The whole "set-top box" idea always seemed a little silly to me, until I saw the Tivo. What exactly is the purpose of a low-power computer? The hype is that they'll be easier to use, but I don't see that as a real incentive. As we can see from WebTV, it is hard to keep these boxes up to date, lacking Java and all the latest gadgets and plugins. Underpowered eventually means under-useful.
But, the Tivo adds something useful. It's not an underpowered computer. It's a really nice VCR with a few computer-like capabilities (web browsing, for instance). The fact that it may not have all the neato-gadgets doesn't hurt it because it's not a computer.
Now, I'm not a fan of television, so I won't buy something to make watching TV better. But, every TV viewer I know drools over the Tivo. If they add email and web browsing, all the better, but it's not necessary.
Sony got a good product. Tivo had a great idea. Hopefully, they'll contribute the new hard drive drivers back to the community.
The release notes say that this fixes a spurious underline problem with the TNT cards. Has anyone tried it out yet? Does it fix the emacs problem where you can't see the cursor?
Oh, c'mon! That's why there are mirrors. I'm grabbing mine off ftp.rge.com.
This is big news for all XFree users. It deserves more attention than simply a listing next to the nth update of some nifty little gnome applet.
If you're an XFree developer, you're able to get releases that the rest of aren't. Quit complaining that you can't get the general distribution because you're too lazy to use mirrors.
Generally, RFCs and Internet Drafts are meant as a technical reference. It's really important to get all the details stated and correct. So, RFCs come out obtuse and difficult to understand. This is why people who can read them get paid well.
But, I think this draft would benefit from plain English. Or, correct English. Or, readable English. Or, readable any language.
I can read RFCs. Reading technical papers is my job. But, I wasn't able to get through this one.
Palmtops are the wave of the future. All the analysts say this. Personally, I believe they will be important, but I tend to scoff at phrases like "the wave of the future". Regardless, palmtops provide the bulk of computing needs in a simple, portable form.
Right now, you have two choices in palmtops. The Palm Pilot and WinCE. I like the Palm Pilot, but it's too restricted. WinCE machines offer a little more, but who wants to run WinCE?
Linux on a palmtop offers, IMNSHO, the best option. You get the extra power for a WinCE machine (including keyboards), but you get a decent OS.
Why hasn't this been done before? Because it's HARD! WincE machines don't have a lot of the goodies desktops have. Stuff like MMUs, open specifications, large hard drives, etc. Brad LaRonde, et al, should be given a number of coolness points here.
They did something technically difficult They did something sexy They did something new They did it without a bunch of corporate sponsorship or hope of money and fame They did it OpenSource And just because They did it.
Well, after the medical marijuana bill passed in California, there were a bunch of doctors being interviewed on the television and radio. Most of them said that pot is an excellent medication, but tends to lead to some nasty consequences; most notably incarceration and losing one's right to practice medicine.
This is, of course, not scientific. But, if you've never heard a doctor say pot could be used as a medication, you've not been listening to the right sources.
But, being good as a medicine does not necessarily mean it's safe. Aspirin can kill.
The first thing that amazes me is that we don't have a good random number generator in hardware. For various reasons you cannot build a perfect one in software - software has to be deterministic. But you can in hardware.
It's really difficult to write a software package that contains hardware:)
Anyway, Intel's Willamette chip has a hardware RNG. I think Intel will be supporting it on Linux.
PGP isn't uncrackable. It's just astronimically hard to crack. On the order of 1000s of years witrh every atom in the universe dedicated to it. But, in theory, it's crackable. Also, if someone comes up with a better way to factor large numbers, PGP is vulnerable. This is true of all modern public key cryptosystems (except maybe for Elliptical Curves which I don't know much about).
Theoretically, a OTP is uncrackable. No amount of computing power can crack, not matter how long you try.
Well, the government can supply music producers with their public key. The producers would then encrypt a copy of the key to the music with the govt's public key and send it along with the music. Then, the govt could decrypt the music when ever they wanted to. This is called "key escrow", is a terrible idea, but it's better than using weak or no encryption.
I think IceWM uses the Windows key to bring up a menu. I have an old-style (no MS keys) keyboard, so I haven't tried it out. But, on my old-style, ctrl-ESC brings up the menu. In Windows, ctrl-ESC is the same as the windows key, so there may be a correlation.
Well, normally SysRq doesn't do much. There might have been a use for it at one time, but I've never seen it. With the newer Linux kernels (2.1.something and up), you can enable the "Magic-SysRq key". That'll allow you to do things like reset the state of the keyboard, kill all processes running on the current VT, remount all drives read-only, sync the filesystem, and, at last resort, hard boot the system. It's helped me recover from a number of potential crashes when SVGAlib programs crapped out or X dies unexpectantly.
I may be wrong, but supposedly the Merced will have a 32bit mode. This is similar to what Intel did with the 386. They added 32bit and kept the old 16bit modes for compatibility. This is why you could run 16bit Windows 3.1 on a 32bit processor.
Microsoft never really got away from the 16bit code, even in Windows 98 (supposedly...I have no first hand knowledge of this, but Dr. Dobbs Journal has had articles on it). I wonder if Windows for IA-64 will still have 16bit code and if Intel will include 16bit for very-backward compatibility.
I haven't been able to figure this out from the docs on the web page (the fact that it's running at around 500k/sec for me is a factor). Can I, using the OpenMail client on Linux, connect to an Exchange server running on NT?
If you're inclined to be charitable, you can assume they meant inherant in the OpenSource process. One can say anything made OS is naturally (thus, inherantly) more stable and secure.
I thought Ender's Game was an incredible book, where I thought Speaker for the Dead seemed like a lame excuse to write another Ender novel. I guess it's all opinion, and I'm not a literary critic, but Ender's Game always seemed more innovative to me.
Security Dynamics (the parent company of RSA Data Security Inc) makes a product called ACE server. It provides a centralized login with tokens. Tokens are hardware cards about the size of a credit card but a little thicker. It's based on some older crypto tech, but it still seems secure. They have NT servers and Linux clients, but I'm not sure how far they go with Linux clients (PAM integration? dunno....)
It's in german, so I couldn't read it. But my incredible "pronounce it like it's english" universal translater seems to have worked for at least the title.
Is this real security or something to stop nosy people in the office (like the article says)? I'm not sure if a tempest attack will work against a flat screen, but there has got to be something similar if not. Does this screen protect against something like Tempest?
I imagine the signals are sent in a similar manner to any bus system (like ethernet). This means collisions when the bandwidth is saturated. If you are streaming all the mp3s from the same server, then it shouldn't be too big a problem. Even so, if you actually stream all 47 at the same time, and traffic from the clients (and there will be some) will cause collisions.
I would estimate that you can only realistically get about half that amount, or 23 or so streams.
The wire protocol is the same, so X apps run on another system will still display on XFree 4.0. 4.0 adds GLX, so OpenGL apps will run nicer even then 3.x. This'll definitely help SGI->Linux, I'm not sure about Solaris. Anyway, yes, your Solaris apps will still display on Linux nicely.
I think your insights would be more correct if RedHat was relying on its distribution as their main source of revenue. They claim to make their money off services (support and whatnot). This is a model Wall Street understands (look at IBM, for instance). If RedHat poo-poos the distribution as a clever advertising tool, I believe Wall Street will be more inclined to let it go.
Slashdot Mirror
The whole "set-top box" idea always seemed a little silly to me, until I saw the Tivo. What exactly is the purpose of a low-power computer? The hype is that they'll be easier to use, but I don't see that as a real incentive. As we can see from WebTV, it is hard to keep these boxes up to date, lacking Java and all the latest gadgets and plugins. Underpowered eventually means under-useful.
But, the Tivo adds something useful. It's not an underpowered computer. It's a really nice VCR with a few computer-like capabilities (web browsing, for instance). The fact that it may not have all the neato-gadgets doesn't hurt it because it's not a computer.
Now, I'm not a fan of television, so I won't buy something to make watching TV better. But, every TV viewer I know drools over the Tivo. If they add email and web browsing, all the better, but it's not necessary.
Sony got a good product. Tivo had a great idea. Hopefully, they'll contribute the new hard drive drivers back to the community.
I got it installed last night. You only need the server. And, yes, it fixed the emacs problem for me.
The release notes say that this fixes a spurious underline problem with the TNT cards. Has anyone tried it out yet? Does it fix the emacs problem where you can't see the cursor?
Oh, c'mon! That's why there are mirrors. I'm grabbing mine off ftp.rge.com.
This is big news for all XFree users. It deserves more attention than simply a listing next to the nth update of some nifty little gnome applet.
If you're an XFree developer, you're able to get releases that the rest of aren't. Quit complaining that you can't get the general distribution because you're too lazy to use mirrors.
Generally, RFCs and Internet Drafts are meant as a technical reference. It's really important to get all the details stated and correct. So, RFCs come out obtuse and difficult to understand. This is why people who can read them get paid well.
But, I think this draft would benefit from plain English. Or, correct English. Or, readable English. Or, readable any language.
I can read RFCs. Reading technical papers is my job. But, I wasn't able to get through this one.
Palmtops are the wave of the future. All the analysts say this. Personally, I believe they will be important, but I tend to scoff at phrases like "the wave of the future". Regardless, palmtops provide the bulk of computing needs in a simple, portable form.
Right now, you have two choices in palmtops. The Palm Pilot and WinCE. I like the Palm Pilot, but it's too restricted. WinCE machines offer a little more, but who wants to run WinCE?
Linux on a palmtop offers, IMNSHO, the best option. You get the extra power for a WinCE machine (including keyboards), but you get a decent OS.
Why hasn't this been done before? Because it's HARD! WincE machines don't have a lot of the goodies desktops have. Stuff like MMUs, open specifications, large hard drives, etc. Brad LaRonde, et al, should be given a number of coolness points here.
They did something technically difficult
They did something sexy
They did something new
They did it without a bunch of corporate sponsorship or hope of money and fame
They did it OpenSource
And just because They did it.
Well, after the medical marijuana bill passed in California, there were a bunch of doctors being interviewed on the television and radio. Most of them said that pot is an excellent medication, but tends to lead to some nasty consequences; most notably incarceration and losing one's right to practice medicine.
This is, of course, not scientific. But, if you've never heard a doctor say pot could be used as a medication, you've not been listening to the right sources.
But, being good as a medicine does not necessarily mean it's safe. Aspirin can kill.
The first thing that amazes me is that we don't have a good random number generator in hardware. For various reasons you cannot build a perfect one in software - software has to be deterministic. But you can in hardware.
:)
It's really difficult to write a software package that contains hardware
Anyway, Intel's Willamette chip has a hardware RNG. I think Intel will be supporting it on Linux.
PGP isn't uncrackable. It's just astronimically hard to crack. On the order of 1000s of years witrh every atom in the universe dedicated to it. But, in theory, it's crackable. Also, if someone comes up with a better way to factor large numbers, PGP is vulnerable. This is true of all modern public key cryptosystems (except maybe for Elliptical Curves which I don't know much about).
Theoretically, a OTP is uncrackable. No amount of computing power can crack, not matter how long you try.
Well, the government can supply music producers with their public key. The producers would then encrypt a copy of the key to the music with the govt's public key and send it along with the music. Then, the govt could decrypt the music when ever they wanted to. This is called "key escrow", is a terrible idea, but it's better than using weak or no encryption.
I think IceWM uses the Windows key to bring up a menu. I have an old-style (no MS keys) keyboard, so I haven't tried it out. But, on my old-style, ctrl-ESC brings up the menu. In Windows, ctrl-ESC is the same as the windows key, so there may be a correlation.
Well, normally SysRq doesn't do much. There might have been a use for it at one time, but I've never seen it. With the newer Linux kernels (2.1.something and up), you can enable the "Magic-SysRq key". That'll allow you to do things like reset the state of the keyboard, kill all processes running on the current VT, remount all drives read-only, sync the filesystem, and, at last resort, hard boot the system. It's helped me recover from a number of potential crashes when SVGAlib programs crapped out or X dies unexpectantly.
I may be wrong, but supposedly the Merced will have a 32bit mode. This is similar to what Intel did with the 386. They added 32bit and kept the old 16bit modes for compatibility. This is why you could run 16bit Windows 3.1 on a 32bit processor.
Microsoft never really got away from the 16bit code, even in Windows 98 (supposedly...I have no first hand knowledge of this, but Dr. Dobbs Journal has had articles on it). I wonder if Windows for IA-64 will still have 16bit code and if Intel will include 16bit for very-backward compatibility.
I haven't been able to figure this out from the docs on the web page (the fact that it's running at around 500k/sec for me is a factor). Can I, using the OpenMail client on Linux, connect to an Exchange server running on NT?
Thanks,
Dave Rudder
If you're inclined to be charitable, you can assume they meant inherant in the OpenSource process. One can say anything made OS is naturally (thus, inherantly) more stable and secure.
I thought Ender's Game was an incredible book, where I thought Speaker for the Dead seemed like a lame excuse to write another Ender novel. I guess it's all opinion, and I'm not a literary critic, but Ender's Game always seemed more innovative to me.
Security Dynamics (the parent company of RSA Data Security Inc) makes a product called ACE server. It provides a centralized login with tokens. Tokens are hardware cards about the size of a credit card but a little thicker. It's based on some older crypto tech, but it still seems secure. They have NT servers and Linux clients, but I'm not sure how far they go with Linux clients (PAM integration? dunno....)
http://www.securitydynamics.com
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/db-26.07.99-00 0/
It's in german, so I couldn't read it. But my incredible "pronounce it like it's english" universal translater seems to have worked for at least the title.
Is this real security or something to stop nosy people in the office (like the article says)? I'm not sure if a tempest attack will work against a flat screen, but there has got to be something similar if not. Does this screen protect against something like Tempest?
There are a large number of spell checkers out there. ispell is a good one, but there are other ones (GUI ones, web ones, etc).
There is, however, no OpenSource method of making everyone use them.
I imagine the signals are sent in a similar manner to any bus system (like ethernet). This means collisions when the bandwidth is saturated. If you are streaming all the mp3s from the same server, then it shouldn't be too big a problem. Even so, if you actually stream all 47 at the same time, and traffic from the clients (and there will be some) will cause collisions.
I would estimate that you can only realistically get about half that amount, or 23 or so streams.
Still, it's pretty good.
I don't have a Permedia2, but I ran a grep on the sources and there appears to be a lot of support. YMMV.
Check out
http://www.xfree86.org/releaseplans.html
It'll tell you a quick update on the difference.
The wire protocol is the same, so X apps run on another system will still display on XFree 4.0. 4.0 adds GLX, so OpenGL apps will run nicer even then 3.x. This'll definitely help SGI->Linux, I'm not sure about Solaris. Anyway, yes, your Solaris apps will still display on Linux nicely.
I think your insights would be more correct if RedHat was relying on its distribution as their main source of revenue. They claim to make their money off services (support and whatnot). This is a model Wall Street understands (look at IBM, for instance). If RedHat poo-poos the distribution as a clever advertising tool, I believe Wall Street will be more inclined to let it go.