Re:Poorly written summary of a poorly titled artic
on
No More Rebooting?
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· Score: 2, Informative
The reason for the original poster picking on Windows is that Windows, in most folk's experience, has to be rebooted frequently because of error accumulation. In other words, I could leave my Win98 box running (with no additional applications up) for 12 hours and when I came back it would be locked up. This isn't about shutting down during upgrades or installs, it's about shutting down because of frequent OS corruption during everyday use. In this case, you *need* memory to clear itself out.
They haven't exactly been loud about all the stuff they're screwing us out of lately. My guess is that, if this isn't a hoax, they'd do this quick and quiet and nail a bunch of people before word got around. From what folks have been saying, it wouldn't be too hard to implement.
My guess is that the opposite is true-- the mass-mailers subsidize us. Not sure what alternatives they would have if the USPS did put the screws to them, but I suppose they don't want to piss them off or make them go broke.
Although... Joe Schmoe can do a lot of his keeping-in-touch with email, while the massers are pretty stuck. Especially if anti-spam laws take off.
Looks like this company is sham and nothing else. Reminds me of Rambus, only Rambus actually invented some of the stuff they're suing over. Reading through the parent link (http://www.pearlltd.com/content/investments.html) , it appears they pay for the right to defend patents for people and get a portion of the winnings.
The most recent date even mentioned is May 2001 and even tho they've been attempting to sue folks over these things since 1999 they've only won $200,000. Unless PEARL is one person, I highly doubt this even covers operating expenses. Hope they have day jobs.
Actually, as long as the non-business engineer does his job he's a lot less dangerous than the business people who refuse/ are unable to understand the limitations in engineering. Unless, of course, the engineer is *shudder* in charge of schedules or budgets.
Re:Traffic Safety Statistics
on
This is IT?
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· Score: 1
"Once you've done this, the unavoidable motorcycle fatalities will probably still be approximately 18 times the unavoidable auto fatalities"
Highly unlikely. If I pass out behind the wheel and hit a tree in my car, I have an airbag and a seatbelt to protect me. If I do so on a motorcycle, I have my face to protect me.
There shouldn't be any argument that motorcycles are less safe than cars by virtue of the fact that they are open. I think the author's point is that if you throw out stupid shit, the ratio is going to drop. The question is whether you should throw that stupid shit out, seeing *is* that is how the vehicle gets used. Arguments on both sides.
>Access to the internet is a privelege, not a right
Yeah? So is a car. And if you woke up tomorrow and it was stolen how fucked would you be? I live 40 minutes from work and we have almost nonexistant mass transit. Sure, you'd figure out how to function but for a while your life would be in turmoil.
Sorry that you have some kind of vendetta against geeks, but you need to separate that from the issue at hand. With very little notice, a lot of users are going to lose what could be an important communication tool. Your response doesn't even address the idea of lost receipts and online bill payment. And let's not forget how much cheaper AIM is for talking to my cousin in TX than a long-distance call. It's not just pervs and space cadets that will be affected here.
Before this morning, I received exactly one notice from Comcast and it said everything was A-OK. Now they're telling me to expect to lose service for a while starting as soon as 2 days from now. Thankfully I never trusted them and didn't use the email account much. Unfortunately, the copper in my area only supports 24.4 so I'm hosed for doing research on the net.
Don't deride a lifestyle choice that you don't agree with and try to pass it off as a valid argument.
South Park: Done in 3 1/2 minutes.
Pulp Fiction: Incomprehensible. Now equivalent to a French art film.
Wild Things: Suddenly not worth watching.
The Net: Still not worth watching.
Any Jean-Claude Van Damme movie: No changes. His pathetic fight scenes don't count as violence, but rather humor.
"With Linux, customers "end up being in the operating systems business," managing software updates and security patches while making sure the multitude of software packages don't conflict with each other," Miller said. "That's the job of a software vendor like Microsoft." (my emphasis)
I'll keep that in mind then next time Windows informs me that MICROSOFT Word, MICROSOFT Excel, or MICROSOFT Outlook has caused a fault and will be shut down. Should only be a few more minutes now...
Geek: Encarta Encyclopedia found no matches for: GEEK
-Microsoft Encarta Encylopedia, 1998 edition
(http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/01/25/104 82 58&mode=thread)
Anyhow, I recalled that Encarta came under fire in the past for it's version of reality. Here's a few tidbits from a search of The Register (I'm supposed to be working so you only get one free search;-)
"The WSJ gives a couple of examples, noting that in Italy Antonio Meucci, rather than the usual suspect, invented the telephone. The US edition has Edison and Brit Joseph Swan inventing the light bulb simultaneously, whereas the UK edition has Swan first. Microsoft also does a special Indian edition that "reflects the local geographical understanding" of Kashmir (i.e. it's all in India, rather than disputed territory between India and Pakistan, and has avoided offending the Turks by removing the word Kurdistan from one of its maps."
So, good or bad, MS is making decisions based on it's finances rather than facts. Personally I prefer my references to be free of monetary considerations. I'll be looking elsewhere for research.
One not-too-surprising story I came across:
"Microsoft is doing a Virgin again -- putting one of its brand names to a product to which it has made no contribution. This time it's for the Encarta World English Dictionary. "
Um, does anyone read news besides slashdot? The car companies are getting killed right now. They're offering 0% financing just to get people into the dealerships and GM and Ford both announced several-hundred-million dollar losses for the quarter.
This isn't about a program that doesn't make them money, it's about a new benefit that they just can't afford any more! They've cut out overtime, idled plants and are getting ready to lay off 5000 to 10,000 white collar employees. I'd say this was expendable.
Yeah. Because if we don't talk about the holes, they won't exist. We probably shouldn't talk about airport security, either, because then *those* problems will cease to exist.
I can't believe these companies sometimes. The reality is that the blackhats are probably aware of many more holes than the world at large and utilize them on a daily basis. Until whitehats find them, they are free to move about unchecked. Yet, MS (and the FBI, and the security "experts" and...) want us to believe that if we don't *hear* about problems, then MS (or whoever) is doing their job. And, most importantly, they don't fix problems until we point them out.
No interest in doing what's right for the consumers, only what kind of PR they get. Greedy fucking idiots.
Normally I would argue that the auto companies wouldn't want this due to the extensive work that is involved in getting something like this working, but I'm not so sure any more. The overriding thought I have now is that this would be great for them.
1) Less reliance on unstable, oil-producing countries
2) Less interference from the government in terms of regulation
3) Simpler engines = less build time in-plant
As for the money-on-repairs argument, you're sorely mistaken. Under warranty, the car companies *subsidize* your repairs. They'd be glad to not have to do that. Now, the dealerships would be pissed because they make money from you and the car companies when they make repairs (warranty or not). And, AFAIK, they don't hold a monopoly on aftermarket parts, so they make little or no money on those.
>Wether or not it gets stolen depends on several factors: is it worth stealing? Is it worth the price if purchased? Does it "feel" like stealing at all? Notice DRM wasn't mentioned. That was on purpose.
For my $.02, my interpretation of the phenomenon was the same-- this is the way The People have found to introduce free market forces into what is essentially a monopoly. If I want the latest CD, I can only get it from one company.
I still have a hard time arguing about something that is "just entertainment", but I also realize that it has far-reaching consequences for other informational formats. But I digress. I could ramble longer but I'll save ya all the pain.
I hope it goes without saying that they made a lot of sacrifices in personal comfort and minimalistic design that the average consumer isn't going to pay for. Nobody is buying the aero cars now. For all the kudos that the Japanese hybrids got, they aren't selling today. Shame, too. I'd like to see hybrid take off:-(
These don't look like the articles I saw when I originally saw the/. post, but I seem to recall him saying that the employees that were switched from windows only noticed a few differences-- No reboots and no data loss. He actually had to explain to them that it wasn't necessary to back your data to floppies every night like they got in the habit of doing with winduhs. In short, they love it.
>If they comply with the licences attached to code >they incorporate, they have every right to.
Of course they do. I'm talking about the case where they *don't* tell anyone or properly indicate licenses/ownership/etc. as the RH employee appears to have done. The BSD license allows MS to use it and they should if it gets them a better product in less time.
>Scratch that, I already have your answer.
Go use Google to look up a recipe for Humble Pie. You need it.
Actually, my response was to the person who tried to make the point that we'd be all up in arms about MS and not about Linux. I totally agree that it's wrong in both cases and particularly despicable because the open source community should be above this. But on the other hand, I'd be REALLY pissed (and quite ready to sue) if I found out someone was making money off of my work. Especially given that all I asked them to do was put my name on it.
But given MS's history of 1) bashing opensource with comments insinuating that free programmers aren't any good compared to people who are being paid to write code and 2) buying companies so they could claim some technology was their 'innovation', I think the community would have every right to be more pissed if they had been caught doing this. They have a documented history of trying to look like technology leaders through the work of others.
Um, I think you're missing the point a bit. Linux is free (even if RH does charge for box sets, it's still free). MS would be making money off of it. Ergo, they would be taking someone elses work and making a buck off of it. And considering how much they bitch about *that*...
Slashdot Mirror
The reason for the original poster picking on Windows is that Windows, in most folk's experience, has to be rebooted frequently because of error accumulation. In other words, I could leave my Win98 box running (with no additional applications up) for 12 hours and when I came back it would be locked up. This isn't about shutting down during upgrades or installs, it's about shutting down because of frequent OS corruption during everyday use. In this case, you *need* memory to clear itself out.
They haven't exactly been loud about all the stuff they're screwing us out of lately. My guess is that, if this isn't a hoax, they'd do this quick and quiet and nail a bunch of people before word got around. From what folks have been saying, it wouldn't be too hard to implement.
My guess is that the opposite is true-- the mass-mailers subsidize us. Not sure what alternatives they would have if the USPS did put the screws to them, but I suppose they don't want to piss them off or make them go broke.
Although... Joe Schmoe can do a lot of his keeping-in-touch with email, while the massers are pretty stuck. Especially if anti-spam laws take off.
Looks like this company is sham and nothing else. Reminds me of Rambus, only Rambus actually invented some of the stuff they're suing over. Reading through the parent link (http://www.pearlltd.com/content/investments.html) , it appears they pay for the right to defend patents for people and get a portion of the winnings.
The most recent date even mentioned is May 2001 and even tho they've been attempting to sue folks over these things since 1999 they've only won $200,000. Unless PEARL is one person, I highly doubt this even covers operating expenses. Hope they have day jobs.
Actually, as long as the non-business engineer does his job he's a lot less dangerous than the business people who refuse/ are unable to understand the limitations in engineering. Unless, of course, the engineer is *shudder* in charge of schedules or budgets.
"Once you've done this, the unavoidable motorcycle fatalities will probably still be approximately 18 times the unavoidable auto fatalities"
Highly unlikely. If I pass out behind the wheel and hit a tree in my car, I have an airbag and a seatbelt to protect me. If I do so on a motorcycle, I have my face to protect me.
There shouldn't be any argument that motorcycles are less safe than cars by virtue of the fact that they are open. I think the author's point is that if you throw out stupid shit, the ratio is going to drop. The question is whether you should throw that stupid shit out, seeing *is* that is how the vehicle gets used. Arguments on both sides.
>Access to the internet is a privelege, not a right
Yeah? So is a car. And if you woke up tomorrow and it was stolen how fucked would you be? I live 40 minutes from work and we have almost nonexistant mass transit. Sure, you'd figure out how to function but for a while your life would be in turmoil.
Sorry that you have some kind of vendetta against geeks, but you need to separate that from the issue at hand. With very little notice, a lot of users are going to lose what could be an important communication tool. Your response doesn't even address the idea of lost receipts and online bill payment. And let's not forget how much cheaper AIM is for talking to my cousin in TX than a long-distance call. It's not just pervs and space cadets that will be affected here.
Before this morning, I received exactly one notice from Comcast and it said everything was A-OK. Now they're telling me to expect to lose service for a while starting as soon as 2 days from now. Thankfully I never trusted them and didn't use the email account much. Unfortunately, the copper in my area only supports 24.4 so I'm hosed for doing research on the net.
Don't deride a lifestyle choice that you don't agree with and try to pass it off as a valid argument.
South Park: Done in 3 1/2 minutes.
Pulp Fiction: Incomprehensible. Now equivalent to a French art film.
Wild Things: Suddenly not worth watching.
The Net: Still not worth watching.
Any Jean-Claude Van Damme movie: No changes. His pathetic fight scenes don't count as violence, but rather humor.
"With Linux, customers "end up being in the operating systems business," managing software updates and security patches while making sure the multitude of software packages don't conflict with each other," Miller said. "That's the job of a software vendor like Microsoft." (my emphasis)
I'll keep that in mind then next time Windows informs me that MICROSOFT Word, MICROSOFT Excel, or MICROSOFT Outlook has caused a fault and will be shut down. Should only be a few more minutes now...
For starters:
4 82 58&mode=thread)
;-)
Geek: Encarta Encyclopedia found no matches for: GEEK
-Microsoft Encarta Encylopedia, 1998 edition
(http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/01/25/10
Anyhow, I recalled that Encarta came under fire in the past for it's version of reality. Here's a few tidbits from a search of The Register (I'm supposed to be working so you only get one free search
"The WSJ gives a couple of examples, noting that in Italy Antonio Meucci, rather than the usual suspect, invented the telephone. The US edition has Edison and Brit Joseph Swan inventing the light bulb simultaneously, whereas the UK edition has Swan first. Microsoft also does a special Indian edition that "reflects the local geographical understanding" of Kashmir (i.e. it's all in India, rather than disputed territory between India and Pakistan, and has avoided offending the Turks by removing the word Kurdistan from one of its maps."
So, good or bad, MS is making decisions based on it's finances rather than facts. Personally I prefer my references to be free of monetary considerations. I'll be looking elsewhere for research.
One not-too-surprising story I came across:
"Microsoft is doing a Virgin again -- putting one of its brand names to a product to which it has made no contribution. This time it's for the Encarta World English Dictionary. "
Um, does anyone read news besides slashdot? The car companies are getting killed right now. They're offering 0% financing just to get people into the dealerships and GM and Ford both announced several-hundred-million dollar losses for the quarter.
This isn't about a program that doesn't make them money, it's about a new benefit that they just can't afford any more! They've cut out overtime, idled plants and are getting ready to lay off 5000 to 10,000 white collar employees. I'd say this was expendable.
Yeah. Because if we don't talk about the holes, they won't exist. We probably shouldn't talk about airport security, either, because then *those* problems will cease to exist.
I can't believe these companies sometimes. The reality is that the blackhats are probably aware of many more holes than the world at large and utilize them on a daily basis. Until whitehats find them, they are free to move about unchecked. Yet, MS (and the FBI, and the security "experts" and...) want us to believe that if we don't *hear* about problems, then MS (or whoever) is doing their job. And, most importantly, they don't fix problems until we point them out.
No interest in doing what's right for the consumers, only what kind of PR they get. Greedy fucking idiots.
Normally I would argue that the auto companies wouldn't want this due to the extensive work that is involved in getting something like this working, but I'm not so sure any more. The overriding thought I have now is that this would be great for them.
1) Less reliance on unstable, oil-producing countries
2) Less interference from the government in terms of regulation
3) Simpler engines = less build time in-plant
As for the money-on-repairs argument, you're sorely mistaken. Under warranty, the car companies *subsidize* your repairs. They'd be glad to not have to do that. Now, the dealerships would be pissed because they make money from you and the car companies when they make repairs (warranty or not). And, AFAIK, they don't hold a monopoly on aftermarket parts, so they make little or no money on those.
>Wether or not it gets stolen depends on several factors: is it worth stealing? Is it worth the price if purchased? Does it "feel" like stealing at all? Notice DRM wasn't mentioned. That was on purpose.
For my $.02, my interpretation of the phenomenon was the same-- this is the way The People have found to introduce free market forces into what is essentially a monopoly. If I want the latest CD, I can only get it from one company.
I still have a hard time arguing about something that is "just entertainment", but I also realize that it has far-reaching consequences for other informational formats. But I digress. I could ramble longer but I'll save ya all the pain.
I hope it goes without saying that they made a lot of sacrifices in personal comfort and minimalistic design that the average consumer isn't going to pay for. Nobody is buying the aero cars now. For all the kudos that the Japanese hybrids got, they aren't selling today. Shame, too. I'd like to see hybrid take off :-(
These don't look like the articles I saw when I originally saw the /. post, but I seem to recall him saying that the employees that were switched from windows only noticed a few differences-- No reboots and no data loss. He actually had to explain to them that it wasn't necessary to back your data to floppies every night like they got in the habit of doing with winduhs. In short, they love it.
>If they comply with the licences attached to code >they incorporate, they have every right to.
Of course they do. I'm talking about the case where they *don't* tell anyone or properly indicate licenses/ownership/etc. as the RH employee appears to have done. The BSD license allows MS to use it and they should if it gets them a better product in less time.
>Scratch that, I already have your answer.
Go use Google to look up a recipe for Humble Pie. You need it.
Actually, my response was to the person who tried to make the point that we'd be all up in arms about MS and not about Linux. I totally agree that it's wrong in both cases and particularly despicable because the open source community should be above this. But on the other hand, I'd be REALLY pissed (and quite ready to sue) if I found out someone was making money off of my work. Especially given that all I asked them to do was put my name on it.
But given MS's history of 1) bashing opensource with comments insinuating that free programmers aren't any good compared to people who are being paid to write code and 2) buying companies so they could claim some technology was their 'innovation', I think the community would have every right to be more pissed if they had been caught doing this. They have a documented history of trying to look like technology leaders through the work of others.
Um, I think you're missing the point a bit. Linux is free (even if RH does charge for box sets, it's still free). MS would be making money off of it. Ergo, they would be taking someone elses work and making a buck off of it. And considering how much they bitch about *that*...