Given the way it seems DRM and such have been going recently, I have a different view of where home computers will be in the future...
In the past, Internet Terminals were heralded as the wave of the future. This was because of their convenience, ease of use, etc. I see them now as the wave of the future because they don't store content. They are simply a gateway into someone else's content. Once the RIAA and MPAA have finished their buyout of the legislative and legal system, new regulations will require that computers not store any information. That way the big guys don't have to worry about the little guy sharing music or downloading the latest episode of Law & Order - Pothole Repair Crew for free. To listen to music, plug in your credit-card and connect to their services. Only $5.99 for an hour's worth of music. Want to play the latest game? Only $2.99 to plug into the Doom 5 server and play.
This can even extend to the workplace. Microsoft Office Services. For $15,000 per year, you can get a 10 connection license to allow your employees to work on presentations, software requirements, etc. Then for only $150,000 per year, two of your developers can connect to Microsoft Development Studio Services and work on that software you need written. Then for the low-low price of $200,000 per year, Microsoft will go ahead and host the software you wrote. Imagine, you don't have to worry about backups, and you'll never need to worry about the BSA pounding down your door.
All that needs to happen is widespread acceptance and availability of broadband. This is sure to have happened in 30 years.
Think this can't happen? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
No matter what the movie is like, it will not live up to most people's expectations. One of the main problems with the Star Wars series is the long time between the originals and the new trilogy. During the time that has elapsed, the Star Wars fan base has been able to get used to the chintziness of the originals. As such, the originals have morphed from merely good stories to almost miraculous examples of cinematic perfection.
That being said, I'm still going to go see the movie. Rather than compare it to any of the previous movies, I will attempt to simply compare it to itself. Hopefully, by doing that, I will enjoy the movie much more than anyone who expects a papal blessing upon this film.
And when I say "catches fire," I don't mean erupt into flames and set off the sprinkler system. I mean that while businesses may very well tinker and experiment with Linux, it will almost certainly never supercede Windows in the marketplace. Let's examine some reason's why.
Applications
When a business upgrades its systems, it wants proven reliability in its equipment. Applications such as StarOffice and KOffice are high on glitz and glamour, but lack the backend to fulfil this stability requirement. While Corel and Microsoft focus on ensuring their system works before incorporating new "features," the uncoordinated Linux effort works to force nifty "features" onto an unstable backend. This means that while I can do some interesting graphic and font modification, my attempts to save throw Kernel panics and crash my system.
Training
Almost 100% of office workers in the present work environment have been trained to use Microsoft Office. Most students come out of college having used Microsoft Windows as their OS, Microsoft Word to type their papers, and Microsoft Excel to do math projects.
Switching from a Microsoft base to a Linux base means a great deal of downtime while workers are retrained to use their new desktop environment. System Administrators must be trained or hired to work with a new system base. Technical Support people must learn how to handle the millions of innanely obtuse error messages thrown by any one of 1000 different applications installed by default on the new systems. (Why is xterm crashing with a tcpdump error message? I'm not running tcpdump!) Each user must be trained in how to login to their system, navigate a new and dramatically different desktop, then they have to be trained in how to use a brand new office suite. While this process can be spread out using staged upgrades, the downtime still adds up.
Accountability
In the end, the Linux kernel is maintained by a group of hobbyists. As with the applications, these hobbyists put a large amount of time into programming glitz and glamour features into the kernel, and neglect important functions such as scalable SMP support, efficient VM managment, clean TCP/IP communications, and such. These important functions end up being "fixed" by other hobbyist programmers whose fixes usually end up making systems less stable.
While there are groups available for support, many of those groups are closing shop because they aren't getting business. It's a vicious cycle. Anyhow, there's only so much those support people can do. (Red Hat: "We can't support that because none of our people have used it or tested it with Linux. Look it up.")
Linux will never become big on the desktop until something is done about these major issues. Linus, Alan, et. al. need to get off their behinds and tackle the major unresolved issues behind their OS. GUI developers need to quit worrying about transparent windows and drop-shadows and get working on making their systems stable and functional.
When Linux becomes more like Windows, more people will use Linux. That is a fact!
I was always taught that the speed of light was a constant 186,000 miles per second, and that the Theory of Relativity stated nothing could go faster than the speed of light. Does this mean that now that the light in that crystal has a velocity of 0 that my little Honda Civic violates the theory of relativity, or does this mean that somehow the distance between one side of the crystal and the other has become infinite, and remains so until something causes it to become a small finite distance again?
If it's the former, we definitely need to reevaluate our present concepts of Space and Time. If it's the later, how long do you think it will be until we learn how to do the reverse?
I guess this has turned into a few questions, so I'll add another. Have we developed any substances where light seems to speed up while passing through them?
Broadband is not available everywhere in the US. I've noticed many people post stating that they have several broadband options available to them. I don't doubt that's the case, as where I currently live I have both cable and DSL options available for me. Of course, I also live in a major metropolitan area.
However, let's take the case of my parents that live in a small town in the Shenandoah Valley. They've been asking about broadband options for their house for several years now. They own a Bed and Breakfast, and a dedicated high-speed Internet connection would definitely be a benefit for them. Every time they inquire at the local Cable provider, they're told that "We're still testing it in the big town up north." Whenever they go to any DSL provider, they're told "We haven't upgraded the hardware in the area for that. However, we can offer this 64k ISDN line at 3x the going DSL price, or a fractional T-1 at 10x the going DSL price."
I doubt it has much to do with hardware or anything like that. It has more to do with the following lines of thought...
"Country Bumpkins" don't care enough about that fangled Internet thing to demand Broadband.
Even if they do care enough about it, they're not educated enough to know that a 128k ISDN line is not the same as a DSL line. We can get away with charging the uneducated heathens more for installing the line, more for delivering the service, and more for any support that needs to be provided.
Even if they are smart enough not to fall for our ISDN trap, they're in the major minority and we can simply blow them off. What are they going to do, take their business elsewhere?
So long as the major broadband providers can get away with pushing around the local carriers, nothing's going to change. Even when the major broadband providers are responsible for delivering the product direct to the consumer, there's not much difference. Verizon has long waiting lists to get DSL in their service area's (Oh, and they don't allow smaller local carriers to gain access to their DSL lines. They pay the minor fines and screw the competition until it dies and Tauzin-Dingle passes/goes into effect.) Cox Communication is the monopoly Cable Internet provider for Fairfax County, VA. Their Road Runner service is notorious for outtages, high latency, dropped packets, etc. Do they care very much? Not really. So long as customers are willing to pay them $50/m for crappy service, they will continue to provide it and stuff their wallets with their massive profits.
Sure, a buffer overflow is the result of sloppy programming. It can occur wherever a program attempts to pass something from one memory location to another that is too large for where it's being passed to. A non-geek example would be you try to shove 500 sheets of paper at once into a mailslot designed to take 250. The program will happily attempt to do it, but there will usually be problems associated with it. Sometimes the program will keep running, or sometimes it will die a horrible and awful death.
This is how CodeRed worked. It created a buffer overflow in an IIS module that actually ended up overwriting executable portions of memory (Memory allocated to store operations rather than data variables). By modifying the data they used for the buffer overflow, they were able to write instructions into memory that caused the computer to attempt to infect other hosts. This is the same reason rebooting would clean the computer of a CodeRed infection. A lot of unix/linux based exploits are also the result of buffer overflows.
Buffer overflows are nasty things. That's why you should always make sure that, if one of your subroutines is planning on accepting a 512 element array, the calling program isn't trying to send it a 1024 element array.
Actually, I believe his statement is accurate in a way. Most of the previous network-based exploits were dependent on another piece of software being installed.
Code Red required IIS to be installed.
BackOriface/Netbus/et. al. required those individual software packages to be installed.
Address List worms require Outlook or Eudora to be installed.
WinNuke, Smurf, etc all work based on the Windows base system, but do not give a user access to the attacked computer.
This exploit, on the other hand, is an exploit directly in Windows XP. It is not dependent on flaws in any other software. No relying on buffer-overflows in IIS to get access to the hard drive. No mass-mailing trojan horses to install backdoors for access. This access is ready built into XP.
Low-cost, high-capacity memory for embedded devices
Smaller, scratch resistant replacement for CDs (Especially good for singles)
"Rolls of film" for a digital camera without spending $30 on a new flash card. This makes it possible for people with no/slow computers to use digital cameras easily and maintain a digital copy of their images.
Here's the one nobody's thought of, evidence collection. Because the device is WOPM (Write once, play many), police departments will be able to use it in their digital cameras, camcorders, etc. This makes it much more difficult for someone to say "The photos/tape was doctored" when you can show them the images direct from a WOPM source.
unless they really make the modules so cheap they're practically giving them away
I believe that's what they're envisioning. From the article..."The company envisions its chips being cheap enough to be sold in multipacks at grocery checkout counters". Wow, an 8 pack of 64 meg memory modules for the same price as a pack of batteries? Even one for the same price as a pack of batteries would be worth the cost.
I formally declare this a good thing. But don't take my word for it, read the article yourself.
is name recognition. Yes, Linux is generally recognized by the public, but that's about as far as it goes. And when people hear Linux, they think "Server operating system that is constantly being worked on." I don't know of one person in my company that would even think to use Linux as a desktop OS. That's not to say there aren't any good applications for Linux for desktop work (StarOffice is great), but none of those applications have the name recognition that competing Microsoft products have.
When it comes to free software, the name recognition it gets is "You get what you pay for." Most people don't understand that "free" refers to the licensing restrictions, not to the monetary cost of acquiring the software.
Free software will eventually become more of an option to business. Microsoft will see to it by shooting itself in the foot with its XP licensing structures. Time is on our side. As more companies suffer under Office and Windows renewal fees, they will begin to explore other options. And as more employees begin to see the advantages of free software, they will begin to use it at home. In this case, Microsoft ends up being our ally. (Strange, huh?)
Amen my troll brother. Did you know his wife's name is Vera?
And knowing Robert Goulet, she's gotta be a fine piece of ass. The star of such hits as Camelot, Man of La Mancha, and South Pacific wouldn't have anything less!
It did sound like a fizzing sound... Not very loud, but you would definately hear it.
Yeah, I could definitely hear it. Each one sounded like a Japanese Zero. Then the trees started singing show-tunes. Then the tie-dye devil geese came out of nowhere and pecked at me until my hands melted. It would have been better if my friend hadn't turned into a floating Regis Philbin head and kept asking me "Is that your final answer?"
If you see a need, fill it. He has his niche. You wouldn't expect a plumber to do your taxes. You wouldn't expect an accountant to clean your chimney. You wouldn't expect Hemos to screw a woman.
Mr. Nader here is a Jew hater. As such, he will do everything in his power to hate Jews. If you feel that more Arab and Muslim hatred needs to take place, go to it.
I'd just like to say that I don't condone the hatred of anyone based on creed, color, religion, or sexual preference. The only people I do support the hatred of are idiot SlashBots, and that is why I post here. Sikhs have nothing to fear from me. Karma Whores, on the other hand, better watch out.
You're an idiot. Lowly tech-support people (Which I used to be one of) know absolutely nothing about anything. About all they can tell you is to reboot your computer. Apart from that, rules and regulations keep them from doing anything more in-depth to a person's system. I seriously doubt that In-Max Marcus has any clue whether your Internet access will be available Friday. He asked his supervisor, who told him the company line. It's just as likely that his supervisor is equally clueless.
But then again, you already knew that. You're a smart boy. Sarcasm is your friend.
For all others out there, listen closely to what I'm about to say... Never take a company's word for anything, get it in firm writing. Companies are not in business to wipe your ass or kiss your boo-boos when you get hurt, they're there to make a profit. If you don't contribute to their profit, they will take a giant shit on you. They will say one thing to you then insist they never said it when they go back on it. Unless you have a Federally notarized copy of their correspondance, they will not follow it.
Robotech Master, you, like myself, will probably not be online at our homes on Friday.
My balls are on the bridge of your nose. Mind taking care of those for me? That's right, jiggle 'em like the little bitch you are. Don't neglect the shaft now sweetheart. Oh yeah, you know what I like.
This was a halfway decent troll. Just enough text to spur some PDA lugging geek into a "My dick is bigger than yours!" contest, but not enough to make the moderators say "Hey, this is a troll!"
Nobody would have called you on it if you were a professional. Good try though.
Slashdot Mirror
In the past, Internet Terminals were heralded as the wave of the future. This was because of their convenience, ease of use, etc. I see them now as the wave of the future because they don't store content. They are simply a gateway into someone else's content. Once the RIAA and MPAA have finished their buyout of the legislative and legal system, new regulations will require that computers not store any information. That way the big guys don't have to worry about the little guy sharing music or downloading the latest episode of Law & Order - Pothole Repair Crew for free. To listen to music, plug in your credit-card and connect to their services. Only $5.99 for an hour's worth of music. Want to play the latest game? Only $2.99 to plug into the Doom 5 server and play.
This can even extend to the workplace. Microsoft Office Services. For $15,000 per year, you can get a 10 connection license to allow your employees to work on presentations, software requirements, etc. Then for only $150,000 per year, two of your developers can connect to Microsoft Development Studio Services and work on that software you need written. Then for the low-low price of $200,000 per year, Microsoft will go ahead and host the software you wrote. Imagine, you don't have to worry about backups, and you'll never need to worry about the BSA pounding down your door.
All that needs to happen is widespread acceptance and availability of broadband. This is sure to have happened in 30 years.
Think this can't happen? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
That being said, I'm still going to go see the movie. Rather than compare it to any of the previous movies, I will attempt to simply compare it to itself. Hopefully, by doing that, I will enjoy the movie much more than anyone who expects a papal blessing upon this film.
See you guys at the theatre at 12:01!
- Applications
- Training
- Accountability
Linux will never become big on the desktop until something is done about these major issues. Linus, Alan, et. al. need to get off their behinds and tackle the major unresolved issues behind their OS. GUI developers need to quit worrying about transparent windows and drop-shadows and get working on making their systems stable and functional.When a business upgrades its systems, it wants proven reliability in its equipment. Applications such as StarOffice and KOffice are high on glitz and glamour, but lack the backend to fulfil this stability requirement. While Corel and Microsoft focus on ensuring their system works before incorporating new "features," the uncoordinated Linux effort works to force nifty "features" onto an unstable backend. This means that while I can do some interesting graphic and font modification, my attempts to save throw Kernel panics and crash my system.
Almost 100% of office workers in the present work environment have been trained to use Microsoft Office. Most students come out of college having used Microsoft Windows as their OS, Microsoft Word to type their papers, and Microsoft Excel to do math projects.
Switching from a Microsoft base to a Linux base means a great deal of downtime while workers are retrained to use their new desktop environment. System Administrators must be trained or hired to work with a new system base. Technical Support people must learn how to handle the millions of innanely obtuse error messages thrown by any one of 1000 different applications installed by default on the new systems. (Why is xterm crashing with a tcpdump error message? I'm not running tcpdump!) Each user must be trained in how to login to their system, navigate a new and dramatically different desktop, then they have to be trained in how to use a brand new office suite. While this process can be spread out using staged upgrades, the downtime still adds up.
In the end, the Linux kernel is maintained by a group of hobbyists. As with the applications, these hobbyists put a large amount of time into programming glitz and glamour features into the kernel, and neglect important functions such as scalable SMP support, efficient VM managment, clean TCP/IP communications, and such. These important functions end up being "fixed" by other hobbyist programmers whose fixes usually end up making systems less stable.
While there are groups available for support, many of those groups are closing shop because they aren't getting business. It's a vicious cycle. Anyhow, there's only so much those support people can do. (Red Hat: "We can't support that because none of our people have used it or tested it with Linux. Look it up.")
When Linux becomes more like Windows, more people will use Linux. That is a fact!
I was always taught that the speed of light was a constant 186,000 miles per second, and that the Theory of Relativity stated nothing could go faster than the speed of light. Does this mean that now that the light in that crystal has a velocity of 0 that my little Honda Civic violates the theory of relativity, or does this mean that somehow the distance between one side of the crystal and the other has become infinite, and remains so until something causes it to become a small finite distance again?
If it's the former, we definitely need to reevaluate our present concepts of Space and Time. If it's the later, how long do you think it will be until we learn how to do the reverse?
I guess this has turned into a few questions, so I'll add another. Have we developed any substances where light seems to speed up while passing through them?
Broadband is not available everywhere in the US. I've noticed many people post stating that they have several broadband options available to them. I don't doubt that's the case, as where I currently live I have both cable and DSL options available for me. Of course, I also live in a major metropolitan area.
However, let's take the case of my parents that live in a small town in the Shenandoah Valley. They've been asking about broadband options for their house for several years now. They own a Bed and Breakfast, and a dedicated high-speed Internet connection would definitely be a benefit for them. Every time they inquire at the local Cable provider, they're told that "We're still testing it in the big town up north." Whenever they go to any DSL provider, they're told "We haven't upgraded the hardware in the area for that. However, we can offer this 64k ISDN line at 3x the going DSL price, or a fractional T-1 at 10x the going DSL price."
I doubt it has much to do with hardware or anything like that. It has more to do with the following lines of thought...
So long as the major broadband providers can get away with pushing around the local carriers, nothing's going to change. Even when the major broadband providers are responsible for delivering the product direct to the consumer, there's not much difference. Verizon has long waiting lists to get DSL in their service area's (Oh, and they don't allow smaller local carriers to gain access to their DSL lines. They pay the minor fines and screw the competition until it dies and Tauzin-Dingle passes/goes into effect.) Cox Communication is the monopoly Cable Internet provider for Fairfax County, VA. Their Road Runner service is notorious for outtages, high latency, dropped packets, etc. Do they care very much? Not really. So long as customers are willing to pay them $50/m for crappy service, they will continue to provide it and stuff their wallets with their massive profits.
can you explain to me what a buffer overflow is?
Sure, a buffer overflow is the result of sloppy programming. It can occur wherever a program attempts to pass something from one memory location to another that is too large for where it's being passed to. A non-geek example would be you try to shove 500 sheets of paper at once into a mailslot designed to take 250. The program will happily attempt to do it, but there will usually be problems associated with it. Sometimes the program will keep running, or sometimes it will die a horrible and awful death.
This is how CodeRed worked. It created a buffer overflow in an IIS module that actually ended up overwriting executable portions of memory (Memory allocated to store operations rather than data variables). By modifying the data they used for the buffer overflow, they were able to write instructions into memory that caused the computer to attempt to infect other hosts. This is the same reason rebooting would clean the computer of a CodeRed infection. A lot of unix/linux based exploits are also the result of buffer overflows.
Buffer overflows are nasty things. That's why you should always make sure that, if one of your subroutines is planning on accepting a 512 element array, the calling program isn't trying to send it a 1024 element array.
Actually, I believe his statement is accurate in a way. Most of the previous network-based exploits were dependent on another piece of software being installed.
This exploit, on the other hand, is an exploit directly in Windows XP. It is not dependent on flaws in any other software. No relying on buffer-overflows in IIS to get access to the hard drive. No mass-mailing trojan horses to install backdoors for access. This access is ready built into XP.
what's the point if I can only write once?
Tell him what some uses are, Johnny!
unless they really make the modules so cheap they're practically giving them away
I believe that's what they're envisioning. From the article..."The company envisions its chips being cheap enough to be sold in multipacks at grocery checkout counters". Wow, an 8 pack of 64 meg memory modules for the same price as a pack of batteries? Even one for the same price as a pack of batteries would be worth the cost.
I formally declare this a good thing. But don't take my word for it, read the article yourself.
is name recognition. Yes, Linux is generally recognized by the public, but that's about as far as it goes. And when people hear Linux, they think "Server operating system that is constantly being worked on." I don't know of one person in my company that would even think to use Linux as a desktop OS. That's not to say there aren't any good applications for Linux for desktop work (StarOffice is great), but none of those applications have the name recognition that competing Microsoft products have.
When it comes to free software, the name recognition it gets is "You get what you pay for." Most people don't understand that "free" refers to the licensing restrictions, not to the monetary cost of acquiring the software.
Free software will eventually become more of an option to business. Microsoft will see to it by shooting itself in the foot with its XP licensing structures. Time is on our side. As more companies suffer under Office and Windows renewal fees, they will begin to explore other options. And as more employees begin to see the advantages of free software, they will begin to use it at home. In this case, Microsoft ends up being our ally. (Strange, huh?)
And probably last post since I'm an @home subscriber. My e-mail is already toast!
It's a new medication for the treatment of open sores. Check at your local Wound Healing Clinic to learn more about it.
The above post contains information that portrays Windows 2000 in a positive light and is therefore a troll. Please moderate it as such.
Thank you.
Robert Goulet ownz j00!
Amen my troll brother. Did you know his wife's name is Vera?
And knowing Robert Goulet, she's gotta be a fine piece of ass. The star of such hits as Camelot, Man of La Mancha, and South Pacific wouldn't have anything less!
Bow before The Man!
It's because you got First Post and mentioned First Post in it. Anyone that does that is a troll.
That and people that prefer Windows to Linux.
And people that appreciate Robert Goulet
I believe you meant to say "I can still get first post with your balls in my throat."
It did sound like a fizzing sound... Not very loud, but you would definately hear it.
Yeah, I could definitely hear it. Each one sounded like a Japanese Zero. Then the trees started singing show-tunes. Then the tie-dye devil geese came out of nowhere and pecked at me until my hands melted. It would have been better if my friend hadn't turned into a floating Regis Philbin head and kept asking me "Is that your final answer?"
Get off the acid, dumbass.
If you see a need, fill it. He has his niche. You wouldn't expect a plumber to do your taxes. You wouldn't expect an accountant to clean your chimney. You wouldn't expect Hemos to screw a woman.
Mr. Nader here is a Jew hater. As such, he will do everything in his power to hate Jews. If you feel that more Arab and Muslim hatred needs to take place, go to it.
I'd just like to say that I don't condone the hatred of anyone based on creed, color, religion, or sexual preference. The only people I do support the hatred of are idiot SlashBots, and that is why I post here. Sikhs have nothing to fear from me. Karma Whores, on the other hand, better watch out.
You're an idiot. Lowly tech-support people (Which I used to be one of) know absolutely nothing about anything. About all they can tell you is to reboot your computer. Apart from that, rules and regulations keep them from doing anything more in-depth to a person's system. I seriously doubt that In-Max Marcus has any clue whether your Internet access will be available Friday. He asked his supervisor, who told him the company line. It's just as likely that his supervisor is equally clueless.
But then again, you already knew that. You're a smart boy. Sarcasm is your friend.
For all others out there, listen closely to what I'm about to say... Never take a company's word for anything, get it in firm writing. Companies are not in business to wipe your ass or kiss your boo-boos when you get hurt, they're there to make a profit. If you don't contribute to their profit, they will take a giant shit on you. They will say one thing to you then insist they never said it when they go back on it. Unless you have a Federally notarized copy of their correspondance, they will not follow it.
Robotech Master, you, like myself, will probably not be online at our homes on Friday.
A lot of them are cute, and they like to shit on your face
My balls are on the bridge of your nose. Mind taking care of those for me? That's right, jiggle 'em like the little bitch you are. Don't neglect the shaft now sweetheart. Oh yeah, you know what I like.
OWWWW!
BITCH! I SAID NO TEETH!
They just don't make AC sluts like they used to.
You know what? I don't feel like dealing with your shit. I claim this first post in the name of all logged in trolls!
First Fist is what you got last night in the bathroom with the bottle of Jergens and that July 1982 issue of Hustler of yours.
w00t!!! FP!
Dude, here's something that will cure what ail's 'ya.
Cheers!
I just want to say that I don't have anything to say.
Wait...
Shit!
This was a halfway decent troll. Just enough text to spur some PDA lugging geek into a "My dick is bigger than yours!" contest, but not enough to make the moderators say "Hey, this is a troll!"
Nobody would have called you on it if you were a professional. Good try though.