I'm part of the generation that grew up playing video games, and we're cruisin through the 30's now. It's natural that we'd want to see more adult-themed games. The wild success of GTA absolutely guarantees they will be there in the future, no matter WHAT the "moral majority" says. Money talks.
That said, call a spade a spade, kids can't buy porn either. But don't rate differently because it's a game, the same rules should apply to all media. As an adult, -I- pick what I want. Rate it how you want.
For awhile I had a lot of machines running various flavours of *BSD and *NIX, however I realized I was throwing a lot of money away keeping them on for any length of time. This isn't as much of an issue with a 486 system as it is with the early pentiums, but it's something to think about.
I keep my boxes around for routers. Toss smoothwall or openbsd on, put in some network cards, and away you go. Compactflash-IDE adapters solve the hard drive problem nicely. The linksys boxes are nice, but they don't have the flexibility, and running snort in all it's wonder is pretty cool.
With mini ITX boards down in the sub-$100 territory, requiring only RAM with everything else onboard.. and power consumption way down there.. it's much more economical and environmentally friendly to use one of those.
You're right on the mindstorms. They're overpriced, and perhaps, too far from lego's core market for them to make an acceptable margin.
I looked at mindstorms a few years ago, right before I started getting into building large CNC machines. It amazed me how simple a lot of the sensors were. That's why I didn't buy a kit; with a little more effort, I could just build the pieces I needed for "real".
It wouldn't take much for a open source project to form here; Use the Atmel AVR series microcontroller, which has GNU GCC support. Write some basic blocks for doing motor control. Get some limit switches and temperature / light sensors and build them into existing lego pieces, which is what the mindstorms were. Create the basic blocks and let people loose.
I picked up an older Palm for $20 on ebay. That'd make a killer platform to work around that had a screen and some buttons.
Open source works best when the users are developers. I can't think of a better combination.
Perhaps I'll start writing something up this afternoon.. they didn't REALLY need that work done until tomorrow.:-)
I just completed a major 3D project that's designed to be cross platform, eventually. We chose to develop in python, versus Flash, Java, or any sort of brower-style embedded environment.
There were good technical reasons to go the way we did, but most of the arguements against using a brower-based technology were business-related. First off, you need to guarantee someone can just download and run the application. That knocks out a bunch of canadates, even if you're willing to accept plugins. Then you're faced with the issue of investing a few man-years of work against a propietary, closed technology in some cases. Bad idea.
Then you've got open alternatives, like this one. It's potentially a great idea, pending any performance problems on lower end machines. There's that few man-years worth of labour you can't get back easily if you make the wrong choice.
Remember, Canadian slashdotters; when they come knocking, make sure to give them an EARFUL about how we don't want federal jail time for copying songs. Or *IAA gestapos getting private information without warrant or cause. This is one of the few times of year where they might actually listen to you.
few things convey sincerity on the international stage like putting in the effort to be able to say a few words in the language of your host. I can't see a mechanical translator having the same effect.
I suspect the same is true of romantic endeavours, but hey, this is slashdot.
If I write code and release it under the GPL, I retain the copyright. I am free to issue that same code, under another less-free lisense to use. Or, completely closed, as it is in this case. That decision goes not affect prior releases.
I am NOT free to pick up my marbles and go home; anyone USING the GPL version of the software has been granted the right to redistribute, so long as they include the source and maintain the GPL. That's the "viral" bit. The code has been infected by the GPL, and any modifications are now subject to those terms.
A good example of this is FFTW; you are free to pay a resonable fee if you wanted to include this in a product that was closed source, because the copyright is managed independant of the GPL. At least, that was the case.
The only issue is developers who contributed without an express written transfer of copyright, or a prior agreement. That code would have to be removed and re-written.
End of the day, you don't eat good intentions
on
Nessus 3.0 discussed
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
It's unfortunate it went closed source versus a service-supported model, but in the real world, there's cheques to sign. If one group is doing the efforts and not being compensated, that's the cathedral model, and cathedrals have collection plates. Open source works best when users are developers. That also explains the state of most of the user interfaces on the more complicated projects. (sarcasm, but with a grain of truth)
Something else I've noticed is open source works well on widgets and shared components and APIs. Once the toolset becomes very focused and vertical in appeal, the model works less well - unless the users are also developers.
It will be interesting to see how the forked version works.
Smoothwall has done a good job with their approach. We'll see how it continues in the future.
I run a mini-ITX setup with software RAID. RAID isn't really a backup solution as other people have mentioned. My theory is that having the two files in one place are better than one. I have a script that copies my critical files over at midnight to a new folder on the server, in addition to storing media.
Once every month or two, or with the completion of a project, I'll burn a incremental DVD with data.
Once a year or ~18 months, I swap out the drives for newer ones. I then move the old drives into storage for archival backup. This works great for large piles of data that don't change much. (mp3s).
A key component in this is to put your server on a UPS. You can pick up an old UPS cheap off Ebay and swap out the batteries, for around 1/7th the cost of buying new.
I've used this system for a few years now and haven't had a problem. Since I switched to having all my systems on a UPS, I haven't seen a component failure after burn in, either. Something to think about.
Everyone should take a moment and read the story of the PGP creator. Strong crypto is the only thing that will keep people from reading your packets, and the only thing that will guarantee you have the ABILITY - forget having the right - to have privacy in your communications.
This wasn't always the case.
People listening isn't a problem. You should ASSUME they are listening. Run crypto point to point if you want to be private.
Wireless works because there is NO regulation. I've been a ham radio operator for 15 years. It doesn't get any more regulated than that. Know where that hobby is?
Cellular is regulated. How much per kB, that's 1024 bytes, to tranfer IP packets?
Regulation would spell instant death for wireless. We don't NEED regulation in those bands. That's the WHOLE POINT OF THE 2.4GHZ BAND!
Enough already. I don't want to pay a liscence fee to the government to use my wireless hub.
When you're done giving them an earful for the winter election, remember to give them an earful about this too. Canada has a tradition of "sane" copyright policy, and let those who want your vote know you have no interest in this insanity being perpetuated here.
Google is great. For the most part, they appear to treat people who work there with respect. They have a noble goal - not just make money, but to organize humanity's information and knowledge - the stuff we've figured out since caveman days - and make it instantly accessible. This is what companies should be about!
My job would be misery without google. I'd have to spend a lot of time tracking and maintaining my own databases of information relevant to my industry; tracking down specifications and parts would be a nightmare.
Google has let my 2-3 man consulting company compete and WIN on a multinational stage against people with two orders of magnitude more employees. Not through advertising, but through zero overhead and instant access to information.
Hators abound, but credit where credit is due, google.
They claimed they had a throughput of several DVD movies per second. How is that for video on demand!"
Given you might need to serve a few thousand people an hour (or more?), I'd say it's still got awhile to go. Kinda sobering, when you think about it. Shiny discs and station wagons are going to be around for awhile.
Unless you are top 5%, and have some evidence to back that up, I would steer you the hell away from IT into something else. You can make a living in IT, but is is currently a rough go. If you are truely passionate about that you do, this is obvious in an interview and instantly propels you ahead of the competition.
The trend of specialization upsets me though.
Jack of all trades and master of none is a pile of bunk. The key and reason I have been successful so far (knock on wood) is to take technical expertise and apply it to saving a company money, or making a company money. Directly. I do that by understanding what people need to use the technology for.
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
-- Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love
Starting to look jealously at some of the offerings out there in the PC world.. not paying powerbook prices for the 12" one they have, and it'd be nice to have widescreen. My 15" albook is nice but kinda big to be really portable.
I'm sure apple won't dissapoint though.. been waiting to upgrade like many powerbook owners currently.
What will be interesting to see is what happens to VirtualPC.. no CAD tools for OSX, so that's the only alternative out there.
I wrote a pretty good article on how to do this for Circuit Cellar awhile back. You have to buy the article, but a summary and all of my source code are available online here:
The code isn't the greatest, but it will get you started. The article is also linked to, and isn't TOO out of date.
The AVR has a open-source compiler based off GCC, the schematics are there, the palm stuff is open source.. it doesn't get much easier than that. You need a very basic opamp buffer and away you go.
I haven't had time to update my site in a long while, but if you contact me, I can send you the information you need to get started with a PCB based around that project. It was all built with open source tools, and I don't mind sharing.
Perhaps if a few people email me I can justify another run of PCBs.
Awhile back, there was some software released that prevented against such an attack - because the guy beating you with the rubber hose could never tell if there was more information in the algorithm. It seemed pretty nifty (although I don't really feel like being beat with a rubber hose).
Small and efficient beats portable
on
Write Portable Code
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
If the task is well defined, a small, tightly defined app tied very closely to the target API has a better chance of performing well with fewer bugs as you can spend the portability-effort in testing.
I abstract math and models to generic C++. I tie the rest as tightly as possible to the target API and focus on being fast and bug free. In my career so far, the only code I have ever ported for business reasons ($$) has been mathmatical algorithm related.
Of course, this would really suck for all those developers who have fine-tuned their software to Windows madness only to have it all exploded a few years down the line.
Perhaps that would be a valuable lesson about developing your software to a propietary, closed API, wouldn't it?
I'm not sure what would be gained from doing this, as opposed to doing what Apple did, and put a slick user interface onto a decades-tested BSD core.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm part of the generation that grew up playing video games, and we're cruisin through the 30's now. It's natural that we'd want to see more adult-themed games. The wild success of GTA absolutely guarantees they will be there in the future, no matter WHAT the "moral majority" says. Money talks.
That said, call a spade a spade, kids can't buy porn either. But don't rate differently because it's a game, the same rules should apply to all media. As an adult, -I- pick what I want. Rate it how you want.
I develop from the CPU up all the time. Cry me a river.
It's a VOTING SYSTEM. Not the space shuttle.
For awhile I had a lot of machines running various flavours of *BSD and *NIX, however I realized I was throwing a lot of money away keeping them on for any length of time. This isn't as much of an issue with a 486 system as it is with the early pentiums, but it's something to think about.
I keep my boxes around for routers. Toss smoothwall or openbsd on, put in some network cards, and away you go. Compactflash-IDE adapters solve the hard drive problem nicely. The linksys boxes are nice, but they don't have the flexibility, and running snort in all it's wonder is pretty cool.
With mini ITX boards down in the sub-$100 territory, requiring only RAM with everything else onboard.. and power consumption way down there.. it's much more economical and environmentally friendly to use one of those.
YMMV, of course.
You're right on the mindstorms. They're overpriced, and perhaps, too far from lego's core market for them to make an acceptable margin.
:-)
I looked at mindstorms a few years ago, right before I started getting into building large CNC machines. It amazed me how simple a lot of the sensors were. That's why I didn't buy a kit; with a little more effort, I could just build the pieces I needed for "real".
It wouldn't take much for a open source project to form here; Use the Atmel AVR series microcontroller, which has GNU GCC support. Write some basic blocks for doing motor control. Get some limit switches and temperature / light sensors and build them into existing lego pieces, which is what the mindstorms were. Create the basic blocks and let people loose.
I picked up an older Palm for $20 on ebay. That'd make a killer platform to work around that had a screen and some buttons.
Open source works best when the users are developers. I can't think of a better combination.
Perhaps I'll start writing something up this afternoon.. they didn't REALLY need that work done until tomorrow.
I just completed a major 3D project that's designed to be cross platform, eventually. We chose to develop in python, versus Flash, Java, or any sort of brower-style embedded environment.
There were good technical reasons to go the way we did, but most of the arguements against using a brower-based technology were business-related. First off, you need to guarantee someone can just download and run the application. That knocks out a bunch of canadates, even if you're willing to accept plugins. Then you're faced with the issue of investing a few man-years of work against a propietary, closed technology in some cases. Bad idea.
Then you've got open alternatives, like this one. It's potentially a great idea, pending any performance problems on lower end machines. There's that few man-years worth of labour you can't get back easily if you make the wrong choice.
Would you want to make that decision?
Remember, Canadian slashdotters; when they come knocking, make sure to give them an EARFUL about how we don't want federal jail time for copying songs. Or *IAA gestapos getting private information without warrant or cause. This is one of the few times of year where they might actually listen to you.
few things convey sincerity on the international stage like putting in the effort to be able to say a few words in the language of your host. I can't see a mechanical translator having the same effect.
I suspect the same is true of romantic endeavours, but hey, this is slashdot.
If I write code and release it under the GPL, I retain the copyright. I am free to issue that same code, under another less-free lisense to use. Or, completely closed, as it is in this case. That decision goes not affect prior releases.
I am NOT free to pick up my marbles and go home; anyone USING the GPL version of the software has been granted the right to redistribute, so long as they include the source and maintain the GPL. That's the "viral" bit. The code has been infected by the GPL, and any modifications are now subject to those terms.
A good example of this is FFTW; you are free to pay a resonable fee if you wanted to include this in a product that was closed source, because the copyright is managed independant of the GPL. At least, that was the case.
The only issue is developers who contributed without an express written transfer of copyright, or a prior agreement. That code would have to be removed and re-written.
It's unfortunate it went closed source versus a service-supported model, but in the real world, there's cheques to sign. If one group is doing the efforts and not being compensated, that's the cathedral model, and cathedrals have collection plates. Open source works best when users are developers. That also explains the state of most of the user interfaces on the more complicated projects. (sarcasm, but with a grain of truth)
Something else I've noticed is open source works well on widgets and shared components and APIs. Once the toolset becomes very focused and vertical in appeal, the model works less well - unless the users are also developers.
It will be interesting to see how the forked version works.
Smoothwall has done a good job with their approach. We'll see how it continues in the future.
I run a mini-ITX setup with software RAID. RAID isn't really a backup solution as other people have mentioned. My theory is that having the two files in one place are better than one. I have a script that copies my critical files over at midnight to a new folder on the server, in addition to storing media.
Once every month or two, or with the completion of a project, I'll burn a incremental DVD with data.
Once a year or ~18 months, I swap out the drives for newer ones. I then move the old drives into storage for archival backup. This works great for large piles of data that don't change much. (mp3s).
A key component in this is to put your server on a UPS. You can pick up an old UPS cheap off Ebay and swap out the batteries, for around 1/7th the cost of buying new.
I've used this system for a few years now and haven't had a problem. Since I switched to having all my systems on a UPS, I haven't seen a component failure after burn in, either. Something to think about.
http://www.philzimmermann.com/EN/background/index. html
Everyone should take a moment and read the story of the PGP creator. Strong crypto is the only thing that will keep people from reading your packets, and the only thing that will guarantee you have the ABILITY - forget having the right - to have privacy in your communications.
This wasn't always the case.
People listening isn't a problem. You should ASSUME they are listening. Run crypto point to point if you want to be private.
..but fuck regulation.
Wireless works because there is NO regulation. I've been a ham radio operator for 15 years. It doesn't get any more regulated than that. Know where that hobby is?
Cellular is regulated. How much per kB, that's 1024 bytes, to tranfer IP packets?
Regulation would spell instant death for wireless. We don't NEED regulation in those bands. That's the WHOLE POINT OF THE 2.4GHZ BAND!
Enough already. I don't want to pay a liscence fee to the government to use my wireless hub.
When you're done giving them an earful for the winter election, remember to give them an earful about this too. Canada has a tradition of "sane" copyright policy, and let those who want your vote know you have no interest in this insanity being perpetuated here.
Google is great. For the most part, they appear to treat people who work there with respect. They have a noble goal - not just make money, but to organize humanity's information and knowledge - the stuff we've figured out since caveman days - and make it instantly accessible. This is what companies should be about!
My job would be misery without google. I'd have to spend a lot of time tracking and maintaining my own databases of information relevant to my industry; tracking down specifications and parts would be a nightmare.
Google has let my 2-3 man consulting company compete and WIN on a multinational stage against people with two orders of magnitude more employees. Not through advertising, but through zero overhead and instant access to information.
Hators abound, but credit where credit is due, google.
I love arbitrary metrics..
They claimed they had a throughput of several DVD movies per second. How is that for video on demand!"
Given you might need to serve a few thousand people an hour (or more?), I'd say it's still got awhile to go. Kinda sobering, when you think about it. Shiny discs and station wagons are going to be around for awhile.
Unless you are top 5%, and have some evidence to back that up, I would steer you the hell away from IT into something else. You can make a living in IT, but is is currently a rough go. If you are truely passionate about that you do, this is obvious in an interview and instantly propels you ahead of the competition.
The trend of specialization upsets me though.
Jack of all trades and master of none is a pile of bunk. The key and reason I have been successful so far (knock on wood) is to take technical expertise and apply it to saving a company money, or making a company money. Directly. I do that by understanding what people need to use the technology for.
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
-- Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love
The industry uses Solidworks, ProE, and Autocad.
Nevermind Protel, Orcad, Cadence.
Or specialty tools like the design packages published by Altera and Xilinx.
All the reality distortion fields in the world won't change that.
Starting to look jealously at some of the offerings out there in the PC world.. not paying powerbook prices for the 12" one they have, and it'd be nice to have widescreen. My 15" albook is nice but kinda big to be really portable.
I'm sure apple won't dissapoint though.. been waiting to upgrade like many powerbook owners currently.
What will be interesting to see is what happens to VirtualPC.. no CAD tools for OSX, so that's the only alternative out there.
I wrote a pretty good article on how to do this for Circuit Cellar awhile back. You have to buy the article, but a summary and all of my source code are available online here:
http://www.nyx.net/~smanley/palmadc
The code isn't the greatest, but it will get you started. The article is also linked to, and isn't TOO out of date.
The AVR has a open-source compiler based off GCC, the schematics are there, the palm stuff is open source.. it doesn't get much easier than that. You need a very basic opamp buffer and away you go.
I haven't had time to update my site in a long while, but if you contact me, I can send you the information you need to get started with a PCB based around that project. It was all built with open source tools, and I don't mind sharing.
Perhaps if a few people email me I can justify another run of PCBs.
Awhile back, there was some software released that prevented against such an attack - because the guy beating you with the rubber hose could never tell if there was more information in the algorithm. It seemed pretty nifty (although I don't really feel like being beat with a rubber hose).
If the task is well defined, a small, tightly defined app tied very closely to the target API has a better chance of performing well with fewer bugs as you can spend the portability-effort in testing.
I abstract math and models to generic C++. I tie the rest as tightly as possible to the target API and focus on being fast and bug free. In my career so far, the only code I have ever ported for business reasons ($$) has been mathmatical algorithm related.
YMMV.
I don't want to read anohter fuel cell article that doesn't link to a product ready to buy. It's been what, a decade? Two? Get with the program.
These articles are about as useful as powerbook rumor threads. At least the Blacklight Power article was mildly educational.
Like clockwork, these things appear when people are looking for money. I imagine there will be a Ballard Power article up next.
3. NBC still believes there "aren't enough protections" to put their content on the internet.
That's ok. From what I can tell, there "aren't enough procecutions" to stop people from putting their content on the net for free right now.
Stupid.
I hope Apple eats them all alive.
Of course, this would really suck for all those developers who have fine-tuned their software to Windows madness only to have it all exploded a few years down the line.
Perhaps that would be a valuable lesson about developing your software to a propietary, closed API, wouldn't it?
I'm not sure what would be gained from doing this, as opposed to doing what Apple did, and put a slick user interface onto a decades-tested BSD core.
SGI effectively died (to me) when they dropped their signature logo, the one that Slashdot still uses.
It's a shame to see them be delisted, but in the world of Nvidia and ATI graphics cards, cheap unix.. not sure where they would fit.
Shame. The first "real" computer I ever used was a SGI Indigo box.