I like the language... Microsoft took java, added language features I was missing from Borland's C++ builder (events, properties, delegates), let you call an windows dll.
I've also enjoyed the platform. It was rather trivial to change our logging system to use non-blocking calls to send these logs over the MessageQueue, and then to have an NT service receive those messages for later processing.
When the database CPU load went up to 70% we implement caching using their intrinsic ASP.Net Cache objects on often used and rarely changed data. This immediately dropped the load down to 2%.
Also, I work in a LAMP shop (mysql/perl, not the lightbulb kind), and we've had no problems interfacing our systems using SOAP.
I don't think c# is always the best tool for front-end websites in all situations, but for the backend I've been extremely happy with it. Even for the front-end I've been happy.
I owned a Supermac 180, and I gotta say, that thing had serious stability issues while running Mac OS 9 that I never ran into using the iMacs at school. It was better than Windows was at the time (around 1999) but that's not setting the bar very high.
There is something to be said for the marriage of hardware and software design.
I personally recommend the original microsoft laser pointer mouse. The scrollwheel works great, and os x lets you configure what you want to use the extra buttons for. For me, it's expose, desktop, and dashboard.
How is Windows Media DRM different that iTMS? You can burn a CD with Windows Media just fine if the content owner gives the user permission.
The content creators are under no obligation to release any art in any format if they don't want to. The only way you're going to get into a lawsuit with DRM is if you aren't issuing the rights you advertise. In fact, corporate lawyers are insisting on using DRM for content that's only licensed in certain countries since you can take due diligience (doesn't have to be perfect) to prevent users from other countries from being able to access the content.
And no, DRM doesn't prevent content from showing up on P2Ps, but when you download a DRM'd file from a P2P you still have to pay for it.
Your issues are with American copyright laws, not the technology.
I'd go one step further and say it's not neccesarily the DRM technology used that's annoying, it's how the content owner decides to issue the rights rules that can annoy the users.
I've worked with clients who give away permanent licenses to video downloads with subscription websites, and other that issue single play licenses for similar content. Guess whose customers end up finding my email address to send over some flames?:)
Seeing that we're currently waiting for the update to get Protools on OS X 10.4, I might be wrong about this, but my guess is that Protools is already being updated for the Intel line, but I'll wait until others says its stable to convert the Protools box.
In fact, I would venture to say that Apple will definitely not fully implement trusted computing. From what I hear from Microsoft, the roadblocks to getting Microsoft DRM v2 (WMRM9/10) onto OS X has been Apple, because of their moral opposition to strong DRM.
since when has dedicating your life to running the 100 meter dash not funny? I'm laughing at both, although I'm happy for them that they've found some life goal that makes them happy.
I know for a fact people laugh at me on those occasions I'd rather work out an idea in front of the computer on a Friday night instead of going out:)
To each their own. Hell, first thing I did on a Saturday morning is made this post to slashdot!
I agree totally... we need copyright to expire after a fair period, say 14 years. And we need DRM providers to register the encryption keys with some third-party service, be it Microsoft, some other certification company, the gov't, or some combination of those groups. The keys are released to the public after the copyright date is up, and the locks are removed.
I work for a DRM company, so I know how simple this would be to implement. I don't have any personal problems with using DRM for business systems, but infinite copyright is a load of crap, and I think that's the real issue people have problems with.
These are grad students. If they would have opted to take a job instead of continuing their education, they would be required to learn new languages all of the time (some of them nasty in-house ones), just like the rest of us.
Teach the concepts like the parent post said... and let the students decide which tools are right for the job. They will need to know how to do this after they graduate anyway. These guys should already know the basics of webservices and SOAP by the time they reach you (although my experience while at a Big Ten school would suggest otherwise, unfortunately).
I would suggest going over the different ways of building these sites briefly during the first half of the semester... and then make the students select a project to create during the 2nd half with a technical complexity approaching google maps. This isn't unfeasable if you don't require the students to use real data. I'm sure all of us could have created google maps if we had access to the map data they've been utilizing. If you covered all of the tools available to web developers in the first half of the semester, your students will know exactly where to research to be able to find out how to build such a clever site.
I re-read the article after reading your reply. Having the chip handle the software portions of the rights control system is a nasty idea. However, if Intel is merely adding new instruction sets to help software provide DRM services, this would be a useful idea.
I would really like to know more about exactly what they're adding, because this article really doesn't say what exactly is being added. I'll have to do some research.
I would hate to see CPUs becoming the cop for rights management... secure pathways to video cards and peripherals, that's fine. But having the processor not handle certain kinds of files automatically based on some remote database? I hope they're not thinking that, it seems a little absurd to assume such a system would work to a level of quality that consumers would find acceptable.
But if DRM sticks to the path that Windows Media Player has taken, we should all be fine, since the DRM is optional (although individual merchants can require it). Frankly, I'd like to see DRM added as an option to more products, such as Word. In the news, there have been many times I've seen a story about a company memo leaking out to the public. The wouldn't have been a problem to them if they could just shut the file off remotely.
If you're not familiar with how Windows Media DRM licensing works, I can explain, I deal with it at work. It's really not an unfair system.
I'm going to use the same argument I use when people are wanting to censor naughty words on the radio: change the channel. I'm not saying don't by Intel chips, but I don't see the problem with Intel offering DRM on chip.
This change does not require us to use DRM, just like using Windows doesn't require you to use DRM. If this technology will allow for faster decryption of the AES data, more power too them. This is currently performed by the CPU.
I say, if you don't want to use DRM, don't. The content companies weren't providing legal ways to purchase their content online in the past, and you can continue to not purchase your content online. In the end, it's Napster forcing the DRM on you, not Intel. Intel just sees a market opportunity, because DRM adoption is growing like wildfire.
If someone can explain how this new chip feature is an atrocity against man, I'm all ears. I used to have a big problem with trusted computing in the past, but I have had a change of heart.
What's everyone's current issues with these types of merchant systems?
the main reason for the redundant system is in the even Level3 loses connectivity. We provide billing services for 40,000 websites, and we can't ever have the system go down for more that 5 minutes. Our customer support department gets swamped in a hurry.
The 4 database admins are for the 7 different clusters, and these systems do more than provide for webpages, they do spidering for site changes, password management, etc, etc.
so I suppose this kind of a system is beyond the scope of the question asked.
I've worked on both the Windows and Linux development sides of a shop that receives about a million hits a day on each side. On both sides, the bottlenecks where always the database.
Both sides used pretty much the same setup for webservers... 4 load balanced webservers with hyperthreading at around 3ghz (at the moment... always around 75% of the fastest processors out there to save money). These are sitting in datacenters with multiple 10gbps connections, and each has a hotswapable copy of the entire system running at another data center.
I've found SQL Server can take quite a bit more abuse than replicated mysql, but mysql is extremely fast. However, we have 4 admins for the mysql servers. I myself admin the SQL Servers in addition to my programming and tech support roles. Biggest downside to SQL Server is price.
My suggestion: tread very lightly on the database and you'll be able to handle more load than you'd expect. Cron static pages off the database when possible, or have static pages generated automatically when you update your database. Also look into caching mechanisms for frequently used data.
And as in an programming project, profile and tweek and measure and patch.
I'm sure these companies already own a copy of all of software and the equipment they would need in order to do this at just the cost of materials and labor. If other companies can print up DVDs in small batches at around $0.50 a pop, I bet these guys can do it for a nickel.
If I was starting a company? yeah, you're right I wouldn't invest in outdated technology, but if the technology I previously invested in is outdated, I'm going to try to get money out of it in any way I can.
I'm sure these guys are keeping the originals (what kind of idiot wouldn't?), and since they're making tons of cash on this. Especially considering they can release this same content again in the future when substantially better technology is available, why shouldn't they release a DVD version now? They'll market the next release as AI-constructed HDTV compatible formats.
I agree with you entirely. I would find a week long battery for my cell phone that charges in 15 minutes a lot more useful that TV on my phone.
I wish the world worked where the most useful features got developed first, but I'm afraid here that some new technologies has be the TV a much lower hanging fruit, and doesn't require a scientist to figure out. It's a straight forward engineering problem, and the business side just requires a could of solid relationships to pull off.
I think the sales team at work gets about 3 calls a week from people looking to create these systems. At least this will be a fun fight to watch:)
Slashdot Mirror
I like the language... Microsoft took java, added language features I was missing from Borland's C++ builder (events, properties, delegates), let you call an windows dll.
I've also enjoyed the platform. It was rather trivial to change our logging system to use non-blocking calls to send these logs over the MessageQueue, and then to have an NT service receive those messages for later processing.
When the database CPU load went up to 70% we implement caching using their intrinsic ASP.Net Cache objects on often used and rarely changed data. This immediately dropped the load down to 2%.
Also, I work in a LAMP shop (mysql/perl, not the lightbulb kind), and we've had no problems interfacing our systems using SOAP.
I don't think c# is always the best tool for front-end websites in all situations, but for the backend I've been extremely happy with it. Even for the front-end I've been happy.
I owned a Supermac 180, and I gotta say, that thing had serious stability issues while running Mac OS 9 that I never ran into using the iMacs at school. It was better than Windows was at the time (around 1999) but that's not setting the bar very high.
There is something to be said for the marriage of hardware and software design.
(Altivec is nice, but only helps in "broad brush" operations. It's pointless outside of graphic processing tasks.)
:)
It's nice in my pro tools setup, and several other windows ported audio apps too
I personally recommend the original microsoft laser pointer mouse. The scrollwheel works great, and os x lets you configure what you want to use the extra buttons for. For me, it's expose, desktop, and dashboard.
How is Windows Media DRM different that iTMS? You can burn a CD with Windows Media just fine if the content owner gives the user permission.
The content creators are under no obligation to release any art in any format if they don't want to. The only way you're going to get into a lawsuit with DRM is if you aren't issuing the rights you advertise. In fact, corporate lawyers are insisting on using DRM for content that's only licensed in certain countries since you can take due diligience (doesn't have to be perfect) to prevent users from other countries from being able to access the content.
And no, DRM doesn't prevent content from showing up on P2Ps, but when you download a DRM'd file from a P2P you still have to pay for it.
Your issues are with American copyright laws, not the technology.
I wonder what product engineers at Firestone think about re-inventing the wheel :)
I'd go one step further and say it's not neccesarily the DRM technology used that's annoying, it's how the content owner decides to issue the rights rules that can annoy the users.
:)
I've worked with clients who give away permanent licenses to video downloads with subscription websites, and other that issue single play licenses for similar content. Guess whose customers end up finding my email address to send over some flames?
hehe. Me neither :)
But being an Apple fan working at a DRM company, I sure wish they would support it.
Seeing that we're currently waiting for the update to get Protools on OS X 10.4, I might be wrong about this, but my guess is that Protools is already being updated for the Intel line, but I'll wait until others says its stable to convert the Protools box.
In fact, I would venture to say that Apple will definitely not fully implement trusted computing. From what I hear from Microsoft, the roadblocks to getting Microsoft DRM v2 (WMRM9/10) onto OS X has been Apple, because of their moral opposition to strong DRM.
since when has dedicating your life to running the 100 meter dash not funny? I'm laughing at both, although I'm happy for them that they've found some life goal that makes them happy.
:)
I know for a fact people laugh at me on those occasions I'd rather work out an idea in front of the computer on a Friday night instead of going out
To each their own. Hell, first thing I did on a Saturday morning is made this post to slashdot!
I agree totally... we need copyright to expire after a fair period, say 14 years. And we need DRM providers to register the encryption keys with some third-party service, be it Microsoft, some other certification company, the gov't, or some combination of those groups. The keys are released to the public after the copyright date is up, and the locks are removed.
I work for a DRM company, so I know how simple this would be to implement. I don't have any personal problems with using DRM for business systems, but infinite copyright is a load of crap, and I think that's the real issue people have problems with.
These are grad students. If they would have opted to take a job instead of continuing their education, they would be required to learn new languages all of the time (some of them nasty in-house ones), just like the rest of us.
Teach the concepts like the parent post said... and let the students decide which tools are right for the job. They will need to know how to do this after they graduate anyway. These guys should already know the basics of webservices and SOAP by the time they reach you (although my experience while at a Big Ten school would suggest otherwise, unfortunately).
I would suggest going over the different ways of building these sites briefly during the first half of the semester... and then make the students select a project to create during the 2nd half with a technical complexity approaching google maps. This isn't unfeasable if you don't require the students to use real data. I'm sure all of us could have created google maps if we had access to the map data they've been utilizing. If you covered all of the tools available to web developers in the first half of the semester, your students will know exactly where to research to be able to find out how to build such a clever site.
IIRC isn't there already a surcharge on blank CDs... JUST IN CASE they're used for that sort of piracy? Or is that just urban myth?
I re-read the article after reading your reply. Having the chip handle the software portions of the rights control system is a nasty idea. However, if Intel is merely adding new instruction sets to help software provide DRM services, this would be a useful idea.
I would really like to know more about exactly what they're adding, because this article really doesn't say what exactly is being added. I'll have to do some research.
I would hate to see CPUs becoming the cop for rights management... secure pathways to video cards and peripherals, that's fine. But having the processor not handle certain kinds of files automatically based on some remote database? I hope they're not thinking that, it seems a little absurd to assume such a system would work to a level of quality that consumers would find acceptable.
But if DRM sticks to the path that Windows Media Player has taken, we should all be fine, since the DRM is optional (although individual merchants can require it). Frankly, I'd like to see DRM added as an option to more products, such as Word. In the news, there have been many times I've seen a story about a company memo leaking out to the public. The wouldn't have been a problem to them if they could just shut the file off remotely.
If you're not familiar with how Windows Media DRM licensing works, I can explain, I deal with it at work. It's really not an unfair system.
:) I'm sure we all post first and RTFA later on a regular basis
I'm going to use the same argument I use when people are wanting to censor naughty words on the radio: change the channel. I'm not saying don't by Intel chips, but I don't see the problem with Intel offering DRM on chip.
This change does not require us to use DRM, just like using Windows doesn't require you to use DRM. If this technology will allow for faster decryption of the AES data, more power too them. This is currently performed by the CPU.
I say, if you don't want to use DRM, don't. The content companies weren't providing legal ways to purchase their content online in the past, and you can continue to not purchase your content online. In the end, it's Napster forcing the DRM on you, not Intel. Intel just sees a market opportunity, because DRM adoption is growing like wildfire.
If someone can explain how this new chip feature is an atrocity against man, I'm all ears. I used to have a big problem with trusted computing in the past, but I have had a change of heart.
What's everyone's current issues with these types of merchant systems?
I work in Tempe and will be buy a house there next month, and I'm more than happy to pay for such a service.
Now I can go hang out at a bar on Mill AND be an anti-social websurfer at the same time!
Seriously though, weren't they planning on charging a pretty low price? Like $25/mo?
the main reason for the redundant system is in the even Level3 loses connectivity. We provide billing services for 40,000 websites, and we can't ever have the system go down for more that 5 minutes. Our customer support department gets swamped in a hurry.
The 4 database admins are for the 7 different clusters, and these systems do more than provide for webpages, they do spidering for site changes, password management, etc, etc.
so I suppose this kind of a system is beyond the scope of the question asked.
There's a lot of models that are similar to cell phones, and many have ranges of up to 30 miles.
Here's an example.
http://www.4cellular.com/cordless/
Googling for cordless phone long range returned a lot of results.
I've worked on both the Windows and Linux development sides of a shop that receives about a million hits a day on each side. On both sides, the bottlenecks where always the database.
Both sides used pretty much the same setup for webservers... 4 load balanced webservers with hyperthreading at around 3ghz (at the moment... always around 75% of the fastest processors out there to save money). These are sitting in datacenters with multiple 10gbps connections, and each has a hotswapable copy of the entire system running at another data center.
I've found SQL Server can take quite a bit more abuse than replicated mysql, but mysql is extremely fast. However, we have 4 admins for the mysql servers. I myself admin the SQL Servers in addition to my programming and tech support roles. Biggest downside to SQL Server is price.
My suggestion: tread very lightly on the database and you'll be able to handle more load than you'd expect. Cron static pages off the database when possible, or have static pages generated automatically when you update your database. Also look into caching mechanisms for frequently used data.
And as in an programming project, profile and tweek and measure and patch.
I'm sure these companies already own a copy of all of software and the equipment they would need in order to do this at just the cost of materials and labor. If other companies can print up DVDs in small batches at around $0.50 a pop, I bet these guys can do it for a nickel.
If I was starting a company? yeah, you're right I wouldn't invest in outdated technology, but if the technology I previously invested in is outdated, I'm going to try to get money out of it in any way I can.
I'm sure these guys are keeping the originals (what kind of idiot wouldn't?), and since they're making tons of cash on this. Especially considering they can release this same content again in the future when substantially better technology is available, why shouldn't they release a DVD version now? They'll market the next release as AI-constructed HDTV compatible formats.
I agree with you entirely. I would find a week long battery for my cell phone that charges in 15 minutes a lot more useful that TV on my phone.
:)
I wish the world worked where the most useful features got developed first, but I'm afraid here that some new technologies has be the TV a much lower hanging fruit, and doesn't require a scientist to figure out. It's a straight forward engineering problem, and the business side just requires a could of solid relationships to pull off.
I think the sales team at work gets about 3 calls a week from people looking to create these systems. At least this will be a fun fight to watch
Nah dude, she's a lot more into Mortal Kombat than I am, and she kicks my ass at it.
:)
But our vs games of starcraft last hours and hours and hours.
and no, you guys can't have her number