There's another story about Truste in today's Investor's Business Daily on page A13. Check it out. Unfortunately, though, it's not available via the web.
Let's face it...for $110,000 in fines and minimal expenses for spray paint and graffiti artists, IBM has gotten the bargain of the century in terms of advertising dollars spent. Moreover, with the heightened press coverage due to their run-in with SanFran laws, I'd bet everyone at IBM all the way up to Lou hisownself is pleased with this ploy.
There was a blurb in the article about high definition DVD's being a ways out yet.
Question: Is that correct? If I go out and buy an HDTV set, no DVD players yet output any kind of HDTV signal, even if I make my own movie with a Mac or something like that?
This looks like a great machine for its intended markets, but one still has to ask the most relevant question: how much longer will SGI last?
I'm not about to enter the SGI vs. Linux vs. Mac debate; look no further than the company's own stock price. Back in September the stock hit a low of $0.31 per share, though it has made impressive gains in recent months due to potential government contracts.
Even in the great technology spending spree of the late 1990's SGI languished far behind everyone else. The company has lost money each quarter since at least 1999, the company is expected to show a net loss for the fiscal year ending in June, and the June 03 year is expected to be breakeven at best. Currently only four analysts follow the stock; jokes about the usefulness of analysts aside, 3 have it rated a hold and 1 has an outright sell.
How much longer will SGI survive. The technology is great, but can they pay the bills?
Looking at the pictures hitchhacker so kindly mirrored for us, The desks strike me as much too small. By the time you plop down a 21" monitor and a keyboard, there is very little surface area left to have a couple of open books, notes, coffee, and whatnot. Maybe I'm just too dumb to memorize all of my programming books, but I like a desk to be at least 5 feet wide so I have room to actually get stuff done.
Being a member of generation D, condescending elders often ask me if I even know what a vinyl record is. I tell them "sure. It's a giant CD that uses a needle instead of a laser and melts if you leave it in the sun."
Maybe so, but have you recently listened to a well-made record on a good turntable? The sound is absolutely incredible, and I think many people would honestly conclude (1) that analog is not dead and (2) digital recording isn't as great as it's cracked up to be.
While the article did provide evidence that Intel's compiler produces faster code, it neglected to mention one small difference betwee gcc and Intel cc: gcc is free, while a single-user license from Intel is $499.
While software firms and organizations developing mission-critical programs may decide to switch to icc, the fact that gcc is free will help it to remain popular among hackers and other budget-constrained users. Moreover, most of the source code programs one downloads for Linux are designed to be compiled with gcc.
Perhaps this is true, but $750k for a mainframe still doesn't buy much of anything. My understanding is that to purchase all the hardware for a new mainframe installation will set you back at least $5 million, not including on-going service contracts.
I'm tempted to take this $400k figure with a huge grain of salt. I'm not sure that will get you much of anything except, perhaps, the main CPU box with one or two processors. I'd bet the total cost of installation is much higher.
I noticed everyone here is talking about a crackdown on NAT. I use a basic IP masquerading setup at home to share my net connection between two computers.
I always thought that NAT and IP Masq'ing are two different things, NAT being used for a larger number of users and multiple IP addresses, while IP masq'ing is for a few computers going through one IP address.
So are they targeting NAT specifically, or are they going after all multi-computer households?
I've noticed that both Gnome and KDE, while trying to differentiate themselves from Windows, begin to look more and more like it at every release. For example, both have a button at the bottom of the screen analogous to the M$ Start button, and many of their desktop icons are certainly similar to those found in Windows.
I suppose if you find that type of environment most productive, there is nothing wrong with it. However, I've found that it actually takes a long time to navigate and get tasks done.
At home I use an old FVWM2 configuration I brewed several years ago, and I see no reason to keep updating the look and feel every 6 months. It does what I want it to do, and I am comfortable using it. It is not flashy, and it does not get in the way.
At work I have been using CDE, and I think that it is an excellent all-around desktop environment that is easy enough for newbies to use and yet allows more experienced users quick access to things they need without playing hide-and-seek games.
What the IRS really needs to do is create a web site where anyone can file his taxes online with a simple web browser.
This way, whether one prepares his taxes using a software program which then prints out the relevant forms or by filling out forms manually, filing is a simple matter of going to the website, logging in, and typing the data into the forms.
The IRS could then perform a quick check for math errors or other booboos and let the person correct them immediately. If a person is not ready to submit the forms, his information is saved, and the next time he logs in, the forms are restored to the way they were when he was last there. Clicking on the final submit button is equivalent to signing the form and sticking it in the mail.
Seriously, this seems all very do-able to me. The current efiling system where you have to pay someone $50 to do basically the same thing you could do on the web yourself sounds like a scam and a political payoff to the tax accountants.
This $50,000 price tag was just for the parts to actually build the satellite. It does not include the value of the grant from Boeing for three years of development time, nor does it reflect the salaries of engineers to do it. Moreover, the article did not give details about how the satellite was in orbit; and I would bet that if a person wanted to shoot his own satellite into space, the price would be prohibitive.
Sure, a bunch of amateurs being able to develop a satellite on a shoestring budget makes for an interesting story, but to suggest that there will soon be a supply of reliable, ultra-cheap satellites is a stretch.
...And what's most disturbing is that this is the same government which has an anti-trust suit against Microsoft. So much for the left hand knowing what the right hand is doing.
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· Score: 2, Informative
Whenever you try and get an article from the NYT and are presented with that pesky registration screen, just replace the "www" in the URL window at the top of your browser with "archives" and hit return. Works every time.
People, there is absolutely no conceivable way that AOL/TW would bid for Redhat. Why would they buy them out? To acquire talent to develop Linux-based thin clients? That's hardly a reason to buy out RHAT. AOL is a media company; it is in the entertainment business. AOL has absolutely no interest in making a Netscape-like mistake again. Trust me.
If anyone were to go after Redhat, it would be IBM. With IBM's commitment to Linux, IBM might have something to gain. However, given IBM's huge research department, I don't think it has any urgent need to buy RHAT, either.
Finally, the open-source nature of Linux makes a buyout even harder to imagine. While companies like RHAT have some great people working for them, I don't think those people can be considered "strategic" enough to justify an acquisition.
Are all fans really as noisy as some people make them out to be? I have an older Gateway system, and certainly that thing is loud. However, I've also got a newer Dell machine with three fans, and it's whisper quiet.
Looking through the DigiKey catalog, I've noticed that small fans cost anywhere from $10 to $50. Instead of paying extra money for a water-cooled case, why not just buy fans with better bearings, closer tolerances, and whatnot to make them more quiet? I'm sure there are very quiet fans available.
Doesn't Photoshop come in a "consumer model" which is either free with some digital cameras or at most $99 retail? Sure, the average joe isn't going to pay $600 for the professional version... Adobe provides him with a cost-effective alternative.
Yes, the GIMP is free. But the GIMP is not Photoshop. Consider the $600 not as the price of Photoshop per se but rather the price people are willing to pay for the differences between the two products. Apparently, a lot of people think Photoshop is $600 better.
To all you warez pirates out there...let this be a lesson!
Seriously, piracy is a big problem in Asia, and something must be done to stop it. Adobe spends tens of millions of dollars a year in product development costs to provide consumers with useful products. If someone is not willing to pay for the software, he should not be allowed to use the fruits of Adobe's labor. Of course, open-source and other freely available software is different; and those authors should be commended for their dedication and service. However, a company which spends so much money developing its products has a right to recoup its investment.
First, I agree 100% with Walter Hewlett that the merger with Compaq is a terrible idea. Compaq has too many problems on its own, and HP doesn't need the challenge of turning two companies (HP and CPQ) around at the same time.
Moreover, consolidation in the desktop PC market is needed. With DELL whipping everyone's ass, one of either GTW, CPQ, or HP needs to say goodbye. Neither CPQ nor HP can really compete with the likes of DELL, and they both are bleeding cash on their PC sales. Plus, if one firm exits, that breathes new life into the sails of the others.
HP should stick to what it does best: printers, servers, and services. Those businesses have recurring cash streams. PC's are the real problem. It's too bad they spun off the Agilent (?) division a few years ago to focus more on PC's. A is a good, strong company.
Yes, Fiorina is out if the CPQ merger falls through. She's been totally distracted by the merger, and I doubt if she really has a handle on the existing businesses.
Other than that this stuff is made out of silicon, I don't know much about these devices. Are they etched like integrated circuits? And here's what baffles me...If they're etched, how in the heck can they actually make gears and stuff spin and move around?
I've been using Linux and Solaris more or less exclusively for the past three years or so, but I've never payed much attention to the internals of the kernel.
If someone has just relatively basic programming knowledge of C/C++, what's a good way to start learning about kernels?
I've got an old 486 not doing anything, and I was thinking about how I could start from absolute scratch and try and build a trivially simple kernel (and shell to communicate with it). Where should I start?
I'd be interested to here what your problems were with the switchover. I live in A^2, too, and other than one 8 hour service outage and a different IP address, there was no chaos AFAIK.
Considering we're only paying $45 a month for the service, I think its been great.
Slashdot Mirror
There's another story about Truste in today's Investor's Business Daily on page A13. Check it out. Unfortunately, though, it's not available via the web.
Let's face it...for $110,000 in fines and minimal expenses for spray paint and graffiti artists, IBM has gotten the bargain of the century in terms of advertising dollars spent. Moreover, with the heightened press coverage due to their run-in with SanFran laws, I'd bet everyone at IBM all the way up to Lou hisownself is pleased with this ploy.
Question: Is that correct? If I go out and buy an HDTV set, no DVD players yet output any kind of HDTV signal, even if I make my own movie with a Mac or something like that?
I'm not about to enter the SGI vs. Linux vs. Mac debate; look no further than the company's own stock price. Back in September the stock hit a low of $0.31 per share, though it has made impressive gains in recent months due to potential government contracts.
Even in the great technology spending spree of the late 1990's SGI languished far behind everyone else. The company has lost money each quarter since at least 1999, the company is expected to show a net loss for the fiscal year ending in June, and the June 03 year is expected to be breakeven at best. Currently only four analysts follow the stock; jokes about the usefulness of analysts aside, 3 have it rated a hold and 1 has an outright sell.
How much longer will SGI survive. The technology is great, but can they pay the bills?
Looking at the pictures hitchhacker so kindly mirrored for us, The desks strike me as much too small. By the time you plop down a 21" monitor and a keyboard, there is very little surface area left to have a couple of open books, notes, coffee, and whatnot. Maybe I'm just too dumb to memorize all of my programming books, but I like a desk to be at least 5 feet wide so I have room to actually get stuff done.
I think it's a UFO! The guy looks like a Martian, and it's bright red like everything from Mars!
Maybe so, but have you recently listened to a well-made record on a good turntable? The sound is absolutely incredible, and I think many people would honestly conclude (1) that analog is not dead and (2) digital recording isn't as great as it's cracked up to be.
While software firms and organizations developing mission-critical programs may decide to switch to icc, the fact that gcc is free will help it to remain popular among hackers and other budget-constrained users. Moreover, most of the source code programs one downloads for Linux are designed to be compiled with gcc.
I'm tempted to take this $400k figure with a huge grain of salt. I'm not sure that will get you much of anything except, perhaps, the main CPU box with one or two processors. I'd bet the total cost of installation is much higher.
I always thought that NAT and IP Masq'ing are two different things, NAT being used for a larger number of users and multiple IP addresses, while IP masq'ing is for a few computers going through one IP address.
So are they targeting NAT specifically, or are they going after all multi-computer households?
I suppose if you find that type of environment most productive, there is nothing wrong with it. However, I've found that it actually takes a long time to navigate and get tasks done.
At home I use an old FVWM2 configuration I brewed several years ago, and I see no reason to keep updating the look and feel every 6 months. It does what I want it to do, and I am comfortable using it. It is not flashy, and it does not get in the way.
At work I have been using CDE, and I think that it is an excellent all-around desktop environment that is easy enough for newbies to use and yet allows more experienced users quick access to things they need without playing hide-and-seek games.
This way, whether one prepares his taxes using a software program which then prints out the relevant forms or by filling out forms manually, filing is a simple matter of going to the website, logging in, and typing the data into the forms.
The IRS could then perform a quick check for math errors or other booboos and let the person correct them immediately. If a person is not ready to submit the forms, his information is saved, and the next time he logs in, the forms are restored to the way they were when he was last there. Clicking on the final submit button is equivalent to signing the form and sticking it in the mail.
Seriously, this seems all very do-able to me. The current efiling system where you have to pay someone $50 to do basically the same thing you could do on the web yourself sounds like a scam and a political payoff to the tax accountants.
Sure, a bunch of amateurs being able to develop a satellite on a shoestring budget makes for an interesting story, but to suggest that there will soon be a supply of reliable, ultra-cheap satellites is a stretch.
...And what's most disturbing is that this is the same government which has an anti-trust suit against Microsoft. So much for the left hand knowing what the right hand is doing.
Whenever you try and get an article from the NYT and are presented with that pesky registration screen, just replace the "www" in the URL window at the top of your browser with "archives" and hit return. Works every time.
If anyone were to go after Redhat, it would be IBM. With IBM's commitment to Linux, IBM might have something to gain. However, given IBM's huge research department, I don't think it has any urgent need to buy RHAT, either.
Finally, the open-source nature of Linux makes a buyout even harder to imagine. While companies like RHAT have some great people working for them, I don't think those people can be considered "strategic" enough to justify an acquisition.
Looking through the DigiKey catalog, I've noticed that small fans cost anywhere from $10 to $50. Instead of paying extra money for a water-cooled case, why not just buy fans with better bearings, closer tolerances, and whatnot to make them more quiet? I'm sure there are very quiet fans available.
Doesn't Photoshop come in a "consumer model" which is either free with some digital cameras or at most $99 retail? Sure, the average joe isn't going to pay $600 for the professional version ... Adobe provides him with a cost-effective alternative.
Yes, the GIMP is free. But the GIMP is not Photoshop. Consider the $600 not as the price of Photoshop per se but rather the price people are willing to pay for the differences between the two products. Apparently, a lot of people think Photoshop is $600 better.
Seriously, piracy is a big problem in Asia, and something must be done to stop it. Adobe spends tens of millions of dollars a year in product development costs to provide consumers with useful products. If someone is not willing to pay for the software, he should not be allowed to use the fruits of Adobe's labor. Of course, open-source and other freely available software is different; and those authors should be commended for their dedication and service. However, a company which spends so much money developing its products has a right to recoup its investment.
Moreover, consolidation in the desktop PC market is needed. With DELL whipping everyone's ass, one of either GTW, CPQ, or HP needs to say goodbye. Neither CPQ nor HP can really compete with the likes of DELL, and they both are bleeding cash on their PC sales. Plus, if one firm exits, that breathes new life into the sails of the others.
HP should stick to what it does best: printers, servers, and services. Those businesses have recurring cash streams. PC's are the real problem. It's too bad they spun off the Agilent (?) division a few years ago to focus more on PC's. A is a good, strong company.
Yes, Fiorina is out if the CPQ merger falls through. She's been totally distracted by the merger, and I doubt if she really has a handle on the existing businesses.
Other than that this stuff is made out of silicon, I don't know much about these devices. Are they etched like integrated circuits? And here's what baffles me...If they're etched, how in the heck can they actually make gears and stuff spin and move around?
If someone has just relatively basic programming knowledge of C/C++, what's a good way to start learning about kernels?
I've got an old 486 not doing anything, and I was thinking about how I could start from absolute scratch and try and build a trivially simple kernel (and shell to communicate with it). Where should I start?
Considering we're only paying $45 a month for the service, I think its been great.
MS employee: "Um, Sir Gates, we have the list of email addresses of Lindows users...They all have dubious hotmail accounts."