That's one of the most creative things I've seen in a while in that regard. Neat. And while I disagree with you about pornography (I think, perhaps not), thanks for the summary.
In fact, their design engineer even said that he doesn't have to recruit from the big-name schools to get his engineers, but has no problems finding them in the Minneapolis area.
3M, Honeywell, U of M --
The stereotype of MN (or Georgia, or Tennessee or a lot of other places which I think get sterotyped even more badly) as backward is one that's obviously wrong and I certainly was not promoting it. I was pointing out that it's a high-tech place (esp. Minneapolis) even though it's not thought of that way by most people outside of it. VIA is even one of the fastest-growing companies not only in MN but in the country.
As one of the people who's posted some of the stories that Bob may be thinking of here, I'd like to put in a quick word about my attitude toward comparisons in general and Red Hat in particular.
a) I like Red Hat -- it's one of the 1st distros I ever installed, and the boxed 7.0 is one of the distros that I
ve bought and recommended to other people.
b) Comparisons *to* Microsoft and not the same as comparisons *with* Microsoft. Not that either of these might not be appropriate in certain cicrumstances, but there is a difference. Saying that MS has bugs and that Red Hat Linux has bugs may sound alike, but which of these would be you trust to be fixed quicker / better? I'd rather bet on Red Hat for most things.
Since I'm not hugely interested in Windows, I can't comment on their bugfixes with great knowledge, but there are certain long-standing bugs which I'm familiar with . Red Hat, on the other hand, seems to fix things pretty quick.
That's my take on them. I hope they continue to grow and improve Linux at all levels.
timothy
That built in camera really is tempting, y'know...
Other than that, you're right about the G3 powerbooks... they're amazing for the battery life, and esp. the 400Mhz variety is a huge bargain in its stock config vs. a comparably equipped Intel type laptop.
However, the thing about a picturebook (even discounting the sexy camera) is that is is *so small and light*. Powerbooks, again, are a bargain in the weight department as well vs. similar laptops, but they aren't 2.2 lb. cuties.
This raises the question... WHY NOT?!:)
I would love a powerbook running OS X the size of a picturebook, with a little bulge for the internal airport card!!! Please, Apple? Smaller hard drive (as in 6 or more GB) -- Fine! external drives / docking? Fine! No camera integrated? Fine! But make it small, battery efficient, and with a workable keyboard (the picturebook isn't as bad as I'd feared) and I am so sold...
My point was that it doesn't make sense to say that Slashdot is overly critical of Red Hat *and* that Slashdot is following the orders of a VA conspiracy, since VA loads Red Hat on all their products. It may be labelled VA Linux 6.2 or whatever, but there's no secret about it;)
As for me, I like Red Hat, though I am not running it at present. (Though I am running Mandrake, which for all it's improvements / differences) is of course still a RH derivative...) Rob, Jeff, Pater, Cliff are all into Debian. (And I like Debian *once it's installed*). But let's say, for instance, that Patrick V. from Slackware had claimed to have started the Open Source movement (however you see such) I don't think the reaction would have been any different. Since they are a large, visible company, Red Hat gets a lot of attention, both good and bad.
That's all I meant to say. That there's no giant conspiracy or anything... heck, you always hurt the one you love! Or Love means never having to say you're sorry! Or whatnot.
It's true that powerbooks have great battery life, nice screens, well-designed port areas (for notebooks) and better keyboards than most laptops, but...
Size.
In a 2.2lb package, the picturebook is close to a singularity. It's not perfect, but for a bit less money than the G3/400, I would be split between them. It may sound silly and "grass is greener," but a large laptop has the disadvantage of needing a larger surface to work on and higher weight.
And I hope it costs a bit less in 6 or so months;)...
Yes, it will have firewire according to the specs on the sony site and the CNET article about it.
I don't care much for the ultraproprietary memory stick nonsense, but firewire is cool!;) the more the better.
And agreed re: the formfactor... lots of people are arguing that powerbooks have great battery life etc, and they're right -- but they're much larger. I like the size of the picturebooks enough (I think) to deal with the keyboard. with something that size, I really could carry it everywhere. It's lighter than an SLR camera and zoom lens, it's lighter than most textbooks, it's lighter than even a very premature baby...
Red Hat is a company with a particular distribution of Linux which is well-known, well-liked and well-regarded. RH is a great distro, with perhaps the best documentation of any major distro (Mandrake's could use a lot of editing, not to say a bigger team of translators;), debian's is great for those who already know everying it says...) and great application compatibility. Plus, they employ a lot of kernel hackers who constantly improve it.
Re: whether VA (who slashdot authors work for, albeit pretty darn indirectly -- we don't report to Fremont for anything) is a "rival for RedHat" or whether there is a "hidden agenda set by their masters?" Whaaaa?
OK, you're right. VA Linux (with whom I have close personal ties at least once every 2 hours) instructs me to disparage the variety of Linux they load on their own machines. VA owns Red Hat, I swear, but they've rubbed out anyone who's tried to make that public. Also, they tell me which floor of the book depository to wait on with the big rifle. Honest.
In short, a cheerful "pshaw!" to that particular criticism. I've used Red Hat (2nd distro I ever installed), and look forward to trying out future versions, too.
There are various opinions of what distro (and window manager etc) Slashdot is trying to "push" or "ignore" but the truth is there a bunch of people with different machines and preferences. BSD, various UNIXes, the odd dual-boot windows machine, Macs, and various weirdo ones.
And the most important factor, anyhow, is the logo. SuSE has one of the coolest logos / mascots (I don't much like the new Mandrake logo, oh well -- the hat was much cooler and referenced Mandrake the magician), right up there with Tux. Does any distro or major piece of Linux software have a turtle, an albatross or a panda bear for its mascot? How about a polar bear?
If you hadn't kindly included that link to dictionary.com, I think I would have instead. (The last set of definitions is the closest in this context, I think.)
there certainly are some "update" stories that are important enough by themselves that you'll (I hope) not see them in Slashback, but there are a lot of issues which sort of simmer. Or things where it takes two or three related bits to be meaningful / relevant (or sometimes funny)...
The truth is, there are a lot of submissions to Slashdot that we'd like to run, but looking at the reality of the day some of them would be nearly redundant or just out of place on the main page, so I like to toss in some of those as well -- like orphan stew!:)
I hope you enjoy it -- my job (which is fun anyhow) is more fun because I get to read / collate this stuff into a readable form.:)
true enough -- good point. And certain questions are semantic enough it doesn't matter, eh?;) The reconstructed (well, newly constructed) Babbage engines rock, too.
call it a fit of pique. I was maybe experiencing a pre-emptive headache, as people often complain that slashback doesn't do their dishes, bring them to orgasm, etc. or that I'm an awful guy for assembling it;)
a) secrecy / obscurity -- which is why the colossus project was quiet when others were getting credit for a while. How many people have even heard of Konrad Zuse? Even with more modern computers, there are sometimes disputes about provenance / heritage (I was reminded as I re-read a little bit of The Soul of New Machine this evening).
b) definitions... what exactly constitutes "a computer" / "a digital computer" / etc.? A turing machine? Babbage's engine is pretty cool. What about projects which may have been there theorectically but never really reached fruition.
But yeah, the truth will out at some point. It's one of those things that some people like to argue the fine points of because they're interested in / fascinated by those fine points. Earliest flight, earliest automobile, earliest steam engine, earliest language all raise the same kind of questions, eh?
Actually, Michael was involved with YRO stuff (whether it was called that or not) before he started writing for / posting on Slashdot. To say he doesn't care about the quality of the site just isn't fair, not to mention isn't accurate!
There's a big diff. between "posting a thought that disagrees with yours" (which is fine) and letting people intentionally detract from others' happiness. It's grafitti vs. earpoking. The fact that the people who wrote the code for the site and risked the uncertainty of making it work full time are still around and in fact care *deeply* about the site is pretty impressive to me. Not all of them want to have the floor constanly peed on.
An easy-sounding fix for anyone who reading troll posts would be an option that says "view trolls" and an option for posters to honestly label their posts "This is a troll."
Yes, that was pretty weird, to see 42nd street less most of the seedier establishments.
It's sort of a neutral to me, really -- I mean, while it's pleasant to see a lot of pornography, used syringes, prostitutes and neon advertising things the FCC does not approve of even on the late late late show, it's also nice to see the alternative. Disney, I think, would actually still not approve of all of it, but there's something (something, not everything) to be said for the new Times Sq.
On the other hand, the tactics used to get it cleaned up are something else; I've not witnessed but have heard about some pretty blatant strong-arming (therefore it's hearsay from me!), including kickout out a lot of street vendors. I *like* street vendors! They're one of my favorite aspects of babylon -- low-scale capitalism / instant shop. New York may be freewheeling in some things, but it sure has a lot of licensing and harrassment of small vendors / shops / etc.
NaughtyEddie wrote: "Remember when CD *players* cost $1,000 and up? It's now so cheap to make a CD player they can sell a basic model for around $59."
I remember when CDs first came out, I thought they wouldn't last because people had too much money in vinyl. By the next year I was converted (philisophically) but I couldn't afford one. In 1989, I think, I finally bought a CD player by mail, waited anxiously for it to arrive... and it was broken. It really seemed nice, too -- a Sherwood with a motorized drawer that played out with a purr that puts many high-end players to shame. ALas, I sent it back, and never did figure out what was wrong with it. AH, nostalgia for mass-produced electronics.
But as to your $59 claim, I think it's too conservative! I see players in WalMart and elsewhere for only $39 all the time! Granted, they look like they might last only through a single pack of AA batteries, but they're sure there.
a) slashback -- it's a semi-regular deal where I ("or anyone else --""NOT anyone else!") gather things that are updates or reactions to previous stories, which might not get posted to the front page because of how similar they are to a recent story, say, or because no one wants to see 10 bazillion stories on the same topic... it's also a place where people sometimes complain because they were misquoted or misinterpreted (or in which I can apologize for -- oh I dunno... misreporting the sex of someone because I *assumed* that their gender was what I thought it was) which is something for which we thought it would be nice to provide a regular forum. If you do a search for "Slashback" (trust me, this is one thing that the search engine gets right), you can read some previous ones and see what I mean...
Also, sometimes the punning reference to "flashback" inspires me to include something in Slashback which may never have been in a slashdot story, but which deserves mention nonetheless... historical tidbits etc.
Since I am a humorless bastard, the quickies are funnier even when dealing with digital convergence... also, because a lot of time the sort of things which end up in them are the bubbles at the top of long-simmering issues. I take complaints at timothyatslashdotdotorg:) Rob does quickies still -- watch, he does!
b) there is now a limit past which karma does not shift upwards. This shouldn't come as *too* great a shock -- the whole moderation point thing exists to make reading the site better, and it's constantly being tweaked, poked, prodded, thought about. It bothers some people more than others, but I don't see how it's a burden to folks who post postively.
I am not an expert on the moderation system, but my karma (once so high and happy) is now much much lower than it used to be... oh well!
There are very few places, online or IRL, that aren't disorienting if you leave for a while, then return. New York City is one, I find, but only because the change is actually so constant.
But I still don't have one yet, darnit. I keep passing by RadioShacks but they're all closed when I pass by. So I've got puppy dog eyes for one, at any rate.
I'm leaving my bonus is place on this one so more people can see it, and if it gets modded down, well, that's part of my divine punishment;)
The duplicated sentence was utterly and completely my fault. In the course of editing, I did a copy-and-paste because I'm paranoid about cut-and-paste, and then failed to clean up the original copied item. Repeat: the writer didn't do it, I did.
Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. My apologies to both writer and reader:(
That's a cool thing, and Yes, better than carrying all the pieces separately... But I want one more in the shape of the MP3 player (which I also do not have!) or the modem -- in other words, something which just plugs in to the slot without making much fuss / muss / etc.
(Reading cryptonomicon made me realize how useful / fascinating a GPS reciever can be... ok, you can even scratch "useful" even though I think it might be... )
I read it when I was 11 or 12, and that book is nightmarish and spooky. It's one that all public school employees (including teachers), welfare officers, kids, policemen and parents should read. Absolutely mind-blowing.
I hadn't thought of it myself in several years, but for some reason the incongruity of the RIAA's lawyers trying to micromanage the network rules of universities was as darkly comic as that book.
Buy Dell. Buy HP. Buy Sony. Buy Compaq. Buy E-Machines. Buy a used Packard-Bell from the classifieds.
VA sucks and has never given a red cent of their hard-earned precious money to support "the community." They also don't support their own so-called kernel-hacker "programmers," none of whom have ever done a lick of work on anything important to do with the Linux kernel.
Slashdot is nothing but a collection of subliminal ads for VA Linux Systems, which wouldn't otherwise be able to sell more than 3 servers a year to a school of drugged albinos. Their machines are awful -- they don't stand up at all compared to the nice new 2-rack unit machines from SGI.
Slashdot Mirror
That's one of the most creative things I've seen in a while in that regard. Neat. And while I disagree with you about pornography (I think, perhaps not), thanks for the summary.
timothy
In fact, their design engineer even said that he doesn't have to recruit from the big-name schools to get his engineers, but has no problems finding them in the Minneapolis area.
3M, Honeywell, U of M --
The stereotype of MN (or Georgia, or Tennessee or a lot of other places which I think get sterotyped even more badly) as backward is one that's obviously wrong and I certainly was not promoting it. I was pointing out that it's a high-tech place (esp. Minneapolis) even though it's not thought of that way by most people outside of it. VIA is even one of the fastest-growing companies not only in MN but in the country.
Sorry if it sounded otherwise to you.
timothy
my fault, fixed shortly ago, but (dog ate my homework / the system is slow);)
I think I also went through and "corrected" all of my double-els to single els before realizing that it was the other way around.
Appreciate it --
timothy
As one of the people who's posted some of the stories that Bob may be thinking of here, I'd like to put in a quick word about my attitude toward comparisons in general and Red Hat in particular. a) I like Red Hat -- it's one of the 1st distros I ever installed, and the boxed 7.0 is one of the distros that I ve bought and recommended to other people. b) Comparisons *to* Microsoft and not the same as comparisons *with* Microsoft. Not that either of these might not be appropriate in certain cicrumstances, but there is a difference. Saying that MS has bugs and that Red Hat Linux has bugs may sound alike, but which of these would be you trust to be fixed quicker / better? I'd rather bet on Red Hat for most things. Since I'm not hugely interested in Windows, I can't comment on their bugfixes with great knowledge, but there are certain long-standing bugs which I'm familiar with . Red Hat, on the other hand, seems to fix things pretty quick. That's my take on them. I hope they continue to grow and improve Linux at all levels. timothy
That built in camera really is tempting, y'know ...
... they're amazing for the battery life, and esp. the 400Mhz variety is a huge bargain in its stock config vs. a comparably equipped Intel type laptop.
... WHY NOT?! :)
...
Other than that, you're right about the G3 powerbooks
However, the thing about a picturebook (even discounting the sexy camera) is that is is *so small and light*. Powerbooks, again, are a bargain in the weight department as well vs. similar laptops, but they aren't 2.2 lb. cuties.
This raises the question
I would love a powerbook running OS X the size of a picturebook, with a little bulge for the internal airport card!!! Please, Apple? Smaller hard drive (as in 6 or more GB) -- Fine! external drives / docking? Fine! No camera integrated? Fine! But make it small, battery efficient, and with a workable keyboard (the picturebook isn't as bad as I'd feared) and I am so sold
(sigh)
timothy
My point was that it doesn't make sense to say that Slashdot is overly critical of Red Hat *and* that Slashdot is following the orders of a VA conspiracy, since VA loads Red Hat on all their products. It may be labelled VA Linux 6.2 or whatever, but there's no secret about it;)
...) Rob, Jeff, Pater, Cliff are all into Debian. (And I like Debian *once it's installed*). But let's say, for instance, that Patrick V. from Slackware had claimed to have started the Open Source movement (however you see such) I don't think the reaction would have been any different. Since they are a large, visible company, Red Hat gets a lot of attention, both good and bad.
... heck, you always hurt the one you love! Or Love means never having to say you're sorry! Or whatnot.
As for me, I like Red Hat, though I am not running it at present. (Though I am running Mandrake, which for all it's improvements / differences) is of course still a RH derivative
That's all I meant to say. That there's no giant conspiracy or anything
timothy
That is such a cool idea! That sounds like the coolest material for a wedding band outside of adamantium (sp?) or Reardon metal.
;) If I one day meet a girl, it would be good to keep in mind!
Do you take custom orders?
timothy
It's true that powerbooks have great battery life, nice screens, well-designed port areas (for notebooks) and better keyboards than most laptops, but ...
;) ...
Size.
In a 2.2lb package, the picturebook is close to a singularity. It's not perfect, but for a bit less money than the G3/400, I would be split between them. It may sound silly and "grass is greener," but a large laptop has the disadvantage of needing a larger surface to work on and higher weight.
And I hope it costs a bit less in 6 or so months
timothy
Yes, it will have firewire according to the specs on the sony site and the CNET article about it.
;) the more the better.
... lots of people are arguing that powerbooks have great battery life etc, and they're right -- but they're much larger. I like the size of the picturebooks enough (I think) to deal with the keyboard. with something that size, I really could carry it everywhere. It's lighter than an SLR camera and zoom lens, it's lighter than most textbooks, it's lighter than even a very premature baby ...
I don't care much for the ultraproprietary memory stick nonsense, but firewire is cool!
And agreed re: the formfactor
timothy
Red Hat is a company with a particular distribution of Linux which is well-known, well-liked and well-regarded. RH is a great distro, with perhaps the best documentation of any major distro (Mandrake's could use a lot of editing, not to say a bigger team of translators;), debian's is great for those who already know everying it says ...) and great application compatibility. Plus, they employ a lot of kernel hackers who constantly improve it.
Re: whether VA (who slashdot authors work for, albeit pretty darn indirectly -- we don't report to Fremont for anything) is a "rival for RedHat" or whether there is a "hidden agenda set by their masters?" Whaaaa?
OK, you're right. VA Linux (with whom I have close personal ties at least once every 2 hours) instructs me to disparage the variety of Linux they load on their own machines. VA owns Red Hat, I swear, but they've rubbed out anyone who's tried to make that public. Also, they tell me which floor of the book depository to wait on with the big rifle. Honest.
In short, a cheerful "pshaw!" to that particular criticism. I've used Red Hat (2nd distro I ever installed), and look forward to trying out future versions, too.
Cheers,
timothy
What about Debian?! That's probably the most commonly used distro among the various Slashdot authors.
(debian stuff)
There's also a lot of stuff about Mandrake! Which is what Roblimo and I use most. Slackware, too.
There are various opinions of what distro (and window manager etc) Slashdot is trying to "push" or "ignore" but the truth is there a bunch of people with different machines and preferences. BSD, various UNIXes, the odd dual-boot windows machine, Macs, and various weirdo ones.
And the most important factor, anyhow, is the logo. SuSE has one of the coolest logos / mascots (I don't much like the new Mandrake logo, oh well -- the hat was much cooler and referenced Mandrake the magician), right up there with Tux. Does any distro or major piece of Linux software have a turtle, an albatross or a panda bear for its mascot? How about a polar bear?
timothy
If you hadn't kindly included that link to dictionary.com, I think I would have instead. (The last set of definitions is the closest in this context, I think.)
eh?
timothy
there certainly are some "update" stories that are important enough by themselves that you'll (I hope) not see them in Slashback, but there are a lot of issues which sort of simmer. Or things where it takes two or three related bits to be meaningful / relevant (or sometimes funny) ...
:)
:)
The truth is, there are a lot of submissions to Slashdot that we'd like to run, but looking at the reality of the day some of them would be nearly redundant or just out of place on the main page, so I like to toss in some of those as well -- like orphan stew!
I hope you enjoy it -- my job (which is fun anyhow) is more fun because I get to read / collate this stuff into a readable form.
timothy
true enough -- good point. And certain questions are semantic enough it doesn't matter, eh? ;) The reconstructed (well, newly constructed) Babbage engines rock, too.
timothy
call it a fit of pique. I was maybe experiencing a pre-emptive headache, as people often complain that slashback doesn't do their dishes, bring them to orgasm, etc. or that I'm an awful guy for assembling it ;)
timothy
a) secrecy / obscurity -- which is why the colossus project was quiet when others were getting credit for a while. How many people have even heard of Konrad Zuse? Even with more modern computers, there are sometimes disputes about provenance / heritage (I was reminded as I re-read a little bit of The Soul of New Machine this evening).
... what exactly constitutes "a computer" / "a digital computer" / etc.? A turing machine? Babbage's engine is pretty cool. What about projects which may have been there theorectically but never really reached fruition.
b) definitions
But yeah, the truth will out at some point. It's one of those things that some people like to argue the fine points of because they're interested in / fascinated by those fine points. Earliest flight, earliest automobile, earliest steam engine, earliest language all raise the same kind of questions, eh?
timothy
Actually, Michael was involved with YRO stuff (whether it was called that or not) before he started writing for / posting on Slashdot. To say he doesn't care about the quality of the site just isn't fair, not to mention isn't accurate!
There's a big diff. between "posting a thought that disagrees with yours" (which is fine) and letting people intentionally detract from others' happiness. It's grafitti vs. earpoking. The fact that the people who wrote the code for the site and risked the uncertainty of making it work full time are still around and in fact care *deeply* about the site is pretty impressive to me. Not all of them want to have the floor constanly peed on.
An easy-sounding fix for anyone who reading troll posts would be an option that says "view trolls" and an option for posters to honestly label their posts "This is a troll."
Or at least that's how I see it.
timothy
Yes, that was pretty weird, to see 42nd street less most of the seedier establishments.
It's sort of a neutral to me, really -- I mean, while it's pleasant to see a lot of pornography, used syringes, prostitutes and neon advertising things the FCC does not approve of even on the late late late show, it's also nice to see the alternative. Disney, I think, would actually still not approve of all of it, but there's something (something, not everything) to be said for the new Times Sq.
On the other hand, the tactics used to get it cleaned up are something else; I've not witnessed but have heard about some pretty blatant strong-arming (therefore it's hearsay from me!), including kickout out a lot of street vendors. I *like* street vendors! They're one of my favorite aspects of babylon -- low-scale capitalism / instant shop. New York may be freewheeling in some things, but it sure has a lot of licensing and harrassment of small vendors / shops / etc.
timothy
NaughtyEddie wrote: "Remember when CD *players* cost $1,000 and up? It's now so cheap to make a CD player they can sell a basic model for around $59."
... and it was broken. It really seemed nice, too -- a Sherwood with a motorized drawer that played out with a purr that puts many high-end players to shame. ALas, I sent it back, and never did figure out what was wrong with it. AH, nostalgia for mass-produced electronics.
I remember when CDs first came out, I thought they wouldn't last because people had too much money in vinyl. By the next year I was converted (philisophically) but I couldn't afford one. In 1989, I think, I finally bought a CD player by mail, waited anxiously for it to arrive
But as to your $59 claim, I think it's too conservative! I see players in WalMart and elsewhere for only $39 all the time! Granted, they look like they might last only through a single pack of AA batteries, but they're sure there.
timothy
a quick reorientation :)
... it's also a place where people sometimes complain because they were misquoted or misinterpreted (or in which I can apologize for -- oh I dunno ... misreporting the sex of someone because I *assumed* that their gender was what I thought it was) which is something for which we thought it would be nice to provide a regular forum. If you do a search for "Slashback" (trust me, this is one thing that the search engine gets right), you can read some previous ones and see what I mean ...
... historical tidbits etc.
... also, because a lot of time the sort of things which end up in them are the bubbles at the top of long-simmering issues. I take complaints at timothyatslashdotdotorg :) Rob does quickies still -- watch, he does!
... oh well!
a) slashback -- it's a semi-regular deal where I ("or anyone else --""NOT anyone else!") gather things that are updates or reactions to previous stories, which might not get posted to the front page because of how similar they are to a recent story, say, or because no one wants to see 10 bazillion stories on the same topic
Also, sometimes the punning reference to "flashback" inspires me to include something in Slashback which may never have been in a slashdot story, but which deserves mention nonetheless
Since I am a humorless bastard, the quickies are funnier even when dealing with digital convergence
b) there is now a limit past which karma does not shift upwards. This shouldn't come as *too* great a shock -- the whole moderation point thing exists to make reading the site better, and it's constantly being tweaked, poked, prodded, thought about. It bothers some people more than others, but I don't see how it's a burden to folks who post postively.
I am not an expert on the moderation system, but my karma (once so high and happy) is now much much lower than it used to be
There are very few places, online or IRL, that aren't disorienting if you leave for a while, then return. New York City is one, I find, but only because the change is actually so constant.
timothy
But I still don't have one yet, darnit. I keep passing by RadioShacks but they're all closed when I pass by. So I've got puppy dog eyes for one, at any rate.
timothy
I'm leaving my bonus is place on this one so more people can see it, and if it gets modded down, well, that's part of my divine punishment;)
:(
The duplicated sentence was utterly and completely my fault. In the course of editing, I did a copy-and-paste because I'm paranoid about cut-and-paste, and then failed to clean up the original copied item. Repeat: the writer didn't do it, I did.
Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. My apologies to both writer and reader
timothy
That's a cool thing, and Yes, better than carrying all the pieces separately ... But I want one more in the shape of the MP3 player (which I also do not have!) or the modem -- in other words, something which just plugs in to the slot without making much fuss / muss / etc.
... ok, you can even scratch "useful" even though I think it might be ... )
(Reading cryptonomicon made me realize how useful / fascinating a GPS reciever can be
timothy
I read it when I was 11 or 12, and that book is nightmarish and spooky. It's one that all public school employees (including teachers), welfare officers, kids, policemen and parents should read. Absolutely mind-blowing.
I hadn't thought of it myself in several years, but for some reason the incongruity of the RIAA's lawyers trying to micromanage the network rules of universities was as darkly comic as that book.
Tim
Buy Dell. Buy HP. Buy Sony. Buy Compaq. Buy E-Machines. Buy a used Packard-Bell from the classifieds.
VA sucks and has never given a red cent of their hard-earned precious money to support "the community." They also don't support their own so-called kernel-hacker "programmers," none of whom have ever done a lick of work on anything important to do with the Linux kernel.
Slashdot is nothing but a collection of subliminal ads for VA Linux Systems, which wouldn't otherwise be able to sell more than 3 servers a year to a school of drugged albinos. Their machines are awful -- they don't stand up at all compared to the nice new 2-rack unit machines from SGI.
timothy