Yep and i have read about it and seen photos - there was also GEM from Atari and at least 3 others - none of the these however were general PC apps - they were not readily available to the market and i was not talking about X windows - yes there were several ports running X11R4 and some of them approached stability but no one will argue that X wasnt a readily available and stable system - MS marketed windows better maybe - but even you admit DesQview used console - thats little different to menu maker or many other programs - win was a GUI but you have a point - and it should be noted that i never claimed it was the only one
Thats your opinion and it may very well be correct (i wont argue with it)
But you miss the point a little - IBM created the PC market in the corporate sector. The innovators (and there were legion) built great computers but corporates wouldnt buy off a company that might go broke (many of them did, MITS, IMSAI, Commodore etc) but they knew IBM and they knew their systems - they had their Mainframes in the data centers and machine rooms and their minis in accounting etc, so they trusted the name and bought the PC's for their staff based on the fact that IBM had been there for many years and they were a corporate company like them and knew their business.
Apple made a better product but they played on the touchy feely, hippy ethos too much for the corporate market (and they didnt want that market, didnt care about it till after IBM entered the marketplace really)
I would say that i started my career on thos 'retarded' mainframes and they were the best on the market (name me one competitor at that time with superior mainframe systems)
I wont comment on the keyboard etc as it is a matter of opinion - and with the keyboard its true as is the expandability (IBM knew nothing about expandability as they were used to telling customers what they were getting not the other way around) And i would like to know what written and real basis you have for the IBM paying off DR comment - as it is a matter of record that MS paid $50k for the DOS - they didnt write it thus if it was stolen its not their issue (not to mention that most DOS'es were copies of CP/M at that stage anyway just as most BASIC was a copy of Bill Gate's original Altair one.
But remember this - no IBM PC means NO pc as we know it - the rise of the PC on the corporate desktop led to the modern market place we have and enjoy - a market needs volume and real volume in those days could only come from business and big business had the most momey and staff - IBM didnt persue the cloners as they thought hardware wasnt worth it - thank god.
I would be interested in asking your age (i just like to see how many of the 30+ guys are still out there in this industry) as it has an impact on the mainframe computing opinion but im not flaming you as you have a right to say what you think - after all linux is all about freedom of choice and right to think different!
I think this is aimed at my post as it quotes from it so i will reply (nicely and not flaming or trolling)
1. Said that windows was the first PC market ready GUI - read the post
2.It worked compared to the PC based competition (umm OS2 V1 Anyone)(and commenting on OS2 comes in my case from having supported it - by the time they got to warp it was a great product - but too little too late)
3.Maybe, maybe not - i see similarities in it to both so i'll concede that one may be a matter of opinion - i didnt say it was UNIX i said based on - and thats the thing about OS2 as well - maybe im wrong, hell i may be - so im human
4. I said commerically uasable - even the nicest linux and UNIX advocate wouldnt admit that X win was ready for realease to the world then - it was in Universities sure but not in general use - i agree on the client server side sure - but i dont agree with the click here stuff - windows is what you make of it and use it for - i use Linux and Win at work and home and they each have uses - i love Linux servers but am frankly scared of what my corporate desktop users would do to linux desktops and the support costs involved.
5. I never said Linus stole or in any way violated the BSD copyright - just as MS paid for its purchase of QDOS (and the legalities of what is a more than 15 year old sale are not for us to comment on - it was legal then and would be today - and as for the ripped off mac argument - well ask steve wozniak woz@woz.org about it - MS did no such thing in win 1 and had a license to use the features after all.
6. I dont consider software and OS's to be a religious crusade but i respect people who do - YOU will ALWAYS have a choice. And im not defending MS as you put it - I work in this industry - have done for more than 10 years and i dont FEAR anything that MS may do or otherwise - the PC industry grows and changes yearly - 10 years ago i was s sytems operator on IBM RS mainframes, then a Sys Admin on UNIX, now i'm an MIS manager - the one thing i know about this industry is Change is constant - Novell once were king in the Network OS area and now their money comes from other fields - why, they lost some ground to MS yes but the fact is they STOPPED INNOVATING ! new changes to the OS came too slow and people grew tired of the same old thing, saw a company that was interested more in Border Manager and other things and went to other solutions. Unix was proclaimed Dead and now its not again, Thats the thing about Linux i love -the constant innovation and change - but its also the reason why Linux isnt winning the hearts and minds and the corporate desktop - no stability in their eyes means large support costs.
7. True true and you are like me - my first PC was a BBC Micro then a Trash 80, C64, Amiga, Epson PC, IBM and thus on - i have run things including GEM, Deskworxs and many other OS'es - i meant this point as a question to the young guys.
And thats it - i love a good post and i wish your replied to mine and given a user name as yours is intersting - I dont agree with some of the comments but damn it thats what lifes about - I wont be using XP either BTW - my company wont be buying it for Min 2 years and we have some major concerns about it - as do a lot of corporates - it will as always end up winning in the home market - which pains me as i would love to see a usable and stable and 100% foolproof alernative from the Linux, hell any camp !
You know normally i try to resist the urge to comment on this sort of thing but im going to today. (note im not trolling or pushing the MS line i just cannot stand to see this stuff put across as the truth)
MS have never innovated. Hmm Bill Gates wrote the first BASIC for Altair Computers - considered the first of all 'PC''s - he did in on a legal pad in machine code, at 13 this was a guy who was hacking DEC OS code to find bugs in it for a place called C Cubed Computer Centre and at 14 he got caught hacking into a Control Data computer then linked into their network (called Cybernet) - he was known by his peers for those skills.
He wrote MSBASIC himself and he had written a DOS for pc'a however when IBM came calling they need a quick solution (BTW there are 2 very different storis on the QDOS thing - what is known is MS bought the OS in full so what they did with it is IBM's stupid fault for licensing it)
Now onto reality
Windows 1,2 - First and Second generation products but groundbreaking as they were the FIRST real saleable GUI's on the market (for the story behind the supposed theft from Aple/Xerox do a bit of reading - it was no such thing (Pirates of Silicon valley gets it very wrong)
Windows 3 - well may not be original (which i dispute) but it sure as hell worked and put the simple to use desktop on low cost PC's for all (note at this stage and even know the Mac is NOT low cost)
Windows NT - innovated from OS2 ?? what are you smoking - it owes more to X windows than that (hint - what happens when NT crashed - i dumps core) the back end is similar in many ways to Unix - OS2 is an IBM attempt to use the money they blue in a black hole called Taligent/Pink and it took them until Warp to even make it work - at which time the market didn't trust it anymore
Windows 95 - The similarity to apple is true - and covered under a license - but Next Step - well it has a kernel i guess - as for not original it was the only non unix (and considering the state of X at the time Unix isnt's a competitor here) GUI that worked as advertised (see comment on OS2) and it revolutionised the computer market place.
Windows 98 - I'll give you that one but it is much more than that - it was next generation tech that continued stability and useablity enhancements. And as for the web browser well yeah sure - just like everything is innovated off something else - Sorta like Linux is innovated from BSD
Windows XP - too soon to comment fully - yeah it has a lot of stuff - but it's a choice these days whether you want it or not.
Now im not saying MS is an innovative or good company (although read a bit about them and you might find some things out you didn't know) or that they are not a monopoly - only that you can criticise them for many things but if you do check the facts and learn about the history.
And my final point - how many of the people on here who use BSD/Linux Started off on a windows machine (win 3.11, win95 etc)??
Your choices in life change and so do your choices in software.
PS For more inforation on this and the very early days of MS and other companies read Fire in the Valley by Paul Frieberger and Micheal Swaine - ISBN 0071358927 - actually anyone who is into computers should read this and find out how all this got started.
But they have the right to protect their trademarks - it is the Law - Dont like it - go to university and get a law degree, or run for government and change it - dont sit there and whinge. Legally they have a perfect right to control the actions of a non profit mod - the own the character rights and thus they can legally say how and where the names, images and concepts can be used - end of story.
The MS comment is childish - you are talking about 2 different licenses and 2 different laws - MS license you to make USE of their product thus you can write letters on it etc etc.
Fair us unfortunately has NOTHING to do with copyrighted images etc, the company could choose to not block or to block it - they have chosen the latter - and Funimation have total right to stop them as they own the characters (legally)
Check out the MS license and then do a search on copyright laws.
These guys have wasted their time and they lose out -they should have gotten a clearance in writing before starting - thats what BUSINESS people do - and even if its not for profit the company can argue the very reason they chose the Dragonball Z characters was to get the considerable fan base intersetd that is they used the funimation copryrighted material to attract customers to their product - whether they make money of not is a moot point really.
The question if it is fair is not relevant unfortuantely - i know that this an unpoluar opinion in some quarters of/. but funimation holds the copyright on Dragonball Z and thus they have the right to control its usage and appearance, thus if they say cease and sesist you cease and desist - its the law and the law has nothing to do with fairness. You could argue fair use and no profit but i fear that wont work as they have proven themselves to be aggresive in defending their copyrights (and it is legal for them to do so)
This is an interesting point and as an MIS manager (admittedly in australia but i think this is relevant) i will point out what i look for in young staff (and often staff in general)
- Enthusiasm - this means you want to work in IT and are willing to do the hours - note please this does not mean that if you are an uber leet linux hacker you are enthusiastic - Corporate IT deals with clients so you have to be enthusastic at dealing with their problems
- Experience - sorry guys if you dont have it then you will find getting work hard - MCSE's do NOT count as experience - if a 14 year old kid can get one if he pays the money then they are no balance of skill - the answers to the exams and information is readily available thus they are not worth the paper they are printed on without relevant experience to back it up - this means minimum 12 months in my case - and it must be relevant - if you have an MCSE (you finished it last week) but 5 years experience as a helpdesk operator or a programmer then im afraid you wont get a job with most companies as a network admin. (NOte i dont exclude graduates here - my experience of managing and hiring graudates is they come out of Uni with great skills in some areas but lousy skills in many others - most of them have no practical experience in IT) and finally a comment on relevance - working in Radios Shack or Frys etc in the service dept even is a good job but it doesnt qualify you to start as a network admin for me - i wont hire staff for technical support without helpdesk experience - its where i started and where all my staff start (even my senior guys have too do 2 weeks helpdesk to get the feel of the company when they start)
- Humility - the number one fault i see in young applicants is arrogance. They think they know it all and have no time for anyone who does not agree - they often have very strong opinions but lack the tact to control themselves. Remeber that when you go for a job the employer is hiring you for what he wants - if the job is as a Desktop Support engineer in an MS house running Dell machines then you MUST be willing to do this job without complaining (and evangalising about Linux every day is the same as complianing) - you dont make the decsions on Os's etc at lower levels and at higher levels you do what the company asks - this is the price of taking the dollar BUT
- Intelligence - I personally look for staff who will think outside of the box and suggest things that may improve our systems - maybe cost saving network ideas, patches for servers, new ways to work, and thus you should always be willing to offer reasoned and intelligent comment (if your company wants it) But be carefull this becomes arrogance all too often - learn humility.
-Appearance - You would not believe the number of times i have had applicants turn up unshaven, dressed in rumpled clothes or T Shirts and jeans ! im only young so i try to see past it but this organsiation is a Suit and Tie workplace - i expect an interviewee to at the very least wear a clean pressed shirt , a tie, work shoes and be clean and presentable (brushed teeth, hair etc) if you can't turn up and interview with me looking like you want the job then you are not gonna get it - and my advice to all of you is buy a suit - spend what you can afford - and good shoes and look after them - i am always impressed with a youn guy who hs taken the time and effort to prepare
- Preparation - learn about the company (at least know how big they are and what they do) you all have web access so there is NO excuse for not knowing a bit about a prospective employer
- network - find older people in IT and get to know them, ask questions, LISTEN TO THE ANSWERS - most of us try to help out the younger guys and get them in the industry but you have to show some interest in our knowledge and not try and appear uber leet to us - we dont care a bit about a web page you and your crew hacked, or the virus you wrote or your frag count, we like people who want to learn about corporate IT and how to deal with it. (ps if you dont like dealing with people and taking phone calls then forget IT and find another industry - no matter how good you are your first roles will be lower level - helpdesk or desktop support and these are customer contact areas)
- Stick at it - turn up to work on time, do your job, work what hours are needed and learn what you can.
- Resume - clean, clear, consice and up to date - no fluff, simple descriptions and a list of skills and realistic ratings on those skills (ie: excellent knowledge, good knowledge, working knowledge, exposure to) no fluff and a few good references will get you in the interview room - from that point its up to you.
How to find work is hard for anyone - the industry is in a slump and people arent hiring as much - what i and most people i know look for are people with broad skill ranges - they know both Linux and Windows and a range of applications, they have some hardware knowledge and basic networking skills and are willing to learn.
My best advice is look in the papers and on the web and think about the contracting companies and headhunters very carefully before you use them (in Aus these companies cannot charge the appicant for their services - not sure how it is in the US) these guys will lie to you, steal from you and can make or break your reputation.
Hope this helps some people (forgive my spelling OK)
actually i have to agree - i am MIS manager for a DELL only house - the PC's all use intel motherboards and they have shielded serial ports (over 200 palms just in Aus and not one motherboard fried due to one) - Dell gear is not cheap or crappy - use 3 com nics, kingston memory and i have seen them being bulletproof ( our failure rates are about 1% over 3 years)
I believe their notebooks are built to their design but once againt they dont manuf boards of components and they are just as strong - have one on my desk right now (CPx) and own one myself (Cpir400 Xt) they are good machines.
Much more reliable that compaq (last company) and HP (Company before )
PS Corporates DONT but clones as a matter or course for reasons of service and turn over
Read the Acceptabel Use Agreement
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Broadband Crackdown
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· Score: 3, Redundant
This has propably been said but iam an Optus@Home customer in Aust and it firmly states (about 6 times) in the user agreement, FAQ, member pages and help sections that you cannot run a server on the web, this is in breach of the AUP and you get immediate disconnection.
So if this is the case then why the story ? why the complaints ?
ignorance is no defense - when you sign up for any service or contract you read the terms and conditions - thus you dont have these problems.
End of story - if its not acceptable and you do it you get thrown off - i cant see anything fairer than that and whingeing about it happening is like ignoring the warning on a chaisaw that says dont cut off your leg and doing just that !!
(of course in the US you could sue the company as stupidity is no exclusion - get the right jury and get lucky)
Has Slashdot declared war on Adobe ?
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PDF Virus Spotted
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· Score: 2
This may seem trivial but i am wondering if/. has declraed war on Adobe as well as MS ?
This article is not new and PDF files are vulnerable if you launch an embedded attachment, but then again so are MS Word, etc etc.
All this shows is that if you go looking for something bad then you are going to find it if you look hard enough, and i think the skylarov case means everyone would like to 'get' adobe
(im not commenting on the merits of the case - but i will say that i think both parties are at fault, skylarov for cracking a proprietry format and adobe for over reacting in a big way - the thing is the PDF format IS proprietary - you need adobe software to make it and view it there fore they have the right to protect their copy right but i think they way they and the US gov went about it is heavy handed and stupid - this guy is not some desperate hacker)
But the thing is the medias coverage of non threats like this, minor threats to the home user like code red and things like good times, michelangelo, hackers defacing web pages etc etc and blowing these said events up to be the end of the world as we know it builds hysteria in the general populace who then call for the govt to crack down on these 'terrorists' - thus they carry out heavy handed actions.
If we all dont watch out we are in for a nother McCarthy like era but instead of reds under beds we will have hackers under the table!!
Actually this is a really good point in a way - Apples own worst enemy has always been and remains apple, their arrogance and short sighted ness to licensing the OS (Bill Gates actually suggested they do it !!!!!!!!!!) and allowing cloners to open source the architecture have meant they have been behind in the market again and again and contributed to their financial problems.
They do only post against intel - but up till now thats been their major competition - and as they sell an all in one solution they are really competing against the big vendors like Compaq (who they could have bought cheap at the start) Dell (Who wanted to make mac's under license at one time) and IBM - these companies dont or are only now starting to issue AMD chipped machines, so this policy may change soon.
(Apple dont just post results for photoshop anymore BTW)
Umm the second one i sort of dont agree with but - Apple worked with IBM to design the PPC processor and this is an optimised chipset for them - it works on hardware that Apple themselves designed and the Nvidia Cards are not a set in stone alernative (the G3 and 4 use a AGP bus for graphics so apple could change) - People should never ever make the mistake of thinking Apple are a software only company - they designed many of their components from the ground up and until the Gil Amelio days still owned considerable manuf and assembly plants for motherboards, pc add in boards, cases etc. (and i think still own manuf plants for most of this) this of course is one of the reasons they cost more - market lifecycles and sales vs development costs are higher BUT you get control of quality and this counts - Most Macs are bullet proof (with some exceptions in the past)
But Apple is becoming a stable company - and dont forget this is the company that was unstable when it launched the Apple II, the Apple III, the Mac, The powerbook and the G3 - it could be argued that they are as stable if not more so than ever.
And finally (and i not going looking for trolls here) I dont understand the point on low level content - what other sort of content would the general user want to make (note i qualified this in my first post) SGI make great products for a development market in animation etc, yes they are getting cheaper second hand BUT they are not user friendly, many many third party products (Digital Cams, Organisers, printers etc) either dont work properly or require fiddling around - and thus the home user would never ever buy one - and i mean mom and dad and the small business NOT the hackers and enthusiasts. (advertising companies use macs BTW for the reasons that its the easiest platform, cheapest for their use, graphic artists are trained on it, its user friendly and finally easy to maintain) And home users dont want to make animated films or crunch massive 3d models (and neither do most ad agencies - they outsource that sort of thing (i worked in Advertising for 3 years as Network Admin and IT manager so i can speak on that one)which is what SGI machines excel at.
Apple shines because the average user doesnt need to know about makefiles, RPM's and all the other stuff to use it daily - they can choose OS9 or OSx depending on needs.
Oh and in final closing - Uptime means absolutely nothing to these users (and i should point out to me) Most people buy a machine for a reason and use it for that - the fact that it wont stay up for 500 days is neither relevant or important IMHO (and im not flaming just expressing an opinion here) I have NT servers (yuck but they are my job) that stay up for 6 months without issues - they might stay up longer, but i take them down every 60 days anyway for maintenance - like sucking dust out of filters etc (they are rackmounts) and as long as they are up during work hours the rest of the time they can whistle - note - if they were web servers i would want them up constantly (which is why we use Linux for those) but these machines dont need to be up all the time - only most of the time.
The average business and home user turns of the desktop at night / when they are done with it and they are the people Apple needs for market share and hence more software/lower price ( this point also holds for open source in IMO as well - the 'war' will be fought on Joe Bloggs desktop at home, not the server at work - the desktop market is the one Linux and open source needs to beat MS or anyone else and this means user friendly and idiot proof)
After all its not the size but how you use it:)
But a damn good post - thanks for reminding me how arrogant Apple can be
PS if you would like to know more about Apple and what the company has designed and the miracle that they still exist try these books
APPLE - by Jim Carlton
INFINITE LOOP - Michael S Malone
THE MACINTOSH WAY - Guy Kawasaki
FIRE IN THE VALLEY - Frieberger and Swaine (actually this is one anyone interested in computers should read - a history of silicon valley from the early days till now (new edition just out)
It was meant to say PIII and 512mb - i was tired after working 18hours and missed it in the preview - apologies (good to see people picked up the error)
I was thinking about this the other day - in my work i deal with NT4 and Win2k servers and destops but in previous incarnations have worked with supporting UNIX, Novell and Macs and find myself scratching my head over the 'macs suck' line. On my desk here i have a notebook (DELL) a PC (Dell) and a terminal (WYSE Winterm) and they all do different jobs, and thats the thing with macs.
I used to think mac's sucked until i worked on them and supported them - they dont - the G4 is a mind blowing machine for what its intended for - trust me it can and does piss on any wintel or IBM compatible equipment in the fields of Graphics manipulation, Desktop Publishing, video editing and related functions(and dont start talking to me about SGI or such like - i dont call a pro machine priced at $15k US a general use machine and this therefore wipes out AAVID etc - i mean for general business and home use). The mac is exstensively used for web design and graphic work, in advertising it remains king and dont look now but they are still making major sales in the home user market.
Why ?
Think about it - they are user friendly - very much so in fact - need to reinstall the os, then just copy the files onto the hard drive and reboot (this i believe does not hold for OSx - i have a 9600 power mac at home with my pc's but it wont run the latest release), installing most software is also that easy, and configuration of internet and ISDN is so simple it will make most windows people cry (and dont get me started on linux config)
The mac is becoming every day a more attractive platform - the only thing against it is price - in aussie the G3 starts at $3895including a CD-RW drive which does not include a monitor - sure you can bung a standard VGA on it but if you do then you are missing out - the newer LCd monitors apple have are mindblowing.
If the price for these machines comes down to around $2000 with a monitor (or a top end of $3000) then they would become a serious market player (remember this is the entry level - the top end starts at $7699 less monitor (but with the apple superdrive DVD burner) and a monitor starts at $1399
I would buy one at that price - the 9600 i have is going on 4 years old and still shits on my PII 866 with 512k of ram for photoshop work - the OS is not as bad as you may believe and is worth a look
The only issue is that there is limited free software (and warez for all the l33t haxors)on the mac, thats due to the higher cost of developing for what really has been seen as a pro platform, but this is changing all the time as more and more people move into macs in the home market, thus driving things forward. Come on GPL people - money where the mouth is an start developing for the MAC OS under this license. (i think it can be done)
So the next time you dismiss an apple as a toy or dying go out and play with one for a while - you might be surprised and be carefull you may fall in love ! After all this is a company that has been declared dead more times than i can count and they are getting stronger by the day again.
PC User - MAC Lover - Microsoft by neccesity - Open Source by choice - free speach for all - thats my story whats yours ?
PS for all the mac and tech lovers out there you can contact Steve Wozniak (inventor of the Apple i and one of the true hardware pioneers of the PC industry) at www.woz.org or email him on laura@woz.org - a chance to talk to a legend if thats your cup of tea
I find myself more and more multitasking (and now its not just because i have to use win2k at work - but that adds to it) the fact is that we are caught by a couple of things
1. Expectations of Users - The average user has come to expect support and help in a much quciker time frame which couples with their increasing knowledge and skills (note this in general) to produce a class of user who thinks every problem is major and they then try to fix it them selves therefore ensuring it IS a major problem.
2. complexity of systems - this goes hand in handwith the above - eveyr day systems grow more and more complex - we are in the process of SAP implementation and this is a killer on the back on WIN2k, Intranet Payroll and HR and Intranet helpdesk loggin - the number of passwords grow and there is no easy way to resolve the issue and maintain security - that means the system become more complex on a daily basis and the struggle for support staff and users to keep up with the required skills and knowledge (paid training is an impossible joke in most companies - it does not happen)
3. Time and Resources - time is a valuable concept - the amount of time in a day is finite at 24 hours and you can only work so much of it - yet i spend a lot of my time waiting for things to load and dealing with FIX THIS NOW requests for low priority issues whilst trying to fix the major issues i have - it takes longer to tell them to go away than the fix would but you have to maintain a focus. Staffing resources have also decreased - in my role its down to 1 staff member for every 100 staff and sometimes less - i have a state to run with approx 200 users and there is me and one part time partly skilled staff member who gets sick 2 days a week, so you can imagine that i dont have time to relax - 18 hour days are standard and i have done more than one 20 hour.
4. Money - the pressure of technology means that companies have to stay on top of things to survive - that means upgrades, new systems, software etc. This comes at a huge cost - SAP cost us AU$20 Million and thats only year 1 - dont forget as IT we now have to look after Phones, Video Conferencing, TV's, Boardrooms, Photocopiers, Fax Machine, Building Management Systems, Security Systems, etc etc - all this with less staff than before (2 years ago to do less i had 3 staff full time working flat out) - no money = no staff (SAP again)
SO whats the multitasking point ?
Yes staff who multitask are probably less efficient but then again hiring adequate staff to fill the roles in an organisation would mean less multi tasking and more efficiency - simple maths really.
I multitask because i have to - the headaches, backachec, half done jobs and 10000 email messages i cold do without - im efficient as hell tho - i have to be to survive and stay sane.
No if you will excuse me the 5 minutes i took to write this whilst waiting for a server to reboot is up and i have to go fix SQL - god i wish i had another pair of hands as well...
Actually this is a common problem and growing more so at the moment - it was only on warez sites and porn sites but is increasingly common. The other night i was involved in 'ahem' warez surfing (i know i know) and came across a link i thought looked good, clicked on it and copped 12 popup windows (yep i expected it and should have) what i didnt expect is a changed home page and 10 new favourites not to mention that lovely code that locks a window at full screen and you cant close it - you have to CTRL-ALT-DEL
no warnings and no question - this can be done and according to my developers is really easy to do - and as these days to get all web pages to work you need to use IE- theres not a lot of choice - of course you can lock it down but that means many things wont work properly anyway - so whats the solution ?
someone come up with an answer for this ? PS popup killer doesnt work with My IE - i use cable and of course it doesnt work as its a customised version.
So any ideas ? (please dont advise me to change to Mosaic or Netscape or opera as i cannot do that with my cable provider (i love opera but it wont work properly with most of my plugins without playing and i dont see the point of having a broadband link and a crippled browser - i spend my days playing with servers and dont want to spend my nights configuring browsers - this is why i dont use linux at home)
This is an interesting document - my wife is a solicitor (what we aussies calkl lawyers) and thinks its just about the weirdest thing she has read in years- it will last about 5 minutes in a court of law BUT it will do what is is supposed to do - generate a lot of publicity for the complainants who drafted the document and thus enable them to make money from their profiles as 'defenders' of the public.
Not defending MS (heaven forbid) but this is an opportunistic grab for dollars and collumn inches rehashing tired old statements and looking like a way to turn more heat on MS thus hoping they will cough up some cash.
Isnt there a legal rule about pursuing lawsuits which are trivial or designed to waste the courts time ?
Good point on the cable modem one but i pose the questions for a good reason - im an @home user and i run Zone Alarm or Black Ice (depending on system rebuild status) - permanently on line and works all day pulling down shit (including ahem warez) average 2 scans a week and thats it.
My concern is that this threat to home user stuff is like negative media stories on web shopping or credit card hacking, sure it happens but how often ? what are we doing here - scaring the customer shitless ?
Being security concious is a good thing but i have friends on dial up who worry about being hacked (they might have somm important pron pictures is guess) and they wont buy or pay for anything on line because 'hackers' might get me.
Have we convinced users that there is such a threat to the point where they will believe any line they are fed ? this would explain why third rate software like Norton Home Firewall is so popular.
I would like to see some proof these guys have nothing on their systems that appears like a 'hack me' sign to the cript kiddies out there ?
That non preparation and non attention to security leaves you with a vulnerable and insecure network.
No surprise really - the statistics indicate that they have a high rate of attack on their unsecured systems yet i would be interested how well they hide them - that is is the domain name of the network something which would attract their attention ? Ceratinly the average home user would be very scared reading these statistics which is the point i guess but makes me wonder are we scare mongering here ?
If they have gone out and setup a honeypot domain that looks very attractive to the script kiddies then im not surprised that they are attracting attention - having said that my organisation is about the most boring thing on the planet and we have a large amount of intrusion attempts (christ knows if they managed to get in we would get sued for boring hackers to death).
I still cant help but wonder if this stuff is simple setup to attract publicity and attention ?
I think i see what you are getting at and you are right i would be as guilty as him in some cases. I have done some more reading on it since the post as well, i dont know exactly where i stand on it but i feel that the adobe action may be an over reaction on their part.
It does seem strange that they dont want to face the fact that they might have an imperfect system and i was actually wondering why they didnt simply talk to him and his guys on how it might be fixed or tightened ?
I mean if they are really concerned about the security of their product then havent they got something to learn from him?
Thanks for the reasoned posts - i was honestly having trouble seeing the other side - i think too often those of us on the admin side automatically react and blame the cracker dude - which is a fatal bias IMHO.
Ok - now i may be missing the point on this one so please dont flame me if im wrong - just give me an explanation.
This is the guy that was arrested for announcing how to circumvent security on Adobe E-books right ?
and now he has admitted that he and his company (or group) sell passwords and cracks etc.
So why the outcry ? i mean it looks to me (IMHO) like the guy thinks that he can do what he wants and flaunt the law and then when he gets arrested its an outcry ? he broke the law didnt he ?
I mean these are the sort of people i have software and resources dedicated to stopping, firewalls, security system, authentication systems etc etc all dedicated to keeping hackers out of my systems, you have all had damage from viruses im sure - so whay defend the guy ?
Is he not the sort of person who gives 'hackers' a bad name ? Is he the sort of guy you want to associate yourselves and the free software movement with ? i mean the average man in the street (you know the one with Win on his computer) would consider the guy a criminal - so doesnt standing up and defending his right to break the law make it look like we are all the same as the uber leet hackers and script kiddies out there ?
What i can understand is this 'non-american' programmers scared to come to the US ? if you are an honest to god programmer then what have you got to fear ? if you write cracks and hack systems for a living and then make a big deal out if it then you are going to pay the price.
As i said i may be missing something but isnt this a bit like some guy breaking into your house and then going on TV to tell everyone how he did it and then claiming that he was just having fun when he gets arrested ?
As i said i may have it wrong - maybe i am missing something and i will always admit it if so - just post a reply with an answer (note calling me a cockmuncher only proves you are sheep)
Having read the article i cannot see any actual real breakthrough at this stage - what they are saying is that molecular memory may be possible - this is not a new theory.
Their 'patent' by the looks of it is being a protective measure in case someone else comes up with the idea and actually gets it to work - they estimate they will have a 16kb prototype in approx 4 years - in other words they have patented the theory that this may work but now one has actually physically made one yet - they are working on this but just in case someone else manages it HP will have the patent and thus are due a royalty on anmy product ?
Also one more comment - this is really nothing that unusual - patents like this are awarded all the time - yet this is getting some news covergae - the wording makes it sound at first glance like they have this thing working, only when you read it do you realise they dont.
Arent H P in some trouble at the moment - their profit is down and several of their divisions arent permforming and their stock price has fallen, their is talk of managment shuffles at the top. Could this be a bit of positive news to salve the market ahead of the realease of their financial data today ?
Maybe the lower resolution (40dpi - which i would be surpised in) is not a problem - the fact is this would be usefull when dealing with larger images - youre not standing or sitting right in front of this mother after all - the pixel size would be larger i suspect thus making small detail (such as stars etc ) easier to see - maybe they are looking for field of view rather than super resolution ?
Oh and i forgot - The alternative to this (which is what the Search Engine companies will claim) is to charge for use of search engines or move to a subscription model - they are after all offering a free service
My question is did they try and charge Nader too much money for a listing ?
The fact that this is happening should come as no surprise. And the rub is i cant see anyway Ralph Nader or anybody else can claim this is illegal. Users dont sign and particluar agreement and most search engines make no claim of impartiality (i mean look at Yahoo for gods sake) you have a right of choice and they have as far as i know no legal right to disclose this sort of information.
Taking money for listing improvment is something companies do all the time - its how a yellow pages works - the biggest placements cost the most money. This has been going on for time and based on what the complaint and comment says they are cleary seen as 'special' links.
Altavista and other companies have been doing this for years.
I would be interested in the FCC comment on this and their response - as the usage of a search engine and choice of which one is a choice made by the consumer then one would assume that this would negate some of the arguments about uninformed consumers - the banner ads and sponsored links would convince you they were taking advertising anyway.
Most people looking for information have a rough idea what they want so advertising wont have much of an effect on them - IE if you are looking for info on Open Source then you may only want general info - so you go there; if you are shopping then you may be led to a page reanked site, but bear in mind the engines return choices and thus you are not locked into only going to one place, and if the site you go to has what you want at a good price and quick service then all good and well, if not then thats what consumer laws are for, you dont sue a search engine if an online store rips you off, regardless of where you found the link.
IMHO if you follow the line that this practice is unusual then you are gullible - Radio stations dont get paid in cash for play anymore, they just get free food, gifts, invites to parties and junkets (but NO cash !)
Now this is an intersting development and worth a look, my only questions (which the article doesnt mention) are simple.
How hot does it run (PC Card slots are notoriously cooling innefficient ?
How Noisy (maybe silent but worth asking) ?
How Reliable (MTBF Rating or similar) ?
How Robust (Shockproof) ?
What drivers are required (if the device is driver independant or self installing on Win then that makes it an ideal presentation storage device, simply plug in an off you go)?
I cant seem to find this info around the web - then again maybe im blind so if someone finds it can they post it ? this is the sort of info i would use before making a purchase - and this device is something i would use and at a low enought cost (us$400 UNIT is AU$800 (rough) but thats launch and for around AU400-500 this would serve a usefull purpose for road warriors).
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Yep and i have read about it and seen photos - there was also GEM from Atari and at least 3 others - none of the these however were general PC apps - they were not readily available to the market and i was not talking about X windows - yes there were several ports running X11R4 and some of them approached stability but no one will argue that X wasnt a readily available and stable system - MS marketed windows better maybe - but even you admit DesQview used console - thats little different to menu maker or many other programs - win was a GUI but you have a point - and it should be noted that i never claimed it was the only one
Thats your opinion and it may very well be correct (i wont argue with it)
But you miss the point a little - IBM created the PC market in the corporate sector. The innovators (and there were legion) built great computers but corporates wouldnt buy off a company that might go broke (many of them did, MITS, IMSAI, Commodore etc) but they knew IBM and they knew their systems - they had their Mainframes in the data centers and machine rooms and their minis in accounting etc, so they trusted the name and bought the PC's for their staff based on the fact that IBM had been there for many years and they were a corporate company like them and knew their business.
Apple made a better product but they played on the touchy feely, hippy ethos too much for the corporate market (and they didnt want that market, didnt care about it till after IBM entered the marketplace really)
I would say that i started my career on thos 'retarded' mainframes and they were the best on the market (name me one competitor at that time with superior mainframe systems)
I wont comment on the keyboard etc as it is a matter of opinion - and with the keyboard its true as is the expandability (IBM knew nothing about expandability as they were used to telling customers what they were getting not the other way around) And i would like to know what written and real basis you have for the IBM paying off DR comment - as it is a matter of record that MS paid $50k for the DOS - they didnt write it thus if it was stolen its not their issue (not to mention that most DOS'es were copies of CP/M at that stage anyway just as most BASIC was a copy of Bill Gate's original Altair one.
But remember this - no IBM PC means NO pc as we know it - the rise of the PC on the corporate desktop led to the modern market place we have and enjoy - a market needs volume and real volume in those days could only come from business and big business had the most momey and staff - IBM didnt persue the cloners as they thought hardware wasnt worth it - thank god.
I would be interested in asking your age (i just like to see how many of the 30+ guys are still out there in this industry) as it has an impact on the mainframe computing opinion but im not flaming you as you have a right to say what you think - after all linux is all about freedom of choice and right to think different!
I think this is aimed at my post as it quotes from it so i will reply (nicely and not flaming or trolling)
1. Said that windows was the first PC market ready GUI - read the post
2.It worked compared to the PC based competition (umm OS2 V1 Anyone)(and commenting on OS2 comes in my case from having supported it - by the time they got to warp it was a great product - but too little too late)
3.Maybe, maybe not - i see similarities in it to both so i'll concede that one may be a matter of opinion - i didnt say it was UNIX i said based on - and thats the thing about OS2 as well - maybe im wrong, hell i may be - so im human
4. I said commerically uasable - even the nicest linux and UNIX advocate wouldnt admit that X win was ready for realease to the world then - it was in Universities sure but not in general use - i agree on the client server side sure - but i dont agree with the click here stuff - windows is what you make of it and use it for - i use Linux and Win at work and home and they each have uses - i love Linux servers but am frankly scared of what my corporate desktop users would do to linux desktops and the support costs involved.
5. I never said Linus stole or in any way violated the BSD copyright - just as MS paid for its purchase of QDOS (and the legalities of what is a more than 15 year old sale are not for us to comment on - it was legal then and would be today - and as for the ripped off mac argument - well ask steve wozniak woz@woz.org about it - MS did no such thing in win 1 and had a license to use the features after all.
6. I dont consider software and OS's to be a religious crusade but i respect people who do - YOU will ALWAYS have a choice. And im not defending MS as you put it - I work in this industry - have done for more than 10 years and i dont FEAR anything that MS may do or otherwise - the PC industry grows and changes yearly - 10 years ago i was s sytems operator on IBM RS mainframes, then a Sys Admin on UNIX, now i'm an MIS manager - the one thing i know about this industry is Change is constant - Novell once were king in the Network OS area and now their money comes from other fields - why, they lost some ground to MS yes but the fact is they STOPPED INNOVATING ! new changes to the OS came too slow and people grew tired of the same old thing, saw a company that was interested more in Border Manager and other things and went to other solutions. Unix was proclaimed Dead and now its not again, Thats the thing about Linux i love -the constant innovation and change - but its also the reason why Linux isnt winning the hearts and minds and the corporate desktop - no stability in their eyes means large support costs.
7. True true and you are like me - my first PC was a BBC Micro then a Trash 80, C64, Amiga, Epson PC, IBM and thus on - i have run things including GEM, Deskworxs and many other OS'es - i meant this point as a question to the young guys.
And thats it - i love a good post and i wish your replied to mine and given a user name as yours is intersting - I dont agree with some of the comments but damn it thats what lifes about - I wont be using XP either BTW - my company wont be buying it for Min 2 years and we have some major concerns about it - as do a lot of corporates - it will as always end up winning in the home market - which pains me as i would love to see a usable and stable and 100% foolproof alernative from the Linux, hell any camp !
You know normally i try to resist the urge to comment on this sort of thing but im going to today. (note im not trolling or pushing the MS line i just cannot stand to see this stuff put across as the truth)
MS have never innovated. Hmm Bill Gates wrote the first BASIC for Altair Computers - considered the first of all 'PC''s - he did in on a legal pad in machine code, at 13 this was a guy who was hacking DEC OS code to find bugs in it for a place called C Cubed Computer Centre and at 14 he got caught hacking into a Control Data computer then linked into their network (called Cybernet) - he was known by his peers for those skills.
He wrote MSBASIC himself and he had written a DOS for pc'a however when IBM came calling they need a quick solution (BTW there are 2 very different storis on the QDOS thing - what is known is MS bought the OS in full so what they did with it is IBM's stupid fault for licensing it)
Now onto reality
Windows 1,2 - First and Second generation products but groundbreaking as they were the FIRST real saleable GUI's on the market (for the story behind the supposed theft from Aple/Xerox do a bit of reading - it was no such thing (Pirates of Silicon valley gets it very wrong)
Windows 3 - well may not be original (which i dispute) but it sure as hell worked and put the simple to use desktop on low cost PC's for all (note at this stage and even know the Mac is NOT low cost)
Windows NT - innovated from OS2 ?? what are you smoking - it owes more to X windows than that (hint - what happens when NT crashed - i dumps core) the back end is similar in many ways to Unix - OS2 is an IBM attempt to use the money they blue in a black hole called Taligent/Pink and it took them until Warp to even make it work - at which time the market didn't trust it anymore
Windows 95 - The similarity to apple is true - and covered under a license - but Next Step - well it has a kernel i guess - as for not original it was the only non unix (and considering the state of X at the time Unix isnt's a competitor here) GUI that worked as advertised (see comment on OS2) and it revolutionised the computer market place.
Windows 98 - I'll give you that one but it is much more than that - it was next generation tech that continued stability and useablity enhancements. And as for the web browser well yeah sure - just like everything is innovated off something else - Sorta like Linux is innovated from BSD
Windows XP - too soon to comment fully - yeah it has a lot of stuff - but it's a choice these days whether you want it or not.
Now im not saying MS is an innovative or good company (although read a bit about them and you might find some things out you didn't know) or that they are not a monopoly - only that you can criticise them for many things but if you do check the facts and learn about the history.
And my final point - how many of the people on here who use BSD/Linux Started off on a windows machine (win 3.11, win95 etc)??
Your choices in life change and so do your choices in software.
PS For more inforation on this and the very early days of MS and other companies read Fire in the Valley by Paul Frieberger and Micheal Swaine - ISBN 0071358927 - actually anyone who is into computers should read this and find out how all this got started.
Umm no
But they have the right to protect their trademarks - it is the Law - Dont like it - go to university and get a law degree, or run for government and change it - dont sit there and whinge. Legally they have a perfect right to control the actions of a non profit mod - the own the character rights and thus they can legally say how and where the names, images and concepts can be used - end of story.
The MS comment is childish - you are talking about 2 different licenses and 2 different laws - MS license you to make USE of their product thus you can write letters on it etc etc.
Fair us unfortunately has NOTHING to do with copyrighted images etc, the company could choose to not block or to block it - they have chosen the latter - and Funimation have total right to stop them as they own the characters (legally)
Check out the MS license and then do a search on copyright laws.
These guys have wasted their time and they lose out -they should have gotten a clearance in writing before starting - thats what BUSINESS people do - and even if its not for profit the company can argue the very reason they chose the Dragonball Z characters was to get the considerable fan base intersetd that is they used the funimation copryrighted material to attract customers to their product - whether they make money of not is a moot point really.
The question if it is fair is not relevant unfortuantely - i know that this an unpoluar opinion in some quarters of /. but funimation holds the copyright on Dragonball Z and thus they have the right to control its usage and appearance, thus if they say cease and sesist you cease and desist - its the law and the law has nothing to do with fairness. You could argue fair use and no profit but i fear that wont work as they have proven themselves to be aggresive in defending their copyrights (and it is legal for them to do so)
This is an interesting point and as an MIS manager (admittedly in australia but i think this is relevant) i will point out what i look for in young staff (and often staff in general)
- Enthusiasm - this means you want to work in IT and are willing to do the hours - note please this does not mean that if you are an uber leet linux hacker you are enthusiastic - Corporate IT deals with clients so you have to be enthusastic at dealing with their problems
- Experience - sorry guys if you dont have it then you will find getting work hard - MCSE's do NOT count as experience - if a 14 year old kid can get one if he pays the money then they are no balance of skill - the answers to the exams and information is readily available thus they are not worth the paper they are printed on without relevant experience to back it up - this means minimum 12 months in my case - and it must be relevant - if you have an MCSE (you finished it last week) but 5 years experience as a helpdesk operator or a programmer then im afraid you wont get a job with most companies as a network admin. (NOte i dont exclude graduates here - my experience of managing and hiring graudates is they come out of Uni with great skills in some areas but lousy skills in many others - most of them have no practical experience in IT) and finally a comment on relevance - working in Radios Shack or Frys etc in the service dept even is a good job but it doesnt qualify you to start as a network admin for me - i wont hire staff for technical support without helpdesk experience - its where i started and where all my staff start (even my senior guys have too do 2 weeks helpdesk to get the feel of the company when they start)
- Humility - the number one fault i see in young applicants is arrogance. They think they know it all and have no time for anyone who does not agree - they often have very strong opinions but lack the tact to control themselves. Remeber that when you go for a job the employer is hiring you for what he wants - if the job is as a Desktop Support engineer in an MS house running Dell machines then you MUST be willing to do this job without complaining (and evangalising about Linux every day is the same as complianing) - you dont make the decsions on Os's etc at lower levels and at higher levels you do what the company asks - this is the price of taking the dollar BUT
- Intelligence - I personally look for staff who will think outside of the box and suggest things that may improve our systems - maybe cost saving network ideas, patches for servers, new ways to work, and thus you should always be willing to offer reasoned and intelligent comment (if your company wants it) But be carefull this becomes arrogance all too often - learn humility.
-Appearance - You would not believe the number of times i have had applicants turn up unshaven, dressed in rumpled clothes or T Shirts and jeans ! im only young so i try to see past it but this organsiation is a Suit and Tie workplace - i expect an interviewee to at the very least wear a clean pressed shirt , a tie, work shoes and be clean and presentable (brushed teeth, hair etc) if you can't turn up and interview with me looking like you want the job then you are not gonna get it - and my advice to all of you is buy a suit - spend what you can afford - and good shoes and look after them - i am always impressed with a youn guy who hs taken the time and effort to prepare
- Preparation - learn about the company (at least know how big they are and what they do) you all have web access so there is NO excuse for not knowing a bit about a prospective employer
- network - find older people in IT and get to know them, ask questions, LISTEN TO THE ANSWERS - most of us try to help out the younger guys and get them in the industry but you have to show some interest in our knowledge and not try and appear uber leet to us - we dont care a bit about a web page you and your crew hacked, or the virus you wrote or your frag count, we like people who want to learn about corporate IT and how to deal with it. (ps if you dont like dealing with people and taking phone calls then forget IT and find another industry - no matter how good you are your first roles will be lower level - helpdesk or desktop support and these are customer contact areas)
- Stick at it - turn up to work on time, do your job, work what hours are needed and learn what you can.
- Resume - clean, clear, consice and up to date - no fluff, simple descriptions and a list of skills and realistic ratings on those skills (ie: excellent knowledge, good knowledge, working knowledge, exposure to) no fluff and a few good references will get you in the interview room - from that point its up to you.
How to find work is hard for anyone - the industry is in a slump and people arent hiring as much - what i and most people i know look for are people with broad skill ranges - they know both Linux and Windows and a range of applications, they have some hardware knowledge and basic networking skills and are willing to learn.
My best advice is look in the papers and on the web and think about the contracting companies and headhunters very carefully before you use them (in Aus these companies cannot charge the appicant for their services - not sure how it is in the US) these guys will lie to you, steal from you and can make or break your reputation.
Hope this helps some people (forgive my spelling OK)
actually i have to agree - i am MIS manager for a DELL only house - the PC's all use intel motherboards and they have shielded serial ports (over 200 palms just in Aus and not one motherboard fried due to one) - Dell gear is not cheap or crappy - use 3 com nics, kingston memory and i have seen them being bulletproof ( our failure rates are about 1% over 3 years)
I believe their notebooks are built to their design but once againt they dont manuf boards of components and they are just as strong - have one on my desk right now (CPx) and own one myself (Cpir400 Xt) they are good machines.
Much more reliable that compaq (last company) and HP (Company before )
PS Corporates DONT but clones as a matter or course for reasons of service and turn over
This has propably been said but iam an Optus@Home customer in Aust and it firmly states (about 6 times) in the user agreement, FAQ, member pages and help sections that you cannot run a server on the web, this is in breach of the AUP and you get immediate disconnection.
So if this is the case then why the story ? why the complaints ?
ignorance is no defense - when you sign up for any service or contract you read the terms and conditions - thus you dont have these problems.
End of story - if its not acceptable and you do it you get thrown off - i cant see anything fairer than that and whingeing about it happening is like ignoring the warning on a chaisaw that says dont cut off your leg and doing just that !!
(of course in the US you could sue the company as stupidity is no exclusion - get the right jury and get lucky)
This may seem trivial but i am wondering if /. has declraed war on Adobe as well as MS ?
This article is not new and PDF files are vulnerable if you launch an embedded attachment, but then again so are MS Word, etc etc.
All this shows is that if you go looking for something bad then you are going to find it if you look hard enough, and i think the skylarov case means everyone would like to 'get' adobe
(im not commenting on the merits of the case - but i will say that i think both parties are at fault, skylarov for cracking a proprietry format and adobe for over reacting in a big way - the thing is the PDF format IS proprietary - you need adobe software to make it and view it there fore they have the right to protect their copy right but i think they way they and the US gov went about it is heavy handed and stupid - this guy is not some desperate hacker)
But the thing is the medias coverage of non threats like this, minor threats to the home user like code red and things like good times, michelangelo, hackers defacing web pages etc etc and blowing these said events up to be the end of the world as we know it builds hysteria in the general populace who then call for the govt to crack down on these 'terrorists' - thus they carry out heavy handed actions.
If we all dont watch out we are in for a nother McCarthy like era but instead of reds under beds we will have hackers under the table!!
Actually this is a really good point in a way - Apples own worst enemy has always been and remains apple, their arrogance and short sighted ness to licensing the OS (Bill Gates actually suggested they do it !!!!!!!!!!) and allowing cloners to open source the architecture have meant they have been behind in the market again and again and contributed to their financial problems.
:)
They do only post against intel - but up till now thats been their major competition - and as they sell an all in one solution they are really competing against the big vendors like Compaq (who they could have bought cheap at the start) Dell (Who wanted to make mac's under license at one time) and IBM - these companies dont or are only now starting to issue AMD chipped machines, so this policy may change soon.
(Apple dont just post results for photoshop anymore BTW)
Umm the second one i sort of dont agree with but - Apple worked with IBM to design the PPC processor and this is an optimised chipset for them - it works on hardware that Apple themselves designed and the Nvidia Cards are not a set in stone alernative (the G3 and 4 use a AGP bus for graphics so apple could change) - People should never ever make the mistake of thinking Apple are a software only company - they designed many of their components from the ground up and until the Gil Amelio days still owned considerable manuf and assembly plants for motherboards, pc add in boards, cases etc. (and i think still own manuf plants for most of this) this of course is one of the reasons they cost more - market lifecycles and sales vs development costs are higher BUT you get control of quality and this counts - Most Macs are bullet proof (with some exceptions in the past)
But Apple is becoming a stable company - and dont forget this is the company that was unstable when it launched the Apple II, the Apple III, the Mac, The powerbook and the G3 - it could be argued that they are as stable if not more so than ever.
And finally (and i not going looking for trolls here) I dont understand the point on low level content - what other sort of content would the general user want to make (note i qualified this in my first post) SGI make great products for a development market in animation etc, yes they are getting cheaper second hand BUT they are not user friendly, many many third party products (Digital Cams, Organisers, printers etc) either dont work properly or require fiddling around - and thus the home user would never ever buy one - and i mean mom and dad and the small business NOT the hackers and enthusiasts. (advertising companies use macs BTW for the reasons that its the easiest platform, cheapest for their use, graphic artists are trained on it, its user friendly and finally easy to maintain) And home users dont want to make animated films or crunch massive 3d models (and neither do most ad agencies - they outsource that sort of thing (i worked in Advertising for 3 years as Network Admin and IT manager so i can speak on that one)which is what SGI machines excel at.
Apple shines because the average user doesnt need to know about makefiles, RPM's and all the other stuff to use it daily - they can choose OS9 or OSx depending on needs.
Oh and in final closing - Uptime means absolutely nothing to these users (and i should point out to me) Most people buy a machine for a reason and use it for that - the fact that it wont stay up for 500 days is neither relevant or important IMHO (and im not flaming just expressing an opinion here) I have NT servers (yuck but they are my job) that stay up for 6 months without issues - they might stay up longer, but i take them down every 60 days anyway for maintenance - like sucking dust out of filters etc (they are rackmounts) and as long as they are up during work hours the rest of the time they can whistle - note - if they were web servers i would want them up constantly (which is why we use Linux for those) but these machines dont need to be up all the time - only most of the time.
The average business and home user turns of the desktop at night / when they are done with it and they are the people Apple needs for market share and hence more software/lower price ( this point also holds for open source in IMO as well - the 'war' will be fought on Joe Bloggs desktop at home, not the server at work - the desktop market is the one Linux and open source needs to beat MS or anyone else and this means user friendly and idiot proof)
After all its not the size but how you use it
But a damn good post - thanks for reminding me how arrogant Apple can be
PS if you would like to know more about Apple and what the company has designed and the miracle that they still exist try these books
APPLE - by Jim Carlton
INFINITE LOOP - Michael S Malone
THE MACINTOSH WAY - Guy Kawasaki
FIRE IN THE VALLEY - Frieberger and Swaine (actually this is one anyone interested in computers should read - a history of silicon valley from the early days till now (new edition just out)
It was meant to say PIII and 512mb - i was tired after working 18hours and missed it in the preview - apologies (good to see people picked up the error)
I was thinking about this the other day - in my work i deal with NT4 and Win2k servers and destops but in previous incarnations have worked with supporting UNIX, Novell and Macs and find myself scratching my head over the 'macs suck' line. On my desk here i have a notebook (DELL) a PC (Dell) and a terminal (WYSE Winterm) and they all do different jobs, and thats the thing with macs.
I used to think mac's sucked until i worked on them and supported them - they dont - the G4 is a mind blowing machine for what its intended for - trust me it can and does piss on any wintel or IBM compatible equipment in the fields of Graphics manipulation, Desktop Publishing, video editing and related functions(and dont start talking to me about SGI or such like - i dont call a pro machine priced at $15k US a general use machine and this therefore wipes out AAVID etc - i mean for general business and home use). The mac is exstensively used for web design and graphic work, in advertising it remains king and dont look now but they are still making major sales in the home user market.
Why ?
Think about it - they are user friendly - very much so in fact - need to reinstall the os, then just copy the files onto the hard drive and reboot (this i believe does not hold for OSx - i have a 9600 power mac at home with my pc's but it wont run the latest release), installing most software is also that easy, and configuration of internet and ISDN is so simple it will make most windows people cry (and dont get me started on linux config)
The mac is becoming every day a more attractive platform - the only thing against it is price - in aussie the G3 starts at $3895including a CD-RW drive which does not include a monitor - sure you can bung a standard VGA on it but if you do then you are missing out - the newer LCd monitors apple have are mindblowing.
If the price for these machines comes down to around $2000 with a monitor (or a top end of $3000) then they would become a serious market player (remember this is the entry level - the top end starts at $7699 less monitor (but with the apple superdrive DVD burner) and a monitor starts at $1399
I would buy one at that price - the 9600 i have is going on 4 years old and still shits on my PII 866 with 512k of ram for photoshop work - the OS is not as bad as you may believe and is worth a look
The only issue is that there is limited free software (and warez for all the l33t haxors)on the mac, thats due to the higher cost of developing for what really has been seen as a pro platform, but this is changing all the time as more and more people move into macs in the home market, thus driving things forward. Come on GPL people - money where the mouth is an start developing for the MAC OS under this license. (i think it can be done)
So the next time you dismiss an apple as a toy or dying go out and play with one for a while - you might be surprised and be carefull you may fall in love ! After all this is a company that has been declared dead more times than i can count and they are getting stronger by the day again.
PC User - MAC Lover - Microsoft by neccesity - Open Source by choice - free speach for all - thats my story whats yours ?
PS for all the mac and tech lovers out there you can contact Steve Wozniak (inventor of the Apple i and one of the true hardware pioneers of the PC industry) at www.woz.org or email him on laura@woz.org - a chance to talk to a legend if thats your cup of tea
Some thoughts from my workplace
I find myself more and more multitasking (and now its not just because i have to use win2k at work - but that adds to it) the fact is that we are caught by a couple of things
1. Expectations of Users - The average user has come to expect support and help in a much quciker time frame which couples with their increasing knowledge and skills (note this in general) to produce a class of user who thinks every problem is major and they then try to fix it them selves therefore ensuring it IS a major problem.
2. complexity of systems - this goes hand in handwith the above - eveyr day systems grow more and more complex - we are in the process of SAP implementation and this is a killer on the back on WIN2k, Intranet Payroll and HR and Intranet helpdesk loggin - the number of passwords grow and there is no easy way to resolve the issue and maintain security - that means the system become more complex on a daily basis and the struggle for support staff and users to keep up with the required skills and knowledge (paid training is an impossible joke in most companies - it does not happen)
3. Time and Resources - time is a valuable concept - the amount of time in a day is finite at 24 hours and you can only work so much of it - yet i spend a lot of my time waiting for things to load and dealing with FIX THIS NOW requests for low priority issues whilst trying to fix the major issues i have - it takes longer to tell them to go away than the fix would but you have to maintain a focus. Staffing resources have also decreased - in my role its down to 1 staff member for every 100 staff and sometimes less - i have a state to run with approx 200 users and there is me and one part time partly skilled staff member who gets sick 2 days a week, so you can imagine that i dont have time to relax - 18 hour days are standard and i have done more than one 20 hour.
4. Money - the pressure of technology means that companies have to stay on top of things to survive - that means upgrades, new systems, software etc. This comes at a huge cost - SAP cost us AU$20 Million and thats only year 1 - dont forget as IT we now have to look after Phones, Video Conferencing, TV's, Boardrooms, Photocopiers, Fax Machine, Building Management Systems, Security Systems, etc etc - all this with less staff than before (2 years ago to do less i had 3 staff full time working flat out) - no money = no staff (SAP again)
SO whats the multitasking point ?
Yes staff who multitask are probably less efficient but then again hiring adequate staff to fill the roles in an organisation would mean less multi tasking and more efficiency - simple maths really.
I multitask because i have to - the headaches, backachec, half done jobs and 10000 email messages i cold do without - im efficient as hell tho - i have to be to survive and stay sane.
No if you will excuse me the 5 minutes i took to write this whilst waiting for a server to reboot is up and i have to go fix SQL - god i wish i had another pair of hands as well...
Actually this is a common problem and growing more so at the moment - it was only on warez sites and porn sites but is increasingly common. The other night i was involved in 'ahem' warez surfing (i know i know) and came across a link i thought looked good, clicked on it and copped 12 popup windows (yep i expected it and should have) what i didnt expect is a changed home page and 10 new favourites not to mention that lovely code that locks a window at full screen and you cant close it - you have to CTRL-ALT-DEL
no warnings and no question - this can be done and according to my developers is really easy to do - and as these days to get all web pages to work you need to use IE- theres not a lot of choice - of course you can lock it down but that means many things wont work properly anyway - so whats the solution ?
someone come up with an answer for this ? PS popup killer doesnt work with My IE - i use cable and of course it doesnt work as its a customised version.
So any ideas ? (please dont advise me to change to Mosaic or Netscape or opera as i cannot do that with my cable provider (i love opera but it wont work properly with most of my plugins without playing and i dont see the point of having a broadband link and a crippled browser - i spend my days playing with servers and dont want to spend my nights configuring browsers - this is why i dont use linux at home)
This is an interesting document - my wife is a solicitor (what we aussies calkl lawyers) and thinks its just about the weirdest thing she has read in years- it will last about 5 minutes in a court of law BUT it will do what is is supposed to do - generate a lot of publicity for the complainants who drafted the document and thus enable them to make money from their profiles as 'defenders' of the public.
Not defending MS (heaven forbid) but this is an opportunistic grab for dollars and collumn inches rehashing tired old statements and looking like a way to turn more heat on MS thus hoping they will cough up some cash.
Isnt there a legal rule about pursuing lawsuits which are trivial or designed to waste the courts time ?
Good point on the cable modem one but i pose the questions for a good reason - im an @home user and i run Zone Alarm or Black Ice (depending on system rebuild status) - permanently on line and works all day pulling down shit (including ahem warez) average 2 scans a week and thats it.
My concern is that this threat to home user stuff is like negative media stories on web shopping or credit card hacking, sure it happens but how often ? what are we doing here - scaring the customer shitless ?
Being security concious is a good thing but i have friends on dial up who worry about being hacked (they might have somm important pron pictures is guess) and they wont buy or pay for anything on line because 'hackers' might get me.
Have we convinced users that there is such a threat to the point where they will believe any line they are fed ? this would explain why third rate software like Norton Home Firewall is so popular.
I would like to see some proof these guys have nothing on their systems that appears like a 'hack me' sign to the cript kiddies out there ?
Myabe i am just cynical
That non preparation and non attention to security leaves you with a vulnerable and insecure network.
No surprise really - the statistics indicate that they have a high rate of attack on their unsecured systems yet i would be interested how well they hide them - that is is the domain name of the network something which would attract their attention ? Ceratinly the average home user would be very scared reading these statistics which is the point i guess but makes me wonder are we scare mongering here ?
If they have gone out and setup a honeypot domain that looks very attractive to the script kiddies then im not surprised that they are attracting attention - having said that my organisation is about the most boring thing on the planet and we have a large amount of intrusion attempts (christ knows if they managed to get in we would get sued for boring hackers to death).
I still cant help but wonder if this stuff is simple setup to attract publicity and attention ?
I think i see what you are getting at and you are right i would be as guilty as him in some cases. I have done some more reading on it since the post as well, i dont know exactly where i stand on it but i feel that the adobe action may be an over reaction on their part.
It does seem strange that they dont want to face the fact that they might have an imperfect system and i was actually wondering why they didnt simply talk to him and his guys on how it might be fixed or tightened ?
I mean if they are really concerned about the security of their product then havent they got something to learn from him?
Thanks for the reasoned posts - i was honestly having trouble seeing the other side - i think too often those of us on the admin side automatically react and blame the cracker dude - which is a fatal bias IMHO.
Ok - now i may be missing the point on this one so please dont flame me if im wrong - just give me an explanation.
This is the guy that was arrested for announcing how to circumvent security on Adobe E-books right ?
and now he has admitted that he and his company (or group) sell passwords and cracks etc.
So why the outcry ? i mean it looks to me (IMHO) like the guy thinks that he can do what he wants and flaunt the law and then when he gets arrested its an outcry ? he broke the law didnt he ?
I mean these are the sort of people i have software and resources dedicated to stopping, firewalls, security system, authentication systems etc etc all dedicated to keeping hackers out of my systems, you have all had damage from viruses im sure - so whay defend the guy ?
Is he not the sort of person who gives 'hackers' a bad name ? Is he the sort of guy you want to associate yourselves and the free software movement with ? i mean the average man in the street (you know the one with Win on his computer) would consider the guy a criminal - so doesnt standing up and defending his right to break the law make it look like we are all the same as the uber leet hackers and script kiddies out there ?
What i can understand is this 'non-american' programmers scared to come to the US ? if you are an honest to god programmer then what have you got to fear ? if you write cracks and hack systems for a living and then make a big deal out if it then you are going to pay the price.
As i said i may be missing something but isnt this a bit like some guy breaking into your house and then going on TV to tell everyone how he did it and then claiming that he was just having fun when he gets arrested ?
As i said i may have it wrong - maybe i am missing something and i will always admit it if so - just post a reply with an answer (note calling me a cockmuncher only proves you are sheep)
Having read the article i cannot see any actual real breakthrough at this stage - what they are saying is that molecular memory may be possible - this is not a new theory.
Their 'patent' by the looks of it is being a protective measure in case someone else comes up with the idea and actually gets it to work - they estimate they will have a 16kb prototype in approx 4 years - in other words they have patented the theory that this may work but now one has actually physically made one yet - they are working on this but just in case someone else manages it HP will have the patent and thus are due a royalty on anmy product ?
Also one more comment - this is really nothing that unusual - patents like this are awarded all the time - yet this is getting some news covergae - the wording makes it sound at first glance like they have this thing working, only when you read it do you realise they dont.
Arent H P in some trouble at the moment - their profit is down and several of their divisions arent permforming and their stock price has fallen, their is talk of managment shuffles at the top. Could this be a bit of positive news to salve the market ahead of the realease of their financial data today ?
Maybe the lower resolution (40dpi - which i would be surpised in) is not a problem - the fact is this would be usefull when dealing with larger images - youre not standing or sitting right in front of this mother after all - the pixel size would be larger i suspect thus making small detail (such as stars etc ) easier to see - maybe they are looking for field of view rather than super resolution ?
Oh and i forgot - The alternative to this (which is what the Search Engine companies will claim) is to charge for use of search engines or move to a subscription model - they are after all offering a free service
My question is did they try and charge Nader too much money for a listing ?
The fact that this is happening should come as no surprise. And the rub is i cant see anyway Ralph Nader or anybody else can claim this is illegal. Users dont sign and particluar agreement and most search engines make no claim of impartiality (i mean look at Yahoo for gods sake) you have a right of choice and they have as far as i know no legal right to disclose this sort of information.
Taking money for listing improvment is something companies do all the time - its how a yellow pages works - the biggest placements cost the most money. This has been going on for time and based on what the complaint and comment says they are cleary seen as 'special' links.
Altavista and other companies have been doing this for years.
I would be interested in the FCC comment on this and their response - as the usage of a search engine and choice of which one is a choice made by the consumer then one would assume that this would negate some of the arguments about uninformed consumers - the banner ads and sponsored links would convince you they were taking advertising anyway.
Most people looking for information have a rough idea what they want so advertising wont have much of an effect on them - IE if you are looking for info on Open Source then you may only want general info - so you go there; if you are shopping then you may be led to a page reanked site, but bear in mind the engines return choices and thus you are not locked into only going to one place, and if the site you go to has what you want at a good price and quick service then all good and well, if not then thats what consumer laws are for, you dont sue a search engine if an online store rips you off, regardless of where you found the link.
IMHO if you follow the line that this practice is unusual then you are gullible - Radio stations dont get paid in cash for play anymore, they just get free food, gifts, invites to parties and junkets (but NO cash !)
Now this is an intersting development and worth a look, my only questions (which the article doesnt mention) are simple.
How hot does it run (PC Card slots are notoriously cooling innefficient ?
How Noisy (maybe silent but worth asking) ?
How Reliable (MTBF Rating or similar) ?
How Robust (Shockproof) ?
What drivers are required (if the device is driver independant or self installing on Win then that makes it an ideal presentation storage device, simply plug in an off you go)?
I cant seem to find this info around the web - then again maybe im blind so if someone finds it can they post it ? this is the sort of info i would use before making a purchase - and this device is something i would use and at a low enought cost (us$400 UNIT is AU$800 (rough) but thats launch and for around AU400-500 this would serve a usefull purpose for road warriors).
COol piece of tech really - cant wait to see one