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User: lophophore

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Comments · 518

  1. Re:With XP? How about without Windows? on What Does It Take To Get a PC With XP? · · Score: 4, Informative

    I bought a T81 from Lenovo with SuSe Linux 10 on it; no windows tax. That was direct from Lenovo.com

  2. plumbing on New Grads Shun IT Jobs As "Boring" · · Score: 1

    I have been working as a software developer for 27 years.

    I wish I had taken my 6-year-old self's career advice and become a plumber.

    I'd be retiring this year.

    Instead, I get to look forward to 20 more years of "boring" software development.

  3. Re:no American power plants burn Oil on McCain Backs Nuclear Power · · Score: 1

    That is utter bullshit. Diesel is being burned today to generate electricity.

    look here for instance: http://www.sixnetio.com/html_files/app_stories/lakeland%20app.pdf

  4. Themed rooms/areas for computing pioneers on Computer Art For a CS Dept Office? · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I worked at DEC Spit Brook for a while... All the conference rooms there were themed on a person important to computing, for instance, the Babbage Auditorium, conference rooms for (Grace) Hopper, (Herman) Hollerith, etc. Most of the rooms were named after computing or mathematical historical people, for instance, Konrad Zuse (as I recall, there was an original painting by Zuse in that room), Ramanujan, Heisenberg, and Schroedinger (don't look inside!) and some for people who were not dead (though Grace Hopper did actually see her conference room) like Metcalfe and Boggs, Gordon Bell, Jean Sammet, etc.

    Each room had a likeness of the person, one or more plexiglass plaques describing their accomplishments, and artwork related to their inventions/discoveries. It was always interesting to go into a new conference room and see who it featured and what they did.

    (We had Edison, but I don't remember their being a Tesla room... Any former inhabitants of ZKO recall?)

  5. those morons should be impeached. on Chinese Government Accused of Hacking Congress · · Score: 1

    Duhhh. More congressional stupidity. Let's put confidential or secret information on a Windows PC that's connected to the Internet. Duhhhhhhhhhhh.

    Those morons should be impeached.

    OTOH, I am pretty much totally in favor of firewalling off all of China's IP address space...

  6. Re:Phoronix will pay to fix X on The State of X.Org · · Score: 1

    OK. I'll do it. I have not worked on X Window System code since 1991, but I have worked on XLib and X server DDX code... And I still have all my books. That was X11 R5, so it's not that much different.

    All I ask is a comfortable 6-figure salary (nothing worth less than US Dollars, please) with the usual health insurance benefits, etc. and whatever hardware I will need to test. Phoronix and Sun ought to be able to swing that.

  7. Re:Why complain? on Open Source Killing Commercial Developer Tools · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Notepad++ does enough of what Emacs does to please?

    I think not. It only runs on Windows. Ouchy.

    Years ago I made the switch from Brief (which was a tremendous programmers editor at the time) to Emacs for one reason: Emacs ran on my windows PC, my linux boxes, and my VAXen, and it looked and worked the same on all platforms. And Emacs will run on OS X, too. I'm still using Emacs today, for the same reason: cross-platform compatability.

    (BTW Visual Studio supports "industry standard languages?" Please go back to bed, Mr. Ballmer.)

  8. this does not matter much on How Tech-Savvy Will the Next President Be? · · Score: 1

    How "tech-savvy" the next president is really does not matter. You can distill this all down to the two basic platforms:

    Laissez-Faire vs. government regulation and intervention.

    What matters more is who controls the majority in Congress.

  9. Re:Computers that just plain work on Windows XP Lives, Thanks to Linux · · Score: 2

    There is a catch to Macs. Apple is one of the most proprietary companies making computers today.

    Proprietary == Expensive.

    Do you want to run OS X? You better be prepared to shell out 30 to 50% more on hardware than on an equavalent power "commodity" computer. (Never mind lawsuit-bait Psystar. They won't be around much longer, once Apple's lawyers get their teeth into them.)

    I just bought a new Lenovo Thinkpad with suse linux on it for under $950. An equivalently equipped MacBook is $1300.

  10. Re:laptops yes to maybe, pc's and servers no on Why Buy a PC Preloaded With Linux? · · Score: 1

    Hmmm. My brand-spanking-new Lenovo T61 with Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop plain would not run. The hardware was fine, but the pre-installed SLED would boot to the logo screen, and that's it. I ran the diagnasties for two days, the hardware is good. Reinstall SLED from the supplied DVD and got the same results -- no workee.

    So then I installed Fedora Core 9 on it. **Everything** worked, right away, except the fingerprint reader, and that was trivial to get going. (I did not want to run Novell, anyway, they are not a *real* Linux company...)

  11. real world examples on DARPA Sponsors a Hunt For Malware In Microchips · · Score: 1
    Early Motorola 6809 microprocessors had an "unused" opcode hackers named HCF -- halt and catch fire...

    Then, you have built-in kill switches used to fight satellite TV piracy, like the dreaded DirecTV Black Sunday killer packets that killed unauthorized access cards.

    So this stuff has happened.

    How many Counterfeit Cisco Routers have built in exploits or kill switches is another question...

  12. with great power comes great responsibility on Kraken Infiltration Revives "Friendly Worm" Debate · · Score: 1

    I think there are ways they can proactively use their control over the botnet relatively safely.

    They can update the infected computer with a program that causes an annoying popup to occur until the machine is sanitized by the owner. Then update the machine's firewall (if it has one) to block the controlling UDP port.

    That solution should be fairly low risk.

    I get so much spam of late, that I have no problem if they deliberately break the entire IP stack on the infected computers. Serves the owners right.

  13. not new technology on Patch the Linux Kernel Without Reboots · · Score: 1

    I worked with a genius engineer at DEC in the late 80s who could patch a running VMS system on the fly, no reboot required.

    He had a small program that made the whole thing happen.

  14. what not to call it on Name For a Community-Owned Fiber Network? · · Score: 1

    I'd not recommend calling it Fairpoint!

    Seriously, if you build it, and it works, you will likely have success beyond your hopes, as neighboring communities clamor for access...

  15. when was the last time? on Must a CD Cost $15.99? · · Score: 1

    When was the last time you felt like a CD was worth $15?

    I can tell you when it was for me. It was buying Factory imports in the early 80s, in a specialty shop that only sold CDs. Stuff that was not made in the US. Stuff I had to have.

    But would I pay $15.99 for a domestic release of some of the crapola that the major labels are releasing? HELL NO.

    OTOH, $10 to NIN for Ghosts I-IV, downloading the bits for near instant gratification, the CD (with liner notes) to come in the mail, with the artists receiving the bulk of the money -- this is something I can live with.

  16. Bad business plans, bad execution on Justice Dept. Approves XM/Sirius Merger · · Score: 1

    Neither company has posted a profit, true. But both companies have spent crazy to "acquire talent" to "build marketshare". Sirius paid millions for Howard Stern, XM paid a bundle for Opie and Anthony -- how much market share did either gain them? Both would be profitable without the expensive content.

    I hope the FCC approves the merger on the condition that the combined companies must yield one of their radio licenses back.

  17. can't download on Reznor Follows Radiohead, Offers Free Album · · Score: 4, Informative

    I am a bit of a NIN fan...

    I went to the site, paid $16.99 for an immediate download of all 36 tracks and the promise of the 2-disc CD set mailed to me in April. The download site is totally swamped. I tried to download the music, my downloads would just die before I even got a few percent of the archive. I tried again, then again, and now it hates me: "download limit exceeded." Hopefully, they'll get their shit together, unblock my access, and I'll be able to get the music I paid for.

    The moral of this story is: "You might want to wait a couple days before trying to download."

  18. RoHS on Microsoft Insider Details Xbox 360 Red Ring Problems · · Score: 2, Insightful
    BGA problems are exacerbated by the use of lead-free (F*cking RoHS) solder. This is not just a XBOX 360 problem, my iPod mini died because of crummy solder under the portalplayer BGA chip, apparently a common failure. The RoHS initiative has caused some of the most unreliable electronics to be made in 30 years.

    Manufacturers are still learning how to deal with lead-free solder, and until they do, you can expect your shiny electronic gadgets to turn into bookends and doorstops with grim regularity.

  19. it's not compensation for the trial on Trial Set To Determine What SCO Owes Novell · · Score: 3, Informative

    The description here is incorrect.

    SCO does not owe Novell any compensation for the trial or lawsuit.

    They owe them something like 95% of the Unix license fees they collected from Sun and Microsoft, as well as some others.

  20. Still several weeks away... on Microsoft to Spy on Employees · · Score: 1

    from April 1. Because this sounds like an April Fools joke.

  21. Checkers on Dartmouth Timesharing System on What Was Your First Gaming Experience? · · Score: 1

    My first computer gaming experience was playing checkers on the Dartmouth Timesharing System, back when it was still called DTSS, running on a GE mainframe. Every square on the checkerboard had a number, and you entered your move as the from square and the to square. This was all at 110 baud on a ASR-33 teletype.

    I few years later I played ADVENT on a PDP-11 running RSTS/E...

    Both of those experiences clearly touched me in some way, as evidenced by my 27 year career (so far) in computing...

  22. Prefessional Suicide on Rails Bigwig Rails on Rails Community · · Score: 1

    Good job, there, Zed, in committing professional suicide in a highly public manner.

    I bet you'll be looking for one of those $29/hour fast food manager jobs, I don't think Wendy's bothers to google candidate names...

  23. I won't buy either because of HDMI on Most Consumers Sitting Out The High-Def War · · Score: 1

    I won't buy either BluRay or HD-DVD because the encrypted hi-def HDMI output won't work with my component video 5 year old 1080i television set. Besides the fact that I am opposed to HDMI for political reasons (why build protection to keep the honest out?) it is loaded with bugs. Hardware and software DRM have done **nothing** to stop piracy, all they have done is driven up the cost and complexity and reduced the functionality of consumer goods.

    Why can't I plug my home theater together with ethernet cables?

  24. This will encourage consumers to break the law. on IBM Files DVD Spam Patent Application · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If DVDs are shipped with must-see commercials, then more and more consumers will feel willing (and perhaps justified) to "illegally" extract the desired content from their **purchased** DVD and burn a new, content-only DVD. This is a stupid plan.

  25. Re:tea leaves and biz speak on Believe the Occupational Outlook Handbook? · · Score: 1

    in biz speak, "shortage" of resources means they can't find enterprise-capable Java programmers who will work for a $50,000 salary, which is probably more than what they would pay for a H1B employee.

    But then again, when they have populated their development teams with the cheapest labor they can find, they should not expect schedule or quality goals to be met. Like anything else, you get what you pay for.