It seems to me that a large, untapped market for Linux is kioks.
Lately, I've been seeing Windows error messages in the most unexpected places: at gift registry kiosks in department stores, news screens in train stations, and Metrocard vending machines here in New York. Chances are, if it's a kiosk that acts like a web browser or a flash application, it's running Windows.
Why do these need to be running MS Windows when they are essentially web browswers? What else do they need to do? Let employees play Minesweeper? It seems to me that Linux could do the job just as well - for less cost and no unsightly Blue Screens.
It would be interesting if someone could offer some insight into what Windows provides that Linux doesn't in the realm of public kiosks.
I want a DVD player that takes a regular PG-13 movie and adds back in all the naughty bits that the MPAA board made the filmmakers edit out to avoid an R rating.
That would rock.
Finally, I'd be able to sit through entire viewing of Steel Magnolias with the wife!
Well, I heard about them just the other day from a co-worker...and he knew about them because he's a bass-player and used to live across the street from them in their NY hometown...
I think the sudden interest was probably driven by the recent release of their EP (?)
If we use what MPAA and RIAA are doing with little old laides as a guide, anybody who accidentally opens a porno-spam from China is a potential target for the Feds.
Actually, no clicks and you're guilty (thanks to IP spoofing).
Prediction: a lot of people who think that this issue won't affect them will get a rude awakening in the form of an arrest warrant.
C: Without pr0n, what are people going to wank to?
Written in jest, but you actually raise a serious point. I wonder if eradicating "indecent" thoughts will be next on their list after they're done with pictures, movies and words?
Not to mention wanking itself!
Obligatory Futurama Reference
on
Death by Coffee?
·
· Score: 0, Redundant
Anybody who watches Futurama knows that drinking 100 cups will just make you REALLY jittery.
I have a linux RH 9 install on a i386 box. I recently upgraded to gtk+2.4 (in a futile attempt to get rhythmbox working).
My question is: should I bother upgrading to Gnome 2.6 or just stay with the 2.x installation that came with RH9? I fear that attempting the upgrade will ruin my existing gnome installation. Or, at least, all the RedHat specific stuff will stop working.
The worst misuse of Excel is as a database. And yet Administration / HR / Marketing staffers always end up using excel to store extremely important data. Sales records, accounts receivable, timesheets, inventory, contact lists - you name it.
And they always organize the list with subtle font-weight and cell-shading. Woe unto the intern that accidentally Selects Edit->Clear->Formats. Woe unto the manager that needs to sort the list by "bold" or "light-green."
Unfortunately, MS encouraged this perversity by including the menu option Data->Forms
What were they thinking?!
In the end, I have to come along with MS Access and clean up the mess. Oh well, it's a living:-\
Why go through the trouble of a Constitutional Amendment when you can pass a Federal Law declaring Open Source software as a "National Security Threat" and "possible tool for use by Terrorists."
Definitely going to bookmark that one...Google has saved my butt many-a-time during while learning Linux (but I've had to wade through a lot of irrelvant search results to get to what I needed).
One thing that makes me unhappy is the fact that non-IT managers often give the impression that they think Information Technology skills are are "easy" and therefore essentially worthless.
At my previous employer (where I worked in marketing), I saw this all the time:
Manager: Could you add a new "flag" column to the database. IT Guy: Ummm just spent three weeks planning the schema [context: just launched web site yesterday]...we have to take a look... Manager: What's the problem? It should be easy! Just add the flag column, ok?
OR
Manager: We just signed a contract with vendor X. We're going to migrate all our web applications to X's servers. IT Guy: Umm...that's a different architecture, there might be some problems. Manager: [befuddled look] What's the problem, just copy-paste the files!
OR
Manager: I don't like our homepage layout. Could you move this [dyanmic section] over here and change the page color scheme so it looks "lighter." IT Guy: Ok, I'm going to need a couple days to figure out how to do that [thinking: plus check with our graphic design dept]. Manager: What's the problem? Just make the changes - it should be easy!
Now I'm on the other side at a different company, I still see the same thing is happening:
Manager: How come you haven't gotten project Z done? IT Guy: Because I'm working on project W and after that I've got project X and Y. IT Guy: And don't forget about projects U and V. Manager: What are you talking about? The only thing that should take you longer than 10 minutes is W!
Parting thought: I wonder how a plumber would react if you stood over them while they worked and then tried to tell them that their job was "easy."
Right now, much of the justification for the FCC censoring radio and television is based on assertion that the Public owns the airwaves (and therefore allows the majority to determine what gets banned).
Obvsiously, the next logical step in regulation - after tv and radio - will be the Internet. And I'm not thinking about obvious targets like pornography here. No, I think they will sart with Salon.com articles that use the "F word," health sites that depict women's health issues (in 4-color graphic detail), web sites showing the uncensored Janet boobie incident video (SHOCKING!) or any number of the flash animations that we know and love.
But there's a problem here (which obviously has been discussed many times in many venues - but is no less applicable here):
"The Internet" is not owned by the Public.
Sure, they can prosecute people that run servers in US territory. But I wonder: will the US government start blocking "indecent" and "profane" web pages located on servers in other countries? And what will they do about people accessing banned sites though distribued networks like Free Net?
How will the "Public" react when they discover that they don't "own" the Internet - that they Government can't "protect" them - that the only way not see "indecent" images or ideas will be to exercise a little personal choice?
Also, there are more neighborhoods in Manhattan than the Upper West Side. If you are willing to deal with foot-long rats and drug dealers, you can get some pretty good deals.
Slashdot Mirror
It seems to me that a large, untapped market for Linux is kioks.
Lately, I've been seeing Windows error messages in the most unexpected places: at gift registry kiosks in department stores, news screens in train stations, and Metrocard vending machines here in New York. Chances are, if it's a kiosk that acts like a web browser or a flash application, it's running Windows.
Why do these need to be running MS Windows when they are essentially web browswers? What else do they need to do? Let employees play Minesweeper? It seems to me that Linux could do the job just as well - for less cost and no unsightly Blue Screens.
It would be interesting if someone could offer some insight into what Windows provides that Linux doesn't in the realm of public kiosks.
I would write something, but unfortunately I live in NYC and can't get online to make a comment right now.
:(
Sucks...
BMetzler in touch with the real world?
Don't hold your breath >:)
Oh yeah? Well, *I* was a geek before it was cool to be a geek! Ermm...
I want a DVD player that takes a regular PG-13 movie and adds back in all the naughty bits that the MPAA board made the filmmakers edit out to avoid an R rating.
That would rock.
Finally, I'd be able to sit through entire viewing of Steel Magnolias with the wife!
Well, I heard about them just the other day from a co-worker...and he knew about them because he's a bass-player and used to live across the street from them in their NY hometown...
I think the sudden interest was probably driven by the recent release of their EP (?)
Maybe this will be big break for The Minibosses?
If we use what MPAA and RIAA are doing with little old laides as a guide, anybody who accidentally opens a porno-spam from China is a potential target for the Feds.
Actually, no clicks and you're guilty (thanks to IP spoofing).
Prediction: a lot of people who think that this issue won't affect them will get a rude awakening in the form of an arrest warrant.
C: Without pr0n, what are people going to wank to?
Written in jest, but you actually raise a serious point. I wonder if eradicating "indecent" thoughts will be next on their list after they're done with pictures, movies and words?
Not to mention wanking itself!
Anybody who watches Futurama knows that drinking 100 cups will just make you REALLY jittery.
However, drinking 300 cups will slow down time!
How much of a pain is it to change distributions?
I.e. if I upgrade to Fedora Core, will I have to backup all my data, reformat my hard drive, and then copy all the data back?
I keep hearing that I should switch from RH to Slack | Gentoo | SuSE - so I guess this question applies for them as well.
Of course, I have a spare 40 gb drive...so maybe I could just install one or more distributions onto that HD and configure GRUB accordingly?
I have a linux RH 9 install on a i386 box. I recently upgraded to gtk+2.4 (in a futile attempt to get rhythmbox working).
My question is: should I bother upgrading to Gnome 2.6 or just stay with the 2.x installation that came with RH9? I fear that attempting the upgrade will ruin my existing gnome installation. Or, at least, all the RedHat specific stuff will stop working.
If it ain't broke don't fix it?
The worst misuse of Excel is as a database. And yet Administration / HR / Marketing staffers always end up using excel to store extremely important data. Sales records, accounts receivable, timesheets, inventory, contact lists - you name it.
:-\
And they always organize the list with subtle font-weight and cell-shading. Woe unto the intern that accidentally Selects Edit->Clear->Formats. Woe unto the manager that needs to sort the list by "bold" or "light-green."
Unfortunately, MS encouraged this perversity by including the menu option Data->Forms
What were they thinking?!
In the end, I have to come along with MS Access and clean up the mess. Oh well, it's a living
In that the end goal for users of this service is random, semi-anonymous sex...
Nothing to see here, move along.
Why go through the trouble of a Constitutional Amendment when you can pass a Federal Law declaring Open Source software as a "National Security Threat" and "possible tool for use by Terrorists."
Juicy material for PATRIOT III? Stay tuned.
...but you can read all about it here.
According to the article Opensecrets.org provides a similar service...
Anybody who says the Internet "hasn't changed politics" (re: ex-candidate Dean)...well, I'd point to this a solid real-life example that it has.
Mozilla Firefox: Now More Than Ever!
Dang...I knew about Google's Linux-targeted searches but I never remember to use it when I'm having having installation/upgrade issues.
Definitely going to bookmark that one...Google has saved my butt many-a-time during while learning Linux (but I've had to wade through a lot of irrelvant search results to get to what I needed).
One thing that makes me unhappy is the fact that non-IT managers often give the impression that they think Information Technology skills are are "easy" and therefore essentially worthless.
At my previous employer (where I worked in marketing), I saw this all the time:
Manager: Could you add a new "flag" column to the database.
IT Guy: Ummm just spent three weeks planning the schema [context: just launched web site yesterday]...we have to take a look...
Manager: What's the problem? It should be easy! Just add the flag column, ok?
OR
Manager: We just signed a contract with vendor X. We're going to migrate all our web applications to X's servers.
IT Guy: Umm...that's a different architecture, there might be some problems.
Manager: [befuddled look] What's the problem, just copy-paste the files!
OR
Manager: I don't like our homepage layout. Could you move this [dyanmic section] over here and change the page color scheme so it looks "lighter."
IT Guy: Ok, I'm going to need a couple days to figure out how to do that [thinking: plus check with our graphic design dept].
Manager: What's the problem? Just make the changes - it should be easy!
Now I'm on the other side at a different company, I still see the same thing is happening:
Manager: How come you haven't gotten project Z done?
IT Guy: Because I'm working on project W and after that I've got project X and Y.
IT Guy: And don't forget about projects U and V.
Manager: What are you talking about? The only thing that should take you longer than 10 minutes is W!
Parting thought: I wonder how a plumber would react if you stood over them while they worked and then tried to tell them that their job was "easy."
Right now, much of the justification for the FCC censoring radio and television is based on assertion that the Public owns the airwaves (and therefore allows the majority to determine what gets banned).
Obvsiously, the next logical step in regulation - after tv and radio - will be the Internet. And I'm not thinking about obvious targets like pornography here. No, I think they will sart with Salon.com articles that use the "F word," health sites that depict women's health issues (in 4-color graphic detail), web sites showing the uncensored Janet boobie incident video (SHOCKING!) or any number of the flash animations that we know and love.
But there's a problem here (which obviously has been discussed many times in many venues - but is no less applicable here):
"The Internet" is not owned by the Public.
Sure, they can prosecute people that run servers in US territory. But I wonder: will the US government start blocking "indecent" and "profane" web pages located on servers in other countries? And what will they do about people accessing banned sites though distribued networks like Free Net?
How will the "Public" react when they discover that they don't "own" the Internet - that they Government can't "protect" them - that the only way not see "indecent" images or ideas will be to exercise a little personal choice?
It's not going to be pretty.
You know, just the other day I realized that I was naming my "Financial Analysis" spreadsheets names "Fin_Anal_Feb02.xls"
:)
Kinda embarassaing
Whoops just wrote "ass." Time for a self-report!
It's kind of ironic that their homepage banner shows rhythmbox playing "Bring Me to Life" by Evanesence.
Seeing as their server is on its way to being Slashdotted, maybe a better choice of Evanesence song would have been "Going Under?"
he lives in "Midtown Manhattan", which is just as pricy.
Hmmm...unless you're all the way West (past 10th ave) with the abandonded warehouses and transvestite prostitutes.
"Hell's Kitchen" is in midtown (although I've heard it's been cleaned up a bit).
He probably lives in a rent-controlled apartment.
Also, there are more neighborhoods in Manhattan than the Upper West Side. If you are willing to deal with foot-long rats and drug dealers, you can get some pretty good deals.
bloggers steal their ideas from other bloggers."
And this is different from the traditional media HOW???