So the desktop becomes the emergency backup system. Every single service I am responsible for is duplicated on my desktop. It functions as my test environment, but, if it hit the fan, I could swap it out with the primary app server and things would keep running.
And when the app server hits its max load, and I can't add more stuff to it, and I can't spend my capital budget for 5 more months, where do the new apps go? The one place they can go.
I've always been lucky enough to be in the position to say "no, we can't do that unless you spend more money" -- and just refuse to expand workstations into the server realm. It really helped when MS started limiting the number of connections to "workstation" versions of the OS.
I've found that in all cases, people would either pony up, or live without.
Reminds me of a guy whose leaving our company right now. We're probably not going to delete his homespace since lord knows what will break if the things in there are gone.
This is why workstations should be workstations and servers should be servers. Allowing users in a client-server environment to share resources from their workstations is bad network design/policy. Add a cheap server and give them space, but sharing should be disabled and disallowed on workstations.
Blackfoot Telecom provides DSL in these areas: http://www.blackfoot.net/dsl/service.php and it depends on how close you are to a CO. They do offer ADSL and SDSL up to 1.54/512k, though their basic service *is* 128/128 IDSL.
Well, 3x5 or 5x7 on a computer screen -- at.75 dpi -- isn't that big. Printed -- at 300+ dpi -- they would be monsters, though.
Considering most textbooks have college professors listed as authors, and how infrequently the subject matter in many subjects change, why aren't there tons of freely available electionic cirricula and textbooks?
This was one of those things I always wanted to do if I won a truckload of money in a lottery. Hire some qualified people to write textbooks in subjects that don't change a lot and own all the rights. Then, make them freely available to all comers in electronic version.
The first thing that popped into my head when I read this line "...the most fair and objective way..." was Fox News and their "fair and balanced" reporting.
What crackhead honestly thinks keystroke logging is "fair and objective"?
Granted it may be able to "phone home" from a temporarily connected WAP, but what good is that going to do?
Thinking about this is an entertaining exercise. Assuming the machine is booted and can get a network connection.
It would be trivial to get an IP address. If it can get to the Internet at all, just send an HTTP GET request to the LoJack servers and check the logs to see where it came from. NAT won't protect from this, but a captive proxy will make it more difficult.
From an IP address, you can get the ISP. From there, presented with the situation, many will roll over on who was using the IP at that time without a warrant.
Yes, it could be an open WAP, which makes it more difficult. The entertaining part would be if the client had a keylogger that sent everything back in case of activation.
If you don't have physical control, you don't have security. Okay, strong encrypted data may be safe from prying eyes but how many people, after getting a stolen laptop back, boot it immediately and "check" everything? Can you say keylogger trojan?
Computrace is a piece of client software that "phones home" on a regular basis. It provides NO protection against things like formatting the hard drive before connecting to the Internet. http://www.absolute.com/Public/products/techplatfo rm.asp
Oooo... it uses an ENCRYPTED connection. Explain to me how this stops "fdisk; format c:" or "fdisk; mkfs/dev/hda1"? How about booting from alternate media like a USB key, floppy or CD?
This must be designed to nab the stupid criminal, who jacks in as soon as they boot.
On the other hand, with the prevalence of open WAPs, it is quite possible a laptop with a built-in wireless NIC will connect and phone home before the hapless thief realizes it.
The fact that it is easily broken makes no difference at all (legally). Having it on is in itself a notice that "you shouldn't be here" and now requires an active effort to conenct. Anyone who hacks your system is now guilty of a crime (in the U.S.) and can't put up a "but it was open and my system just auto-connected" defense.
Think of WEP like one of those flimsy locks on a cheap trailer door. They aren't meant to actually keep you out, they are meant to tell you to keep out.
Starting from the address page, enter a valid address like "544 s floyd cir deltona". This will give you everything on the property, including a rough sketch of the floor plan. Scroll all the way down to "PALMS Mapping" and you can work thru an interactive map of the city getting data on various parcels.
of course, your experience speaks for everyone, doesn't it? last time i checked, more devices were natively supported in XP than in any linux distribution. just because you fcked up doesn't mean the product is broken.
No, it doesn't speak for everyone. My post was meant to highlight that exact fact to the parent.
I think the number of devices supported "out of the box" by major Linux distros and WinXP is about the same. I've had LOTS better luck with Linux. Of course, it is a moot point -- the first thing I do in many cases on both systems is update to the latest drivers.
As far as screwing up, no I didn't. The product IS broken. It was a standard Intel MB, nVidia GEForce 5200, stock everything. XP goes on, then SP2 then wireless drivers then Windows Update and it borks. No other software no nothing. And I couldn't even boot to Safe Mode. That, by definition, is BROKEN.
It was fixable, and to be fair it has worked fine before on half-a-dozen other systems and I rarely install the OS so this problem is only possible once a year or so.
My point to the parent was no software works 100% out of the box. I've dealt with dozens of people (I'm in customer support) who bitch and scream at XP because it doesn't support all their hardware or software. I've seen people fight for days trying to get stuff that was working in Win98 to work in XP.
I installed WinXP Pro SP2 on a machine at my house the other day. Not difficult, and it took a while to get all of the little extra we use: Java, Flash, Adobe Reader, PDF Creator, Firefox + plugins, nVidia drivers, wireless card drivers, etc.
However, the next step was to go to Windows Update and apply all critical & security patches. It did and wanted to reboot.
Then refused to reboot, even into Safe Mode. WinUpdate had hosed the system but good.
After searching around I found that one of the updates installed a bad agp440.sys file and I needed to boot into the Recovery Console to fix it. After that I could boot into Windows but it took another 10 minutes and 2 reboots to get it to allow me to install proper video drivers so it would work.
It doesn't play DVDs, is flakey with my wireless connection and I had to hunt all over the net for drivers to get everything to work. With my Linux set up, it all worked right out of the box, except for me wanting the latest nVidia drivers.
The kids are still whining at me to put Linux back and get rid of crap XP. The only reason it is there is because there is no Linux capable Shockwave plugin.
Conclusion: WinXP is a convoluted mess that takes too much effort and has too many limitations.
I think this is a good idea. Cable companies are not like phone companies (aka DSL providers) in the U.S. The telephone companies were government imposed monopolies. They built their networks under the premise that they would have exclusive service rights for a long time. Because entry costs are so much higher than maintenance costs, they have little to fear from traditional startups since no one will waste the startup capital on laying phone lines.
Cable companies, on the other hand, built their networks in a competitive environment. Yes, there are things like local franchise agreements but the ones I've seen (Florida, mostly) aren't prohibitively expensive or exclusive. I have seen a lot of little, local cable providers that service just a subdivision or a few blocks.
The cable companies didn't have government imposed monopolies to assist them in getting going. If you don't like your options in cable, you can either get a satellite or start your own micro-cable company.
Since the biggest cost in delivering cable television and telephone services is the "last mile" -- running & servicing the cables -- this could provide a major boost to the wireless entrepeneur or small business. If the cable companies start jacking up internet access prices, a demand will be created for an alternative. Where a demand exists, a supply will be found.
No one in their right mind would pick that PowerMac over the iMac anyway, so it was redundant.
Except for a few professional musicians I know, and a professional video production house. For them, the iMac is a large, shiny piece of shit.
Specifically, Apple has had problems with faulty and flakey midplanes. So bad I know four different people who had their in the shop for 4+ weeks waiting for backordered midplanes. Some have been in multiple times, never getting it 100% fixed.
The problems are two-fold.
1) Frequently, when the fans kick on, they generate RF interference in the video out and RF hum on the audio out. Not really noticable if you're recording some kids birthday but if you're doing professional video it is a killer.
2) Same said fans are LOUD, or at least loud enough that when they kick on you can kiss any live mic audio goodbye. With a PowerMac you can get a couple of long cables and have the tower in an enclosure to mute any sound.
You can find lots of references to these issues online, with a little help from Google.
The iMac is destined to follow the path of the iLamp and the Mac Cube -- nice try but fatal design flaws, even if they are eye-catching.
Low Latency - EtherFabric provides sub-10 usec (micro-second) latencies between application instances on different servers, improving application-to-application inter-server communication by 3-5x over conventional Ethernet.
How long before someone makes add-ons for it:...Of The Beast! -- helps with tax-related info...Of Angels on the Head of a Pin -- charitable contributions module.
Book of... -- Statistics module with lots of frequency distribution functions.
The iPod does one thing, does it well, and doesn't cost too much. Sorry, but it wins.
Hmmm... one of my kids just went on a school field trip to San Diego, CA for a week. She took a loaded iRiver-795 and four pack of AA batteries. That'll last her all week and she should have 2-3 batteries left over.
Exactly how would an iPod Mini work after the charge ran down? She has no way to charge it, so after about day #2 it is nothing more than dead weight.
Slashdot Mirror
That is an awesome board. But where can you buy it? Found nothing on pricewatch.
/ 55/products_id/409
http://www.logicsupply.com/product_info.php/cPath
$325, though. Ouch.
So the desktop becomes the emergency backup system. Every single service I am responsible for is duplicated on my desktop. It functions as my test environment, but, if it hit the fan, I could swap it out with the primary app server and things would keep running.
And when the app server hits its max load, and I can't add more stuff to it, and I can't spend my capital budget for 5 more months, where do the new apps go? The one place they can go.
I've always been lucky enough to be in the position to say "no, we can't do that unless you spend more money" -- and just refuse to expand workstations into the server realm. It really helped when MS started limiting the number of connections to "workstation" versions of the OS.
I've found that in all cases, people would either pony up, or live without.
-Charles
Half way through the first paragraph I wanted to shoot myself just to make him shut up. Then I remembered the back button. That was close.
You made it that far?! I'm impressed. I started skipping around thinking "it can't ALL be mindless drivel".
I believe was wrong. I'm not sure because I refuse to read it all just to prove a point. But, I'm fairly confident about it.
-Charles
Reminds me of a guy whose leaving our company right now. We're probably not going to delete his homespace since lord knows what will break if the things in there are gone.
This is why workstations should be workstations and servers should be servers. Allowing users in a client-server environment to share resources from their workstations is bad network design/policy. Add a cheap server and give them space, but sharing should be disabled and disallowed on workstations.
-Charles
Like http://www.commell.com.tw/Product/SBC/LV-672.HTM which is Mini-ITX form factor, if you're also into space-saving designs.
-Charles
Blackfoot Telecom provides DSL in these areas: http://www.blackfoot.net/dsl/service.php and it depends on how close you are to a CO. They do offer ADSL and SDSL up to 1.54/512k, though their basic service *is* 128/128 IDSL.
.75 dpi -- isn't that big. Printed -- at 300+ dpi -- they would be monsters, though.
Well, 3x5 or 5x7 on a computer screen -- at
Good luck.
-Charles
"Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do." -- Pres. Ronald Reagan, June 29, 1981
As soon as my grandparents in rural Montana get broadband connections...
Depends on where they are. You can get DSL in the Thompson Falls/Noxon area which is pretty rural.
Satellite is also available everywhere in Montana, unless you're on the north slope of a mountain.
Hell, even dial-up is acceptable for e-mail communications w/smaller (JPG) pictures.
In your case, just upload the photos using Shutterfly, Walmart or some other service that will snail-mail them to where ever you want.
-Charles
(In semi-rural Idaho)
Considering most textbooks have college professors listed as authors, and how infrequently the subject matter in many subjects change, why aren't there tons of freely available electionic cirricula and textbooks?
This was one of those things I always wanted to do if I won a truckload of money in a lottery. Hire some qualified people to write textbooks in subjects that don't change a lot and own all the rights. Then, make them freely available to all comers in electronic version.
-Charles
There are lots of islands if you head SE from Brownsville, across the Carribean. E and SE from Cape Canaveral sees lots and lots of open ocean.
The first thing that popped into my head when I read this line "...the most fair and objective way..." was Fox News and their "fair and balanced" reporting.
What crackhead honestly thinks keystroke logging is "fair and objective"?
Granted it may be able to "phone home" from a temporarily connected WAP, but what good is that going to do?
Thinking about this is an entertaining exercise. Assuming the machine is booted and can get a network connection.
It would be trivial to get an IP address. If it can get to the Internet at all, just send an HTTP GET request to the LoJack servers and check the logs to see where it came from. NAT won't protect from this, but a captive proxy will make it more difficult.
From an IP address, you can get the ISP. From there, presented with the situation, many will roll over on who was using the IP at that time without a warrant.
Yes, it could be an open WAP, which makes it more difficult. The entertaining part would be if the client had a keylogger that sent everything back in case of activation.
-Charles
If you don't have physical control, you don't have security. Okay, strong encrypted data may be safe from prying eyes but how many people, after getting a stolen laptop back, boot it immediately and "check" everything? Can you say keylogger trojan?
o rm.asp
/dev/hda1"? How about booting from alternate media like a USB key, floppy or CD?
Computrace is a piece of client software that "phones home" on a regular basis. It provides NO protection against things like formatting the hard drive before connecting to the Internet. http://www.absolute.com/Public/products/techplatf
Oooo... it uses an ENCRYPTED connection. Explain to me how this stops "fdisk; format c:" or "fdisk; mkfs
This must be designed to nab the stupid criminal, who jacks in as soon as they boot.
On the other hand, with the prevalence of open WAPs, it is quite possible a laptop with a built-in wireless NIC will connect and phone home before the hapless thief realizes it.
-Charles
The fact that it is easily broken makes no difference at all (legally). Having it on is in itself a notice that "you shouldn't be here" and now requires an active effort to conenct. Anyone who hacks your system is now guilty of a crime (in the U.S.) and can't put up a "but it was open and my system just auto-connected" defense.
Think of WEP like one of those flimsy locks on a cheap trailer door. They aren't meant to actually keep you out, they are meant to tell you to keep out.
-Charles
Volusia County, Florida has a basic version of this and has for some time.
http://webserver.vcgov.org/Address.html
Starting from the address page, enter a valid address like "544 s floyd cir deltona". This will give you everything on the property, including a rough sketch of the floor plan. Scroll all the way down to "PALMS Mapping" and you can work thru an interactive map of the city getting data on various parcels.
-Charles
Bruce is pretty hardcore into cyberpunk. Check out the links, including a LEGAL digital copy of his "The Hacker Crackdown" at http://project.cyberpunk.ru/idb/library.html
-Charles
of course, your experience speaks for everyone, doesn't it? last time i checked, more devices were natively supported in XP than in any linux distribution. just because you fcked up doesn't mean the product is broken.
No, it doesn't speak for everyone. My post was meant to highlight that exact fact to the parent.
I think the number of devices supported "out of the box" by major Linux distros and WinXP is about the same. I've had LOTS better luck with Linux. Of course, it is a moot point -- the first thing I do in many cases on both systems is update to the latest drivers.
As far as screwing up, no I didn't. The product IS broken. It was a standard Intel MB, nVidia GEForce 5200, stock everything. XP goes on, then SP2 then wireless drivers then Windows Update and it borks. No other software no nothing. And I couldn't even boot to Safe Mode. That, by definition, is BROKEN.
It was fixable, and to be fair it has worked fine before on half-a-dozen other systems and I rarely install the OS so this problem is only possible once a year or so.
My point to the parent was no software works 100% out of the box. I've dealt with dozens of people (I'm in customer support) who bitch and scream at XP because it doesn't support all their hardware or software. I've seen people fight for days trying to get stuff that was working in Win98 to work in XP.
-Charles
I installed WinXP Pro SP2 on a machine at my house the other day. Not difficult, and it took a while to get all of the little extra we use: Java, Flash, Adobe Reader, PDF Creator, Firefox + plugins, nVidia drivers, wireless card drivers, etc.
However, the next step was to go to Windows Update and apply all critical & security patches. It did and wanted to reboot.
Then refused to reboot, even into Safe Mode. WinUpdate had hosed the system but good.
After searching around I found that one of the updates installed a bad agp440.sys file and I needed to boot into the Recovery Console to fix it. After that I could boot into Windows but it took another 10 minutes and 2 reboots to get it to allow me to install proper video drivers so it would work.
It doesn't play DVDs, is flakey with my wireless connection and I had to hunt all over the net for drivers to get everything to work. With my Linux set up, it all worked right out of the box, except for me wanting the latest nVidia drivers.
The kids are still whining at me to put Linux back and get rid of crap XP. The only reason it is there is because there is no Linux capable Shockwave plugin.
Conclusion: WinXP is a convoluted mess that takes too much effort and has too many limitations.
YES! Got forth, and rape other planets!
You'd rather we stay here and rape this one? If there is no life on the planet, what is your objection to utilizing it?
-Charles
I think this is a good idea. Cable companies are not like phone companies (aka DSL providers) in the U.S. The telephone companies were government imposed monopolies. They built their networks under the premise that they would have exclusive service rights for a long time. Because entry costs are so much higher than maintenance costs, they have little to fear from traditional startups since no one will waste the startup capital on laying phone lines.
Cable companies, on the other hand, built their networks in a competitive environment. Yes, there are things like local franchise agreements but the ones I've seen (Florida, mostly) aren't prohibitively expensive or exclusive. I have seen a lot of little, local cable providers that service just a subdivision or a few blocks.
The cable companies didn't have government imposed monopolies to assist them in getting going. If you don't like your options in cable, you can either get a satellite or start your own micro-cable company.
Since the biggest cost in delivering cable television and telephone services is the "last mile" -- running & servicing the cables -- this could provide a major boost to the wireless entrepeneur or small business. If the cable companies start jacking up internet access prices, a demand will be created for an alternative. Where a demand exists, a supply will be found.
No one in their right mind would pick that PowerMac over the iMac anyway, so it was redundant.
Except for a few professional musicians I know, and a professional video production house. For them, the iMac is a large, shiny piece of shit.
Specifically, Apple has had problems with faulty and flakey midplanes. So bad I know four different people who had their in the shop for 4+ weeks waiting for backordered midplanes. Some have been in multiple times, never getting it 100% fixed.
The problems are two-fold.
1) Frequently, when the fans kick on, they generate RF interference in the video out and RF hum on the audio out. Not really noticable if you're recording some kids birthday but if you're doing professional video it is a killer.
2) Same said fans are LOUD, or at least loud enough that when they kick on you can kiss any live mic audio goodbye. With a PowerMac you can get a couple of long cables and have the tower in an enclosure to mute any sound.
You can find lots of references to these issues online, with a little help from Google.
The iMac is destined to follow the path of the iLamp and the Mac Cube -- nice try but fatal design flaws, even if they are eye-catching.
-Charles
From their website:
m
Low Latency - EtherFabric provides sub-10 usec (micro-second) latencies between application instances on different servers, improving application-to-application inter-server communication by 3-5x over conventional Ethernet.
http://www.level5networks.com/prod_etherfabric.ht
How long before someone makes add-ons for it: ...Of The Beast! -- helps with tax-related info ...Of Angels on the Head of a Pin -- charitable contributions module.
Book of... -- Statistics module with lots of frequency distribution functions.
-Charles
The iPod does one thing, does it well, and doesn't cost too much. Sorry, but it wins.
Hmmm... one of my kids just went on a school field trip to San Diego, CA for a week. She took a loaded iRiver-795 and four pack of AA batteries. That'll last her all week and she should have 2-3 batteries left over.
Exactly how would an iPod Mini work after the charge ran down? She has no way to charge it, so after about day #2 it is nothing more than dead weight.
So... the iPod loses.
-Charles
Please go thru the last week or so of http://userfriendly.org/static/ cartoons. It will prove enlightening.
-Charles