With so many new internet and computing technologies emerging, and with the spin of legal jargon, it's no wonder that judges really dont know how to rule.
I expect more of these types scratch-your-head judgments until the courts get a junk-mail bin for their cases.
If you are working with JPG's, there is a very good reason for keeping the opriginals. (in the picassa fashion)
Any time you make changes to a file and re-save it, it is passed through the JPG compression algorithm. This degrades the image with each pass.
Here is a good example: http://www.cywarp.com/faq_jpg_degradation.htm
This may not be an issue for people with thousands of cell-phone images that are pretty crappy to begin with. But pro and enthusiast photographers care a great deal. And once that information is gone, its gone.
There is no magic CSI software that will restore a blocky low-res image.
The JPG (and MPEG) codecs are pretty destructive on their own. I generally keep an original copy of all my work as a TIFF or RAW format so I have the originals.
In looking our global ecosystem it seems to me that it is extremely fragile. There are myriad of unique characteristics of our planet that come together to support life.
Earth is just the right size to allow for a decent atmosphere.
It is just the right distance from the sun which allows for water in liquid form.
The iron core creates a magnetic field that protects us from solar radiation.
Also consider that we have just recently been able to find exoplanets, and most of what we have found are large jupiter-like planets. It is no wonder that we have not found another life-supporting planet. (yet)
One thing I would like to note is that all the great concentrations of life on this planet occur in places that are chaotic. Places where there is a fabulous mix of nutrients.
Look at the undersea steam vents, coral reefs, rain forests, and marshes. All of these are places where there is a lot of 'mixing' going on. Natures' blender, if you wish. And on a global scale, the earth itself is a great mixer. Water washes down the mountains and evaporates into the air. The moon drives tides. Currents of water and air circulate around the planet. Volcanoes and plate rifts leak minerals into the oceans and air. Fresh and saltwater mix.
Now consider the deserts of our planet. Lots of sun, but no water. And the underwater 'dead zones' devoid of sunlight, oxygen, or nutrients. These are all places where there is very little moving and mixing.
Yet some places we would never think that life could exist, it does. And it does so because of the mixing. Water is a great facilitator to that mixing, but perhaps not a requirement.
Life flourishes in chaotic environments. It is stagnation that is the bane of life. If we want to find life in the variety that matches earth, we need to find planets that are varied and wild like ours.
The price of Windows tablets were really restrictive to early adoption.
People see the tablet PC's as stripped down versions of laptops, so they should be priced accordingly. But instead the manufacturers priced them high to cash in on trendy new tech.
Add to the fact that they were either underpowered or too heavy, and there was no reason to buy them instead of a laptop.
A similar thing happened with the palm sized PC's. The early ones were very expensive. I bought a used Philips Nino and I think the retail on it was $700. Palm was really kicking butt because their units didnt try to do everything and were much cheaper.
But then manufacterers started taking the PIM features and integrating them with phones. Now they could amortize the high cost of powerful units over the term of a service contract. Viola! Everyone has a phone powerful enough to do 90% of their computing.
The question everyone is asking is whether or not Apple can continue the Ipad long enough for wide acceptance of the tablet.
Perhaps if windows tablet pc makers had stuck with the market and modified their products to fit demand, things would be different.
Lets say I were to invent something for the benefit of society. And I wanted to share my idea freely with the world so that everyone can benefit from it. Patents are expensive me being a poor Joe, and just wanting to share my idea, I'm not going to patent something just to give it away for free. If I just told everyone I knew, what would stop them from taking that idea and patenting it and thus 'owning' the idea?
Is there a way to freely publish an idea in such a way that it will not be patentable? -similar to say the GPL software licence but with allowance for the 3rd party to profit?
Is there an organization that can review these public ideas for possible applications? Perhaps this organization could even award prize money for worthy ideas, such as the nobel prize system? (on a much smaller scale) And what if this organization was well funded and actively sought IP rights for the explicit purpose of releasing them to the public?
Microsoft may have the right idea in their continued attempts to compete in the smartphone market. The main reason for this is that there is no clear dominant force in smartphone OS's at this time.
The Apple Iphone has been a favorite. But take into account it has only been on the market for a few years. The Iphone is expensive, and it is only offered through AT&T. All of this limits the market share possible for Apple.
Google's Android is gaining speed fast. But again, the first android phone to be released was only a little over a year ago.
As far as all the cheaper phones are concerned. I have no idea what OS they run. Some minimal smartphone tech is bound to enter the market.
I think Microsoft could still be a powerful player in the mobile phone market if they can release a quality platform. That may be their biggest hurdle yet, they tend to be their own worst enemy.
It was never "Bush's" doj or "Clinton's" doj before. It used to just be the Department of Justice. Why is it that suddenly everything one disagrees with is Obama's fault?
-artists usually dont stuff paint in their mouth like kids do.
-high quality artists paints are often made in england, germany, USA, and Japan. Things like decent wages, healthcare, environmental protection, etc make artist colors more expensive. Heres some info about cadmium red: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadmium_pigments
"The synthetic pigments just don't mix right." -Some colors just cant be produced by mixing other colors. Thats why artist sets have a variety of colors. My local artist shop has a neat exhibit about artist colors, and how the good stuff is made with certain mineral ores, crushed beetles, etc.
Before GUI's there was the command line. The command line is great in that you can initiate an unlimited variety of tasks. These tasks are powerful because the interface is based on your imagination. For example: \rename *.csv *.txt You cannot see the files in the directory you are in, but you know in your mind that you are selecting all files with the.csv extention in your current location, and no files in other places. You have instructed to change only the last 3 letters of these filename, no matter how long they are. You dont have this kind of single-command power with a GUI. The downside of a command-line of course is that you have learn the commands before you can use them. That leads us to the GUI. All of the controls of the objects are presented on the screen. The idea is that how to manipulate the objects is self-evident (somewhat). Users learn by interacting in real-time.
i've never liked gesture-style screen commands because they have all of the drawbacks of a command-line but very limited power. perhaps some general commands like on the ipod interface, but it will never be a replacement for menus or text commands.
Regarding the "problem" of organizing windows as shown in the video..I contend that that is not a real issue. The only problem is the current window managers drop stuff 'wherever'. I work perfectly fine on a small monitor with all my apps maximized. My coworkers have twice the screen real-estate I do but still only use one app at a time becasue the foreground application is hogging most of the space and the others are splattered around behind it. At home I have a nicely organized side toolbar with all my frequently used stuff, and I have ZERO desktop icons.
Hey if you get a chance to listen to Edwin Collins song "A Girl Like You", it is definitely worth the listen. The guitar buzz, classy piano, and groovy beat mix well behind Edwins vocals. One of my top-picks for one-hit wonders.
Licencing issues aside, I hope the best for the guy.
" And IT people need to understand that regular employees are not propeller-heads like Slashdot readers, and to begin to implement technology and processes that average people can understand and use."
This is exactly the attitude that causes insecure environments. Security IS complicated. Accounting IS complicated. Networking IS complicated. PC's ARE complicated. Fuck people realize that I.T. IS COMPLICATED. Give your IT Department the tools and authority to run their department the way it needs to be done.
Thanks for asking.. i am in a very similar situation. So far i have not found any free / open-source product that works as well as LogInventory, but for some reason the purchase on the credit card was not working. That was dissapointing. I'm OK with puchasing software that just fucking works rather than tinkering around with a free solution that doesnt. The whole 'install on a web server' thing bugs me for things that should be desktop apps. Some apps claimed to be free but then wanted you to sign up for services (WAAAY EXPENSIVE SERVICES) That pissed me off.
I will have to check out GLPI or open-Audit and Kwok as suggested.. I will respond back after.
I started in a company just like you did.. as the first permanent IT support.
Previous support was a mix of lowest-bid contractors, non-techie employees, and "friends who knew stuff". It's not that the company actively sought out pirated warez, but if a contractor installed some PC's, either they used their own reseller licence or the docs dissapeared.
The first problems I found with licencing was that there was no documentation. There was no proof of purchase, no storage for original media and licence keys.
1. Make a plan for software purchasing and upkeep. Get it approved as company policy.
A. Organize past purchases. Get all previous receipts, order confirmations, and work orders. You can call some hardware vendors like dell and request purchase histories. Lock up install software.
B. Install a software inventory tool. (I went with a paid product - LOGINventory, I didnt like the foss solution) These are VERY helpful because you can verify packages, versions, serial numbers, licence keys, and patches.
C. Make it company policy that you will be the gateway for all hardware and software purchases and installations. File all new records of purchases, contracts, and work orders.
D. Remove admin rights from users on company PC's. This was politically hard for me. Be prepared for 'but I need that video player installed'.
Once you know exactly what you have you can sit down with your executives and discuss. You may not be able to attain compliance immediately, just make sure that is the goal. I implemented compliance by attrition. New PC's were purchased with proper licenses. Unneeded software was removed or replaced by free/low cost solutions. Our exchange server was upgraded to the latest version. Our web server was replaced with a linux lamp.
More advice: Learn the company business as best you can. Take an active roll in starting projects that will save money, make money or entice or retain customers. That is how you become an asset not a burden.
WTF is this article trying to get at anyway? It is certainly not the most expensive machine you can buy.. 2 minutes on dell website gets you into the $50,000+ range. It is certainly not the fastest. So what the F*** is the author getting at?
Slashdot Mirror
With so many new internet and computing technologies emerging, and with the spin of legal jargon, it's no wonder that judges really dont know how to rule.
I expect more of these types scratch-your-head judgments until the courts get a junk-mail bin for their cases.
If you are working with JPG's, there is a very good reason for keeping the opriginals. (in the picassa fashion)
Any time you make changes to a file and re-save it, it is passed through the JPG compression algorithm. This degrades the image with each pass.
Here is a good example:
http://www.cywarp.com/faq_jpg_degradation.htm
This may not be an issue for people with thousands of cell-phone images that are pretty crappy to begin with. But pro and enthusiast photographers care a great deal. And once that information is gone, its gone.
There is no magic CSI software that will restore a blocky low-res image.
The JPG (and MPEG) codecs are pretty destructive on their own. I generally keep an original copy of all my work as a TIFF or RAW format so I have the originals.
In looking our global ecosystem it seems to me that it is extremely fragile. There are myriad of unique characteristics of our planet that come together to support life.
Earth is just the right size to allow for a decent atmosphere.
It is just the right distance from the sun which allows for water in liquid form.
The iron core creates a magnetic field that protects us from solar radiation.
Also consider that we have just recently been able to find exoplanets, and most of what we have found are large jupiter-like planets. It is no wonder that we have not found another life-supporting planet. (yet)
One thing I would like to note is that all the great concentrations of life on this planet occur in places that are chaotic. Places where there is a fabulous mix of nutrients.
Look at the undersea steam vents, coral reefs, rain forests, and marshes. All of these are places where there is a lot of 'mixing' going on. Natures' blender, if you wish. And on a global scale, the earth itself is a great mixer. Water washes down the mountains and evaporates into the air. The moon drives tides. Currents of water and air circulate around the planet. Volcanoes and plate rifts leak minerals into the oceans and air. Fresh and saltwater mix.
Now consider the deserts of our planet. Lots of sun, but no water. And the underwater 'dead zones' devoid of sunlight, oxygen, or nutrients. These are all places where there is very little moving and mixing.
Yet some places we would never think that life could exist, it does. And it does so because of the mixing. Water is a great facilitator to that mixing, but perhaps not a requirement.
Life flourishes in chaotic environments. It is stagnation that is the bane of life. If we want to find life in the variety that matches earth, we need to find planets that are varied and wild like ours.
The biggest problem with laptops is the fact that they need a lap to sit on.
I've allways wanted something the size of an Ipod but previous tablet PCS were way too heavy to hold with one hand.
Smartphones are OK but the screen is way too small.
The Ipad makes a nice compromise between portability and usability. I just hope they stick with their product.
The price of Windows tablets were really restrictive to early adoption.
People see the tablet PC's as stripped down versions of laptops, so they should be priced accordingly. But instead the manufacturers priced them high to cash in on trendy new tech.
Add to the fact that they were either underpowered or too heavy, and there was no reason to buy them instead of a laptop.
A similar thing happened with the palm sized PC's. The early ones were very expensive. I bought a used Philips Nino and I think the retail on it was $700. Palm was really kicking butt because their units didnt try to do everything and were much cheaper.
But then manufacterers started taking the PIM features and integrating them with phones. Now they could amortize the high cost of powerful units over the term of a service contract. Viola! Everyone has a phone powerful enough to do 90% of their computing.
The question everyone is asking is whether or not Apple can continue the Ipad long enough for wide acceptance of the tablet.
Perhaps if windows tablet pc makers had stuck with the market and modified their products to fit demand, things would be different.
That's what the olympic-sized pool filled with sharks is for.
Don't forget the frikkin laser beams!
Lets say I were to invent something for the benefit of society. And I wanted to share my idea freely with the world so that everyone can benefit from it.
Patents are expensive me being a poor Joe, and just wanting to share my idea, I'm not going to patent something just to give it away for free.
If I just told everyone I knew, what would stop them from taking that idea and patenting it and thus 'owning' the idea?
Is there a way to freely publish an idea in such a way that it will not be patentable? -similar to say the GPL software licence but with allowance for the 3rd party to profit?
Is there an organization that can review these public ideas for possible applications?
Perhaps this organization could even award prize money for worthy ideas, such as the nobel prize system? (on a much smaller scale)
And what if this organization was well funded and actively sought IP rights for the explicit purpose of releasing them to the public?
Microsoft may have the right idea in their continued attempts to compete in the smartphone market. The main reason for this is that there is no clear dominant force in smartphone OS's at this time.
The Apple Iphone has been a favorite. But take into account it has only been on the market for a few years. The Iphone is expensive, and it is only offered through AT&T. All of this limits the market share possible for Apple.
Google's Android is gaining speed fast. But again, the first android phone to be released was only a little over a year ago.
As far as all the cheaper phones are concerned. I have no idea what OS they run. Some minimal smartphone tech is bound to enter the market.
I think Microsoft could still be a powerful player in the mobile phone market if they can release a quality platform. That may be their biggest hurdle yet, they tend to be their own worst enemy.
Ferris: [to the camera] If you had access to a car like this, would you take it back right away?
[beat]
Ferris: Neither would I.
People who do not know how to use a fax machine correctly do not deserve a patent.
The USPTO would save a ton of time if they hired Vader for their customer service. "Apology accepted, Patent Troll!"
Are there any extrernal factors that contribute to abnormal prions, such as pollutants, carcenogens, genes, etc?
..Its now "Obama's Department of Justice"
We can still call it the DOJ for short, but the O is for Obama!
It was never "Bush's" doj or "Clinton's" doj before.
It used to just be the Department of Justice.
Why is it that suddenly everything one disagrees with is Obama's fault?
is this the same charm that was found to have high cadmium content?
it's on sale now on walmarts website
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=13057362
random comments regarding red paint:
-artists usually dont stuff paint in their mouth like kids do.
-high quality artists paints are often made in england, germany, USA, and Japan. Things like decent wages, healthcare, environmental protection, etc make artist colors more expensive. Heres some info about cadmium red: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadmium_pigments
"The synthetic pigments just don't mix right."
-Some colors just cant be produced by mixing other colors. Thats why artist sets have a variety of colors. My local artist shop has a neat exhibit about artist colors, and how the good stuff is made with certain mineral ores, crushed beetles, etc.
"You have to clean up poop sometimes, but it's decent money."
And how is that different from IT?
Before GUI's there was the command line. .csv extention in your current location, and no files in other places. You have instructed to change only the last 3 letters of these filename, no matter how long they are. You dont have this kind of single-command power with a GUI.
The command line is great in that you can initiate an unlimited variety of tasks. These tasks are powerful because the interface is based on your imagination.
For example: \rename *.csv *.txt
You cannot see the files in the directory you are in, but you know in your mind that you are selecting all files with the
The downside of a command-line of course is that you have learn the commands before you can use them.
That leads us to the GUI. All of the controls of the objects are presented on the screen. The idea is that how to manipulate the objects is self-evident (somewhat). Users learn by interacting in real-time.
i've never liked gesture-style screen commands because they have all of the drawbacks of a command-line but very limited power. perhaps some general commands like on the ipod interface, but it will never be a replacement for menus or text commands.
Regarding the "problem" of organizing windows as shown in the video..I contend that that is not a real issue. The only problem is the current window managers drop stuff 'wherever'. I work perfectly fine on a small monitor with all my apps maximized. My coworkers have twice the screen real-estate I do but still only use one app at a time becasue the foreground application is hogging most of the space and the others are splattered around behind it.
At home I have a nicely organized side toolbar with all my frequently used stuff, and I have ZERO desktop icons.
Question: why do some planets have rings and others do not?
Hey if you get a chance to listen to Edwin Collins song "A Girl Like You", it is definitely worth the listen. The guitar buzz, classy piano, and groovy beat mix well behind Edwins vocals.
One of my top-picks for one-hit wonders.
Licencing issues aside, I hope the best for the guy.
" And IT people need to understand that regular employees are not propeller-heads like Slashdot readers, and to begin to implement technology and processes that average people can understand and use."
This is exactly the attitude that causes insecure environments. Security IS complicated. Accounting IS complicated. Networking IS complicated. PC's ARE complicated. Fuck people realize that I.T. IS COMPLICATED. Give your IT Department the tools and authority to run their department the way it needs to be done.
Thanks for asking.. i am in a very similar situation. So far i have not found any free / open-source product that works as well as LogInventory, but for some reason the purchase on the credit card was not working. That was dissapointing. I'm OK with puchasing software that just fucking works rather than tinkering around with a free solution that doesnt.
The whole 'install on a web server' thing bugs me for things that should be desktop apps.
Some apps claimed to be free but then wanted you to sign up for services (WAAAY EXPENSIVE SERVICES)
That pissed me off.
I will have to check out GLPI or open-Audit and Kwok as suggested.. I will respond back after.
I started in a company just like you did.. as the first permanent IT support.
Previous support was a mix of lowest-bid contractors, non-techie employees, and "friends who knew stuff". It's not that the company actively sought out pirated warez, but if a contractor installed some PC's, either they used their own reseller licence or the docs dissapeared.
The first problems I found with licencing was that there was no documentation. There was no proof of purchase, no storage for original media and licence keys.
1. Make a plan for software purchasing and upkeep. Get it approved as company policy.
A. Organize past purchases. Get all previous receipts, order confirmations, and work orders. You can call some hardware vendors like dell and request purchase histories. Lock up install software.
B. Install a software inventory tool. (I went with a paid product - LOGINventory, I didnt like the foss solution) These are VERY helpful because you can verify packages, versions, serial numbers, licence keys, and patches.
C. Make it company policy that you will be the gateway for all hardware and software purchases and installations. File all new records of purchases, contracts, and work orders.
D. Remove admin rights from users on company PC's. This was politically hard for me. Be prepared for 'but I need that video player installed'.
Once you know exactly what you have you can sit down with your executives and discuss. You may not be able to attain compliance immediately, just make sure that is the goal.
I implemented compliance by attrition. New PC's were purchased with proper licenses. Unneeded software was removed or replaced by free/low cost solutions. Our exchange server was upgraded to the latest version. Our web server was replaced with a linux lamp.
More advice: Learn the company business as best you can. Take an active roll in starting projects that will save money, make money or entice or retain customers. That is how you become an asset not a burden.
"Oooh! Ahhh! That's how it always starts. Then later there's running and screaming."
â"Dr. Ian Malcom, in The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Put this power into a laptop with a 12 hour battery and then I will be impressed!
What a complete waste of slashdot space!
WTF is this article trying to get at anyway? It is certainly not the most expensive machine you can buy.. 2 minutes on dell website gets you into the $50,000+ range. It is certainly not the fastest. So what the F*** is the author getting at?
NOTHING!
I am not impressed at all!