Just for the record, the ruling yesterday wasn't over students' right to pray. Student can pray privately whenever they feel like it. It was over an educational institution's right to organize a gathering so that a student would be used to deliver a prayer for the assembly.
The tutorials are the problem. Maybe I haven't found the right ones?:)
The prob comes when I have a question as to why the writer does something specific. I can't ask my question, but the tut writer doesn't realize that he was unclear, so he goes on to another topic before I completely understand the last.
I'm a sysadmin, but I know very little about programming. Yes, I can write a *simple* program or script, but when it gets complex, I'm just not what I need to be.
The obvious drawback is that I have to rely on others to release software and updates that I need rather than writing or improving my own.
I think that the biggest pitfall for users is viewing computers in the wrong light (Impossible machine) and being unwilling to apply any basic knowledge
So given my background, (17 years in computers) it should be obvious that I don't view them as "impossible" machines. I taught myself basic when I was younger, and I've been trying to learn C++. My problem is that I don't have a simple source to go to for the basics. I also don't personally know any programmers, so it's hard to find any experience that I can call on. So unfortunately, I'm stuck at trying to figure out how to write pointers, structures, et al by myself. And as far as using libraries goes, I'm lost.
I sincerely wish I had a friend who could code in C++ and could help me, but I'm stuck. So for me, it appears the only choice is a good book written for the novice. Unless someone has a better idea?
ok, apparently this is the patent. Two things that bother me:
1) It is a patent regarding terminals. Specifically, links to what they refer to as "blocks". "Blocks" that can control things such as the color on a terminal. I'm assuming that doesn't mean filesystem blocks.. so what exactly is it referring to?
2) It was filed August 15, 1980. How is it possible for this to apply to something that didn't exist yet? I mean, the patent covers a link that controls things like color on a terminal. Hyperlinks consist of addresses to other computers. Hyperlinks don't control the browser at all, they just allow a computer to connect to another. HTML controls what the browser displays.
As always, the Ars take on this (specifically, Hannibal's) is lucid and thoughtful,
Just the other day I was reading about people's experiences when smoking marijuana. They say that it puts you into a state where you can think very clearly and intensely on a specific topic.
To tell you the truth, what you're saying sounds a lot like commonplace FUD.
Apparently you did something wrong when you installed minivend. Maybe you were using an outdated version or something, I don't know. But every time I've tested it, it keeps getting better.
You're right that it's a bunch of hacks, well, scripts. But there's nothing about that statement that says that it's slow. Minivend is capable of running 25-50,000 item catalogs with ease. According to the site, that scales with computing power. I don't know, I haven't run more than 26,000 items on it, but it seems to do well for me.
If you'd like to see a great example of a Minivend site, try Brian's Books. (No affiliation)
To those that are now questioning Minivend, just give it a try. Most likely, those that don't like it haven't put enough effort into configuring it. Minivend is very hard to use, I'll say that up front. It could stand to have some type of good graphical config tool, and maybe now that they have commercial backing we'll see it. But once you understand it, and how to get the most out of it, it's quite a nice system.
Not to mention, you'll look awfully good to those that write the checks.:)
Re:Let them have napster...
on
Napster Wars
·
· Score: 1
Actually, all it would take is a seperate entity entirely. Switch to this entity for napster-like use. Even make it compatible with the napster clients. Then, the RIAA would need to go through another lawsuit in order to shut down said entity. At that point, another, faster entity will have come which will then get sued, etc...
The only problem with that scenario is that someone would have to be the fallguy.
So doing all of that gives him a license to say these things? Really, the paper just seems stupid.
What hard and fast, and peer recognized, reasons does he have for saying what he did? Basically, it's just how he feels on the matter. No real reasons that I could find. So it seems that he's making blanket statements that make no real sense, and he's relying on his reputation to be the reasoning.
Am I the only one who felt this was just an official way for some unrecognized researcher to whine? I mean, most of the points he makes are just silly.
Now INRS(I'm no research scientist), but I don't understand the basis for these complaints. Here's what I gathered from his arguments:
'There's no reason to innovate because everything out there is just a copy of something older. While many of the things out there are improvements of older things, that doesn't really matter, they're still copies. We need new operating systems, not for the sake of innovating, but for the novelty sake. Because, well, you know... things used to be that way. Back in the good ol' days. And I think they should be that way now too. Basically, I just want to see other things so I'm not so bored. If I can stay interested in a new OS or something, maybe I won't have to leave and get a job.'
I hope I'm not playing devil's advocate here, but it seems like this isn't a very horrible thing to do. While it does suck that they're giving priority to those that pay, most of them seem to be those that need the high bandwidth. Akamai, for instance.
Personally, I don't mind that my access speeds up when I go to download that 150MB file. Of course, this all depending on where they're getting the bandwidth.
If it means I have to put up with pages loading slower than than they normally would, yes it's a bad thing. But if it simply gives major content providers extra needed bandwidth that nobody's using, then so be it.
The only problem with your scenario is that it would require common programs across all distros. Common window managers, common X versions, etc. Part of the beauty of Linus is the choice.
I can install RedHat in 15 minutes on most any system, depending on CDROM speed. Then, just connect to helixcode, and get the latest gnome w/support programs. In all, this will take you a couple hours. At that point, you've got a nice capable system that your mom could figure out. It's got a graphical login, and it's close enough to windows so that she can find solitare, not to mention it looks better. Then add SDL, which Loki uses in most of it's games and which is installed automatically, and you've got a nice system. Even go with XFree 4.0 if you wish. The point is, you can do what you want, the way you want.
btw, Windows isn't trouble free, especially when it comes to 3D. Most times you have to swap video drivers a few times before you can get playable, but still stable gameplay. Not to mention, 50% of the games out there don't work with Win2000. They can't get to the hardware. I've got a customer who can't even use their tape drive because they upgraded to 2000.
I think most of that ease can be attributed to SDL. Just running the install script takes care of the SDL install for you, and the game just works. I wish more developers would use it.
Here a news blurb about it. There's an interesting point in it:
The Pennsylvania legislation defines a virus as any "computer program copied to or installed on a computer, computer network, computer program, computer software or computer system without the informed consent of the owner that may replicate itself and that causes unauthorized activities within or by the computer."
So what about the software that is automatically installed when you install a program. Especially the stuff that allows for tracking your online habits, etc. Go!zilla's ad engine is like this, though it's unclear exactly what it does. So can these companies be prosecuted now?
but I submitted this back in April. It's looks like CNN just rehashed the April 17th article about the same thing.
That point aside though, I think the view of no couter-attacks just stinks. While I don't like the bandwidth that it takes up, how else are we supposed to defend ourselves? What ConXion did was pretty cool.
Hey, just had a thought, the Internet is where WW III will be held! Just imagine, country after country attacking each other through DDoS. 'A' defends by sending all those packets at 'B's ally 'C'. Pretty groovy war games if you ask me.:)
Companies need to get their act together when it comes to Credit Card acceptance. I was recently at a site that wouldn't allow you to buy with a card that had an expiration date after 2003! I mean, come on! And it's staggering to still find sites that expect you to enter you info including card number on an insecure page.
If they don't make it easy to order from them, let them die. Survival of the fittest!
Don't take this the wrong way, but those are the stupidest arguments I've heard in a while.
We have seatbelt, smoking, and gun laws because of money? huh? What's that supposed to mean?
The reason those laws are there is for the protection of life. I wear a seatbelt because it's safe and I'm less likely to die in a wreck. I respect gun laws, though they do need to be changed. And if you smoke around my pregnant wife I'll take great pleasure in maiming you.
Sounds like someone needs to lighten up. Give the guy a break, he was giving what info he could. All you could give was flames. Try saying what's incorrect about something before just flaming for no real reason.
Honestly, I don't know why the rest of us bother. With people like you, that is.
um, I don't know who you listen to, but I don't think this is the norm. I've only run across 2 mp3s that I wanted that were less than CD quality. Actually, one has a skip in the middle, the other has some ne'er-do-well playing along with the song. ya.
So I think when someone says that recordings are being distributed at high-quality, they are speaking for the great majority of songs.
Maybe the genre you like doesn't have a huge following. In that case, the same people would be trading the same inferior copies around amongst themselves. With stuff that has more than a few listeners though, you can count on one of those copies, among the hundreds, being straight from the donator's own CD.
I thought the same thing. NetPD didn't give the details about how they got those names because it's very likely that they did it illegally. I hope this comes out sometime soon.
Who knows, maybe they managed it comepletely on the level. heh.
OK, what's the deal with putting the linux review first in each section? By the time you read about MacOS, you forget about what the Corel guy said.
Also, did anyone else pick up on the HUGE problems with her Internet statements? The majority of malicious code is written for Unix? huh? And last time I checked, that file called rp7install is the install for RealPlayer7, which she claims isn't available. Oh, and I'm listening to mp3's that I ripped on my Linux box. But from what she said, I couldn't have done or be doing this.
That's a good point, but I don't think it's quite accurate. Companies aren't out to make their employees suffer.
My company gave me a free cell-phone. Using it means that I'm on call, but only for problems. I get an average of 1 or 2 calls a month right now. And I normally receive them when I'm on lunch or something to that effect. It cool too, because if the call lasts 2 minutes, I can claim 15.
Slashdot Mirror
Just for the record, the ruling yesterday wasn't over students' right to pray. Student can pray privately whenever they feel like it. It was over an educational institution's right to organize a gathering so that a student would be used to deliver a prayer for the assembly.
The tutorials are the problem. Maybe I haven't found the right ones? :)
The prob comes when I have a question as to why the writer does something specific. I can't ask my question, but the tut writer doesn't realize that he was unclear, so he goes on to another topic before I completely understand the last.
I'm a sysadmin, but I know very little about programming. Yes, I can write a *simple* program or script, but when it gets complex, I'm just not what I need to be.
The obvious drawback is that I have to rely on others to release software and updates that I need rather than writing or improving my own.
I think that the biggest pitfall for users is viewing computers in the wrong light (Impossible machine) and being unwilling to apply any basic knowledge
So given my background, (17 years in computers) it should be obvious that I don't view them as "impossible" machines. I taught myself basic when I was younger, and I've been trying to learn C++. My problem is that I don't have a simple source to go to for the basics. I also don't personally know any programmers, so it's hard to find any experience that I can call on. So unfortunately, I'm stuck at trying to figure out how to write pointers, structures, et al by myself. And as far as using libraries goes, I'm lost.
I sincerely wish I had a friend who could code in C++ and could help me, but I'm stuck. So for me, it appears the only choice is a good book written for the novice. Unless someone has a better idea?
ok, apparently this is the patent. Two things that bother me:
1) It is a patent regarding terminals. Specifically, links to what they refer to as "blocks". "Blocks" that can control things such as the color on a terminal. I'm assuming that doesn't mean filesystem blocks.. so what exactly is it referring to?
2) It was filed August 15, 1980. How is it possible for this to apply to something that didn't exist yet? I mean, the patent covers a link that controls things like color on a terminal. Hyperlinks consist of addresses to other computers. Hyperlinks don't control the browser at all, they just allow a computer to connect to another. HTML controls what the browser displays.
So what's the deal?
ok, I don't know where that moderator gets off, but my post was NOT redundant. I related a personal view. Redundant?!
Whoever you are I hope you run out of points soon.
As always, the Ars take on this (specifically, Hannibal's) is lucid and thoughtful,
;)
Just the other day I was reading about people's experiences when smoking marijuana. They say that it puts you into a state where you can think very clearly and intensely on a specific topic.
Are you alluding to something here?
To tell you the truth, what you're saying sounds a lot like commonplace FUD.
:)
Apparently you did something wrong when you installed minivend. Maybe you were using an outdated version or something, I don't know. But every time I've tested it, it keeps getting better.
You're right that it's a bunch of hacks, well, scripts. But there's nothing about that statement that says that it's slow. Minivend is capable of running 25-50,000 item catalogs with ease. According to the site, that scales with computing power. I don't know, I haven't run more than 26,000 items on it, but it seems to do well for me.
If you'd like to see a great example of a Minivend site, try Brian's Books. (No affiliation)
To those that are now questioning Minivend, just give it a try. Most likely, those that don't like it haven't put enough effort into configuring it. Minivend is very hard to use, I'll say that up front. It could stand to have some type of good graphical config tool, and maybe now that they have commercial backing we'll see it. But once you understand it, and how to get the most out of it, it's quite a nice system.
Not to mention, you'll look awfully good to those that write the checks.
Actually, all it would take is a seperate entity entirely. Switch to this entity for napster-like use. Even make it compatible with the napster clients. Then, the RIAA would need to go through another lawsuit in order to shut down said entity. At that point, another, faster entity will have come which will then get sued, etc...
The only problem with that scenario is that someone would have to be the fallguy.
So doing all of that gives him a license to say these things? Really, the paper just seems stupid.
What hard and fast, and peer recognized, reasons does he have for saying what he did? Basically, it's just how he feels on the matter. No real reasons that I could find. So it seems that he's making blanket statements that make no real sense, and he's relying on his reputation to be the reasoning.
Educate me please.
Am I the only one who felt this was just an official way for some unrecognized researcher to whine? I mean, most of the points he makes are just silly.
Now INRS(I'm no research scientist), but I don't understand the basis for these complaints. Here's what I gathered from his arguments:
'There's no reason to innovate because everything out there is just a copy of something older. While many of the things out there are improvements of older things, that doesn't really matter, they're still copies. We need new operating systems, not for the sake of innovating, but for the novelty sake. Because, well, you know... things used to be that way. Back in the good ol' days. And I think they should be that way now too. Basically, I just want to see other things so I'm not so bored. If I can stay interested in a new OS or something, maybe I won't have to leave and get a job.'
Is it just me?
I hope I'm not playing devil's advocate here, but it seems like this isn't a very horrible thing to do. While it does suck that they're giving priority to those that pay, most of them seem to be those that need the high bandwidth. Akamai, for instance.
Personally, I don't mind that my access speeds up when I go to download that 150MB file. Of course, this all depending on where they're getting the bandwidth.
If it means I have to put up with pages loading slower than than they normally would, yes it's a bad thing. But if it simply gives major content providers extra needed bandwidth that nobody's using, then so be it.
Welll...
The only problem with your scenario is that it would require common programs across all distros. Common window managers, common X versions, etc. Part of the beauty of Linus is the choice.
I can install RedHat in 15 minutes on most any system, depending on CDROM speed. Then, just connect to helixcode, and get the latest gnome w/support programs. In all, this will take you a couple hours. At that point, you've got a nice capable system that your mom could figure out. It's got a graphical login, and it's close enough to windows so that she can find solitare, not to mention it looks better. Then add SDL, which Loki uses in most of it's games and which is installed automatically, and you've got a nice system. Even go with XFree 4.0 if you wish. The point is, you can do what you want, the way you want.
btw, Windows isn't trouble free, especially when it comes to 3D. Most times you have to swap video drivers a few times before you can get playable, but still stable gameplay. Not to mention, 50% of the games out there don't work with Win2000. They can't get to the hardware. I've got a customer who can't even use their tape drive because they upgraded to 2000.
No doubt.
I think most of that ease can be attributed to SDL. Just running the install script takes care of the SDL install for you, and the game just works. I wish more developers would use it.
It's fast, easy, and best of all, portable.
Here a news blurb about it. There's an interesting point in it:
The Pennsylvania legislation defines a virus as any "computer program copied to or installed on a computer, computer network, computer program, computer software or computer system without the informed consent of the owner that may replicate itself and that causes unauthorized activities within or by the computer."
So what about the software that is automatically installed when you install a program. Especially the stuff that allows for tracking your online habits, etc. Go!zilla's ad engine is like this, though it's unclear exactly what it does. So can these companies be prosecuted now?
Of course you need to make sure you aren't attacking an innocent bystander who's been compromised. I think that's kinda obvious.
but I submitted this back in April. It's looks like CNN just rehashed the April 17th article about the same thing.
:)
That point aside though, I think the view of no couter-attacks just stinks. While I don't like the bandwidth that it takes up, how else are we supposed to defend ourselves? What ConXion did was pretty cool.
Hey, just had a thought, the Internet is where WW III will be held! Just imagine, country after country attacking each other through DDoS. 'A' defends by sending all those packets at 'B's ally 'C'. Pretty groovy war games if you ask me.
I'm using it as we speak, no problems. I've had October Gnome and now Gnome 1.2, and they both work fine. Maybe your vid drivers?
If you're still using E you might try going with sawfish. E on my machine (P2-500, 128M) dragggs. Sawfish is heaven-sent though.
Amen!
Companies need to get their act together when it comes to Credit Card acceptance. I was recently at a site that wouldn't allow you to buy with a card that had an expiration date after 2003! I mean, come on! And it's staggering to still find sites that expect you to enter you info including card number on an insecure page.
If they don't make it easy to order from them, let them die. Survival of the fittest!
Don't take this the wrong way, but those are the stupidest arguments I've heard in a while.
We have seatbelt, smoking, and gun laws because of money? huh? What's that supposed to mean?
The reason those laws are there is for the protection of life. I wear a seatbelt because it's safe and I'm less likely to die in a wreck. I respect gun laws, though they do need to be changed. And if you smoke around my pregnant wife I'll take great pleasure in maiming you.
Sounds like someone needs to lighten up. Give the guy a break, he was giving what info he could. All you could give was flames. Try saying what's incorrect about something before just flaming for no real reason.
Honestly, I don't know why the rest of us bother. With people like you, that is.
um, I don't know who you listen to, but I don't think this is the norm. I've only run across 2 mp3s that I wanted that were less than CD quality. Actually, one has a skip in the middle, the other has some ne'er-do-well playing along with the song. ya.
So I think when someone says that recordings are being distributed at high-quality, they are speaking for the great majority of songs.
Maybe the genre you like doesn't have a huge following. In that case, the same people would be trading the same inferior copies around amongst themselves. With stuff that has more than a few listeners though, you can count on one of those copies, among the hundreds, being straight from the donator's own CD.
I second those thoughts!
I thought the same thing. NetPD didn't give the details about how they got those names because it's very likely that they did it illegally. I hope this comes out sometime soon.
Who knows, maybe they managed it comepletely on the level. heh.
OK, what's the deal with putting the linux review first in each section? By the time you read about MacOS, you forget about what the Corel guy said.
Also, did anyone else pick up on the HUGE problems with her Internet statements? The majority of malicious code is written for Unix? huh? And last time I checked, that file called rp7install is the install for RealPlayer7, which she claims isn't available. Oh, and I'm listening to mp3's that I ripped on my Linux box. But from what she said, I couldn't have done or be doing this.
grr.
That's a good point, but I don't think it's quite accurate. Companies aren't out to make their employees suffer.
My company gave me a free cell-phone. Using it means that I'm on call, but only for problems. I get an average of 1 or 2 calls a month right now. And I normally receive them when I'm on lunch or something to that effect. It cool too, because if the call lasts 2 minutes, I can claim 15.
I don't mind it at all.
ya, ya, I know.
I was being a bit different.
"I've-got-my-mind-set-on-you" is seven words long.
Hence, "This-song-is-just-sev-en-words".
Yes, to Wierd Al lovers I know this is probably sacrilege. Oh well.