Unlucky for me, Qwest is a bunch of a~~holes who provide DSL in my area, but just not at my house.
This is not because they're assholes; it's the nature of the technology. If the copper loop from their CO to your house happens to be longer than 15,000 feet (the length of wire, not distance as the crow flies), there's a good chance you'll have a variety of problems from time to time, and it's just not economically feasible to try to provide you access. If they tried, they would almost certainly lose a lot of money (the money you would pay to subscribe to the service is nowhere near what it would cost them to provide it).
Not only that, but half the time, it sounds like I'm talking on a cell phone in a tunnel. It gets really scratchy, and sometimes dial-up doesn't even work.
If you have a modern NID (gray plastic box on the side of your house where the phone line comes in off the pole), it should have a test jack. Take a phone outside and open the box. Plug the phone in there, and see if there's any improvement. If so, that means the problem is not Qwest's side of the connection, but rather the inside wiring (IW) in your house. If you do still have the problem there, call Qwest (1-800-244-1111) and tell them what you've just done, describe the problem, and ask them to have someone check it out. If they refuse, or fail to correct the problem to your satisfaction, contact your state's Public Utility Commission (PUC) and file a complaint. Nothing makes Qwest move faster than complaints to the PUC.
If the problem is IW (crappy sound at the jack inside, but good sound at the NID), it is not normally Qwest's responsibility to fix this. You can either a) rewire your house yourself, b) find a friend who will do it for you, c) hire a professional electrician (certified to work with low-voltage stuff - make sure you get somebody who knows how phone wires work) to do it, or d) sign up for Qwest's insurance thing (included with their $10/month Preferred Choice package), then ask them to do it. Generally they'll only do one single phone jack I think, but they'll run new cat5 wire from the NID and install a new jack.
If you do not have a modern NID (for example, if the line off the pole goes through a hole into your attic and connects to a couple of screw terminals, like mine did), call Qwest, let them know you've got problems, and ask them to send someone out to install a proper NID. Might be wise to sign up for the insurance thing I mentioned first. Remember that their policy is, if they send a truck out and find and fix a problem (on their side, up to and including the NID but not including IW) there is no cost to you, but if they do not find what they consider a problem, they will bill you for wasting their time.
Regional Bell Operating Company, same thing as an ILEC (Incumbant Local Exchange Carrier). AT&T was split up into many different local phone companies, and then they all merged back together, so there are only four now: Qwest, Verizon, BellSouth and SBC. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if two of those merged within the next decade.
Qwest was never an RBOC, will never be an RBOC, and the notion that they ever were an RBOC is laughable at best.
Qwest (which bought USWest) is at least as much an RBOC (Regional Bell Operating Company) as Verizon (formed by the merger of BellAtlantic and GTE) and SBC (PacificBell, Nevada Bell, Southwestern Bell and Ameritech).
As far as Macs go, just use the ol' unix '.' trick, and Finder will be none the wiser (I think, I don't have a Mac to test this on).
In classic Mac OS, use a utility such as ResEdit, GetMoreInfo, or numerous others to set the Invisible flag. In OSX, you're correct that the Finder won't display files/folders named with a leading period; you can access a hidden folder by pressing Cmd-Shift-G and typing the path (beware that the path is saved for next time!), and hidden files can be found by adding "visible=all" as a search term in the Find File dialog.
5. Cover your tracks. Clear browser history. On Windows, clear the list of recently accessed documents. If you have root on a UNIX box, flush the logs.
Try the Reset Safari option under the application menu, if that's your browser of choice.
I can't imagine that AT&T would sell spam technology, because it would be a public relations nightmare.
You don't think they'd sell it under the "AT&T" brand name, do you?
Several distinct companies operate under the AT&T brand name; I'm sure AT&T owns several companies that operate under different brand names as well.
How many normal people do you suppose make a connection between Bugs Bunny, WinAmp, Mapquest and CNN? They wouldn't make the connection between AT&T and whatever subsidiary sold the spam software either.
Going along with the respect idea: decide which of your kids' rules could reasonably apply to you as well, and submit yourself to them. Some of them will sound like they don't apply because you wouldn't do those things anyway - fine, you should have no trouble adhering to those particular rules. Others should not apply because you're an adult; hopefully your children will agree with this principle and thus also agree that you should not be bound by those rules.
Keep the door open when you're on the computer - is that a reasonable expectation for you yourself to adhere to? If not, be careful about asking your kids to do it. Don't quickly exit from everything when we walk past. Don't ever lie to us about what you're doing. It should be pretty easy to adhere to those. See what I mean? By making it clear that you intend to follow the same rules, you're sending a signal that the rules should be followed not because you said so, but because it's the right thing to do.
Actions speak far louder than words. Remember, teenagers rebel against parental authority, but they don't generally rebel against doing the right thing, unless they confuse the two. They can't rebel against your authority by breaking these rules if they see that you're subject to the same rules yourself, because that means the rules aren't really handed down by your authority, they're just common sense and apply to everyone.
Don't underestimate the power of respect.
Finally, and this is sort of a meta-question from an exasperated dad, does everybody lie about what they're doing on the Internet?
When you set rules, make it clear that there are legitimate reasons for these rules, and you're not just being tyranical. If you're concerned about things you've seen in the news happening to other children, bring those stories to your own children and a) show them that there is a serious danger, and b) ask for their input. Rather than simply telling them what rules they must adhere to for their own safety, give them a chance to think for themselves, and let them tell you what rules they think would be appropriate to prevent them from becoming victims themselves (as opposed to rules that would not be effective toward that goal). Once a consensus has been reached, make the agreed-upon rules mandatory and enforce them as you normally would.
Your kids know more about their own online activities than you do, so involving them in this process should result in more effective policies (they may think of rules you wouldn't have thought of, because you don't know what they might want to do). Most importantly, if they come up with the rules themselves and understand the reasons behind them, they will be far more likely to adhere to them when you're not standing over their shoulder than if you just handed down legislation from above. Finally, by honestly asking them for their input, you're showing them a great deal of respect that they may be unaccustomed to, and hopefully will respond in kind. That respect will likely make you the envy of their peers.
X11 does not come as part of Panther by default. It's an optional install, just like it was for Jaguar.
Yes it does, it's on the Panther install CDs. It is not installed by default, but it is included, and you can select during the installation process. X11 was not included with Jaguar; you had to download it.
You misunderstand. I meant, they would check the Do Not Spam list to get a list of valid e-mail addresses (if somebody bothered to list them, they must be valid), then sell that list to other spammers as a confirmed opt-in spam list.
I like the idea of the do not spam registry that they mention in the article. But it seems like a real pipe dream considering how much trouble there has been getting the do-not-call registry up and running.
Compared to spammers, the sleaziest telemarketers are shining pillars of ethical perfection. Telemarketers will not abuse the Do Not Call list - if nothing else, than because they REALLY fear the FCC (and FTC or whoever winds up administering it). They run legitimate, legal businesses, and can't afford to run the risk of breaking the law.
Spammers, on the other hand, care not for such things. If there ever were a Do Not Spam list created, and it was done in such a way that the list itself would not be published, you can bet somebody would write a script to randomly generate billions of e-mail addresses, check every one of them against the Do Not Spam list, compile a list of every e-mail address that matches, and sell it as a list of confirmed opt-in e-mail addresses on CD-ROM for $500.
Does anyone from the Portland area remember the Organ Grinder restaurant? They had a pipe organ and a wide assortment of mechanically controlled instruments that could be played by the organist.
Yes, but they sold out within hours after the tickets were offered online.
Yep, I forgot about it until that evening, by which time it was far too late. I'm not sure how long the window of opportunity was, but undoubtedly not very.
Ever notice how when you hear about how well a movie did on opening weekend or whatever, it's ALWAYS reported as a dollar amount for gross ticket sales, NEVER the actual number of tickets sold? What do you suppose happens to that number when the theater charges a different price? A movie can be called "highest-grossing of all time" but will never be called "most watched" because those numbers are not reported.
Instead of first-run theaters being contractually obligated to charge at least $4/ticket, why not just charge them $4/ticket to show the movie? I'm sure how it works now is illegal in some other countries (Japan? I think I once heard something about Apple's price-fixing policy being a problem there).
Kinda tempting to skip ROTK and wait a year for the extended release, isn't it? It almost feels like the experience will be ruined by seeing the theatrical release first, instead of seeing the movie as it should be.
Can't possibly wait that long, but it is tempting.
f) Sam knows Gollum will betray them. Frodo insists that Gollum be kept alive, in part because of what Gandalf had said before, about how there had already been enough bloodshed and he may prove useful. If Frodo hadn't repeatedly insisted that they be merciful, their quest would have failed.
g) A massive army is assembled and attacks Sauron's forces head-on, knowing they have no chance of winning, in an attempt to distract their enemy so he won't notice the hobbits who are sneaking toward Mt. Doom. They continue this strategy even after seeing evidence that Frodo and Sam have been captured.
Who likes buying a DVD and having a movie that is exactly the same as it when first shown in a theatre? While extra scenes and goodies are fun, there is generally a good reason why scenes end up on the the cutting room floor. LOR has gone way overboard trying maximize revenue by marketing an insane amount of releases to their overloyal fans, but people here seem to eat it up.
Normally this is true, but not in LOTR. When I saw the first movie in the theater (not having read the books), I was confused by a few things. Then I read the books, and it was all perfectly clear. When I saw the extended version, I realized that the extra footage was exactly what was missing from the theatrical release which would have filled in the holes and made everything make sense.
Whether reading the books in the meantime altered my perception of how much sense the extra footage made, I'm not sure, but I definitely did NOT get the feeling that the extra scenes were stuff that should have been left out. In my opinion, the original release of FOTR is not as good as the extended release, and I expect the other extended releases to be the same way.
On a (semi-)related note, I'm still waiting for the 6-Degrees-Of-Also-Bought. You know, people who bought A also bought B; people who bought B also bought C; people who bought C bought the Soundtrack to Flashdance with Kevin Bacon.
Have you thought about using iChat instead of AIM?
I have.
iChat integrates with the Address Book. iChat shows people's real names, and handles people who have multiple screen names. iChat can do voice chats with other iChat users (although I haven't actually had an opportunity to try this yet).
AIM lets you organize your buddies into groups/folders. AIM supports text-to-speech using a different voice for each person (using a default voice for people you haven't customized). AIM shows a different icon for buddies signed on from a mobile phone or using AOL, which can be useful to know.
iChat does have a lot of the features I want, although (like with Mail) they seem hidden in weird places. If they add groups/folders, maybe I'll try switching.
My IBM three-button mouse has a scroll button which can scroll both vertically and horizontally. Unfortunately, horizontal scrolling is backwards (press left and it scrolls right, press right and it scrolls left); I don't know whether this is Apple's fault or IBM's.
Also, pressing the left or right scroll buttons in an AIM window crashes AIM; I've reported this bug to AOL. I've worked around it by installing USB Overdrive, which disables horizontal scrolling altogether, and setting it to only affect AIM. This way AIM doesn't crash, and horizontal scrolling works (although backwards) in other apps.
But yeah, other than that it works fine. Middle-clicking in Safari opens links in a new tab, or middle-clicking a bookmark folder menu thing opens all bookmarks in the folder in tabs.
Slashdot Mirror
Unlucky for me, Qwest is a bunch of a~~holes who provide DSL in my area, but just not at my house.
This is not because they're assholes; it's the nature of the technology. If the copper loop from their CO to your house happens to be longer than 15,000 feet (the length of wire, not distance as the crow flies), there's a good chance you'll have a variety of problems from time to time, and it's just not economically feasible to try to provide you access. If they tried, they would almost certainly lose a lot of money (the money you would pay to subscribe to the service is nowhere near what it would cost them to provide it).
Not only that, but half the time, it sounds like I'm talking on a cell phone in a tunnel. It gets really scratchy, and sometimes dial-up doesn't even work.
If you have a modern NID (gray plastic box on the side of your house where the phone line comes in off the pole), it should have a test jack. Take a phone outside and open the box. Plug the phone in there, and see if there's any improvement. If so, that means the problem is not Qwest's side of the connection, but rather the inside wiring (IW) in your house. If you do still have the problem there, call Qwest (1-800-244-1111) and tell them what you've just done, describe the problem, and ask them to have someone check it out. If they refuse, or fail to correct the problem to your satisfaction, contact your state's Public Utility Commission (PUC) and file a complaint. Nothing makes Qwest move faster than complaints to the PUC.
If the problem is IW (crappy sound at the jack inside, but good sound at the NID), it is not normally Qwest's responsibility to fix this. You can either a) rewire your house yourself, b) find a friend who will do it for you, c) hire a professional electrician (certified to work with low-voltage stuff - make sure you get somebody who knows how phone wires work) to do it, or d) sign up for Qwest's insurance thing (included with their $10/month Preferred Choice package), then ask them to do it. Generally they'll only do one single phone jack I think, but they'll run new cat5 wire from the NID and install a new jack.
If you do not have a modern NID (for example, if the line off the pole goes through a hole into your attic and connects to a couple of screw terminals, like mine did), call Qwest, let them know you've got problems, and ask them to send someone out to install a proper NID. Might be wise to sign up for the insurance thing I mentioned first. Remember that their policy is, if they send a truck out and find and fix a problem (on their side, up to and including the NID but not including IW) there is no cost to you, but if they do not find what they consider a problem, they will bill you for wasting their time.
Regional Bell Operating Company, same thing as an ILEC (Incumbant Local Exchange Carrier). AT&T was split up into many different local phone companies, and then they all merged back together, so there are only four now: Qwest, Verizon, BellSouth and SBC. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if two of those merged within the next decade.
Qwest was never an RBOC, will never be an RBOC, and the notion that they ever were an RBOC is laughable at best.
Qwest (which bought USWest) is at least as much an RBOC (Regional Bell Operating Company) as Verizon (formed by the merger of BellAtlantic and GTE) and SBC (PacificBell, Nevada Bell, Southwestern Bell and Ameritech).
Everyone works out regularly, they have a 12" thingie and are millionaires.
You mean a 12" PowerBook, right?
That was surprisingly insightful. Excellent point.
2. Encrypt your data.
In Mac OS X 10.3, try the new FileVault feature.
As far as Macs go, just use the ol' unix '.' trick, and Finder will be none the wiser (I think, I don't have a Mac to test this on).
In classic Mac OS, use a utility such as ResEdit, GetMoreInfo, or numerous others to set the Invisible flag. In OSX, you're correct that the Finder won't display files/folders named with a leading period; you can access a hidden folder by pressing Cmd-Shift-G and typing the path (beware that the path is saved for next time!), and hidden files can be found by adding "visible=all" as a search term in the Find File dialog.
5. Cover your tracks. Clear browser history. On Windows, clear the list of recently accessed documents. If you have root on a UNIX box, flush the logs.
Try the Reset Safari option under the application menu, if that's your browser of choice.
I can't imagine that AT&T would sell spam technology, because it would be a public relations nightmare.
You don't think they'd sell it under the "AT&T" brand name, do you?
Several distinct companies operate under the AT&T brand name; I'm sure AT&T owns several companies that operate under different brand names as well.
How many normal people do you suppose make a connection between Bugs Bunny, WinAmp, Mapquest and CNN? They wouldn't make the connection between AT&T and whatever subsidiary sold the spam software either.
Going along with the respect idea: decide which of your kids' rules could reasonably apply to you as well, and submit yourself to them. Some of them will sound like they don't apply because you wouldn't do those things anyway - fine, you should have no trouble adhering to those particular rules. Others should not apply because you're an adult; hopefully your children will agree with this principle and thus also agree that you should not be bound by those rules.
Keep the door open when you're on the computer - is that a reasonable expectation for you yourself to adhere to? If not, be careful about asking your kids to do it. Don't quickly exit from everything when we walk past. Don't ever lie to us about what you're doing. It should be pretty easy to adhere to those. See what I mean? By making it clear that you intend to follow the same rules, you're sending a signal that the rules should be followed not because you said so, but because it's the right thing to do.
Actions speak far louder than words. Remember, teenagers rebel against parental authority, but they don't generally rebel against doing the right thing, unless they confuse the two. They can't rebel against your authority by breaking these rules if they see that you're subject to the same rules yourself, because that means the rules aren't really handed down by your authority, they're just common sense and apply to everyone.
Don't underestimate the power of respect.
Finally, and this is sort of a meta-question from an exasperated dad, does everybody lie about what they're doing on the Internet?
Do you? If not, then the answer is no.
When you set rules, make it clear that there are legitimate reasons for these rules, and you're not just being tyranical. If you're concerned about things you've seen in the news happening to other children, bring those stories to your own children and a) show them that there is a serious danger, and b) ask for their input. Rather than simply telling them what rules they must adhere to for their own safety, give them a chance to think for themselves, and let them tell you what rules they think would be appropriate to prevent them from becoming victims themselves (as opposed to rules that would not be effective toward that goal). Once a consensus has been reached, make the agreed-upon rules mandatory and enforce them as you normally would.
Your kids know more about their own online activities than you do, so involving them in this process should result in more effective policies (they may think of rules you wouldn't have thought of, because you don't know what they might want to do). Most importantly, if they come up with the rules themselves and understand the reasons behind them, they will be far more likely to adhere to them when you're not standing over their shoulder than if you just handed down legislation from above. Finally, by honestly asking them for their input, you're showing them a great deal of respect that they may be unaccustomed to, and hopefully will respond in kind. That respect will likely make you the envy of their peers.
If he's replaced it with FreeBSD, he was probably running Darwin on x86, not Mac OS X Server.
No, contrary to popular opinion, it's not easy to confuse the two. I'm sure he meant he replaced the machine with a PC running FreeBSD.
X11 does not come as part of Panther by default. It's an optional install, just like it was for Jaguar.
Yes it does, it's on the Panther install CDs. It is not installed by default, but it is included, and you can select during the installation process. X11 was not included with Jaguar; you had to download it.
You misunderstand. I meant, they would check the Do Not Spam list to get a list of valid e-mail addresses (if somebody bothered to list them, they must be valid), then sell that list to other spammers as a confirmed opt-in spam list.
I like the idea of the do not spam registry that they mention in the article. But it seems like a real pipe dream considering how much trouble there has been getting the do-not-call registry up and running.
Compared to spammers, the sleaziest telemarketers are shining pillars of ethical perfection. Telemarketers will not abuse the Do Not Call list - if nothing else, than because they REALLY fear the FCC (and FTC or whoever winds up administering it). They run legitimate, legal businesses, and can't afford to run the risk of breaking the law.
Spammers, on the other hand, care not for such things. If there ever were a Do Not Spam list created, and it was done in such a way that the list itself would not be published, you can bet somebody would write a script to randomly generate billions of e-mail addresses, check every one of them against the Do Not Spam list, compile a list of every e-mail address that matches, and sell it as a list of confirmed opt-in e-mail addresses on CD-ROM for $500.
Non-NYT site
Does anyone from the Portland area remember the Organ Grinder restaurant? They had a pipe organ and a wide assortment of mechanically controlled instruments that could be played by the organist.
Yes, but they sold out within hours after the tickets were offered online.
Yep, I forgot about it until that evening, by which time it was far too late. I'm not sure how long the window of opportunity was, but undoubtedly not very.
Just another comment:
Ever notice how when you hear about how well a movie did on opening weekend or whatever, it's ALWAYS reported as a dollar amount for gross ticket sales, NEVER the actual number of tickets sold? What do you suppose happens to that number when the theater charges a different price? A movie can be called "highest-grossing of all time" but will never be called "most watched" because those numbers are not reported.
Instead of first-run theaters being contractually obligated to charge at least $4/ticket, why not just charge them $4/ticket to show the movie? I'm sure how it works now is illegal in some other countries (Japan? I think I once heard something about Apple's price-fixing policy being a problem there).
"Hello, this is the operator."
Tank, I need an exit.
um, sorry, had to.
Kinda tempting to skip ROTK and wait a year for the extended release, isn't it? It almost feels like the experience will be ruined by seeing the theatrical release first, instead of seeing the movie as it should be.
Can't possibly wait that long, but it is tempting.
f) Sam knows Gollum will betray them. Frodo insists that Gollum be kept alive, in part because of what Gandalf had said before, about how there had already been enough bloodshed and he may prove useful. If Frodo hadn't repeatedly insisted that they be merciful, their quest would have failed.
g) A massive army is assembled and attacks Sauron's forces head-on, knowing they have no chance of winning, in an attempt to distract their enemy so he won't notice the hobbits who are sneaking toward Mt. Doom. They continue this strategy even after seeing evidence that Frodo and Sam have been captured.
Who likes buying a DVD and having a movie that is exactly the same as it when first shown in a theatre? While extra scenes and goodies are fun, there is generally a good reason why scenes end up on the the cutting room floor. LOR has gone way overboard trying maximize revenue by marketing an insane amount of releases to their overloyal fans, but people here seem to eat it up.
Normally this is true, but not in LOTR. When I saw the first movie in the theater (not having read the books), I was confused by a few things. Then I read the books, and it was all perfectly clear. When I saw the extended version, I realized that the extra footage was exactly what was missing from the theatrical release which would have filled in the holes and made everything make sense.
Whether reading the books in the meantime altered my perception of how much sense the extra footage made, I'm not sure, but I definitely did NOT get the feeling that the extra scenes were stuff that should have been left out. In my opinion, the original release of FOTR is not as good as the extended release, and I expect the other extended releases to be the same way.
On a (semi-)related note, I'm still waiting for the 6-Degrees-Of-Also-Bought. You know, people who bought A also bought B; people who bought B also bought C; people who bought C bought the Soundtrack to Flashdance with Kevin Bacon.
Could this be added as an extension to the Oracle of Bacon?
Have you thought about using iChat instead of AIM?
I have.
iChat integrates with the Address Book.
iChat shows people's real names, and handles people who have multiple screen names.
iChat can do voice chats with other iChat users (although I haven't actually had an opportunity to try this yet).
AIM lets you organize your buddies into groups/folders.
AIM supports text-to-speech using a different voice for each person (using a default voice for people you haven't customized).
AIM shows a different icon for buddies signed on from a mobile phone or using AOL, which can be useful to know.
iChat does have a lot of the features I want, although (like with Mail) they seem hidden in weird places. If they add groups/folders, maybe I'll try switching.
If you think machine is cool, try hostinfo.
My IBM three-button mouse has a scroll button which can scroll both vertically and horizontally. Unfortunately, horizontal scrolling is backwards (press left and it scrolls right, press right and it scrolls left); I don't know whether this is Apple's fault or IBM's.
Also, pressing the left or right scroll buttons in an AIM window crashes AIM; I've reported this bug to AOL. I've worked around it by installing USB Overdrive, which disables horizontal scrolling altogether, and setting it to only affect AIM. This way AIM doesn't crash, and horizontal scrolling works (although backwards) in other apps.
But yeah, other than that it works fine. Middle-clicking in Safari opens links in a new tab, or middle-clicking a bookmark folder menu thing opens all bookmarks in the folder in tabs.