This will have zero impact on me, which is one of the reasons why I decided to take control of my phone bill. I was getting pretty sick of SBC trying to stick it to me every way that they could.
My last phone bill? $76.69. Same as the month before it. And that included standard local telephone service, unpublished number, voice mail (with telephone or web access to pick up messages and pager/email notification), caller id, call waiting, 3-way calling, speed dial, anonymous call rejection, and maybe another feature or two I don't remember. (I still remember SBC billing me for "touch tone". Bastards.)
On top of that, I now get free calling 24x7 to anywhere within my area code. And free calling 24x7 to anywhere within my state. And free calling 24x7 to anywhere within the continental United States. Frankly, the only thing I have to worry about is accidently calling a Canadian number.
My last phone bill had 1,739 minutes of long distance in 249 calls, for an added fee of only $0.00. And no, I didn't have to just call members of the plan. This was the rate to absolutely any regular telephone number in the US.
I was on SBC's "local plus" plan, which billed me about $30/month extra on top of basic telephone service to call anywhere within my area code for free. Now, I'm saving money, got tons more features, and don't have to worry about fluctuating phone bills. Thank God.
Yes, I know. This absolutely isn't the perfect plan for everyone. But MCI's The Neighborhood really has a lot going for it if you've got a regular phone bill that is at least $70. I wish their financial condition was better. I'd like to see them tear SBC a new hole.
This is what I get for typing a response while I'm on the phone with Veritas' technical support in UK. Their bogon emmissions must have worked itself all the way into my fingers. (sigh)
is that the technology changes TOO FAST. Normal depreciation cycles just don't work well for the way things have been changing. Assets go to zero worth in a very short amount of time. This means a constant investment cycle is needed.
This doesn't mean that you should have one group of companies, and then start to die off as you have the next group of companies invest in the next wave of technology. Later, rinse, repeat.
Of course, this doesn't mean that they don't have things to fix. They most certainly do!
My historical packing and moving method...
on
Moving Strategies?
·
· Score: 2
1. Start to think of the problem WEEKS in advance. 2. Actually start boxing things a few days in advance. 3. Realize you are hopelessly behind schedule. Ditched organize moving and start packing objects into garbage bages (which you will keep and move). You'd be surprised how quickly you can get things moved this way. 4. Rent U-Haul at almost the last possible minute you can still adequately rent one, if only to play with fate. 5. Get friends to help you on move day for a few hours. 6. Realize that it is going to take a lot more than a few hours and you work well into the night moving stuff. 7. Kick yourself in the ass for having purchased 18 full-sized arcade games with company stock during the dot.com boom. What was I thinking??!? 8. Kick yourself in the ass for not planning this better, and subconciously tell yourself, "I told you so."...and I supposed there are the obligitory steps...
Sun has talked quite a bit about async logic in their own designs. I forget if it is in their current generation of chips or not, but they've talked about putting 'islands' of async logic into their chips, with an eventual goal of using it throughout.
The article as embedded.com talks about 'security'. What they really mean here is like, for example, in those smart access cards in a DirecTV. They say a clockless design is harder to figure out what is going on. So, it is a DRM monster, they say.
Where I live, all the Wal-Mart supercenters carry it. And some of the grocery stores, too. Now, if we're talking liquid nitrogen, you can get that locally, too. Just a little less common. And they require that you have an 'approved' container.
She approached me because she couldn't understand why she kept getting this error. It said, "Not a logical operator." I think she took it personally.;)
A very good point. I'm also wondering how much memory it is taking. I guess it is the same thing, with page sizes and all (which would vary per platform... don't know how Linux does it or if at allows for adjustable).
There isn't much practical here more than it is an ELF education. But it was a very interesting read... and being able to stuff a payload into the header. Nicely done. But given that, in most cases, disk space is vast, and memory is plentiful, there isn't much in the way of usefulness. Maybe in some niche' applications running on tight hardware... but running Linux.
I really don't think they're going to ban the X-Box in Australia. (Just like they're not going to ban Windows in China, which is reported to have a very high piracy rate.) They're just fluffing hot air to manipulate opinion.
On the other hand, maybe some of these 'Microsoft sanctions' we've heard about would result in a laughable embargo against Australia. Gooooo Balmer!
"I got a piece of mail that was vague that the assertion is some marketing person did something that was not entirely straightforward," Ballmer said.
So this is why you did a press release on Trustworthy Computing? Because of some vauge email you received? You really don't know anything more about this issue? Come on, Ballmer, you really can't expect us to eat what you are selling.
You know the details and just don't have a "casual knowledge" of it. Liar.
I'm glad to see this feature. When I was managing a very large multiuser application, from time to time, I would have to close some sessions were causing problems. Or I would see a problem going on, and would like to know more about what they see on their end. But armed with only an IP address and a vauge hostname, I could only track them reliably as far as what building they were in. "If only I could hit their walld", I said.
BTW, at the same time, UNIX users are in for a treat if their syslogd can accept outside messages. (Default behavior on many OSs, but has been changing.)
(Blah, blah intro. "Microsoft shares are putting me through college.") As an investor in Microsoft, I am concerned of the encroachment of Open Source (or use "free software") and its displacement of commercial software. How will Palladium help control this profit draining activity?
Investment (paying people to give up the golden egg)?
George Lucas is sitting on a perfect digital high-resolution master of his own Popular Science Fiction Movie. He is willing to release it to the public if it is protected by DRM. However, he knows that if he goes with the Palladium DRM solution, it will eventually be cracked, and controlled distribution of his work will be compromised (meaning: everyone can get it via P2P networks).
Why would an intelligent media company create something special for Palladium (that we wouldn't have without DRM) if, as history has shown us, it isn't a matter of if it is cracked, but when?
As a consumer, why would I want to go with a DRM solution? We've been told that 'special deals' and 'special content' will be magically unlocked by DRM. But given the case above, that a media company seriously risks compromising the distribution of anything their release via Palladium, they will be reluctant to create those special deals. And people will be more than happy to get their hands on the same material, without all the st(r)ings attached.
I certainly thought it was a Broadway play or musical. Actually, that's what got me to read the story. The name "Slack" seemed to have been an apt name for a drama based on the years of dot.com slavery.
I was curious how they managed to integrate an educational theme like the subtitle suggested, "Getting past burnout, busywork, and the myth of total efficiency" into the narrative. I figured it was some neo-educational-broadway-drama-storytelling production. But a book isn't that bad.;)
Microsoft? Someone? They're going to build it. Here's my picture of it.
The most elemental function is that of a DVR. It wraps a user interface around the whole home television experience. And once you control the user interface... (points over to The Book of Microsoft)
Now, people have a computer that, for the first time, is running 24x7 and they don't shut it off. They don't turn their DVRs off when they are done watching television. It is always on. All television commands (record this, channel up, etc) are received by the DVR, and then forwarded to other devices (DSS receiver) as needed.
Now, this DVR has a broadband input. How can we sell software and services? Answer: Game Console.
A game console you know has to have enough computing power (or at least graphics processing) to be pretty advanced. Add a decent hard drive. Know what the next step is?
Games-on-demand. Think Yahoo! Games on Demand. I actually tried this service, and I liked it. For $15 (I cancelled immediately after subscribing so I'd just have 30 days server), I am able to play 15 games up to a month.
How does it work? It downloads a good bulk of the game onto my local hard drive. Then, my hard drive works like a cacheing filesystem in front of an NFS filesystem. That is, the game runs off of the local hard drive cache, and anything not in the local cache is downloaded from the central server and placed in my local cache. For all my game knows, it is running off of the CD or a real filesystem on a real hard drive.
This means more revenue because now you don't have to trouble with the distribution of software over the shelves. Microsoft (or X company) is going to take off where the music industry has failed... online software distribution or rental, and for a nice profit.
You might add in some tangents. Video on demand is somewhat interesting. There could be a good market there... if done correctly. Various lifestyle 'services' (local weather maps available at the touch of a few buttons).
Of course, remember that this is all in a very friendly menu system of a video computing device... not a personal computer. It is wrapped up with a bow on top for the masses who want to play a game or watch tv, but not have to manage or figure out a personal computer.
So, I'll argue that TiVo could be at a disadvantage being a first mover. It has pioneered the DVR space. The DVR space is the very KEY to getting people to put an operating system on their television set. The problem is that TiVo doesn't have the muscle to fully leverage that position. (And why Microsoft competes in that territory.)
Inflammatory words, but do you think that TiVo could die because it is big media's whore? Because they aren't going to engage in commercial skip, they are never going to be first-movers in providing features that their media masters may frown on. Instead, they'll wait to after other manufacturers have gone through the pain to prove something legal, and then, maybe, jump on it.
Right now, TiVo is my friend. But I wonder in the future if the best they'll provide is a digital black box to lock my media inside.
Actually, I'd like to see the TiVo become a programming platform with more services. For example, to be able to integrate a local radar picture and forecast (or even one of those neat radar/satellite looking forecasts) INTO the menu system. There are a lot of cool things that could be done if you consider the TiVo as a television computing appliance.
But at the same time, TiVo probably doesn't want to go that route, because it would send them head-on into Microsoft, who has their own plans for dominating television computing.
Actually, Microsoft has a good strategy. A DVR is a good way to completely integrate a television computing device. A game console is a great way to sell software. Merge the two, and you've got a device that you won't turn off, EVER, and you're willing to buy software for. Your game console won't be sitting in the corner because it will always be powered on, being the central access point for your home television experience.
So, to argue the side of the article, I think that they may actually be destined for the graveyard because either they're not willing to find a great way to compete in this space (I say "run an open platform), or they try and fail because they don't have game/software that is compelling.
From what I understand, DirecTV purchased/licensed the TiVo technology and now directly provides service to customers. (Or something close to that.) They decided to lower the price. It makes sense, in a way... DirecTV + TiVo = Excellent Combo. That, and their competitors are marrying DVRS with DSS (or other) receivers.
I don't think the Commodore 64/Amiga analogy is quite accurate. Somewhat of a slam (apologies), but the Commodore 64 was a very successful product, even by the article's own numbers. 22,000,000 units sold, versus 500,000 TiVos. While Amiga failed on the heel of a successful product, you can't say "Look! TiVo's going to fail! They're trying to make a followup to a successful product! Look at the Commodore 64!"
Okay, I agree a bit in that the TiVo is difficult to extoll the virtues of (in a small number of words), perhaps in the same way as an Amiga. We (consumers) don't have the vocabulary to describe what TiVo does, and that really really has hurt TiVo. Most people just don't get their mind completely wrapped around the product. "Oh. That's the thing that pauses live TV?" "Yeah. Isn't that some kind of television set?"
Perhaps TiVo is more Jack Tramiel than Commodore/Amiga. Jack though that word-of-mouth would carry him through. So much for the Atari home computer division! TiVo needs to educate people on its product.
About the difficult of install? I'd think the learning curve for America Online would be as difficult as a TiVo. But that's its greatest blessing and its greatest bane. It is a very different device.
Probably the best into line I can say when describing a TiVo is the effect: "It completely changes the way you view television at home, and for the better."
Really, in reading this article, I really don't see how they go about providing their title, that it is destined for the trash heap of history. While that might be true, they don't get into any real fact. Just neat stories.
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This will have zero impact on me, which is one of the reasons why I decided to take control of my phone bill. I was getting pretty sick of SBC trying to stick it to me every way that they could.
My last phone bill? $76.69. Same as the month before it. And that included standard local telephone service, unpublished number, voice mail (with telephone or web access to pick up messages and pager/email notification), caller id, call waiting, 3-way calling, speed dial, anonymous call rejection, and maybe another feature or two I don't remember. (I still remember SBC billing me for "touch tone". Bastards.)
On top of that, I now get free calling 24x7 to anywhere within my area code. And free calling 24x7 to anywhere within my state. And free calling 24x7 to anywhere within the continental United States. Frankly, the only thing I have to worry about is accidently calling a Canadian number.
My last phone bill had 1,739 minutes of long distance in 249 calls, for an added fee of only $0.00. And no, I didn't have to just call members of the plan. This was the rate to absolutely any regular telephone number in the US.
I was on SBC's "local plus" plan, which billed me about $30/month extra on top of basic telephone service to call anywhere within my area code for free. Now, I'm saving money, got tons more features, and don't have to worry about fluctuating phone bills. Thank God.
Yes, I know. This absolutely isn't the perfect plan for everyone. But MCI's The Neighborhood really has a lot going for it if you've got a regular phone bill that is at least $70. I wish their financial condition was better. I'd like to see them tear SBC a new hole.
...if some of the (hidden) corporate interest behind this goes something along the lines of:
"Please, please, don't bail out Worldcom! We all want to grab a piece of that 50% Internet backbone share for ourselves! Don't bail them out!" ?
This is what I get for typing a response while I'm on the phone with Veritas' technical support in UK. Their bogon emmissions must have worked itself all the way into my fingers. (sigh)
is that the technology changes TOO FAST. Normal depreciation cycles just don't work well for the way things have been changing. Assets go to zero worth in a very short amount of time. This means a constant investment cycle is needed.
This doesn't mean that you should have one group of companies, and then start to die off as you have the next group of companies invest in the next wave of technology. Later, rinse, repeat.
Of course, this doesn't mean that they don't have things to fix. They most certainly do!
1. Start to think of the problem WEEKS in advance. ...and I supposed there are the obligitory steps...
;)
2. Actually start boxing things a few days in advance.
3. Realize you are hopelessly behind schedule. Ditched organize moving and start packing objects into garbage bages (which you will keep and move). You'd be surprised how quickly you can get things moved this way.
4. Rent U-Haul at almost the last possible minute you can still adequately rent one, if only to play with fate.
5. Get friends to help you on move day for a few hours.
6. Realize that it is going to take a lot more than a few hours and you work well into the night moving stuff.
7. Kick yourself in the ass for having purchased 18 full-sized arcade games with company stock during the dot.com boom. What was I thinking??!?
8. Kick yourself in the ass for not planning this better, and subconciously tell yourself, "I told you so."
9. ?????
10. Profit!!!
Sun has talked quite a bit about async logic in their own designs. I forget if it is in their current generation of chips or not, but they've talked about putting 'islands' of async logic into their chips, with an eventual goal of using it throughout.
The article as embedded.com talks about 'security'. What they really mean here is like, for example, in those smart access cards in a DirecTV. They say a clockless design is harder to figure out what is going on. So, it is a DRM monster, they say.
If they decide to take away .su, you could always sue. http://www.lawyers.su ;)
Where I live, all the Wal-Mart supercenters carry it. And some of the grocery stores, too. Now, if we're talking liquid nitrogen, you can get that locally, too. Just a little less common. And they require that you have an 'approved' container.
She approached me because she couldn't understand why she kept getting this error. It said, "Not a logical operator." I think she took it personally. ;)
A very good point. I'm also wondering how much memory it is taking. I guess it is the same thing, with page sizes and all (which would vary per platform... don't know how Linux does it or if at allows for adjustable).
There isn't much practical here more than it is an ELF education. But it was a very interesting read... and being able to stuff a payload into the header. Nicely done. But given that, in most cases, disk space is vast, and memory is plentiful, there isn't much in the way of usefulness. Maybe in some niche' applications running on tight hardware... but running Linux.
Huh? Wha? How can you play a completely unrelated game on a completely different hardware platform? If it's done via emulation...
;)
You can play Crazy Taxi, but you're only going to get 2 FPS after the overhead of emulation.
I really don't think they're going to ban the X-Box in Australia. (Just like they're not going to ban Windows in China, which is reported to have a very high piracy rate.) They're just fluffing hot air to manipulate opinion.
On the other hand, maybe some of these 'Microsoft sanctions' we've heard about would result in a laughable embargo against Australia. Gooooo Balmer!
So, this is the justification that Microsoft is going to use to show that they are the ones to deliver 'trustworthy computing'?
"We lied! But we're trustworthy because look over here! They lied, too!"
Is anyone else reminded on the UNIX switch campaign that Microsoft was a partner in... that was hosted on UNIX servers? ;)
"I got a piece of mail that was vague that the assertion is some marketing person did something that was not entirely straightforward," Ballmer said.
So this is why you did a press release on Trustworthy Computing? Because of some vauge email you received? You really don't know anything more about this issue? Come on, Ballmer, you really can't expect us to eat what you are selling.
You know the details and just don't have a "casual knowledge" of it. Liar.
I'm glad to see this feature. When I was managing a very large multiuser application, from time to time, I would have to close some sessions were causing problems. Or I would see a problem going on, and would like to know more about what they see on their end. But armed with only an IP address and a vauge hostname, I could only track them reliably as far as what building they were in. "If only I could hit their walld", I said.
BTW, at the same time, UNIX users are in for a treat if their syslogd can accept outside messages. (Default behavior on many OSs, but has been changing.)
Think "kernel.crit".
(Blah, blah intro. "Microsoft shares are putting me through college.") As an investor in Microsoft, I am concerned of the encroachment of Open Source (or use "free software") and its displacement of commercial software. How will Palladium help control this profit draining activity?
Investment (paying people to give up the golden egg)?
George Lucas is sitting on a perfect digital high-resolution master of his own Popular Science Fiction Movie. He is willing to release it to the public if it is protected by DRM. However, he knows that if he goes with the Palladium DRM solution, it will eventually be cracked, and controlled distribution of his work will be compromised (meaning: everyone can get it via P2P networks).
Why would an intelligent media company create something special for Palladium (that we wouldn't have without DRM) if, as history has shown us, it isn't a matter of if it is cracked, but when?
As a consumer, why would I want to go with a DRM solution? We've been told that 'special deals' and 'special content' will be magically unlocked by DRM. But given the case above, that a media company seriously risks compromising the distribution of anything their release via Palladium, they will be reluctant to create those special deals. And people will be more than happy to get their hands on the same material, without all the st(r)ings attached.
How do you solve the chicken in the egg?
I certainly thought it was a Broadway play or musical. Actually, that's what got me to read the story. The name "Slack" seemed to have been an apt name for a drama based on the years of dot.com slavery.
;)
I was curious how they managed to integrate an educational theme like the subtitle suggested, "Getting past burnout, busywork, and the myth of total efficiency" into the narrative. I figured it was some neo-educational-broadway-drama-storytelling production. But a book isn't that bad.
Microsoft? Someone? They're going to build it. Here's my picture of it.
The most elemental function is that of a DVR. It wraps a user interface around the whole home television experience. And once you control the user interface... (points over to The Book of Microsoft)
Now, people have a computer that, for the first time, is running 24x7 and they don't shut it off. They don't turn their DVRs off when they are done watching television. It is always on. All television commands (record this, channel up, etc) are received by the DVR, and then forwarded to other devices (DSS receiver) as needed.
Now, this DVR has a broadband input. How can we sell software and services? Answer: Game Console.
A game console you know has to have enough computing power (or at least graphics processing) to be pretty advanced. Add a decent hard drive. Know what the next step is?
Games-on-demand. Think Yahoo! Games on Demand. I actually tried this service, and I liked it. For $15 (I cancelled immediately after subscribing so I'd just have 30 days server), I am able to play 15 games up to a month.
How does it work? It downloads a good bulk of the game onto my local hard drive. Then, my hard drive works like a cacheing filesystem in front of an NFS filesystem. That is, the game runs off of the local hard drive cache, and anything not in the local cache is downloaded from the central server and placed in my local cache. For all my game knows, it is running off of the CD or a real filesystem on a real hard drive.
This means more revenue because now you don't have to trouble with the distribution of software over the shelves. Microsoft (or X company) is going to take off where the music industry has failed... online software distribution or rental, and for a nice profit.
You might add in some tangents. Video on demand is somewhat interesting. There could be a good market there... if done correctly. Various lifestyle 'services' (local weather maps available at the touch of a few buttons).
Of course, remember that this is all in a very friendly menu system of a video computing device... not a personal computer. It is wrapped up with a bow on top for the masses who want to play a game or watch tv, but not have to manage or figure out a personal computer.
So, I'll argue that TiVo could be at a disadvantage being a first mover. It has pioneered the DVR space. The DVR space is the very KEY to getting people to put an operating system on their television set. The problem is that TiVo doesn't have the muscle to fully leverage that position. (And why Microsoft competes in that territory.)
Inflammatory words, but do you think that TiVo could die because it is big media's whore? Because they aren't going to engage in commercial skip, they are never going to be first-movers in providing features that their media masters may frown on. Instead, they'll wait to after other manufacturers have gone through the pain to prove something legal, and then, maybe, jump on it.
Right now, TiVo is my friend. But I wonder in the future if the best they'll provide is a digital black box to lock my media inside.
Actually, I'd like to see the TiVo become a programming platform with more services. For example, to be able to integrate a local radar picture and forecast (or even one of those neat radar/satellite looking forecasts) INTO the menu system. There are a lot of cool things that could be done if you consider the TiVo as a television computing appliance.
But at the same time, TiVo probably doesn't want to go that route, because it would send them head-on into Microsoft, who has their own plans for dominating television computing.
Actually, Microsoft has a good strategy. A DVR is a good way to completely integrate a television computing device. A game console is a great way to sell software. Merge the two, and you've got a device that you won't turn off, EVER, and you're willing to buy software for. Your game console won't be sitting in the corner because it will always be powered on, being the central access point for your home television experience.
So, to argue the side of the article, I think that they may actually be destined for the graveyard because either they're not willing to find a great way to compete in this space (I say "run an open platform), or they try and fail because they don't have game/software that is compelling.
From what I understand, DirecTV purchased/licensed the TiVo technology and now directly provides service to customers. (Or something close to that.) They decided to lower the price. It makes sense, in a way... DirecTV + TiVo = Excellent Combo. That, and their competitors are marrying DVRS with DSS (or other) receivers.
I don't think the Commodore 64/Amiga analogy is quite accurate. Somewhat of a slam (apologies), but the Commodore 64 was a very successful product, even by the article's own numbers. 22,000,000 units sold, versus 500,000 TiVos. While Amiga failed on the heel of a successful product, you can't say "Look! TiVo's going to fail! They're trying to make a followup to a successful product! Look at the Commodore 64!"
Okay, I agree a bit in that the TiVo is difficult to extoll the virtues of (in a small number of words), perhaps in the same way as an Amiga. We (consumers) don't have the vocabulary to describe what TiVo does, and that really really has hurt TiVo. Most people just don't get their mind completely wrapped around the product. "Oh. That's the thing that pauses live TV?" "Yeah. Isn't that some kind of television set?"
Perhaps TiVo is more Jack Tramiel than Commodore/Amiga. Jack though that word-of-mouth would carry him through. So much for the Atari home computer division! TiVo needs to educate people on its product.
About the difficult of install? I'd think the learning curve for America Online would be as difficult as a TiVo. But that's its greatest blessing and its greatest bane. It is a very different device.
Probably the best into line I can say when describing a TiVo is the effect: "It completely changes the way you view television at home, and for the better."
Really, in reading this article, I really don't see how they go about providing their title, that it is destined for the trash heap of history. While that might be true, they don't get into any real fact. Just neat stories.