered, and widely published, that let anyone anywhere in the world convert air into gold, at no cost, you think many people would be paying whatever ludicrous figure per ounce that gold current demands? I tend to doubt it. What I don't doubt, is that the existing gold dealers would have a fit over it, and would try to find a way to use the DMCA to make sharing the magic formula illegal.
And here is a bonus thought - what would happen to the demand for air, or its supply? :)
Well for me, one of the 'killer apps' for iphone will be a music player that doesn't require me to 'manage' my music in a proprietary program that only runs on Windoze and OSX.
Another might be a SIP client that works over Edge.
Call me up when you think Apple/ATT is going to let either of those happen officialy.
Is WiMax intended to upgrade/replace Wifi (eg, I buy my own WiMax router, connect it to my own Ethernet network, and can then access said network wirelessly at extended range and/or speed with off-the-shelf hardware?) or is it intended to replace GPRS/3G/etc cell data networks (Eg, I bend over and get fscked with a long overpriced contract to a cellco, have to buy their proprietary hardware to use with it [which isnt of using standards like ethernet, plugs in with pcmcia only, and requires windoze-only proprietary software drivers], and then get the "privilege" of being billed per-kbyte of data I transfer over it)
If the former, than Yay WiMax. If the latter, then *yawn*.
last week I decided to let my kid (7) have an email account. I looked around, and hit upon zoobuh.com Its like $1/mo, and it is completely kid-safe. You can restrict emails (in and out) to pre-set contacts. I wont try to describe the rest of it - kit the site for their info.
Its a spam, designed to get people to keyword-stuff specific search engines.
Conveniently, within about a year, all tv stations will have to broadcast in digital, requiring new all-digital tuners. So it won't matter, as the older, cheaper designs wont work anymore anyway.
Yes, actually I do. I've been setting up DNS servers since before you knew what one was.
I know how to directly query an authoritative server for any given zone, bypassing any local resolver cache. Do you?
Oh, and given that further reading of the court order finds that 'the domain configurations shall otherwise remain the same', it seems I really do know wtf I am talking about, doesn't it?
Interestingly enough, the DNS for GOLDENCASINO.COM is still live, and it still appears to serve the casino's website.
Perhaps the Kentucky secretary of justice doesn't quite understand how DNS works. ;)
Who said anything about a 'little server on a T1'? I would suggest colo a box at one of any number of facilities that provide that service, that certainly have more than a DS1.
And even if he was using a 'little server on a T1', running your own server doesnt mean you can't arrange for slave service from any number of providers around the net, who certainly have more than a DS1.
If you are managing that many domains, perhaps its time you, oh, I dunno, ran your *OWN* DNS server?
Since a keyboard is a piece of hardware, and 'Windows' is a piece of sh.. ahem.. software, I don't think there should be any relationship at all.
If Windows needs a 'fuck off' function, it would best be implemented in software. Of course the simplest way is just deleting it in its entirety, of course, and I'd rather not have remnants of it left in hardware.
I suspect, that its not the PDF format itself that has 'vulnerabilities' but it is in fact a certain well-known software the *reads* PDF format. And possibly only when running on a certain well-known software platform that is itself not famous for its lack of vulnerabilities.
Of course, the vast majority of PHB's and Joe Sixpacks don't have the capacity or inclination to understand those distinctions, so TFA didn't bother to make it.
The difference of course is that airplanes are bought by the airlines, which have to pay for their fuel, and employ people who are intelligent enough to demand that the airplane makers produce more efficient engines, and if they do, they get to sell more planes.
Automobiles are bought by the 'uneducated public' who are much more easily influenced by slick advertising, or by 'buy american' slogans than they are by hard scientific information.
We already have a way to do that - its called the CD.. About the only disadvantage is you have to physically go buy it, or order it and wait around for it to be mailed to you.
Perhaps 'order a CD online, but get some instant-download DRM-crippled version while you wait for it to ship' would be a workable business model. (As long as it didn't cost more than the CD would by itself, and the CD was a *real* audio CD)
More important:
10Mbit Wireless that doesn't require line of sight.
10Mbit Wireless that has much more range. (eg, miles, not feet)
Both of the above, 'consumer' friendly and Ethernet-compatible.
Then work on a 54Mbit version.
I dont know what crap software you are using to try to rip, but if it plays in a stock CD player, you mail me the CD, and I will rip a copy for you, and mail you back the CD and the rip.