It was interesting the spin that CNBC put on this story: "A communist government in India has banned Microsoft from government computers." The gal's voice was just dripping with sarcasm and hatred.
It's a normal, exciting event when a Christian Democrat or Republican-controlled state or city government starts calling Novel/SuSE and Red Hat, but when communist does it, it really changes the way the media in the US reacts. Btw, they might have been a little mode sedate and professional when interviewing an exec from Red Hat later in the show. Didn't catch the interview.
That's bullshit. If this was a case of just an overdue rental, they'd know who has the laptop and be able to act. This guy's trying to get a name from an IP address, which implies just the opposite.
The available scripts out there (Automatix, EasyUbuntu, etc) are not legal in the United States thanks to the patent quagmire. This preempts the use of the distribution in a large way (e.g. - most businesses simply can't afford to break the law, no matter how wrong it is).
How many businesses in the US actually care so much about MP3 and DVD support that they'd choose an OS based on it? Flash support is readily available as a browser plugin, and easily installed even without the aforementioned scripts. That's the only thing that could possibly be considered relevant for business users, and even that's a little iffy.
How about a comparison from an old-hat's perspective? I'm no newbie. Been using linux as a workstation/desktop OS since '96. For years, I've actually seen win32codecs and mplayer or xine provide even better codec support than Windows (with the exception of Media Player Classic).
Can someone that approaches this from a more experienced perspective describe the differences between Linspire and mplayer with win32codecs, xvid and ogg? Focus on the number of codecs supported, its ability to handle legally iffy codecs (early DiVX), and its ability handle open source codecs (ogg's wrapper format, xvid, etc.)
Linspire will be kinda interesting if it works as well or better. Otherwise, the hassle of explaining the licensing problems of Ubuntu et al and how to install EasyUbuntu will remain the best way to take care of a reasonably intelligent newb.
There is no 'down converting' of 2.5Ghz to 2.4Ghz.
That's not what I meant. I currently operate a 2.5ghz system that converts all signals into the 30-900mhz ranges before it's processed. Don't know whether there's room for such devices in the WiMAX spec, but they are available.
It's handy for several reasons. One, it makes it possible to use standard cable-industry test equipment, to rebroadcast TV over the MMDS, and to use regular DOCSIS compliant cablemodems, albeit with rather unusual modulation.
They'll do it one of two ways: A - They'll put the modem inside the house, run RF cable up to an antenna that down converts the 2.5ghz signal into something used by conventional cable systems and use a regular DOCSIS compliant cablemodem. B - They'll embed everything in the antenna and you'll be screwed/unable to change the broadcast frequency. My money's on B.
::They'll do both. They'll go with (A) if you're far enough out from their nearest tower and they think your signal will be weak. They'll go with (B) first if they think they can.
Actually, it depends a great deal more on the whims of the manufacturer and the expense of building and maintaining antennas that are seperate from the modems. We have systems that 900mhz and 2.5ghz systems that use both designs. The range of the equipment isn't determined by whether you package the modem into the antenna so much as it is the broadcast frequency and strength. Using 2.5ghz, we currently cover some 30 miles on the MMDS channel we use for our downstream, regardless of the equipment we use to receive it.
Case in point, Alvarion, another major WiMAX equipment provider (albeit one that I don't have any hands-on experience with - their prices are way out of whack) is building all of their equipment into indoor and outdoor antennas that are self-contained (although the outdoor units require a power-over-ethernet inserter). Motorolla does the same with their Canopy systems, although I suppose it's possible they won't with their WiMAX systems. However, I believe they'll stick with the same model. It means one less item to build and it locks the customer in to a greater degree to bundle the antenna and modem. Even from the customer perspective, the only really negative thing about it is that CAT5 is more of a pain to deal with than RF (can't/shouldn't splice it, hard to adequately ground it, not all that dependable for outdoor mounts, etc.)
And just for the record, those "static IPs" that you buy... they're just reserved DHCP-ed addresses and aren't really static at all. They are where I work;) Surely Sprint's IP assignment system will be a more than a little bit honerous, compared. Say goodbye to the neighborly small WISP.
Four things: One: WiMAX is an open protocol that'll work over a variety of spectra. It's possible to do it over unlisenced bands, UHF (700mhz), MMDS (2.5ghz), and just about anything else you can't shake a stick at. (I assume you can't, anyway. Can diviners locate radio towers?) But one way or another, it's already on the market, and it already works its way around a WiFi wap well enough. Two: WiFi (54 meg per sec with 802.11g, considerably more with 802.11n) will continue to be faster, easier/cheaper to implement, and far more common for small networks. That and they've got momentum behind 'em. Dig the lifespan of the ethernet port and the amount of money already spent by every coffee shop, hotel, and law firm in the country on WAPs. Three: There very likely won't be any hacking necessary to change a modem that they sell you to use unlicensed spectrum. Assuming it's possible at all. They'll do it one of two ways: A - They'll put the modem inside the house, run RF cable up to an antenna that down converts the 2.5ghz signal into something used by conventional cable systems and use a regular DOCSIS compliant cablemodem. B - They'll embed everything in the antenna and you'll be screwed/unable to change the broadcast frequency. My money's on B. Four: The WiMAX modems may become considerably cheaper, but that doesn't matter much. No harder to lock a rogue connection to a WISP's network than it is to knock 'em off a cable providers.
WiMAX, even the proposed mobile standard, has nothing to do with cell phones. This is a WISP thing. WiMAX will also be used extensively in Australia and Europe, although more likely over 3.5ghz than 2.5ghz.
Given that a lot of torrents are copyrighted content, are ISPs really going to want to do this? The moment they start caching these files on their servers, they become a huge target for lawsuits.
On top of that, what torrents are ever so common as to warrant the use of a cache? There are certainly legitimate users of bittorrent, if you can limit the cache to legitimate content. But what torrents would ever be accessed so frequently by individual users on any given network that this would make sense? My employer's just ~300-400 customers strong, but I don't see how this could be useful to any ISP, given that the largest would probably only benefit if the caches were replicated and stored close to the users.
It happened here! I compared CENTOS/RHEL to Ubuntu (and Gentoo), and went with Ubuntu for reasons like those described in TFA. Familiarity counts for a lot, and, in my case, my familiarity with Debian, Ubuntu, and Gentoo knocked RHEL out of the running, and Gentoo's etc-update knocked it out.
The Evansville Lowes have self checkout. Personally, most of the stuff I buy at hardware stores (florescent light bulbs, hooks, nails, drill bits, etc.) are all easy to run through the self checkout. Beats the hell out waiting in line. However, they also have competent management that adequately staff their regular registers.
Forgive me for not RTFMing, but, on top of all other things, $1138 would buy a MacBook, but instead they're using it to unload left over g4 iBooks, according to the article summary. Quite a deal for Apple.
Aside from myself, I often get the impression that noone plays single-player FPSes anymore. With that in mind, it could actually be far more compelling than Star Wars/World War II/Marines vs Demons. In Vietnam, all five sides had compelling reasons to fight (and to dismiss the validity of their opponents' struggle (I'm not counting the Trotskyites and anarchists (ie. I'm counting France, North and South Vietnam, the Viet Cong, and the Americans as seperate entities))).
This could make an awesome multiplayer game, as there are so many different groups to show. Even a traditional, straight-forward single player FPS could be compelling, if played from all five sides. There were Vietnamese killing civilians and Trotskyists (and here I thought I was leaving them out), there were American soldiers fighting/training French combatants, there were grand/horrific battles of considerable scale both before and after the French pull out, and all kinds of other crazy, zany things to reproduce.
It doesn't have to be a strategy game, and doesn't even have to be all that preachy. It could, dare I say it, be fun!
It's not like there aren't other FPSs and engines available. Am I nuts, or would someone with an interest in game design and F/OSS be better off creating derivative work from those engines?
It'd be great if they were. Imagine. If these were networked together somehow, and were all able to share their images, then they'd be nigh-infinitely more useful. What good is an image of someplace you've already been, when looking for a landmark?
Granted, the privacy conerns matter, but, damn that'd be nice.
Also, they could always not record the node that originated the image. Just store the images themselves, transfer them back and forth between cars (were it common enough), and then have just 5-20% of the mesh of networked cars upload the unsigned images when they feel like plugging their car in.
Arguably irresponsible, yes, but it's certainly valid subject matter for Slashdot. (Before you reply: Bypassing the firewall could get you imprisoned or worse over there. Google for cases of arrested bloggers.)
On Slashdot, they/we cover myriad cases relating to bypassing MS WPA authenitication, illicit p2p file-sharing, and numerous other things that are illegal in certain sovereign western states, where the citizens have considerably greater control over their government. It's news for nerds, and, unlike much that gets posted here, it matters.
Ditto, but those fonts might very well have been from Adobe and Microsoft. Dollars to donuts, they walked in with the pirated copies of Adobe Publisher, unlisenced versions of MS Office et al.
When he said that Ritalin and Adderall were in the same class of drug as Speed, he was suggesting they could serve as gateway drugs to mephamphetamine use. This is not just a recreational drug. There are many, many reports of the drug being used as a performance enhancing drug. It's even present in the IT industry. I wasn't able to find a link, but I know Wired Magazine has run at least one article about meth use by programmers/IT workers.
Ritalin and Adderall are controlled substances for a reason. They have serious side effects if misused. Between the side effects of those two drugs when taken without consulting a physician and their potential to lead to Meth abuse, this is a big problem.
If anything, using the smaller ISPs potentially runs you smack up against the issue.
Half the small systems in my town, my employer included, get their backbones from third parties reselling SBC links. That means that you've potentially got three companies between us and any SBC host. Ourselves, the third party, and SBC. If everyone starts screwing around, everyone will be royally screwed.
You know, it is possible to meet & form life-bonds with folk of other genders, even for geeks. They just have to have interests beyond coding. Slashdot gives a good amount of coverage to science, politics, and animation. The inmates get to mingle with other genders when pursuing interests in all of those areas. Anime clubs, role playing sans dice (ie Model UN), and groups of hippy environmentalists that think the Earth's worth saving are all good places to connect with other genders.
The Pirate Party only has three issues on its agenda:
And how do you intend to deal with other issues? While it's nice to say that you only have three items on your agenda, other issues will come up. Do you intend to abstain on any other issue? If nothing else, you should work with your members and community to try and come up with answers to a diverse range of issues, so that you have some sort of answer when a person asks you about something.
In a parliamentary system, a small third party can enter into a coalition with others, and shape the position of that coalition on the few topics they actually care about.
Parliament - Wikipedia Coalition government - Wikipedia
This system inherently allows for much more diversity in government than our own, in the US.
The most heavily used PHP/apache/mysql-type server on my network (probably never used by more than tweny hosts at a go) never seems to have any speed issues.
It's a modest machine. Dual 600mhz p3, 256mb of ram. How bad/good/busy do things have to get before a php accelerator becomes necessary?
Slashdot Mirror
It was interesting the spin that CNBC put on this story:
"A communist government in India has banned Microsoft from government computers." The gal's voice was just dripping with sarcasm and hatred.
It's a normal, exciting event when a Christian Democrat or Republican-controlled state or city government starts calling Novel/SuSE and Red Hat, but when communist does it, it really changes the way the media in the US reacts. Btw, they might have been a little mode sedate and professional when interviewing an exec from Red Hat later in the show. Didn't catch the interview.
That's bullshit. If this was a case of just an overdue rental, they'd know who has the laptop and be able to act. This guy's trying to get a name from an IP address, which implies just the opposite.
The available scripts out there (Automatix, EasyUbuntu, etc) are not legal in the United States thanks to the patent quagmire. This preempts the use of the distribution in a large way (e.g. - most businesses simply can't afford to break the law, no matter how wrong it is).
How many businesses in the US actually care so much about MP3 and DVD support that they'd choose an OS based on it? Flash support is readily available as a browser plugin, and easily installed even without the aforementioned scripts. That's the only thing that could possibly be considered relevant for business users, and even that's a little iffy.
How about a comparison from an old-hat's perspective? I'm no newbie. Been using linux as a workstation/desktop OS since '96. For years, I've actually seen win32codecs and mplayer or xine provide even better codec support than Windows (with the exception of Media Player Classic).
Can someone that approaches this from a more experienced perspective describe the differences between Linspire and mplayer with win32codecs, xvid and ogg? Focus on the number of codecs supported, its ability to handle legally iffy codecs (early DiVX), and its ability handle open source codecs (ogg's wrapper format, xvid, etc.)
Linspire will be kinda interesting if it works as well or better. Otherwise, the hassle of explaining the licensing problems of Ubuntu et al and how to install EasyUbuntu will remain the best way to take care of a reasonably intelligent newb.
There is no 'down converting' of 2.5Ghz to 2.4Ghz.
That's not what I meant. I currently operate a 2.5ghz system that converts all signals into the 30-900mhz ranges before it's processed. Don't know whether there's room for such devices in the WiMAX spec, but they are available.
It's handy for several reasons. One, it makes it possible to use standard cable-industry test equipment, to rebroadcast TV over the MMDS, and to use regular DOCSIS compliant cablemodems, albeit with rather unusual modulation.
They'll do it one of two ways: A - They'll put the modem inside the house, run RF cable up to an antenna that down converts the 2.5ghz signal into something used by conventional cable systems and use a regular DOCSIS compliant cablemodem. B - They'll embed everything in the antenna and you'll be screwed/unable to change the broadcast frequency. My money's on B.
::They'll do both. They'll go with (A) if you're far enough out from their nearest tower and they think your signal will be weak. They'll go with (B) first if they think they can.
;) Surely Sprint's IP assignment system will be a more than a little bit honerous, compared. Say goodbye to the neighborly small WISP.
Actually, it depends a great deal more on the whims of the manufacturer and the expense of building and maintaining antennas that are seperate from the modems. We have systems that 900mhz and 2.5ghz systems that use both designs. The range of the equipment isn't determined by whether you package the modem into the antenna so much as it is the broadcast frequency and strength. Using 2.5ghz, we currently cover some 30 miles on the MMDS channel we use for our downstream, regardless of the equipment we use to receive it.
Case in point, Alvarion, another major WiMAX equipment provider (albeit one that I don't have any hands-on experience with - their prices are way out of whack) is building all of their equipment into indoor and outdoor antennas that are self-contained (although the outdoor units require a power-over-ethernet inserter). Motorolla does the same with their Canopy systems, although I suppose it's possible they won't with their WiMAX systems. However, I believe they'll stick with the same model. It means one less item to build and it locks the customer in to a greater degree to bundle the antenna and modem. Even from the customer perspective, the only really negative thing about it is that CAT5 is more of a pain to deal with than RF (can't/shouldn't splice it, hard to adequately ground it, not all that dependable for outdoor mounts, etc.)
And just for the record, those "static IPs" that you buy... they're just reserved DHCP-ed addresses and aren't really static at all.
They are where I work
Four things:
One: WiMAX is an open protocol that'll work over a variety of spectra. It's possible to do it over unlisenced bands, UHF (700mhz), MMDS (2.5ghz), and just about anything else you can't shake a stick at. (I assume you can't, anyway. Can diviners locate radio towers?) But one way or another, it's already on the market, and it already works its way around a WiFi wap well enough.
Two: WiFi (54 meg per sec with 802.11g, considerably more with 802.11n) will continue to be faster, easier/cheaper to implement, and far more common for small networks. That and they've got momentum behind 'em. Dig the lifespan of the ethernet port and the amount of money already spent by every coffee shop, hotel, and law firm in the country on WAPs.
Three: There very likely won't be any hacking necessary to change a modem that they sell you to use unlicensed spectrum. Assuming it's possible at all. They'll do it one of two ways: A - They'll put the modem inside the house, run RF cable up to an antenna that down converts the 2.5ghz signal into something used by conventional cable systems and use a regular DOCSIS compliant cablemodem. B - They'll embed everything in the antenna and you'll be screwed/unable to change the broadcast frequency. My money's on B.
Four: The WiMAX modems may become considerably cheaper, but that doesn't matter much. No harder to lock a rogue connection to a WISP's network than it is to knock 'em off a cable providers.
Some of us are just paranoid.
So what? It's harder to sniff than cable, ethernet, or dsl.
And besides, most wireless point-multipoint systems do encrypt all traffic or sell the option.
For instance:
http://motorola.canopywireless.com/solutions/isp/
http://www.alvarion.com/bwawimaxnewbreezenetb100/
MMDS
Missed one!
WiMAX, even the proposed mobile standard, has nothing to do with cell phones. This is a WISP thing. WiMAX will also be used extensively in Australia and Europe, although more likely over 3.5ghz than 2.5ghz.
Given that a lot of torrents are copyrighted content, are ISPs really going to want to do this? The moment they start caching these files on their servers, they become a huge target for lawsuits.
On top of that, what torrents are ever so common as to warrant the use of a cache? There are certainly legitimate users of bittorrent, if you can limit the cache to legitimate content. But what torrents would ever be accessed so frequently by individual users on any given network that this would make sense? My employer's just ~300-400 customers strong, but I don't see how this could be useful to any ISP, given that the largest would probably only benefit if the caches were replicated and stored close to the users.
It happened here! I compared CENTOS/RHEL to Ubuntu (and Gentoo), and went with Ubuntu for reasons like those described in TFA. Familiarity counts for a lot, and, in my case, my familiarity with Debian, Ubuntu, and Gentoo knocked RHEL out of the running, and Gentoo's etc-update knocked it out.
The Evansville Lowes have self checkout. Personally, most of the stuff I buy at hardware stores (florescent light bulbs, hooks, nails, drill bits, etc.) are all easy to run through the self checkout. Beats the hell out waiting in line. However, they also have competent management that adequately staff their regular registers.
The latter's all that matters.
Forgive me for not RTFMing, but, on top of all other things, $1138 would buy a MacBook, but instead they're using it to unload left over g4 iBooks, according to the article summary. Quite a deal for Apple.
Aside from myself, I often get the impression that noone plays single-player FPSes anymore. With that in mind, it could actually be far more compelling than Star Wars/World War II/Marines vs Demons. In Vietnam, all five sides had compelling reasons to fight (and to dismiss the validity of their opponents' struggle (I'm not counting the Trotskyites and anarchists (ie. I'm counting France, North and South Vietnam, the Viet Cong, and the Americans as seperate entities))).
This could make an awesome multiplayer game, as there are so many different groups to show. Even a traditional, straight-forward single player FPS could be compelling, if played from all five sides. There were Vietnamese killing civilians and Trotskyists (and here I thought I was leaving them out), there were American soldiers fighting/training French combatants, there were grand/horrific battles of considerable scale both before and after the French pull out, and all kinds of other crazy, zany things to reproduce.
It doesn't have to be a strategy game, and doesn't even have to be all that preachy. It could, dare I say it, be fun!
http://www.alientrap.org/nexuiz/p
http://www.cubeengine.com/
ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/source/quake2.zi
http://www.itplaysdoom.com/
It's not like there aren't other FPSs and engines available. Am I nuts, or would someone with an interest in game design and F/OSS be better off creating derivative work from those engines?
It'd be great if they were. Imagine. If these were networked together somehow, and were all able to share their images, then they'd be nigh-infinitely more useful. What good is an image of someplace you've already been, when looking for a landmark?
Granted, the privacy conerns matter, but, damn that'd be nice.
Also, they could always not record the node that originated the image. Just store the images themselves, transfer them back and forth between cars (were it common enough), and then have just 5-20% of the mesh of networked cars upload the unsigned images when they feel like plugging their car in.
Arguably irresponsible, yes, but it's certainly valid subject matter for Slashdot. (Before you reply: Bypassing the firewall could get you imprisoned or worse over there. Google for cases of arrested bloggers.)
On Slashdot, they/we cover myriad cases relating to bypassing MS WPA authenitication, illicit p2p file-sharing, and numerous other things that are illegal in certain sovereign western states, where the citizens have considerably greater control over their government. It's news for nerds, and, unlike much that gets posted here, it matters.
Ditto, but those fonts might very well have been from Adobe and Microsoft. Dollars to donuts, they walked in with the pirated copies of Adobe Publisher, unlisenced versions of MS Office et al.
Verisign. 2400 baud asynchronous modem included.
POS systems rock!
When he said that Ritalin and Adderall were in the same class of drug as Speed, he was suggesting they could serve as gateway drugs to mephamphetamine use. This is not just a recreational drug. There are many, many reports of the drug being used as a performance enhancing drug. It's even present in the IT industry. I wasn't able to find a link, but I know Wired Magazine has run at least one article about meth use by programmers/IT workers.
Ritalin and Adderall are controlled substances for a reason. They have serious side effects if misused. Between the side effects of those two drugs when taken without consulting a physician and their potential to lead to Meth abuse, this is a big problem.
If anything, using the smaller ISPs potentially runs you smack up against the issue.
Half the small systems in my town, my employer included, get their backbones from third parties reselling SBC links. That means that you've potentially got three companies between us and any SBC host. Ourselves, the third party, and SBC. If everyone starts screwing around, everyone will be royally screwed.
You know, it is possible to meet & form life-bonds with folk of other genders, even for geeks. They just have to have interests beyond coding. Slashdot gives a good amount of coverage to science, politics, and animation. The inmates get to mingle with other genders when pursuing interests in all of those areas. Anime clubs, role playing sans dice (ie Model UN), and groups of hippy environmentalists that think the Earth's worth saving are all good places to connect with other genders.
The Pirate Party only has three issues on its agenda: And how do you intend to deal with other issues? While it's nice to say that you only have three items on your agenda, other issues will come up. Do you intend to abstain on any other issue? If nothing else, you should work with your members and community to try and come up with answers to a diverse range of issues, so that you have some sort of answer when a person asks you about something.
In a parliamentary system, a small third party can enter into a coalition with others, and shape the position of that coalition on the few topics they actually care about.
Parliament - Wikipedia
Coalition government - Wikipedia
This system inherently allows for much more diversity in government than our own, in the US.
The most heavily used PHP/apache/mysql-type server on my network (probably never used by more than tweny hosts at a go) never seems to have any speed issues.
It's a modest machine. Dual 600mhz p3, 256mb of ram. How bad/good/busy do things have to get before a php accelerator becomes necessary?