But then of course no Computer science courses above programing 1 uses windows machines.
Courses above the introductory level shouldn't care what you're running. Your code should run the same, no matter where you run it...toward the end, we had a mix of Linux, Win2K, NetBSD (which replaced SunOS on some ancient SPARCstation 1s), IRIX, and some other stuff I can't remember...it was usually recommended that you make sure your code would build on whatever the TA would use for testing, but properly-written code should build on anything. I usually did most of my coding/debugging on Linux on one of my machines and only did a quick compile/test on the grading machine to make sure I didn't do anything non-portable (which rarely happened). Hell, as late as 1997 I even ported one project (finding a knight's tour from a given starting position) from C to BASIC on an Apple II so that I could add graphics to it to plot the tour (not knowing at the time anything about graphics under X11 or Win32). I dumped a few of those to an Imagewriter and turned that in along with the C and BASIC programs.
While it's slick that they had a dual proc board and all... none of the tests they used used the dual proc-ness of the system. They even indicate in their results that the second proc just threw overhead into the system.
They've asked for help getting some dual proc benchmarking software.
It looked like, other than Sandra and some other synthetic benchmarks, all they did was run a few games on it. I couldn't care less how Half-Quake-Doom-Forever XLII runs on it, especially since your average game will do bugger-all for loading up a multi-processor system. Now if they'd done some TMPGEnc DVD-encoding runs (or something like that), that would've hammered both processors for a good long time...in addition to seeing how fast an encode you can get, it'll also stress-test the processors, memory, and thermal-management hardware (not locking up due to overheating or other glitches would be a Good Thing).
The software isn't that expensive, either...last time I checked, TMPGEnc was under $100 and all of the software that'd feed into it (things like VirtualDub and Avisynth) is free.
Others have mentioned Linux kernel builds, but they're more I/O-dependent and they only take a few minutes on modern hardware.
The setup runs at a very cool 35c and at this temperature the fans are very quite, not once during our testing did the fans speed up to a level of noise which we found annoying.
The fans are quite WHAT? Large? Noisy? Mushy?
Just because you have a spell checker doesn't mean you need to leave out proofreading!
Seen in another/.er's sig:
"Me spell chucker work grate. Need grandma chicken."
No it wasn't. The basis of the lawsuit is that McDonald's didn't advertise that the coffee was really hot.
That doesn't alter the simple fact that anybody with an IQ greater than that of a sponge knows that coffee is hot and should be handled with at least some caution.
With the lifetime service option, you just lose that much more when TiVo fails.
How do I lose anything more? I paid $200 ~3 years ago. At $10/month, I broke even in less than 2 years. Since then, I've continued getting service for my TiVo at no additional cost. Without lifetime service, I would've paid more than twice as much by now and would still be on the hook for more money every month (especially when you factor in that they now charge $14/month). Please explain how this is a Bad Thing.
You're even more a fool for buying that because TiVo won't allow you to tranfer the account if you replace the box, even if it breaks.
What's in there that can break?
The hard drive? I've already replaced that because I wanted something bigger. I've also made backups of the software after each update, so if the replacement drive dies, I can swap in a new one.
The modem? I added Ethernet to mine to pull updates over my cable-modem connection. If I didn't have that, a $5 cable and one of the three external modems I have (all of which are currently gathering dust) would fix that.
Those are pretty much the only problems people have run into with their TiVos.
I don't accept your hacking solution. You're saying "see, the company isn't so bad because we can just break their security and commit a criminal act (under the DMCA, even if they do go tits-up) it's a good product".
Take off your tinfoil hat. The only crime would be if you cloned a serial number from another TiVo or took some other action to pull subscription data from TiVo's servers without having paid for service. If you're creating slice files or setting your LAN to redirect TiVo traffic away from their server and to your own server that provides compatible service, you're not doing anything wrong...DMCA or no DMCA (besides, the DMCA is unconstitutional and therefore null and void anyway, regardless of what the ??AA would have you believe).
Re:Isn't TIVO bankrupt yet?
on
Open Source at TiVo
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
Between their broken business model (selling hardware that forces you to pay monthly fees for unnecessary service, and leaving you with a useless piece of garbage when they finally die), and cable and satellite providers coming up with PVR hardware for free plus a monthly fee that's cheaper than TIVOs, I'm surprised they still exist.
You are aware that there's a lifetime-service option, aren't you? I figure I got my money's worth out of that a year or so ago. If TiVo does go tango-uniform at some point, there are ways to keep the machine going without having it "phone home"...it's what TiVo owners in Canada and Australia are already doing.
Does anyone actually run SuSE Linux outside of Europe?
I ran it for a while...switched to it when a Slackware install ate itself. YaST is fairly decent at configuring stuff it knows about, but building/adding "outside" apps gets to be a little tricky. After a couple of years or so, I built an LFS box...once I was somewhat familiar with that, I started building systems around LFS instead, as it delivered a lightweight system with just the stuff you want, and it was usually a bit faster.
Nowadays, I use Gentoo...it offers most of LFS's performance advantages in an easier-to-use form. I have Slackware on an old 486 for which building LFS or Gentoo would be impractical. I suspect I'd be lost if I tried picking up SuSE again...I'd have to figure out its quirks. Ditto for Redh*t, which I've never used, aside from some poorly-configured boxes set up by a clueless "admin" who didn't know WTF he was doing. (Tried Mandrake once...pitched it after a day or two. I think the pattern that's emerging here is that the more shiny the Linux distro, the less likely I'll be able to get it to do what I want.)
I mean, it's a nice fantasy when you're ten years old and you've just finished watching an old John Wayne movie, but when you get a little older, you start to realize that these things are better off being left up to the sheriff.
Call for a cop. Call for a pizza. See which arrives first. When it's your life on the line, do you really want to be stuck waiting for Officer Barbrady to finish up at the donut shop and get his ass over to you?
People in the USA don't even realise how much safer the EU is.
Really? Is that why you're six times more likely to be mugged in London than in New York City? A number of you also made sure to mention in the days following 9/11 that terrorism has been a more-or-less-constant threat over there for decades (IRA, Red Army Faction, Baader-Meinhof Gang, Direct Action, etc.). Are you still sure you're safer over there than we are over here?
Also, you do realise that violent crime in your country has dropped year on year in the last 10 years?
You don't suppose that could have anything to do with (1) getting tough on crime and (2) criminals don't know who's armed and who isn't, do you?
Go ahead. Be a slave in your country if you want. I place a higher value on liberty than on security...besides, if you try to trade liberty for security, you frequently end up with neither.
Ted Kennedy's car has killed more people than my guns...going by your "logic," does that mean we should outlaw cars?
You should be lucky the conservatives haven't killed the space program altogether.
I'm fairly sure that all the whining over the years that we should be (for instance) feeding the poor instead of going into space was not coming from the Right. Thanks for playing, though...this wouldn't be/. without a gratuitous cheap shot at [Dubya|Rush|"stupid white men" in general].
Manned space flights are dangerous and unnecessary. Unmanned spaceships are the way to go. That way no humans die, and it's even more efficient.
Lots of would-be aviators got themselves killed in unproven flying (or non-flying) contraptions before the Wright brothers got their plane off the ground. Plenty more were killed trying to punch through the "sound barrier" before Chuck Yeager succeeded. Any kind of experimental or exploratory mission is fraught with risk. Those who engage in such activities are aware of the risks, and choose to take them anyway because they know something good will come out of it either way (you learn as much from your failures as from your successes). That some of them end up dead is unfortunate, but the consequences if nobody did what they do would be far worse.
If we took your advice, it'd still take days or weeks to get from the US to Europe or Asia, instead of hours. You probably wouldn't be reading this message either, as neither of us would have computers on our desktops linked by a global communications network. I'm sure there are more examples, but those are just the ones that come to mind right now.
One company,
Energy Innovations, has an interesting new approach using a Stirling engine and solar mirrors.
UNLV has similar solar-power rigs at the far northern edge of campus. This page has more info, and some pictures...they're two different designs from different companies and can supply up to about 50 kW for the pair. Some solar A/C info and other stuff is further down the page as well.
Yes, I'm sure that NPR will publish text articles from all of their shows, because they obviously have the funds and staff to do so, since the government gives them so much money.
Other media outlets manage to do their job without mooching off the taxpayers. Besides, the few minutes it'd take to type up a transcript would be more than offset by the savings in their monthly bandwidth charges. (Then again, since when was any government operation known for saving money?)
I had printed out the PDFs a while back (at work, thankfully, not at home) and had them bound, but the binder fscked up...the larger volumes were split into two or three parts, and I think one of them was bound on the wrong edge. Now I can get properly-bound editions for free...w00t!
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Courses above the introductory level shouldn't care what you're running. Your code should run the same, no matter where you run it...toward the end, we had a mix of Linux, Win2K, NetBSD (which replaced SunOS on some ancient SPARCstation 1s), IRIX, and some other stuff I can't remember...it was usually recommended that you make sure your code would build on whatever the TA would use for testing, but properly-written code should build on anything. I usually did most of my coding/debugging on Linux on one of my machines and only did a quick compile/test on the grading machine to make sure I didn't do anything non-portable (which rarely happened). Hell, as late as 1997 I even ported one project (finding a knight's tour from a given starting position) from C to BASIC on an Apple II so that I could add graphics to it to plot the tour (not knowing at the time anything about graphics under X11 or Win32). I dumped a few of those to an Imagewriter and turned that in along with the C and BASIC programs.
<voice style="comic-book-guy">
Of course "quad" is defined...look it up in the TNG tech manual.
</voice>
(I'd look it up, but mine's at home. The implications of these statements on my having a life are an exercise left for the reader.)
It looked like, other than Sandra and some other synthetic benchmarks, all they did was run a few games on it. I couldn't care less how Half-Quake-Doom-Forever XLII runs on it, especially since your average game will do bugger-all for loading up a multi-processor system. Now if they'd done some TMPGEnc DVD-encoding runs (or something like that), that would've hammered both processors for a good long time...in addition to seeing how fast an encode you can get, it'll also stress-test the processors, memory, and thermal-management hardware (not locking up due to overheating or other glitches would be a Good Thing).
The software isn't that expensive, either...last time I checked, TMPGEnc was under $100 and all of the software that'd feed into it (things like VirtualDub and Avisynth) is free.
Others have mentioned Linux kernel builds, but they're more I/O-dependent and they only take a few minutes on modern hardware.
Seen in another /.er's sig:
"Me spell chucker work grate. Need grandma chicken."
At least you found it. I'm still looking for the Any key...
Heretic! You can turn in your Geek ID on the way out, as you won't need it anymore...
That doesn't alter the simple fact that anybody with an IQ greater than that of a sponge knows that coffee is hot and should be handled with at least some caution.
<rimshot>
I guess this means McBride has a future as a Democrat politician...
</rimshot>
How do I lose anything more? I paid $200 ~3 years ago. At $10/month, I broke even in less than 2 years. Since then, I've continued getting service for my TiVo at no additional cost. Without lifetime service, I would've paid more than twice as much by now and would still be on the hook for more money every month (especially when you factor in that they now charge $14/month). Please explain how this is a Bad Thing.
What's in there that can break?
The hard drive? I've already replaced that because I wanted something bigger. I've also made backups of the software after each update, so if the replacement drive dies, I can swap in a new one.
The modem? I added Ethernet to mine to pull updates over my cable-modem connection. If I didn't have that, a $5 cable and one of the three external modems I have (all of which are currently gathering dust) would fix that.
Those are pretty much the only problems people have run into with their TiVos.
Take off your tinfoil hat. The only crime would be if you cloned a serial number from another TiVo or took some other action to pull subscription data from TiVo's servers without having paid for service. If you're creating slice files or setting your LAN to redirect TiVo traffic away from their server and to your own server that provides compatible service, you're not doing anything wrong...DMCA or no DMCA (besides, the DMCA is unconstitutional and therefore null and void anyway, regardless of what the ??AA would have you believe).
You are aware that there's a lifetime-service option, aren't you? I figure I got my money's worth out of that a year or so ago. If TiVo does go tango-uniform at some point, there are ways to keep the machine going without having it "phone home"...it's what TiVo owners in Canada and Australia are already doing.
(Yes, IHBT. BFD.)
I ran it for a while...switched to it when a Slackware install ate itself. YaST is fairly decent at configuring stuff it knows about, but building/adding "outside" apps gets to be a little tricky. After a couple of years or so, I built an LFS box...once I was somewhat familiar with that, I started building systems around LFS instead, as it delivered a lightweight system with just the stuff you want, and it was usually a bit faster.
Nowadays, I use Gentoo...it offers most of LFS's performance advantages in an easier-to-use form. I have Slackware on an old 486 for which building LFS or Gentoo would be impractical. I suspect I'd be lost if I tried picking up SuSE again...I'd have to figure out its quirks. Ditto for Redh*t, which I've never used, aside from some poorly-configured boxes set up by a clueless "admin" who didn't know WTF he was doing. (Tried Mandrake once...pitched it after a day or two. I think the pattern that's emerging here is that the more shiny the Linux distro, the less likely I'll be able to get it to do what I want.)
Call for a cop. Call for a pizza. See which arrives first. When it's your life on the line, do you really want to be stuck waiting for Officer Barbrady to finish up at the donut shop and get his ass over to you?
Really? Is that why you're six times more likely to be mugged in London than in New York City? A number of you also made sure to mention in the days following 9/11 that terrorism has been a more-or-less-constant threat over there for decades (IRA, Red Army Faction, Baader-Meinhof Gang, Direct Action, etc.). Are you still sure you're safer over there than we are over here?
If you'll start the petition, I'll sign it. :-)
You don't suppose that could have anything to do with (1) getting tough on crime and (2) criminals don't know who's armed and who isn't, do you?
Go ahead. Be a slave in your country if you want. I place a higher value on liberty than on security...besides, if you try to trade liberty for security, you frequently end up with neither.
Ted Kennedy's car has killed more people than my guns...going by your "logic," does that mean we should outlaw cars?
I'm fairly sure that all the whining over the years that we should be (for instance) feeding the poor instead of going into space was not coming from the Right. Thanks for playing, though...this wouldn't be /. without a gratuitous cheap shot at [Dubya|Rush|"stupid white men" in general].
Lots of would-be aviators got themselves killed in unproven flying (or non-flying) contraptions before the Wright brothers got their plane off the ground. Plenty more were killed trying to punch through the "sound barrier" before Chuck Yeager succeeded. Any kind of experimental or exploratory mission is fraught with risk. Those who engage in such activities are aware of the risks, and choose to take them anyway because they know something good will come out of it either way (you learn as much from your failures as from your successes). That some of them end up dead is unfortunate, but the consequences if nobody did what they do would be far worse.
If we took your advice, it'd still take days or weeks to get from the US to Europe or Asia, instead of hours. You probably wouldn't be reading this message either, as neither of us would have computers on our desktops linked by a global communications network. I'm sure there are more examples, but those are just the ones that come to mind right now.
Umm...Bush?
UNLV has similar solar-power rigs at the far northern edge of campus. This page has more info, and some pictures...they're two different designs from different companies and can supply up to about 50 kW for the pair. Some solar A/C info and other stuff is further down the page as well.
Other media outlets manage to do their job without mooching off the taxpayers. Besides, the few minutes it'd take to type up a transcript would be more than offset by the savings in their monthly bandwidth charges. (Then again, since when was any government operation known for saving money?)
...a team of leading scientists announced that the sky is blue.
It's a wonder he didn't also spec an Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator while he was at it...
Banner ads? I didn't see any banner ads...
You say that like there's something wrong with it.
Score: -1, Flamebait.
I had printed out the PDFs a while back (at work, thankfully, not at home) and had them bound, but the binder fscked up...the larger volumes were split into two or three parts, and I think one of them was bound on the wrong edge. Now I can get properly-bound editions for free...w00t!