Very large companies have to make standards like this. Otherwise, they're spending all their time writing code for every browser ever known to man. They want to write more code, not fix bugs, so they create a corporate standard browser (which may be a part of a larger "blessed" operating environment on a PC).
I don't like it, but I can understand why they do it.
PS: Also, application vendors, such as SAP, can push them into this corner, too.
I think a lot of people really neglect the usefulness of their home page, in that they can make it into a really quality Start Page for themselves, in addition to the typical home page information for others.
The top section has the stuff that I want others to see and use. Nothing too special. The box on the right is filler material (that displays a funny movie when working correctly). The left hand side is all the different links I usually go to in an average week.
That's right. Instead of using bookmarks, this comes up as my home page, and I can easily select my favorite destinations that I use on a regular basis. (And, at the same time, endorse them for others to use.)
Bottom left is some articles I wrote (mostly on Segfault, which is currently down).
I think the idea though is that people should customize a page that they use, if not just for themselves, which contains all the links they commonly use. It really makes surfing through your favorites easier. (And marking something as a "real" favorite versus a bookmark, which could be anything.)
And for a great example of a case of this going on right now, head on over to Fucked Company where some dot.bomb is trying to get FC to reveal the names of some anonymous posters who said bad things about the company and the CEO's wife.
I'll take a chapter from the book of biology. If they won't protect against Magic Lantern, then perhaps some people (assuming they can get access to the ML code) create viruses/worms/whatever which use the same methods as Magic Lantern.
Is VNC a possibility? Before I had IE for Sparc on my workstation, I VNC'd over to a laptop and did my work from my UNIX workstation.
As an aside, I use IE for Solaris (on Sparc) for those pesky few corporate web pages which require IE. For everything else, I'm still using netscape. (Also, the IE for Sparc also now includes Outlook!)
About the BSD compatibility thing... was that a Solaris library compatibility, or SPARC processor and Solaris library compatibility? I'm just wondering if it only works for Solaris code on Intel.
You're an AC, so I almost thought of writing this off as an Eliza response. However, in fairness, this question does deserve an answer.
Under the United Way payroll deductions, I can pledge $500 to be taken out of my payroll, automatically, paycheck by paycheck, over the course of a year. Since I am paid bi-monthly, it is only $20/paycheck.
The advantage to me is that this is completely automatic. However, to do the same without automatic payroll deduction would require a great deal of dedication on my behalf.
The United Way has learned that they can reliably get a higher level of donations through the course of a year by working with corporations to do an automatic payroll deduction, versus asking employees to pledge a certain amount.
If the EFF should pursue such a method, and target companies that are more focused on Internet related business, perhaps they could find themselves a better revenue stream than traditional one-time donations.
If the EFF worked with corporations to offer payroll deductions like the United Way does, I'd be happy to donate a portion of my salary to the EFF. It really was a pleasant surprise to see Wil ("that's one L!") playing for that charity.
Especially if you live in the bible belt. Good luck finding a manager who won't be wrestling with moral issues... and that is if you are darn good. It can close quite a number of doors to you (simply because of what the manager perceives / believes) and only opens up a limited number of doors (other porn sites).
But if you're hard pressed, and nowhere else to go, by all means, do what you have to do to live, as long as it is legal.
I got my former employer, some time ago, to order an Ultra 60 as an uberworkstation. Two CPUs. 1/2gb RAM. And best of all, a Creator 3D card and the Sun HDTV monitor. (That's right. High resolution, wide aspect ratio.) I believe the resolution was something outrageous like 1920x1200. Lots of real estate for applications. [After I left, the Ultra 60 went to another Sun admin, and the HDTV monitor went to a person who was visually impaired.]
I agree with the first poster here, in that if you can't find a good use for your Ultra 60, it isn't that bad of an idea to eBay it (if allowed).
I don't know enough about animation to say what software it is and isn't capable of running, but the first thing you'll want to do is to figure out how good of a video card (okay, framebuffer!) it has. If it isn't that hot, maybe you want to stop right there.
BTW... just something to note. You could install Linux on the Ultra 60, but given the Sparc architecture, you're not going to be as good off as running it on a PC, which most programs for Linux are targeted to, and supported.
A Google Search for GIMP and SOLARIS seems to indicate that there is a version of Gimp that'll work under Solaris.
Seems like you have a number of options here.
Re:Gift ideas that are good... not bad work!
on
Geek Gift Ideas 2001
·
· Score: 1
Probably a good source is the KLOV entry for Pit Fighter. Well, maybe not all that great.
It does indicate it to be JAMMA+. However, what it doesn't indicate is that the credit and start buttons, for example, are placed on a special connector. (I think alone with one of the fire buttons? It has been a bit since I played with the PCB.) And, of course, the 3rd player connection is on another propriety interface that is outside of the JAMMA connection.
You'll have problems putting a JAMMA PCB inside the cabinet, or using the Pit Fighter PCB in a JAMMA cabinet, for those reasons. I don't know why Atari decided to be so non-standard at that time.
But actually, I'll go ahead and agree with you, in general. You can pick up a Pit Fighter at auction very cheap (say, $50?). But, you'll have to put a little bit of work in rewriring it for it to become mostly JAMMA compliant. If you're looking for an entry-level arcade game, and don't mind the work to trade off for a very good price, this isn't a bad deal.
"You are a monopoly. As punishment, you must provide free software to the public schools, so that you can spread even further. Bad Microsoft! Now get back to replacing those foreign operating systems."
You're very right, Jamie. The double-meaning in the title *is* hilarious.
Except it isn't JAMMA, it is "JAMMA+". The wiring for the controls is screwy. This partially explains why such a horrible title haven't all been converted and are still sitting around in warehouses.
I've invented a way to exploit a slash bug in order to bring -1's to 0, and 5's to 4. With this message, I'll be moving some of the -1's to 0. Look at the moderations done one some of the troll/offtopic posts, and you'll see they've gotten an extra point bonus. Didn't cost a mod point, either.
NOTE: The purpose of this post was to simply execute the mod bug, but I thought I might as well explain why. A "slashdot" invention, though, so it is on-topic. Probably not the BEST for 2001, though.
It is really hard to say, and I can see that both factors are at work (less busy geeks working on open source, and the economic slowdown as a whole). What would be really interesting is if a geek were to put together a mathemtical model of the open source ecosystem. Now that would be a thesis project I'd like to see!
BTW: This message will test a moderation undo bug.
Think Geek has RF Dealbolts. Basically, deadbolts for your home that have a remote control.
Digital picture frames are cool. The ones that plug into your computer via USB don't require a subscription. Kensington makes a good one (640x480) around $200. People ooh and ahh over it. (For the rich geek, get him 20 and let him make a collage over a wall. Sorry. That's more Martha Stewart than Slashdot.)
TiVo! If you haven't already joined the revolution, join it. You'll thank yourself. It will *completely* change the way in which you use your television. Oh, and for the better, too.
An 80's Arcade Game. One of those real-life 6' stand-up arcade games. Any self-respecting geek wouldn't snub his nose at one... well, unless it was a really bad title. "Oh, wow! Pit Fighter! I've always wanted one of THOSE."
Along with the idea of the RF deadbolts, various places sell mechanisms which are used for opening and closing outside gates ($800?). Would be awfully handy for the geek to fit that on a door. Bringing in the groceries or heavy electronics, having the door swing open on command (wireless or touch-pad) would be really handy. [Insert standard disclaimers about potential for misuse.]
X10 remote control stuff. 'Nuff said.
Satellite radio for car. If you've got a musical geek.
Roller Shoes. If they haven't gone out of style already. Like normal shoes, but at the flip of the button, wheels pop out from below and turn into roller skates. Yes, they make these.
Manos is the Spanish word for hands. That's right. The title actually *means* "Hands: The Hands of Fate". Trust me, the title is just as brilliant as the plot. But nothing can beat a Torgo screen saver!
Sometimes I am wondering about the role of leadership in open source software. In a way, at least from my point of view, the leader is typically the chief developer. But isn't there a better way to do it?
You might disagree, which is understandable, but I really think that the open source community could gain a bit by looking some more at the coporate model. (Yes, it does have its flaws, I'll be the first to admit. But there are some good things.)
For example, you might want a project architect. His job isn't to write the code, but to establish the framework and overall direction of the project. The architect gives clear direction on which way the software is going and provides a blueprint for the design.
Or, for example, someone who represents the user community. In contrast to the architect, this representative speaks for the users in terms of what features are most desired, and what bugs need to be squashed the most. And it shields developers from the maddening and schizophrenic voices of the community.
An architect could take the requests of the users, and combine it into the overall vision of the project.
I'm kind of making this up as I go here, but I see some value in the role of a software architect (who understands programming but does not churn code), and a single representative of the user community to deal with developers.
This probably will never get read. But what the heck. It was the right place at the right time.
I was in college and was using the Internet (while it was the NFSnet controlled by the government) to FTP, email, mud, IRC, Gopher... no web, though. That was yet to be born.
I learned that someone in my home town was setting up an ISP. I went over there and basically told him "you need me". I can probably figure out how to admin that UNIX box over there. I know how the net works and the various things work. I'd be a strong technical asset.
Mind you, my only UNIX experience was that of being a user on the school's systems... but I did get a lot of early-Internet and UNIX exposure. Just no sysadmin stuff.
The guy didn't know jack about UNIX and knew he was up to his head. What happened? I joined up with the ISP and took on the technical side of things, save for the telco connections (left that to the guy who was good at telco).
Quickly figured out the admin stuff just by doing and running into problems and fixing them. A very good knowledge of how to use UNIX was very helpful in making a transition to UNIX Sysadmin.
At the place, I picked up even more Internet and UNIX skills. After a while, one of my customers started to really notice my work. He offered me a job at a big company, a few times, I turned it down.
Then my student loans came due a few years later. I joined onto the company, was hopelessly lost at first between the differences in BSD and Solaris, but then quickly gained in knowledge and stature.
Along those lines, at work, I had a 5-way box (5x250mhz, 5gb RAM) that supported 1,100+ simultaneous users telnetting into it, running an application. A typical user had four processes running. The application was interactive and the user would type a few things, hit against the back-end database [on another box], and go off and do more stuff.
The load average easily soared past 100 and up. It was becoming a nightmare. Without the new hardware ready, there wasn't much I could do.
But, I found that if I adjusted the time slices to 1/10th their normal level, the system had much better response, and the load average sank down into the 10's
My understanding of why this worked is because Solaris' process dispatcher worked a little differently, in that it also reserved 'unused' time for the process that just got off of the CPU, just in case it wants right back on. The idea is to preserve L2 cache.
In this case, when it was handling keystrokes back-and-forth, a small CPU requirement, ended up hogging a larger slice, and processing power was thrown away.
It was nice to see a change like that do wonders on the box.
Hard to have done [complimented myself anonymously] since I just got back from renting a truck. Uh, no, didn't write that. Never paid attention to my UID number, but snagging 31337 would have been funny.
About the mods, the first post is always going to be controversially modded unless it is clearly one way or another. Moderator confusion/schizophrenia is expected. Troll was a bit of a silly mod, I'll agree. Frankly, I think it should have been left, as is, unmodded.
To the AC: Wow. Thanks for your comments! Here lately I've gotten a bit into bug reporting and feature requesting w/Slash. This site is really good for finding things which interest me. Not always, but typically very good.
I'm probably setting myself up by replying to all this.
If I had to name a book like this, I would have chosen "Business at the Speed of Blight". It is so easy to create a book like this right now. The reviewer was right -- it would have been more delicious if we could point at real companies and real people.
Go to vault.com. They can answer, in general terms, "What is it like working for company X?" Go to the "research" section. You'll probably want a free account. Oh, they sell a book, too. Actually, it doesn't look like it'd be bad at all. The message board and site's text that describes WCOM is a little stale,
Since a number of people have given mention to the "Tulsa" or "Cherokee" site, I thought I'd make some mention of Tulsa. I agree with the other posters, in that it is a laid-back site. But don't be fooled, they get the work done.
The city is a good one to live in simply because of the cost of living. You'll find most prices to be quite low. Gasoline, unleaded, is currently $.97. Housing is very inexpensive compared to other places. Say, a 1400 sqft home would go for around... ballpark... $80-120k.
Tulsa is a good place to work at.
Slashdot Mirror
Very large companies have to make standards like this. Otherwise, they're spending all their time writing code for every browser ever known to man. They want to write more code, not fix bugs, so they create a corporate standard browser (which may be a part of a larger "blessed" operating environment on a PC).
I don't like it, but I can understand why they do it.
PS: Also, application vendors, such as SAP, can push them into this corner, too.
I think a lot of people really neglect the usefulness of their home page, in that they can make it into a really quality Start Page for themselves, in addition to the typical home page information for others.
Here is a temporary link to my home page. Some of the functions aren't working. My ISP got hosed.
The top section has the stuff that I want others to see and use. Nothing too special. The box on the right is filler material (that displays a funny movie when working correctly). The left hand side is all the different links I usually go to in an average week.
That's right. Instead of using bookmarks, this comes up as my home page, and I can easily select my favorite destinations that I use on a regular basis. (And, at the same time, endorse them for others to use.)
Bottom left is some articles I wrote (mostly on Segfault, which is currently down).
I think the idea though is that people should customize a page that they use, if not just for themselves, which contains all the links they commonly use. It really makes surfing through your favorites easier. (And marking something as a "real" favorite versus a bookmark, which could be anything.)
And for a great example of a case of this going on right now, head on over to Fucked Company where some dot.bomb is trying to get FC to reveal the names of some anonymous posters who said bad things about the company and the CEO's wife.
I'll take a chapter from the book of biology. If they won't protect against Magic Lantern, then perhaps some people (assuming they can get access to the ML code) create viruses/worms/whatever which use the same methods as Magic Lantern.
Then, that'll put the companies in a tight spot.
Is VNC a possibility? Before I had IE for Sparc on my workstation, I VNC'd over to a laptop and did my work from my UNIX workstation.
As an aside, I use IE for Solaris (on Sparc) for those pesky few corporate web pages which require IE. For everything else, I'm still using netscape. (Also, the IE for Sparc also now includes Outlook!)
About the BSD compatibility thing... was that a Solaris library compatibility, or SPARC processor and Solaris library compatibility? I'm just wondering if it only works for Solaris code on Intel.
You're an AC, so I almost thought of writing this off as an Eliza response. However, in fairness, this question does deserve an answer.
Under the United Way payroll deductions, I can pledge $500 to be taken out of my payroll, automatically, paycheck by paycheck, over the course of a year. Since I am paid bi-monthly, it is only $20/paycheck.
The advantage to me is that this is completely automatic. However, to do the same without automatic payroll deduction would require a great deal of dedication on my behalf.
The United Way has learned that they can reliably get a higher level of donations through the course of a year by working with corporations to do an automatic payroll deduction, versus asking employees to pledge a certain amount.
If the EFF should pursue such a method, and target companies that are more focused on Internet related business, perhaps they could find themselves a better revenue stream than traditional one-time donations.
If the EFF worked with corporations to offer payroll deductions like the United Way does, I'd be happy to donate a portion of my salary to the EFF. It really was a pleasant surprise to see Wil ("that's one L!") playing for that charity.
Especially if you live in the bible belt. Good luck finding a manager who won't be wrestling with moral issues... and that is if you are darn good. It can close quite a number of doors to you (simply because of what the manager perceives / believes) and only opens up a limited number of doors (other porn sites).
But if you're hard pressed, and nowhere else to go, by all means, do what you have to do to live, as long as it is legal.
I got my former employer, some time ago, to order an Ultra 60 as an uberworkstation. Two CPUs. 1/2gb RAM. And best of all, a Creator 3D card and the Sun HDTV monitor. (That's right. High resolution, wide aspect ratio.) I believe the resolution was something outrageous like 1920x1200. Lots of real estate for applications. [After I left, the Ultra 60 went to another Sun admin, and the HDTV monitor went to a person who was visually impaired.]
I agree with the first poster here, in that if you can't find a good use for your Ultra 60, it isn't that bad of an idea to eBay it (if allowed).
I don't know enough about animation to say what software it is and isn't capable of running, but the first thing you'll want to do is to figure out how good of a video card (okay, framebuffer!) it has. If it isn't that hot, maybe you want to stop right there.
BTW... just something to note. You could install Linux on the Ultra 60, but given the Sparc architecture, you're not going to be as good off as running it on a PC, which most programs for Linux are targeted to, and supported.
A Google Search for GIMP and SOLARIS seems to indicate that there is a version of Gimp that'll work under Solaris.
Seems like you have a number of options here.
Probably a good source is the KLOV entry for Pit Fighter. Well, maybe not all that great.
It does indicate it to be JAMMA+. However, what it doesn't indicate is that the credit and start buttons, for example, are placed on a special connector. (I think alone with one of the fire buttons? It has been a bit since I played with the PCB.) And, of course, the 3rd player connection is on another propriety interface that is outside of the JAMMA connection.
You'll have problems putting a JAMMA PCB inside the cabinet, or using the Pit Fighter PCB in a JAMMA cabinet, for those reasons. I don't know why Atari decided to be so non-standard at that time.
But actually, I'll go ahead and agree with you, in general. You can pick up a Pit Fighter at auction very cheap (say, $50?). But, you'll have to put a little bit of work in rewriring it for it to become mostly JAMMA compliant. If you're looking for an entry-level arcade game, and don't mind the work to trade off for a very good price, this isn't a bad deal.
"You are a monopoly. As punishment, you must provide free software to the public schools, so that you can spread even further. Bad Microsoft! Now get back to replacing those foreign operating systems."
You're very right, Jamie. The double-meaning in the title *is* hilarious.
Except it isn't JAMMA, it is "JAMMA+". The wiring for the controls is screwy. This partially explains why such a horrible title haven't all been converted and are still sitting around in warehouses.
I've invented a way to exploit a slash bug in order to bring -1's to 0, and 5's to 4. With this message, I'll be moving some of the -1's to 0. Look at the moderations done one some of the troll/offtopic posts, and you'll see they've gotten an extra point bonus. Didn't cost a mod point, either.
NOTE: The purpose of this post was to simply execute the mod bug, but I thought I might as well explain why. A "slashdot" invention, though, so it is on-topic. Probably not the BEST for 2001, though.
It is really hard to say, and I can see that both factors are at work (less busy geeks working on open source, and the economic slowdown as a whole). What would be really interesting is if a geek were to put together a mathemtical model of the open source ecosystem. Now that would be a thesis project I'd like to see!
BTW: This message will test a moderation undo bug.
Think Geek has RF Dealbolts. Basically, deadbolts for your home that have a remote control.
Digital picture frames are cool. The ones that plug into your computer via USB don't require a subscription. Kensington makes a good one (640x480) around $200. People ooh and ahh over it. (For the rich geek, get him 20 and let him make a collage over a wall. Sorry. That's more Martha Stewart than Slashdot.)
TiVo! If you haven't already joined the revolution, join it. You'll thank yourself. It will *completely* change the way in which you use your television. Oh, and for the better, too.
An 80's Arcade Game. One of those real-life 6' stand-up arcade games. Any self-respecting geek wouldn't snub his nose at one... well, unless it was a really bad title. "Oh, wow! Pit Fighter! I've always wanted one of THOSE."
Along with the idea of the RF deadbolts, various places sell mechanisms which are used for opening and closing outside gates ($800?). Would be awfully handy for the geek to fit that on a door. Bringing in the groceries or heavy electronics, having the door swing open on command (wireless or touch-pad) would be really handy. [Insert standard disclaimers about potential for misuse.]
X10 remote control stuff. 'Nuff said.
Satellite radio for car. If you've got a musical geek.
Roller Shoes. If they haven't gone out of style already. Like normal shoes, but at the flip of the button, wheels pop out from below and turn into roller skates. Yes, they make these.
Manos is the Spanish word for hands. That's right. The title actually *means* "Hands: The Hands of Fate". Trust me, the title is just as brilliant as the plot. But nothing can beat a Torgo screen saver!
Sometimes I am wondering about the role of leadership in open source software. In a way, at least from my point of view, the leader is typically the chief developer. But isn't there a better way to do it?
You might disagree, which is understandable, but I really think that the open source community could gain a bit by looking some more at the coporate model. (Yes, it does have its flaws, I'll be the first to admit. But there are some good things.)
For example, you might want a project architect. His job isn't to write the code, but to establish the framework and overall direction of the project. The architect gives clear direction on which way the software is going and provides a blueprint for the design.
Or, for example, someone who represents the user community. In contrast to the architect, this representative speaks for the users in terms of what features are most desired, and what bugs need to be squashed the most. And it shields developers from the maddening and schizophrenic voices of the community.
An architect could take the requests of the users, and combine it into the overall vision of the project.
I'm kind of making this up as I go here, but I see some value in the role of a software architect (who understands programming but does not churn code), and a single representative of the user community to deal with developers.
Is this too insane, or niave?
This probably will never get read. But what the heck. It was the right place at the right time.
I was in college and was using the Internet (while it was the NFSnet controlled by the government) to FTP, email, mud, IRC, Gopher... no web, though. That was yet to be born.
I learned that someone in my home town was setting up an ISP. I went over there and basically told him "you need me". I can probably figure out how to admin that UNIX box over there. I know how the net works and the various things work. I'd be a strong technical asset.
Mind you, my only UNIX experience was that of being a user on the school's systems... but I did get a lot of early-Internet and UNIX exposure. Just no sysadmin stuff.
The guy didn't know jack about UNIX and knew he was up to his head. What happened? I joined up with the ISP and took on the technical side of things, save for the telco connections (left that to the guy who was good at telco).
Quickly figured out the admin stuff just by doing and running into problems and fixing them. A very good knowledge of how to use UNIX was very helpful in making a transition to UNIX Sysadmin.
At the place, I picked up even more Internet and UNIX skills. After a while, one of my customers started to really notice my work. He offered me a job at a big company, a few times, I turned it down.
Then my student loans came due a few years later. I joined onto the company, was hopelessly lost at first between the differences in BSD and Solaris, but then quickly gained in knowledge and stature.
The rest is history. And enjoyable.
Along those lines, at work, I had a 5-way box (5x250mhz, 5gb RAM) that supported 1,100+ simultaneous users telnetting into it, running an application. A typical user had four processes running. The application was interactive and the user would type a few things, hit against the back-end database [on another box], and go off and do more stuff.
The load average easily soared past 100 and up. It was becoming a nightmare. Without the new hardware ready, there wasn't much I could do.
But, I found that if I adjusted the time slices to 1/10th their normal level, the system had much better response, and the load average sank down into the 10's
My understanding of why this worked is because Solaris' process dispatcher worked a little differently, in that it also reserved 'unused' time for the process that just got off of the CPU, just in case it wants right back on. The idea is to preserve L2 cache.
In this case, when it was handling keystrokes back-and-forth, a small CPU requirement, ended up hogging a larger slice, and processing power was thrown away.
It was nice to see a change like that do wonders on the box.
Hard to have done [complimented myself anonymously] since I just got back from renting a truck. Uh, no, didn't write that. Never paid attention to my UID number, but snagging 31337 would have been funny.
About the mods, the first post is always going to be controversially modded unless it is clearly one way or another. Moderator confusion/schizophrenia is expected. Troll was a bit of a silly mod, I'll agree. Frankly, I think it should have been left, as is, unmodded.
To the AC: Wow. Thanks for your comments! Here lately I've gotten a bit into bug reporting and feature requesting w/Slash. This site is really good for finding things which interest me. Not always, but typically very good.
I'm probably setting myself up by replying to all this.
Recommended mod for THIS post: 0 or -1, Offtopic
If I had to name a book like this, I would have chosen "Business at the Speed of Blight". It is so easy to create a book like this right now. The reviewer was right -- it would have been more delicious if we could point at real companies and real people.
If I remember correctly, they haven't changed their 401k benefits since I left. Something like 1:1 matching, up to 4 or 5% of your pay. Very nice.
Go to vault.com. They can answer, in general terms, "What is it like working for company X?" Go to the "research" section. You'll probably want a free account. Oh, they sell a book, too. Actually, it doesn't look like it'd be bad at all. The message board and site's text that describes WCOM is a little stale,
Ha! Another former Creative Labs person doing work at Worldcom. Life in Stillwater was fun.
Since a number of people have given mention to the "Tulsa" or "Cherokee" site, I thought I'd make some mention of Tulsa. I agree with the other posters, in that it is a laid-back site. But don't be fooled, they get the work done.
The city is a good one to live in simply because of the cost of living. You'll find most prices to be quite low. Gasoline, unleaded, is currently $.97. Housing is very inexpensive compared to other places. Say, a 1400 sqft home would go for around... ballpark... $80-120k.
Tulsa is a good place to work at.