Definitely use EC2. There is no point in owning hardware anymore unless you have a poor Internet connection or you're running a local application like a media server. Of course, this is above and beyond a reasonable desktop/laptop which you'll need for local development, management etc...
I personally use and love Macs (switched about a year ago). I wouldn't go back to Windows for $1k (and I used to be a Windows Server Admin - actually, their server stuff is good).
When you're on Mac, you'll need a good package manager. I recommend MacPorts and Porticus.
As for which Mac, get the iMac or MacBook with an external monitor, mouse, and keyboard.
Buy TextMate also for editing.
But seriously, somebody must have figured out the numbers on this. If 50% of world electricity were derived from wind, how much energy would that take out of the atmosphere?
Even if it is insignificant percentage wise, it is certainly not clear what the overall macro effect wouild be. Small changes can have profound effects in complex systems.
Does anyone know an article that deals with this quantitatively?
I'm confused as to why you're not trying for Suse or Redhat. Those have real support from IBM. There's no point in getting philosophical. Just push for an official linux as recognized by the hardware manufacturer (IBM).
The learning curve from Debian to Redhat or Suse is nominal.
I'm confused as to what privacy concerns would allow you to post process the sound. The old way, nobody would hear more than a snippet. If this is a medical experiment, I would imagine you are having trouble with identifiable information being accessible - which is exactly what would be the case with the unprocessed sound running on the script on the windows machine.
Anyway, software is blindingly easier than modified chips. Good step with this.
Go here:
http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/thinclients/ind ex_t5000.html
HP makes Windows and Linux thin clients - all fully supported. This is not something I've tried, but I agree that thin client is the way to go in this situation (low user needs and high maintenance worries). You might think about sticking with windows since so many people know how to use it - hard to say. On the other hand, linux is better in so many ways ($$$ and stability/susceptibility to viruses). Go with Linux and all will be well. Have one windows machine in the corner 'just in case'.
HP is nice for many things, but the xerox docuscan is really the solution for you. Just get the most expensive one you can afford (more money = faster) and go for it. MIT press classics recently did a bigger project converting all their books to PDF for reprint - too bad you don't have those funds
http://www.xeroxscanners.com/default.asp?pageid=10 0
Remember, the whole point of packages is to:
A) save time in the future
B) reduce nuances for future administrators
C) keep similarity with other machines
Packages help on all of those fronts. At some point, when you're no longer an undergrad, time will be your biggest limiter. When a system is package based, it may be a few days (or if you're sticking to stable packages, longer) behind the times, but the chances of you mucking up the system are much lower. Also, if somebody else takes over the system and it's all package based, there aren't any gotchas. In a corporate setting, packages should ALWAYS be used unless absolutely necessary not to (which it never is because you can make your own binary or source packages).
Academics, it doesn't matter so much, but it's like any skill. Start with proper and then allow yourself the privilege of breaking the rules.
Also, some important points:
1) remember to constantly tell non-IT people that you are not going to change the desktop (assuming you aren't right now - most depts are only considering servers)
2) As per above, point out the numerous open source packages already in use (even financial companies do transaction data with open source)
3) Come up with a review process to approve specific products. DO NOT just let locals willy nilly choose random packages. Everything must be best of breed and supported. This means settling on one linux (Suse or Redhat probably) supported by current hardware vendors (IBM or Sun and kind of HP).
4) Make it clear that this does not mean people can start using obscure.8 versions of sourceforge products. The honchos will be happy if you are conservative and are only allowing the use of established and supported products with long lifecycles (MySQL, Redhat/Suse, Qmail).
Mine is bundled with my phone, so it's quite cheap. Also, there's a semi-contract for 12 months. As long as you cancel the line, the contract is void, but if you move within the area, you have to keep the dsl.
I think slashdot hashing id so that we can't vote twice, yet nobody can look up our id/address as associated with an action (except by brute force).
Wait, just had a thought. If my address is adam@somedomain.com and the law was interested in whether I said something, they could just subpeona your hashes and the key and see if mine was the right one. So, it's like a brute force with a very, very good guess.
Hmmmm.
The bag that thinkpads come with is great. Has a support system so the laptop literally hangs internally from the top by an elastic fabric. There's 2 full inches of dead space at the bottom.
I've heard good things about the eos line. $209 is the cheapest I can find. This is good because if you start buying lenses, you can keep them for when you get an eos digital body in the future.
Advantages:
Enterprise Server has the long life cycle which means that if you have a database server and there is a compromise of sshd or something 2 years down the road, all you have to do is run up2date -u rather than hunt down rpms that have not been tested on your platform.
Support may end up being useful
Unnecessary rpms are not in the enterprise version (I believe there are about 30% fewer rpms in the enterprise version than the normal version)
The kernel has been optimized for server use.
Generally, these benefits are cheaper than the manpower required to make them unimportant (my favorite being the smaller default install - fewer potential holes/bugs/problems). Any serious IT department needs this kind of support. Otherwise, you're just another hack who is in the DIY mindframe which says that you are not actually thinking about the business first (which is your job after all).
If you're really serious, you can also get your own up2date server running to test rpms in a test environment before you allow other machines to pull them.
Most legitimate companies require this for director level and up. It is fully required for public companies. This is a matter of your role as a public symbol of the company. Nobody cares if Joe Blow IT guy has bad credit, but somebody with fiduciary responsibility or who is seen in the public eye has to have a higher standard.
If you're not willing to quit, you shouldn't even rebuff the request for the credit check. It's that kind of whining that instantly tells me to reconsider the hire. I would probably just nip this in the bud if I were the COO and nullify the hiring.
Nothing personal, but you're free to leave and the company is free to find someone else.
I love working on IT, but let's face it, this is just like any other department in a company. Many of us have seen the total waste of $$$ that an IT manager will sell to the higher ups - sometimes just to work with new technology, etc..
The fact of the matter is that at a typical company, IT budget is not seen with an eye on monetary rewards. That has changed recently.
Business rules state that if a secretary does something well for 30k a year, don't spend 200k to eliminate his/her position as it is not cost effective (even 100k is too much because it probably doesn't include maintence costs and the cost of changing business rules (which is much more expensive for software than a secretary)).
For web dev, HTML kit is very versatile as it color codes and can format perl and html in a very customizable way. And of course it's free.
http://www.chami.com/html-kit/
I'd much rather pay than have to watch commercials. Let's face it, tv without commercials is definitely worth it (ie. HBO makes better shows than ABC).
I feel like there was a company that had virtual desktops you could log into. If someone were to make a website that would store your registry settings on a backed up server, then you could log onto their domain over the internet (kind of insecure, but you'd have to know that). Anyway, it would be more secure than the typical slacker jacking into the internet with no protection at all.
Slashdot Mirror
Definitely use EC2. There is no point in owning hardware anymore unless you have a poor Internet connection or you're running a local application like a media server. Of course, this is above and beyond a reasonable desktop/laptop which you'll need for local development, management etc... I personally use and love Macs (switched about a year ago). I wouldn't go back to Windows for $1k (and I used to be a Windows Server Admin - actually, their server stuff is good). When you're on Mac, you'll need a good package manager. I recommend MacPorts and Porticus. As for which Mac, get the iMac or MacBook with an external monitor, mouse, and keyboard. Buy TextMate also for editing.
This is an interesting article showing some of the myths associated with Dvorak vs. QWERTY: http://reason.com/9606/Fe.QWERTY.shtml
This is a joke - I'm sure of it
But seriously, somebody must have figured out the numbers on this. If 50% of world electricity were derived from wind, how much energy would that take out of the atmosphere? Even if it is insignificant percentage wise, it is certainly not clear what the overall macro effect wouild be. Small changes can have profound effects in complex systems. Does anyone know an article that deals with this quantitatively?
I'm confused as to why you're not trying for Suse or Redhat. Those have real support from IBM. There's no point in getting philosophical. Just push for an official linux as recognized by the hardware manufacturer (IBM).
The learning curve from Debian to Redhat or Suse is nominal.
I'm confused as to what privacy concerns would allow you to post process the sound. The old way, nobody would hear more than a snippet. If this is a medical experiment, I would imagine you are having trouble with identifiable information being accessible - which is exactly what would be the case with the unprocessed sound running on the script on the windows machine. Anyway, software is blindingly easier than modified chips. Good step with this.
Go here: http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/thinclients/ind ex_t5000.html
HP makes Windows and Linux thin clients - all fully supported. This is not something I've tried, but I agree that thin client is the way to go in this situation (low user needs and high maintenance worries). You might think about sticking with windows since so many people know how to use it - hard to say. On the other hand, linux is better in so many ways ($$$ and stability/susceptibility to viruses). Go with Linux and all will be well. Have one windows machine in the corner 'just in case'.
HP is nice for many things, but the xerox docuscan is really the solution for you. Just get the most expensive one you can afford (more money = faster) and go for it. MIT press classics recently did a bigger project converting all their books to PDF for reprint - too bad you don't have those funds http://www.xeroxscanners.com/default.asp?pageid=10 0
Exactly. If it's a legal issue, there are many more options for cracking in there.
Remember, the whole point of packages is to: A) save time in the future B) reduce nuances for future administrators C) keep similarity with other machines Packages help on all of those fronts. At some point, when you're no longer an undergrad, time will be your biggest limiter. When a system is package based, it may be a few days (or if you're sticking to stable packages, longer) behind the times, but the chances of you mucking up the system are much lower. Also, if somebody else takes over the system and it's all package based, there aren't any gotchas. In a corporate setting, packages should ALWAYS be used unless absolutely necessary not to (which it never is because you can make your own binary or source packages). Academics, it doesn't matter so much, but it's like any skill. Start with proper and then allow yourself the privilege of breaking the rules.
Also, some important points: 1) remember to constantly tell non-IT people that you are not going to change the desktop (assuming you aren't right now - most depts are only considering servers) 2) As per above, point out the numerous open source packages already in use (even financial companies do transaction data with open source) 3) Come up with a review process to approve specific products. DO NOT just let locals willy nilly choose random packages. Everything must be best of breed and supported. This means settling on one linux (Suse or Redhat probably) supported by current hardware vendors (IBM or Sun and kind of HP). 4) Make it clear that this does not mean people can start using obscure .8 versions of sourceforge products. The honchos will be happy if you are conservative and are only allowing the use of established and supported products with long lifecycles (MySQL, Redhat/Suse, Qmail).
Mine is bundled with my phone, so it's quite cheap. Also, there's a semi-contract for 12 months. As long as you cancel the line, the contract is void, but if you move within the area, you have to keep the dsl.
I think slashdot hashing id so that we can't vote twice, yet nobody can look up our id/address as associated with an action (except by brute force). Wait, just had a thought. If my address is adam@somedomain.com and the law was interested in whether I said something, they could just subpeona your hashes and the key and see if mine was the right one. So, it's like a brute force with a very, very good guess. Hmmmm.
The bag that thinkpads come with is great. Has a support system so the laptop literally hangs internally from the top by an elastic fabric. There's 2 full inches of dead space at the bottom.
I've heard good things about the eos line. $209 is the cheapest I can find. This is good because if you start buying lenses, you can keep them for when you get an eos digital body in the future.
Advantages: Enterprise Server has the long life cycle which means that if you have a database server and there is a compromise of sshd or something 2 years down the road, all you have to do is run up2date -u rather than hunt down rpms that have not been tested on your platform. Support may end up being useful Unnecessary rpms are not in the enterprise version (I believe there are about 30% fewer rpms in the enterprise version than the normal version) The kernel has been optimized for server use. Generally, these benefits are cheaper than the manpower required to make them unimportant (my favorite being the smaller default install - fewer potential holes/bugs/problems). Any serious IT department needs this kind of support. Otherwise, you're just another hack who is in the DIY mindframe which says that you are not actually thinking about the business first (which is your job after all). If you're really serious, you can also get your own up2date server running to test rpms in a test environment before you allow other machines to pull them.
Most legitimate companies require this for director level and up. It is fully required for public companies. This is a matter of your role as a public symbol of the company. Nobody cares if Joe Blow IT guy has bad credit, but somebody with fiduciary responsibility or who is seen in the public eye has to have a higher standard. If you're not willing to quit, you shouldn't even rebuff the request for the credit check. It's that kind of whining that instantly tells me to reconsider the hire. I would probably just nip this in the bud if I were the COO and nullify the hiring. Nothing personal, but you're free to leave and the company is free to find someone else.
1/4 rack 1-3Mb burstable (pretty much uses 1.5-1.9 during the day and 2 at night during the backups)
quite good uptime, service, etc.
reboots if necessary
24hr monitoring
thumbprint access
clean power
managed firewall
I love working on IT, but let's face it, this is just like any other department in a company. Many of us have seen the total waste of $$$ that an IT manager will sell to the higher ups - sometimes just to work with new technology, etc.. The fact of the matter is that at a typical company, IT budget is not seen with an eye on monetary rewards. That has changed recently. Business rules state that if a secretary does something well for 30k a year, don't spend 200k to eliminate his/her position as it is not cost effective (even 100k is too much because it probably doesn't include maintence costs and the cost of changing business rules (which is much more expensive for software than a secretary)).
For web dev, HTML kit is very versatile as it color codes and can format perl and html in a very customizable way. And of course it's free. http://www.chami.com/html-kit/
I'd much rather pay than have to watch commercials. Let's face it, tv without commercials is definitely worth it (ie. HBO makes better shows than ABC).
Cuteftp pro (including sftp support) is worth every penny. Full sftp gui functionality over a secure connection (with all sorts of handy helpers)
I feel like there was a company that had virtual desktops you could log into. If someone were to make a website that would store your registry settings on a backed up server, then you could log onto their domain over the internet (kind of insecure, but you'd have to know that). Anyway, it would be more secure than the typical slacker jacking into the internet with no protection at all.