I wouldn't worry too much about patches... it is the spyware/adware that these kids have a knack for finding. And then you've got to worry about the hardware. These things better be made of steel or either provider won't be seeing a repeat purchase. Michigan is going to lose their shorts on repair charges.
FWIW, my company spends about $65,000/month on repairs for lease replacements. And these are adult users. 6th graders are much less forgiving.
And what about battery life? A typical lithium battery will go through about 500 charge/discharge cycles before failing. This is normal. A 6th grader is going to see a dead battery after about 6 months.
Sigh... what they need is a good set of terminals in every classroom. The laptops aren't going to work.
Big Businesses want other Big Businesses to back their software. You won't see any announcements from GM stating that they've decided to run Linux From Scratch or Gentoo. With Sun, you've got a reputable brick-and-mortar establishment to go to when it breaks.
Unfortunately for Sun, they are quickly losing their big-business reputation. This is their last hope, IMHO.
Off topic - if Apple were to port OSX to X86 commodity hardware, I'm sure that we'd have a lot of businesses jumping on board - especially in the light of the "Homogenous Windows Environments Are Bad" article. It just makes good sense.
Improving durability of laptops is more important than kicking up clock speed or what have you
Not really... At the company that I work for, we are paying $65k/month in repair fees to IBM's lease return department for aspects of the notebook that are obviously improperly designed. Certainly, the hard drive is important because, if that breaks during the warranty, then they have to pay, but little bits like the monitor bezel and various pieces on the case should be designed as delicately as possible if revenue is to be maximized. These will get broken during the lease and then paid for at the end of the lease. Ultimately, we could probably save 50% if we simply bought the laptops outright but management would never go for that.
VoIP will be taxed by the states but, because it is fundamentally cheaper to maintain, PSTN will die and everyone will eventually find themselves talking via VoIP. Once this happens, you no longer need a "provider" for voice service because you won't need a regular phone number.
You'll be able to contact anyone in the world via their SIP address. Since you will only need an internet connection to maintain a legacy-free SIP address, there will be no way for the states to tax this unless they simply start assessing a general purpose internet tax.
I've always wondered why teachers don't "open source" some text books. When I was in school, it seemed that they changed the text every semester so that kids couldn't buy used books, or resell them after use. It almost seemed as if they were colluding with the publishers. I almost organized a book burning with the angry students who were finding that their $150 Accounting 101 book became worthless after the sememster was over. There are few scholarships/grants that will cover the cost of a text.
Don't get me wrong - I kept all the good stuff (and still reference it today when google doesn't come through - there are few such cases but I have whacked a few).
In any event, it would be simple - a book is created and is available for modification so as long as the modifications are submitted back to the original author. The text would evolve into something that could not be purchased from *any* publisher.
Fine. Let's not discriminate: Make the other two organizations obey the list as well. An unwanted phone solicitation is just that, no matter who it's from.
What country do you live in?
In the US, you can't make the representatives create laws that are detrimental to their own interests. It isn't a democracy - it is a democratic republic. This is how a republic works.
I agree whole-heartedly with the Denver judge - this is discrimination. But it is better than nothing. And nothing is what we will get if this discrimination issue is upheld.
So the only thing that sets them apart is being analog or digital?
No...
I pay taxes on my broadband connection already. If I run VoIP through that connection, I shouldn't have to pay taxes for telecom infrastructure that I don't use.
Telecom tax is not insignificant. This is because PSTN is bulky. If I chose to move to the more efficient packet-switched service, then there is no reason that I should have to support PSTN anymore. It will only keep it alive that much longer.
This is a really bad idea. Most students have cellular phones these days
So what happens when cell phones start coming with a flavor of 802.11 and SIP built in? Oh, then you can roam onto your residential VoIP service (like Vonage or packet8.net without *any* per minute fees. Same thing on the campus LAN. Or Starbucks. Or McDonalds (free minutes with the purchase of a happy meal).
'Tis only a matter of time before we won't need PSTN anymore. This is the first step to that.
What irks me is that Corel's stock was beaten down to the point that it would have been a no-brainer for Sun to pick them up in a stock swap deal. The dilution would have been minor and the result would have been a tremendous set of products.
Why Sun didn't buy Corel is boggling. The products would go hand-in-hand with their Mad Hatter distro.
LCD makers form an alliance and create a BTX/laptop chassis form factor and power/battery/charging specification. Laptops become commodity hardware. Prices drop.
Personally, if I were that rich, I would just find a way to bring the car in illegally.
It certainly is possible to do it legally. I live in the Detroit area and I see a lot of "wierd" stuff. Back when the 959 was released, I saw one on the street by my high school. I ended up following the guy home in order to find out if the car was real only to watch the maneuvering required to get the car into his driveway (it is so low to the ground that he had to back it in at a large angle).
In any event, the car was indeed real and street legal. The guy who owned the car simply licensed the car through Audi/VW North America as a test vehicle. This simply means that the license plate has a big "M" in the middle of it. Even though the exhaust was much too loud (with flames that discharge between shifts), the "M" plated cars can pretty much be anything that the manufacturer wants them to be...
Because, as you have pointed out, money gets pretty much anything here in the states.
I disagree with this as well as AT&T's asessment. Actually, I believe that most movies are "inside jobs" but not as inside as they seem to believe.
They based their conclusion on the quality of the bootleg. Now, I've seen a bootleg that had quality so remarkable that I would swear that it must have been created by an insider with a method of transferring it digitally. That is, until someone *walked* in front of the movie screen. How's *that* for an analog hole?
So I was fooled by a remarkable quality big screen to video camera recording. Now, I still believe that this particular instance was an inside job because this was no ordinary camera piece of recording equipment and, aside from the guy who barely poked his head into the viewing area, I think that the theater was otherwise empty.
I think that most bootlegs are recorded by people who work at the movie theater. We will see a day when watermarks are being inserted into the movie itself.
Satellite TV was the best thing that ever happened to cable TV. Satellite boxes will still be required for this aspect, bypassing this new standard entirely. This should not affect the geek world much.
I did about a 100 mile round trip highway, and got 53 mpg. Damn nice on the wallet.
But...
1) How much more did you pay than you would have if you purchased a conventional car? 2) How many miles do you plan on putting on the car? 3) Is the difference in up front cost more than the amount that you are saving?
Slashdot Mirror
but I'm truly wondering if spending somewhere between 500 and 1000 bucks per student on something that depreciates so incredibly fast makes any sense.
It makes plenty of sense. Or was that cents?
I wouldn't worry too much about patches... it is the spyware/adware that these kids have a knack for finding. And then you've got to worry about the hardware. These things better be made of steel or either provider won't be seeing a repeat purchase. Michigan is going to lose their shorts on repair charges.
FWIW, my company spends about $65,000/month on repairs for lease replacements. And these are adult users. 6th graders are much less forgiving.
And what about battery life? A typical lithium battery will go through about 500 charge/discharge cycles before failing. This is normal. A 6th grader is going to see a dead battery after about 6 months.
Sigh... what they need is a good set of terminals in every classroom. The laptops aren't going to work.
GNOME is GNOME no matter what company forks it.
Ummm... No...
Big Businesses want other Big Businesses to back their software. You won't see any announcements from GM stating that they've decided to run Linux From Scratch or Gentoo. With Sun, you've got a reputable brick-and-mortar establishment to go to when it breaks.
Unfortunately for Sun, they are quickly losing their big-business reputation. This is their last hope, IMHO.
Off topic - if Apple were to port OSX to X86 commodity hardware, I'm sure that we'd have a lot of businesses jumping on board - especially in the light of the "Homogenous Windows Environments Are Bad" article. It just makes good sense.
Improving durability of laptops is more important than kicking up clock speed or what have you
Not really... At the company that I work for, we are paying $65k/month in repair fees to IBM's lease return department for aspects of the notebook that are obviously improperly designed. Certainly, the hard drive is important because, if that breaks during the warranty, then they have to pay, but little bits like the monitor bezel and various pieces on the case should be designed as delicately as possible if revenue is to be maximized. These will get broken during the lease and then paid for at the end of the lease. Ultimately, we could probably save 50% if we simply bought the laptops outright but management would never go for that.
Whatever happened to the Sony/Matsushita deal to create a media-box oriented Linux distro?
Here's a link
What about things like Voice IM?
Here's what will eventually happen (IMHO):
VoIP will be taxed by the states but, because it is fundamentally cheaper to maintain, PSTN will die and everyone will eventually find themselves talking via VoIP. Once this happens, you no longer need a "provider" for voice service because you won't need a regular phone number.
You'll be able to contact anyone in the world via their SIP address. Since you will only need an internet connection to maintain a legacy-free SIP address, there will be no way for the states to tax this unless they simply start assessing a general purpose internet tax.
The phone number is what the state is taxing.
I've always wondered why teachers don't "open source" some text books. When I was in school, it seemed that they changed the text every semester so that kids couldn't buy used books, or resell them after use. It almost seemed as if they were colluding with the publishers. I almost organized a book burning with the angry students who were finding that their $150 Accounting 101 book became worthless after the sememster was over. There are few scholarships/grants that will cover the cost of a text.
Don't get me wrong - I kept all the good stuff (and still reference it today when google doesn't come through - there are few such cases but I have whacked a few).
In any event, it would be simple - a book is created and is available for modification so as long as the modifications are submitted back to the original author. The text would evolve into something that could not be purchased from *any* publisher.
Students Win. Society Wins. Evil Publishers Lose.
The vid of Bradley vs. Gates. Hilarious!
Priceless
Fine. Let's not discriminate: Make the other two organizations obey the list as well. An unwanted phone solicitation is just that, no matter who it's from.
What country do you live in?
In the US, you can't make the representatives create laws that are detrimental to their own interests. It isn't a democracy - it is a democratic republic. This is how a republic works.
I agree whole-heartedly with the Denver judge - this is discrimination. But it is better than nothing. And nothing is what we will get if this discrimination issue is upheld.
I think not. 50 million people can sometimes be real doofuses.
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large quantities.
So the only thing that sets them apart is being analog or digital?
No...
I pay taxes on my broadband connection already. If I run VoIP through that connection, I shouldn't have to pay taxes for telecom infrastructure that I don't use.
Telecom tax is not insignificant. This is because PSTN is bulky. If I chose to move to the more efficient packet-switched service, then there is no reason that I should have to support PSTN anymore. It will only keep it alive that much longer.
You have to be using HP hardware.
[/me Cobbles together makeshift Sharpie-style HP OpenView logo for front of what is left of my case]
Making party signs
Marking toothbrushes
Protecting assets from SCO
Coloring Easter eggs
Checking off items on checklist
This is a really bad idea. Most students have cellular phones these days
So what happens when cell phones start coming with a flavor of 802.11 and SIP built in? Oh, then you can roam onto your residential VoIP service (like Vonage or packet8.net without *any* per minute fees. Same thing on the campus LAN. Or Starbucks. Or McDonalds (free minutes with the purchase of a happy meal).
'Tis only a matter of time before we won't need PSTN anymore. This is the first step to that.
Unfortunately the neighbors decided to microwave a burrito and their throughput went all to hell.
Who needs a microwave when you can just stick the burrito in the access point's line-of-sight?
I suppose that could possibly affect throughput as well...
Obligatory Simpsons Reference
What irks me is that Corel's stock was beaten down to the point that it would have been a no-brainer for Sun to pick them up in a stock swap deal. The dilution would have been minor and the result would have been a tremendous set of products.
Why Sun didn't buy Corel is boggling. The products would go hand-in-hand with their Mad Hatter distro.
Sigh...
I live in America!
North or South?
Whats next?
LCD makers form an alliance and create a BTX/laptop chassis form factor and power/battery/charging specification. Laptops become commodity hardware. Prices drop.
Personally, if I were that rich, I would just find a way to bring the car in illegally.
It certainly is possible to do it legally. I live in the Detroit area and I see a lot of "wierd" stuff. Back when the 959 was released, I saw one on the street by my high school. I ended up following the guy home in order to find out if the car was real only to watch the maneuvering required to get the car into his driveway (it is so low to the ground that he had to back it in at a large angle).
In any event, the car was indeed real and street legal. The guy who owned the car simply licensed the car through Audi/VW North America as a test vehicle. This simply means that the license plate has a big "M" in the middle of it. Even though the exhaust was much too loud (with flames that discharge between shifts), the "M" plated cars can pretty much be anything that the manufacturer wants them to be...
Because, as you have pointed out, money gets pretty much anything here in the states.
Should say: from the duh dept.
I disagree with this as well as AT&T's asessment. Actually, I believe that most movies are "inside jobs" but not as inside as they seem to believe.
They based their conclusion on the quality of the bootleg. Now, I've seen a bootleg that had quality so remarkable that I would swear that it must have been created by an insider with a method of transferring it digitally. That is, until someone *walked* in front of the movie screen. How's *that* for an analog hole?
So I was fooled by a remarkable quality big screen to video camera recording. Now, I still believe that this particular instance was an inside job because this was no ordinary camera piece of recording equipment and, aside from the guy who barely poked his head into the viewing area, I think that the theater was otherwise empty.
I think that most bootlegs are recorded by people who work at the movie theater. We will see a day when watermarks are being inserted into the movie itself.
Satellite TV was the best thing that ever happened to cable TV. Satellite boxes will still be required for this aspect, bypassing this new standard entirely. This should not affect the geek world much.
I did about a 100 mile round trip highway, and got 53 mpg. Damn nice on the wallet.
But...
1) How much more did you pay than you would have if you purchased a conventional car?
2) How many miles do you plan on putting on the car?
3) Is the difference in up front cost more than the amount that you are saving?
Get it to gether.
Gether
I'm learning all these new words. Give me a break (brake?).
"shread" is short for "shreaded whet" which is what all the groovy people say.
Shredded Whet? Shredded What?