The answer to this, of course, was open-source Linux. Now who is MS's biggest competitor? If you read *any* tech news, you know that it sure as hell isn't Apple or IBM.
Um, hate to break the news to you, but by the end of the year Apple will be the single largest vendor of a UNIX-based operating system, shipping more copies than RedHat or Sun. I'm not sure how the numbers work out when you take free downloads into account, but I'm pretty sure it's still in Apple's favor.
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Re:The road to closed PC hardware?
on
nVidia nForce
·
· Score: 1
How about they sue your ass off if you sell PowerPC motherboards without a license from Apple? Oh, and Apple doesn't give licenses to, y'know, anyone?
They'll sue your ass off if you sell PowerPC motherboards with copyrighted Apple BIOS code, which older versions of the Mac OS wouldn't run without. This is no longer an issue; Mac OS X's APIs have removed the calls for querying that BIOS.
I can't find the link, but shortly after the G3 was released, IBM announced that it would be licensing specifications for building PowerPC motherboards, for free. If it's licensed from IBM, Apple's lawyers can't do much.
I love Slackware, but he does make a valid point. Slack is NOT for newbies.
You couldn't be more wrong. Slackware is not for stupid people. Slackware 3.5 was the first Linux distro I installed, and was the distro of choice when many of us were newbies. If you don't know how to read, or simply refuse to, then Slackware is not for you. If you can RTFM, you can install and set up Slackware, and it will be a very valuable experience.
And if you're talking about using a system that's already set up, Slackware's not that much different from anything else, from a user perspective. A friend of mine who's a Windows users and had never seen Linux before sat down in front of my Slackware 7 box, and was surfing the Web and chatting on IRC within minutes, with not much more help from me than "log in, and type startx."
I made sure to check that before submitting an article about it, which was rejected (possibly because my submission didn't downplay Slackware as being a historical distro that didn't die when it was supposed to, or something). It's really out, and I've ordered my copy (and a polo shirt and a bumper sticker) from store.slackware.com. It's a good thing I did; at the rate this ISO is downloading off Sourceforge's server (and I began the download before it was Slashdotted), the CD may arrive first.
If you have trouble remembering secure passwords, here's a great trick:
Take a made-up nonsense sound, like "kersplat" or "squish" or "blart" or "shazam" or something.
Capitalize the first letter, easy to remember because words are often capitalized in English (Kersplat, Squish, Blart, Shazam).
Pretend you're a l33t h4x0r and start replacing letters with numbers (K3rspl@t, Squ1sh, Bl4rt, Sh@z@m).
Add some punctuation, either in front or behind (K3rspl@t!, Squ1sh?!?, !Bl4rt, ??Sh@z@m).
Congratulations, you now have a reasonably secure password.
One of these is very similar to a password that I used to use. Can you guess A) which password is similar, B) what the real password was instead, and C) which systems that password was used on?
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Re:The road to closed PC hardware?
on
nVidia nForce
·
· Score: 1
ATX, PCI, AGP, ATA/66, PC133, 10/100/1000 base-T, v.90, USB, IEEE1394, IEEE802.11b... Sounds awfully proprietary to me. Just because nobody else is selling PowerPC motherboards to consumers yet, doesn't mean it's a proprietary architecture. Just a nitpick.;-)
I'm typing this on an iMac. I'm using a three-button Logitech Wingman Gaming Mouse, I've seen more apps available for download on Hotline than I would know what to do with (or be able to fit on my measly 20GB hard drive), I dual-boot between Mac OS 9.1 10.0.3, I have four x86 operating systems installed under VirtualPC, and my server runs Slackware on a SuperMicro P6DGU with on-board Ultra2 SCSI (Adaptec AIC-7890 chipset) and 512MB of ECC PC100 SDRAM. We're not as rare as you might think.
(by the way, although I use Hotline, I do try to pay for most of the commercial and shareware software I use.)
Get rid of Itchy and Scratchy - what uselessly violent nonsense.
Wow, I can't believe you missed the point of that. Itchy and Scratchy are poking fun at a lot of cartoons. It's stupid, pointless, and needlessly violent, and the kids love it. The Simpsons often makes statements about American society, and this is one of them.
They only need to extend copyright back to around 1910. Anything older than that is still fair game - and there's a lot of material they haven't used yet. Homer's Illiad and Odyssey, various works of Shakespeare...
Just imagine a Beowulf cluster of.. err, I mean a Beowulf cartoon made by Disney!
NeXTStep/OpenStep, Darwin and Mac OS X support cross-platform binaries that let you take a single app and run it across processors. You do (generally) have to run it on the same operating system, because of the APIs, but as long as the APIs are there, it works.
In reality, the compiler produces multiple binary executable files, but they're all contained within an application bundle (or package, I can never keep the terminology straight), which is really a folder containing lots of files, but which appears in the GUI to be a single double-clickable application. Localization can be done this way too; you just include all your text strings in each language, and choose whatever's appropriate based on the user's OS-wide preferences.
And by the way, the old Mac ROM is no longer an issue on Mac OS X, and on classic Mac OS it uses a file on the hard drive instead of querying the actual ROM whenever possible. This was one of the changes made when the original iMac was released.
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Re:Proxies that filter web bugs
on
Web Bug Detector
·
· Score: 1
Shameless plug: BannerFilter is a plug-in for Squid that filters ad banners and popups. It doesn't specifically target web bugs, but if you submit URLs, they'll be added.
This comparison is not fair at all. IMHO, from an end user point of view Win2K doesn't even come CLOSE to the Win98 Second Edition in ease of installation, stability and most importantly hardware support.
Therefor, if this 'contest' should be of any significance, CNET should put Win98 in the ring instead of Win2K
I just installed Win2k to play with. Aside from the installer hanging twice, it went fine. No more difficult than Win98SE at all. And um, since when do end users not run Win2k? Standard consumers don't (or aren't supposed to), but business users certainly do, and when IT isn't around, they may be called upon to install the OS themselves.
And just a nitpick, Win98SE is officially obsolete and (as far as I know) is no longer sold.
But, one question comes to mind, how can you really compare two OSes on different hardware?
If you already have a computer that you will continue to use, and you're not planning on buying a new one, then you're limited to using an operating system that runs on that hardware. If you're in the market for a new machine (either because you don't already have one, or more likely because your old machine has gotten long in the tooth and you feel the need to upgrade), a good rule of thumb is this: choose the applications you want to run first, then choose an operating system that will run those applications, then choose hardware that will run that operating system. Obviously, you may need to make compromises and sacrifices.
If the main app you want to run is Halflife, you're limited to WinME or Win2k (assuming you're buying a new machine and a new OS). Either way, you are then limited to an x86 system (or the more politically correct IA-32).
If you want to run Mozilla and StarOffice, you're limited to WinME, Win2k, Solaris or any version of Linux on x86, or Solaris on Sparc.
If you want to run Photoshop, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Outlook, you're limited to WinME or Win2k on x86, or Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X on PowerPC (however on Mac OS X, Photoshop and Outlook will currently only run in the Mac OS 9 emulation layer, not natively).
1. It justifies and allows spams.
Just give a valid email address and a header that is true and you're good to go!
Not true. It doesn't allow anything. If you don't forge your headers, you're not affected by this law. Any other laws that used to apply, still do.
2. It creates an incredible burden on the spammers who were just sanctioned
According to the court in the ruling, the reason why the spammers addresses, which he gave, were not valid were because they were canceled.
I'm all for placing an incredible burdon on spammers, personally. If the reason your return e-mail address was cancelled is because you knowingly violated your e-mail provider's terms of service, well, too bad, you're an idiot.
The court argues that real info makes buisness easier, but if spammers give their real info out, their accounts are canceled.
If you can find an ISP that ALLOWS you to send spam, great! They won't cancel your account for it! If your ISP doesn't allow it, then you shouldn't be doing it. The law may not be perfect, but I have no complaints.
In effect, the Washington law reads as a ban on spam (You have to use your real info, and if your account goes away, your problem!).
This is NOT a ban on spam. This law explicitly states that it is still legal to send unsolicited commercial e-mail. You just can't hide behind forged headers. And again, if your ISP doesn't allow you to send spam, and that's what you want to do, choose a different ISP that will allow you to send spam and not cancel your account.
I would much rather see a better more thought-out law.
Just have the law say "spam is banned." It's bad that they have different more confusing words with the same effect.
As was already stated, Hotmail isn't in Washington. Before Microsoft bought them out, Hotmail was an Internet startup. Most Internet startups are based in California.
..if the spammer appealed to the US Supreme Court, and they upheld Washington's decision? Would that make spam illegal all over the country?
Nope, sorry, this is a Washington state law. The US Supreme Court can't create a law that applies to the whole country - they can only uphold and strike down this one, which only applies to WA.
I hate to sound cynical, but I don't give this ruling a long time until it gets overturned or ruled against by another court. Which is a shame.
The law was just upheld by the state supreme court - the highest court in the state of Washington. The federal government can certainly interfere, but I don't think they have the authority to directly change or overturn the law.
Cute, but he says that the temperature is higher inside it than in his old box. Otherwise, I'd want a furry pink case for my server!
I think more case fans could solve this problem. Elevating the bottom couldn't hurt either - I don't see much of a space for air to get in the bottom, and I don't see fans (just grills) on those bottom holes.
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Re:Why haven't others used wood?
on
Hardwoodware
·
· Score: 3
Apple has been making plastic cases for years. Standard metal PC cases are designed to shield EM radiation, as someone pointed out. With beige Macs, Apple lined the inside of the case with metal shielding. The original iMac also had metal shielding inside - you can see it through the plastic. With the newer iMacs (introduced in '99 I believe), Apple found a way to integrate EM shielding into the plastic - I have no idea how.
It seems to me that a wood case would have to have the same kind of shielding as a plastic case, and borrowing some ideas from Apple's beige Macs would probably be worth looking into.
Looks pretty snazzy but it looks an awful lot like the G4 cube. How long do you think it will be before Apple comes along trying to stop them from using the design?
Um, the G4 Cube also resembles the Cobalt Qube. Apple isn't going to be suing anybody.
An excellent point. The banner ads I am most annoyed by are, in fact, the ones that don't tell me what they're advertising, unless I click the banner, which I'm always reluctant to do. Which do you think is more effective, assuming they both link to the same Web site?
Computer feeling sluggish? Time for a replacement? We've got what you need. Click here to enter our online store!
or...
Computer feeling sluggish? Time for a replacement? Visit the Dell Online Store at dell.com to order online!
Notice that the former doesn't mention the company who's advertising, and if the user doesn't click the link (and remember that statistically most users don't), you get no brand exposure at all.
Slashdot Mirror
Um, hate to break the news to you, but by the end of the year Apple will be the single largest vendor of a UNIX-based operating system, shipping more copies than RedHat or Sun. I'm not sure how the numbers work out when you take free downloads into account, but I'm pretty sure it's still in Apple's favor.
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They'll sue your ass off if you sell PowerPC motherboards with copyrighted Apple BIOS code, which older versions of the Mac OS wouldn't run without. This is no longer an issue; Mac OS X's APIs have removed the calls for querying that BIOS.
I can't find the link, but shortly after the G3 was released, IBM announced that it would be licensing specifications for building PowerPC motherboards, for free. If it's licensed from IBM, Apple's lawyers can't do much.
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You couldn't be more wrong. Slackware is not for stupid people. Slackware 3.5 was the first Linux distro I installed, and was the distro of choice when many of us were newbies. If you don't know how to read, or simply refuse to, then Slackware is not for you. If you can RTFM, you can install and set up Slackware, and it will be a very valuable experience.
And if you're talking about using a system that's already set up, Slackware's not that much different from anything else, from a user perspective. A friend of mine who's a Windows users and had never seen Linux before sat down in front of my Slackware 7 box, and was surfing the Web and chatting on IRC within minutes, with not much more help from me than "log in, and type startx."
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1:54pm up 122 days, 12:55, 2 users, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
I won't have decent uptime on any of my systems for awhile; I keep moving hardware around.
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Take a made-up nonsense sound, like "kersplat" or "squish" or "blart" or "shazam" or something.
Capitalize the first letter, easy to remember because words are often capitalized in English (Kersplat, Squish, Blart, Shazam).
Pretend you're a l33t h4x0r and start replacing letters with numbers (K3rspl@t, Squ1sh, Bl4rt, Sh@z@m).
Add some punctuation, either in front or behind (K3rspl@t!, Squ1sh?!?, !Bl4rt, ??Sh@z@m).
Congratulations, you now have a reasonably secure password.
One of these is very similar to a password that I used to use. Can you guess A) which password is similar, B) what the real password was instead, and C) which systems that password was used on?
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(by the way, although I use Hotline, I do try to pay for most of the commercial and shareware software I use.)
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Ceci n'est pas une pipe.
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Wow, I can't believe you missed the point of that. Itchy and Scratchy are poking fun at a lot of cartoons. It's stupid, pointless, and needlessly violent, and the kids love it. The Simpsons often makes statements about American society, and this is one of them.
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Just imagine a Beowulf cluster of.. err, I mean a Beowulf cartoon made by Disney!
--
In reality, the compiler produces multiple binary executable files, but they're all contained within an application bundle (or package, I can never keep the terminology straight), which is really a folder containing lots of files, but which appears in the GUI to be a single double-clickable application. Localization can be done this way too; you just include all your text strings in each language, and choose whatever's appropriate based on the user's OS-wide preferences.
And by the way, the old Mac ROM is no longer an issue on Mac OS X, and on classic Mac OS it uses a file on the hard drive instead of querying the actual ROM whenever possible. This was one of the changes made when the original iMac was released.
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Therefor, if this 'contest' should be of any significance, CNET should put Win98 in the ring instead of Win2K
I just installed Win2k to play with. Aside from the installer hanging twice, it went fine. No more difficult than Win98SE at all. And um, since when do end users not run Win2k? Standard consumers don't (or aren't supposed to), but business users certainly do, and when IT isn't around, they may be called upon to install the OS themselves.
And just a nitpick, Win98SE is officially obsolete and (as far as I know) is no longer sold.
--
If you already have a computer that you will continue to use, and you're not planning on buying a new one, then you're limited to using an operating system that runs on that hardware. If you're in the market for a new machine (either because you don't already have one, or more likely because your old machine has gotten long in the tooth and you feel the need to upgrade), a good rule of thumb is this: choose the applications you want to run first, then choose an operating system that will run those applications, then choose hardware that will run that operating system. Obviously, you may need to make compromises and sacrifices.
If the main app you want to run is Halflife, you're limited to WinME or Win2k (assuming you're buying a new machine and a new OS). Either way, you are then limited to an x86 system (or the more politically correct IA-32).
If you want to run Mozilla and StarOffice, you're limited to WinME, Win2k, Solaris or any version of Linux on x86, or Solaris on Sparc.
If you want to run Photoshop, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Outlook, you're limited to WinME or Win2k on x86, or Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X on PowerPC (however on Mac OS X, Photoshop and Outlook will currently only run in the Mac OS 9 emulation layer, not natively).
Use the best tool for the job.
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Just give a valid email address and a header that is true and you're good to go!
Not true. It doesn't allow anything. If you don't forge your headers, you're not affected by this law. Any other laws that used to apply, still do.
2. It creates an incredible burden on the spammers who were just sanctioned
According to the court in the ruling, the reason why the spammers addresses, which he gave, were not valid were because they were canceled.
I'm all for placing an incredible burdon on spammers, personally. If the reason your return e-mail address was cancelled is because you knowingly violated your e-mail provider's terms of service, well, too bad, you're an idiot.
The court argues that real info makes buisness easier, but if spammers give their real info out, their accounts are canceled.
If you can find an ISP that ALLOWS you to send spam, great! They won't cancel your account for it! If your ISP doesn't allow it, then you shouldn't be doing it. The law may not be perfect, but I have no complaints.
In effect, the Washington law reads as a ban on spam (You have to use your real info, and if your account goes away, your problem!).
This is NOT a ban on spam. This law explicitly states that it is still legal to send unsolicited commercial e-mail. You just can't hide behind forged headers. And again, if your ISP doesn't allow you to send spam, and that's what you want to do, choose a different ISP that will allow you to send spam and not cancel your account.
I would much rather see a better more thought-out law.
Just have the law say "spam is banned." It's bad that they have different more confusing words with the same effect.
You just contradicted yourself.
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Nope, sorry, this is a Washington state law. The US Supreme Court can't create a law that applies to the whole country - they can only uphold and strike down this one, which only applies to WA.
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The law was just upheld by the state supreme court - the highest court in the state of Washington. The federal government can certainly interfere, but I don't think they have the authority to directly change or overturn the law.
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I think more case fans could solve this problem. Elevating the bottom couldn't hurt either - I don't see much of a space for air to get in the bottom, and I don't see fans (just grills) on those bottom holes.
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It seems to me that a wood case would have to have the same kind of shielding as a plastic case, and borrowing some ideas from Apple's beige Macs would probably be worth looking into.
--
Um, the G4 Cube also resembles the Cobalt Qube. Apple isn't going to be suing anybody.
--
Computer feeling sluggish? Time for a replacement? We've got what you need. Click here to enter our online store!
or...
Computer feeling sluggish? Time for a replacement? Visit the Dell Online Store at dell.com to order online!
Notice that the former doesn't mention the company who's advertising, and if the user doesn't click the link (and remember that statistically most users don't), you get no brand exposure at all.
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