I don't understand anyone who thinks it was some kind of security risk to publish this. Are you kidding me? For one, this is pretty well known informaton (it's not exactly hard to google for a list of common passwords). Two, pretending that such lists don't exist won't get you anywhere. Thousands of people use insecure passwords, users are stupid, etc. End of story.
I mean, fuck, Symantec publishes stuff like this without batting an eye. [scroll down]
Blockbuster pays on the order of 10 times as much for a copy of a video that they can rent as compared to the copy that you can pick up at Target.
Blockbuster (and any other rental store, and if you look on Amazon, you can find them too sometimes) has the chance to purchase titles before they are released to the general public. The cost? Upwards of $100.
While this is interesting, it is also something you should remember when renting movies. What do you think happens when you lose/damage one of these $100+ tapes? If your rental store isn't nice (or the movie hasn't seen a normal release yet), you're going to have to pay the full fee. So watch out.
(Found the first bit of info out when I noticed that Amazon was selling Princess Mononoke on VHS before it came out for like $90 and decided to investigate further. Found the second bit out when, oh, you can figure it out)
NetRatings software availiable only for Windows: http://www.macopinion.com/columns/tangib le/00/02/2 4/
Then, take a look at their website: http://pm.netratings.com/nnpm/owa/NRpubl icreports. toppropertiesweekly
This list seems suspect. Obviously Microsoft tops the list since MSN.com is the default homepage for IE.
Also, keep in mind that NetRatings is simply tracking its own users. The 7.3 million for QuickTime is amongst those being tracked. Obviously, this number will differ greatly from the actual number of downloads (which is also misleading as I'm sure you've downloaded QuickTime more than once due to re-installs, upgrades, etc.)
Ratings (like statistics) tend to lie. How can RealPlayer have a larger install base on Windows when Media Player is installed by default? Who knows. Maybe they only track certain versions, intentional usage or something else.
A domain name registration and a years worth of hosting.
I'm no uber-geek. I'd been using free hosting because I saw no need to get my own domain name. Last August, I decided that I ought to just buy my own website. I used Powweb (www.powweb.com) and for roughly $100 I got a 150megs of disk storage, web based email and, oh yeah, a website of my own.
So, all these people thinking about.Mac -- isn't this what you really want anyway? yourname@somethingcool.com seems preferrable in every way. Plus, Apple can't take your website away from you.
There is a very simple rule that, as a result of reading this, we have all learned.
When you create a company that relies solely on another company to generate income, you CANNOT BLAME that other company if they do not re-negotiate a contract with you.
Of course, we all should have learned this lesson already.
So yes, Kevin Teare, it sucks that Microsoft has a monopoly, and all that other shit -- it's a shame your ENTIRE BUSINESS MODEL relied on that monopoly. If the entire consumer market was shared, evenly, between a dozen commercial and non-commercial browsers, well then, maybe you could've carved out a niche (though I think your product is worthless to begin with, for reasons that have already been stated).
It's all funny, in the end, because I think if my grandmother typed "cookies" into IE and was taken to nabisco.com, she'd be amazed at how far technology has come in her lifetime.
Clockless chips would result, perhaps, in the most interesting (funny?) marketing.
Intel would develop a standard way of indicating performance. Based on something their particular chips are good at. We'll say they release the Pentium Clockless 1000, Pentium Clockless 2000 and Pentium Clockless 3000.
AMD would, if trends indicate anything, market them using performance ratings. Instead of deciding performance based on the intel standard, they would have new names to indicate that their processors, in some situations, are faster than their Intel counterparts. They'd probably be called the AMD Athlon Clockless XP 1100+, and so on.
In response, Intel would start releasing worse processors, but with higher numbers. Pentium Clockless II 5000 would be their flagship.
AMD would continue making their processors in the traditional manner, but would adopt a new naming mechanism. AMD Ahtlon Clockless Performance XP Super Fantastic 6000, maybe.
"As example, processing of Martian resources to churn out fuel for a Mars sample return mission could be later scaled up to support human expeditionary crews on the red planet."
Wonderful idea or not, we're decades away from this. Right now, we can barely get people to the moon. We managed to get a tiny little explorer to the moon. Now, they're already thinking about putting PEOPLE on mars?
Take things one step at a time, I say. Let's wait a while, allow the technology to improve, and then evaluate what to do once we can place people on other planets.
I'm sure we can come up with far better things to do if we could get humans on Mars. And I pray it doesn't involve stripping the planet of its natural resources like we're doing here on Earth. I hope by the time this becomes reality, we're better at drawing resources from nature (i.e. solar power) and that we won't have to resort to strip mining on other planets just to keep up our quality of life here on Earth.
Tom's Hardware has been getting a lot of bad press these days. Thier burning Athlon videos caused a lot of controversy, and regulars at some other tech sites (*cough* Anandtech *cough*) have a strong dislike for Tom's work.
But this article just goes to show you why Tom's Hardware is the best hardware review site out there, just like it has always been. Over the years, Tom has written some of the best articles for hardware enthusiasts and has pushed "overclocking", a term which was once mysterious, into one of the big issues of modern computing. Motherboards are now being designed specifically for overclocking, and this has lead to huge increases in performance. Most people forget that Tom's Hardware has been one of the most influential sites as far as this is concerned.
It's good to see what is undesputably the best current article on technology. I hope even those who hate Tom's Hardware will see the light. No other tech site has anywhere near the ability to do stuff like this.
Well, considering they're business card CDs, I'd put on them some useful, business related information:
1. My resume
2. A link to my personal web site
3. Some pictures of me, so maybe whoever I gave the card to will associate my face with my name
4. Maybe some of the music I've written as mp3 (or, if catering to a Slashdot crowd, ogg)
5. Anything interesting I've written that business associates might be interested in
6. Other nifty personal stuff
7. A cool screensaver, maybe? I dunno... I'm stretching now.
Make it professional, make it interesting, put some good, personally important stuff on there.
I'm not sure how "high quality" you want, but I should mention that all SoundBlaster Live! cards, which are cheap these days, have a digital optical output. Now, if you had some hi-fi stereo equipment and a reciever with a digital optical input, thats the highest quality you can get. So, really, you can pay more than $50 for a sound card, but there would be absolutely no reason to.
Buy a good reciever, speakers and subwoofer.
Wish I knew even a little to help with the rest of your project, but I'm just a college student who failed intermediate java. I wouldn't be much of a help in anything there.
I'd love to hear how this project turns out. Feel free to e-mail me if this ever gets off the ground!
I remember when this was first announced YEARS ago...
Nobody had a DVD player yet, but the prospects of getting one that could not only play digital movies but also play games? Wow... mindblowing
Today, nearly everyone has a DVD player. Well, thats a lie, but they're all over the place. Half of my local Blockbuster is DVD. Clearly, the format is doing well.
So now, its a question of who's going to buy this thing. Want a DVD player that can play games? Buy a PS2 (many people already have).
Want a DVD player for MAME and Doom? Well, as soon as we've got Linux on the PS2... once again: buy a PS2.
The technology just isn't exciting. Really, who on earth even cares anymore? If someone can answer me, I'd really appreciate it, because I don't see this technology going anywhere.
right, except when you install a new processor, unless you reinstall windows (and repeat all those steps you listed, replacing "linux" with "windows"), your windows install won't take advantage of any new features in the new processor (SSE, 3dnow, whatever)
So, if you're upgrading, you really ought to reinstall no matter what OS you're running.
First off, I'm a Linux newbie. I've been running Linux for a month. Despite that, I've picked up a lot of stuff quickly. I started off with Mandrake 8.0, which, while good, seemed a little outdated.
And it was. 2 days later Mandrake 8.1 came out. I upgraded, and though buggy, its extremely nice.
However, I've been waiting for RH7.2 for quite some time. I installed RH years ago with my friend Peter, but we didn't know how to do shit (though we did manage to install it fine, go figure). If only we had known to type "startx" maybe we could have become linux zealots back in high school.
In any case, RH 7.2 blows me away. The installation interface is very professional and the default configurations are rock solid. I saw no need to personalize every little thing since everything looked so good right off. Mandrake, despite its simplicity in so many areas, required much more configuration, in my opinion. Theres a lot to set up, and Mozilla still isn't it's default browser.
If I only I knew enough to mount my windows partition under RH 7.2, I might start using it instead of Mandrake.
But then, its only a short wait for the 8.1 gaming edition to come out, and maybe I'll switch again. Linux is fun like that.
Don't flame me too hard for these uninformed opinions. I apologize ahead of time for being too stupid to mount my windows partition.
-NeoTomba
Oh come on. I'm from Maine and I know the first part of your statement is a lie.
*) Angus King (Maine's governor) is on his way out of office - his second term expires shortly. This is his "going out with a tekno-cool bang".
He first proposed this idea over two years ago. Unlike Clinton, with his last minute attempts to make peace in the middle east, Gov. King has been working on this idea for a long time.
I understand why Mainers see this as a last minute effort, but it's really not fair to Gov. King to label it as such.
It is tragic, as you point out, that there are no funds.
And while I'd have to agree that Maine is the best state in the union (lived there for 13 years), I'm not sure why at all. If you have any ideas, I'd be interested in a response (shy at jhu dot edu if you'd like to take me up on the offer outside of/.)
Hey, troll, you clearly know nothing about the politics in Maine, yet still feel it necessary to comment.
It actually didn't garner him any votes. It lost him votes, more than anything. Most people were opposed to the proposal. He worked very hard to get funding (which was cut numerous times) and to convince not only the people of Maine but also other members of the gov't. It still hasn't worked completely, and hardly everyone agrees with him. In this case, however, going against the will is turning out to be a good thing. He's been able to convince people that his proposal is a good idea, and actually do something good with tax dollars for once.
It's not every day a gov't official in Maine does something constructive. He truly is a rare breed, and I think most Mainers would take offense that you implied otherwise.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't understand anyone who thinks it was some kind of security risk to publish this. Are you kidding me? For one, this is pretty well known informaton (it's not exactly hard to google for a list of common passwords). Two, pretending that such lists don't exist won't get you anywhere. Thousands of people use insecure passwords, users are stupid, etc. End of story.
I mean, fuck, Symantec publishes stuff like this without batting an eye. [scroll down]
Blockbuster pays on the order of 10 times as much for a copy of a video that they can rent as compared to the copy that you can pick up at Target.
Blockbuster (and any other rental store, and if you look on Amazon, you can find them too sometimes) has the chance to purchase titles before they are released to the general public. The cost? Upwards of $100.
While this is interesting, it is also something you should remember when renting movies. What do you think happens when you lose/damage one of these $100+ tapes? If your rental store isn't nice (or the movie hasn't seen a normal release yet), you're going to have to pay the full fee. So watch out.
(Found the first bit of info out when I noticed that Amazon was selling Princess Mononoke on VHS before it came out for like $90 and decided to investigate further. Found the second bit out when, oh, you can figure it out)
-NeoTomba
NetRatings suspect? Maybe...
b le/00/02/2 4/
l icreports. toppropertiesweekly
You've got to consider certain things...
NetRatings software availiable only for Windows:
http://www.macopinion.com/columns/tangi
Then, take a look at their website:
http://pm.netratings.com/nnpm/owa/NRpub
This list seems suspect. Obviously Microsoft tops the list since MSN.com is the default homepage for IE.
Also, keep in mind that NetRatings is simply tracking its own users. The 7.3 million for QuickTime is amongst those being tracked. Obviously, this number will differ greatly from the actual number of downloads (which is also misleading as I'm sure you've downloaded QuickTime more than once due to re-installs, upgrades, etc.)
Ratings (like statistics) tend to lie. How can RealPlayer have a larger install base on Windows when Media Player is installed by default? Who knows. Maybe they only track certain versions, intentional usage or something else.
-NT
A domain name registration and a years worth of hosting.
.Mac -- isn't this what you really want anyway? yourname@somethingcool.com seems preferrable in every way. Plus, Apple can't take your website away from you.
I'm no uber-geek. I'd been using free hosting because I saw no need to get my own domain name. Last August, I decided that I ought to just buy my own website. I used Powweb (www.powweb.com) and for roughly $100 I got a 150megs of disk storage, web based email and, oh yeah, a website of my own.
So, all these people thinking about
When you create a company that relies solely on another company to generate income, you CANNOT BLAME that other company if they do not re-negotiate a contract with you.
Of course, we all should have learned this lesson already.
So yes, Kevin Teare, it sucks that Microsoft has a monopoly, and all that other shit -- it's a shame your ENTIRE BUSINESS MODEL relied on that monopoly. If the entire consumer market was shared, evenly, between a dozen commercial and non-commercial browsers, well then, maybe you could've carved out a niche (though I think your product is worthless to begin with, for reasons that have already been stated).
It's all funny, in the end, because I think if my grandmother typed "cookies" into IE and was taken to nabisco.com, she'd be amazed at how far technology has come in her lifetime.
-NeoTomba
Mola 3d map:/ mo la/mars3d.htm
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/spacesci/pictures
exxagerated altitude 3d renderings, valles marineris:
http://www.burningpixel.com/galeryim.htm
Wow. I can safely say that slashdot is full of microsoft hating linux zealots. Hell, I'm probably one of them.
And every day, you see a million and one reasons why Linux is superior, microsoft sucks, blah blah blah.
But I can safely say, nobody has EVER mentioned "national pride" as the reason Linux is superior.
I suppose it makes sense. If I were from China, I'd hate to use software from America's #1 conglomerate as well, I guess.
Oh, and if anyone can dig up a link to Red Flag Linux... I definately want a copy.
-neotomba
Harry Potter is a Mind Control Device
Enjoy...
-NeoTomba
Clockless chips would result, perhaps, in the most interesting (funny?) marketing.
Intel would develop a standard way of indicating performance. Based on something their particular chips are good at. We'll say they release the Pentium Clockless 1000, Pentium Clockless 2000 and Pentium Clockless 3000.
AMD would, if trends indicate anything, market them using performance ratings. Instead of deciding performance based on the intel standard, they would have new names to indicate that their processors, in some situations, are faster than their Intel counterparts. They'd probably be called the AMD Athlon Clockless XP 1100+, and so on.
In response, Intel would start releasing worse processors, but with higher numbers. Pentium Clockless II 5000 would be their flagship.
AMD would continue making their processors in the traditional manner, but would adopt a new naming mechanism. AMD Ahtlon Clockless Performance XP Super Fantastic 6000, maybe.
Repeat ad nauseum.
-NeoTomba
"As example, processing of Martian resources to churn out fuel for a Mars sample return mission could be later scaled up to support human expeditionary crews on the red planet."
Wonderful idea or not, we're decades away from this. Right now, we can barely get people to the moon. We managed to get a tiny little explorer to the moon. Now, they're already thinking about putting PEOPLE on mars?
Take things one step at a time, I say. Let's wait a while, allow the technology to improve, and then evaluate what to do once we can place people on other planets.
I'm sure we can come up with far better things to do if we could get humans on Mars. And I pray it doesn't involve stripping the planet of its natural resources like we're doing here on Earth. I hope by the time this becomes reality, we're better at drawing resources from nature (i.e. solar power) and that we won't have to resort to strip mining on other planets just to keep up our quality of life here on Earth.
-NeoTomba
Tom's Hardware has been getting a lot of bad press these days. Thier burning Athlon videos caused a lot of controversy, and regulars at some other tech sites (*cough* Anandtech *cough*) have a strong dislike for Tom's work.
But this article just goes to show you why Tom's Hardware is the best hardware review site out there, just like it has always been. Over the years, Tom has written some of the best articles for hardware enthusiasts and has pushed "overclocking", a term which was once mysterious, into one of the big issues of modern computing. Motherboards are now being designed specifically for overclocking, and this has lead to huge increases in performance. Most people forget that Tom's Hardware has been one of the most influential sites as far as this is concerned.
It's good to see what is undesputably the best current article on technology. I hope even those who hate Tom's Hardware will see the light. No other tech site has anywhere near the ability to do stuff like this.
-NeoTomba
Well, considering they're business card CDs, I'd put on them some useful, business related information:
1. My resume
2. A link to my personal web site
3. Some pictures of me, so maybe whoever I gave the card to will associate my face with my name
4. Maybe some of the music I've written as mp3 (or, if catering to a Slashdot crowd, ogg)
5. Anything interesting I've written that business associates might be interested in
6. Other nifty personal stuff
7. A cool screensaver, maybe? I dunno... I'm stretching now.
Make it professional, make it interesting, put some good, personally important stuff on there.
And, uh, be creative!
-NeoTomba
I'm not sure how "high quality" you want, but I should mention that all SoundBlaster Live! cards, which are cheap these days, have a digital optical output. Now, if you had some hi-fi stereo equipment and a reciever with a digital optical input, thats the highest quality you can get. So, really, you can pay more than $50 for a sound card, but there would be absolutely no reason to.
Buy a good reciever, speakers and subwoofer.
Wish I knew even a little to help with the rest of your project, but I'm just a college student who failed intermediate java. I wouldn't be much of a help in anything there.
I'd love to hear how this project turns out. Feel free to e-mail me if this ever gets off the ground!
-NeoTomba
Here's some other useful links, for the inquisitive amongst us:
/ la test2001/01oct31.html
2001 Mars Odyssey home page: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/
Direct link to the first image and explanation:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/gallery/latest
Explanation of the Mars Odyssey on HowStuffWorks:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/mars-odyssey.htm
Mission Overview:
http://www.marsnews.com/missions/2001/
Enjoy!
-NeoTomba
I remember when this was first announced YEARS ago...
Nobody had a DVD player yet, but the prospects of getting one that could not only play digital movies but also play games? Wow... mindblowing
Today, nearly everyone has a DVD player. Well, thats a lie, but they're all over the place. Half of my local Blockbuster is DVD. Clearly, the format is doing well.
So now, its a question of who's going to buy this thing. Want a DVD player that can play games? Buy a PS2 (many people already have).
Want a DVD player for MAME and Doom? Well, as soon as we've got Linux on the PS2... once again: buy a PS2.
The technology just isn't exciting. Really, who on earth even cares anymore? If someone can answer me, I'd really appreciate it, because I don't see this technology going anywhere.
-NeoTomba
right, except when you install a new processor, unless you reinstall windows (and repeat all those steps you listed, replacing "linux" with "windows"), your windows install won't take advantage of any new features in the new processor (SSE, 3dnow, whatever)
So, if you're upgrading, you really ought to reinstall no matter what OS you're running.
-NeoTomba
Mandrake, interestingly, automatically mounts fat32 partitions, so I didn't have to know anything.
Thanks for the tip, Anonymous Coward.
-NeoTomba
First off, I'm a Linux newbie. I've been running Linux for a month. Despite that, I've picked up a lot of stuff quickly. I started off with Mandrake 8.0, which, while good, seemed a little outdated.
And it was. 2 days later Mandrake 8.1 came out. I upgraded, and though buggy, its extremely nice.
However, I've been waiting for RH7.2 for quite some time. I installed RH years ago with my friend Peter, but we didn't know how to do shit (though we did manage to install it fine, go figure). If only we had known to type "startx" maybe we could have become linux zealots back in high school.
In any case, RH 7.2 blows me away. The installation interface is very professional and the default configurations are rock solid. I saw no need to personalize every little thing since everything looked so good right off. Mandrake, despite its simplicity in so many areas, required much more configuration, in my opinion. Theres a lot to set up, and Mozilla still isn't it's default browser.
If I only I knew enough to mount my windows partition under RH 7.2, I might start using it instead of Mandrake.
But then, its only a short wait for the 8.1 gaming edition to come out, and maybe I'll switch again. Linux is fun like that.
Don't flame me too hard for these uninformed opinions. I apologize ahead of time for being too stupid to mount my windows partition.
-NeoTomba
Wait, by this logic, Microsoft got it right with Windows 3.0
I mean, unless I'm rediculously mistaken here, Windows 3.0 was a pretty shitty OS.
-NeoTomba
Oh come on. I'm from Maine and I know the first part of your statement is a lie.
/.)
*) Angus King (Maine's governor) is on his way out of office - his second term expires shortly. This is his "going out with a tekno-cool bang".
He first proposed this idea over two years ago. Unlike Clinton, with his last minute attempts to make peace in the middle east, Gov. King has been working on this idea for a long time.
I understand why Mainers see this as a last minute effort, but it's really not fair to Gov. King to label it as such.
It is tragic, as you point out, that there are no funds.
And while I'd have to agree that Maine is the best state in the union (lived there for 13 years), I'm not sure why at all. If you have any ideas, I'd be interested in a response (shy at jhu dot edu if you'd like to take me up on the offer outside of
-NeoTomba
Hey, troll, you clearly know nothing about the politics in Maine, yet still feel it necessary to comment.
It actually didn't garner him any votes. It lost him votes, more than anything. Most people were opposed to the proposal. He worked very hard to get funding (which was cut numerous times) and to convince not only the people of Maine but also other members of the gov't. It still hasn't worked completely, and hardly everyone agrees with him. In this case, however, going against the will is turning out to be a good thing. He's been able to convince people that his proposal is a good idea, and actually do something good with tax dollars for once.
It's not every day a gov't official in Maine does something constructive. He truly is a rare breed, and I think most Mainers would take offense that you implied otherwise.
-NeoTomba
Finally, script kiddies will get what they deserve... life imprisonment!
Wait, this wouldn't be targeting "real" hackers, now would it? Uh oh...
-NeoTomba
but there are three stories on the main page and nobody has posted replies to any of them. Anybody know why?
Curious,
-NeoTomba
Home of the ever growing giant monopolistic corporations. Yay.
-NeoTomba
-Coward