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User: Omar+Djabji

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Comments · 137

  1. Limits on Why is Hosted Disk Space So Expensive? · · Score: 1

    I work at a hosting company, so I know a few things.

    The cost of expensive disks (scsi) versus cheap (ide) is not really the issue.

    Most customers host on a shared hosting environment. That is, there are perhaps 100s or even thousands of customers on the same computer / cluster. This means that disk space for all the customers needs to be available on that computer.

    Now assume for simplicity, we are using cheap ide 100 G drives that cost $100. If a customer wants 100G, we could cover this expendature for roughly $100. However, a 2u rack mount computer can only hold 3 hard drives. So if 3 customers need this much space, now we need to buy a whole new server to house this disk space. This means the cost of a new computer, plus more rack space at the data center (not cheap).

    Of course, we dont use $100 ide disks. And we need to backup up the data, and there is the labor of installing and maintaining the new hardware, etc.

    Using Raid5 means that you basically could only get a little more than 1 such customer per server (using 3 x 70G scsi drivies)

    disk space might be getting cheaper, but associated costs are not.

  2. Re:must be a nut... on Time Travel · · Score: 1

    One of my friends once said, that if he had a time machine, he would go back in time to the day that he signed up for the compiler course at university and shoot himself in the head for being so stupid.

    I thought it was funny, paradoxes aside.

  3. Re:logs on /dev/null/nethack Tournament 2001 · · Score: 1

    yeah, good idea.

    I can think of nothing better than sitting for 5 hours watching someone polypile 400 gems before climbing the final staircase.

    If anyone does this, there had better be fastforward and rewind . . . .

  4. signup on /dev/null/nethack Tournament 2001 · · Score: 1

    OK, how do I sign up to play?

    I couldnt find a link or instructions for signing up.

  5. backup cheating on /dev/null/nethack Tournament 2001 · · Score: 1

    How are you going to stop people from cheating by backing up the game files.

    Anyone can ascend if they can restore their save files. It takes alot of skill to ascend without restoring.

    I have only managed to do it only once, with a wizard, in 4 years of playing.

    You can set it up to prevent cheating, but I wouldnt count on other people who are donating boxes to set it up properly.

    If people can restore, it ruins the whole contest.

    Still, playing on a box with other people sounds real fun. Yeah, bones files and high scores.

    Only its no fun comparing mortal scores against people who have ascended like 30 times. You want to compete against people in your skill range.

  6. Re:Nobody has mentioned the obvious on Building a Plutonium Memorial · · Score: 1

    This sounds like it was taken right out of planet of the apes part 2.

    (the most disapointing movie of all times - they got progressively worse, but by that time I wasnt expecting much)

  7. My idea on Building a Plutonium Memorial · · Score: 1

    I suggest that we build a large field filled with thousands of cylidrical (and phalic - everyone loves phalic memorials) shapes (one or two for every major city in the world). We split up the plutonium into small ammounts and put some at the
    top of each cylinder. Then we fill the rest of the cylinders with expensive electronics and rocket fuel.

    This memorial would be a constant reminder to the world how dangerous it used to be to mess with us.

  8. Re:Nothing like decss.c. Is this a "clean room" jo on Descrambling CSS w/ 7 Lines Of Perl A DMCA Violation? · · Score: 1

    Except that in order to decode the audio, you have to use several patented algorithms. If something is patented, it doesnt matter how you come up with it, you cant use it.

    I guess we could have a DVD compatable player - if it didnt decode the audio stream.

    Software patents are patently evil.

  9. im invincible on Growing New Cartilage · · Score: 1

    now, if only I could use this process on my 150 lbs of excess body fat, I would have enough body armour to withstand a nuclear assault.

  10. Re:Ah... so they're Pro-BSD on Microsoft Clarifies Jim Allchin's Statements · · Score: 1

    Ive heard it attributed to tannenbaum (sp?)

  11. stealing? on Microsoft Clarifies Jim Allchin's Statements · · Score: 1

    Argh, that argument makes me mad everytime I see it.

    Just because someone uses your code for their propritary software does not diminish its usefulness to you.

    It is the same line of thinking that equates copying an mp3 with stealing a physical CD.

    Open source software can continue to grow at the same rate as it does today, even if comercial software spins off of it all the time.

    They can use your code, but they cant take it away from you.

    unless they use patents, but that is a different story . . . .

    --brent nelson

  12. Deny everything on Cryptome Posts Just-Released Tempest Documents · · Score: 1

    In order to maintain believablity when you are hiding something, you must make it look like you are hiding things that are not true (and hopefully will be proven to be not true).

    It is just like everyone assumes you are guilty if you plead the fifth, because nobody pleads the fifth unless they are guilty.

    So the NSA has to act spooky when there is nothing to hide so we wont really know when they are really acting spooky.

  13. Re:Why didn't he address my question? on Theo de Raadt Responds · · Score: 1

    What people like you fail to realize is that people like Theo fail to care if you use their software. They put in the work because they want to make a good operating system. If people use it, then great.

    What Theo seems to care about is that people use good software. He is putting his efforts into making OpenBSD good, and thus providing people with an option to get good software.

    Even if the userbase dropped down to just the developers for some reason, I bet that they would continue to build the project because they take pride in making a system that doesnt suck.

    If you think that quality is all about the number of users, then go use Win98. I am sure you will be much happier.

  14. Re:Do it right! on Theo de Raadt Responds · · Score: 1

    Come on!

    There is a big difference between adding big new features and fixing the features that are already there.

    If you want to squeeze everything into the airplane metaphore, its like saying:
    "We dont want to add a second set of wings to our jumbo jet, thereby reducing wingspan and increasing lift, untill we have fixed all the wiring problems that our current jets have."

  15. Why evolve? on Microsoft's First Ad Targeting Linux · · Score: 1

    Evolution is not needed if you are already perfectly adapted to your environment.

  16. bad prmise on Why Does The Universe Exist? · · Score: 1

    I refuse to accept the premise that conditions must be exactly like ours for life to exist. Sure, conditions might have to be perfect for life AS WE KNOW IT to exist, but why cant there be life far unlike ours out there that is perfectly suited for living in high G, high temperature worlds (swimming in lava, and such). Or why cant there be life that is perfectly suited for living in the vaccuum of space, far away from any sun?

  17. Re:I don't understand how this is cool on Slashback: Nods, Lamentations, Nudity · · Score: 1

    No, but you could create a company called microsoftt that makes little tiny pillows for mice and for purex commercials. . . . I have seen numerous examples of very simularly named - non related products. You would likely get into trouble with a microsoft like name if you were selling anything computer related. But anything non-computer related and you should be fine.

  18. Re: DVD linux distros on DeCSS Source Mass-Posted to Usenet · · Score: 1


    There is an important distinction that you seem unaware of. DeCSS allows the decryption of encrypted video data from dvds. Without DeCSS you can easily read data from dvds (I have a dvd with a large database on it that is not encrypted) and you can easily read non-encrypted video dvds.

    Another thing to note is that the ability to physically read the dvds is a prerequisite to the ability to use DeCSS on said dvd. This is why DeCSS was first released for windows. DVD access was not quite working under linux at the time.

    hopefully this gives you a little better of an understanding as to what DeCSS does. (even if noone reads my post because i am posting it a whole day after the article was posted)

    --brent nelson

  19. Re:Weaponry on Kmart To Card Buyers Of Violent Games · · Score: 1

    But what does that person have a rifle for anyway then?

    to hurt animals?

  20. Re:OpenBSD firewall on GNOME, Security, Linux, and Cable Modems? · · Score: 1


    Why not just put another network card in your existing firewall and adjust your ipnat.rules and ipf.rules files.

    Instant DMZ at a fraction of the Siemens Linux terminal :)

    Then you dont have your "dirty DMZ packets" flying over your internal network, even just to go to your second firewall.

    --brent nelson

  21. Re:I still don't understand... on Asynchrony: Paid Open Source Hacking? · · Score: 1

    As far as I can tell, this is a good thing.

    A percentage of these enhancements will make it back into the open source world and Apache will improve.

    The $5000 cardboard box that I am offering contains no enhancements. :)

  22. Free Speech needs defending from this threat on FreeNet's Ian Clarke Answers Privacy Questions · · Score: 1



    Very observant. You must have been very astute when you studied the constitution.

    We MUST keep non-US citizens from voicing their vile opinions. Freedom of speech is one of the best developments of not-so-recent history and we must protect it from non-US citizens and anti-american ideas. If we allow these undesirables to promote thier own religions and ideas, then my own speech will be drowned out and no one will be able to hear me rehash the ideas we have been forcing on the world for the past 100 years.

    I shudder to mention the worst case senario, but we could end up with a population that had access to a wide range of ideas and was able to make thier own decisions on the validity of all of them.

  23. Re:I still don't understand... on Asynchrony: Paid Open Source Hacking? · · Score: 1

    People can still get the version from the original people for free. Why would they pay for the commercial version?

    I will sell Apache for $5000 in a cardboard box. Any takers?

  24. peta.org on New Domain Arbitration Rules Get Results · · Score: 1

    Anyone know what happened to the peta.org domain name? Did the real People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals succeed in keeping the original domain owner of peta.org (People Eating Tasty Animals) off the web for this long or did the guy just give up?

  25. Re:Interesting, but don't let's start... on DNA-Based Steganography Wins Intel Education Award · · Score: 1

    you don't need a copy of the original.

    You just encode the message in the least signifigant bits of each pixel.

    If the real bit is the desired crypto bit, you leave it. If it is not, then flip the bit.

    To decode the message you just read off the least signifigant bits.