Did they charge $4.99 a minute for the call?
on
Quantum Holography
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· Score: 1
They can make a bundle, pay off the technology. I hear Madam Cleo is having problems with the psychic network, maybe the scientists can get her to work for them.
Heh heh... yeah, I would like to think that, but there are a lot of people who bought computers with XP on them.
With XP, you can just go into safe mode and edit the registry and delete the file, or you can go to the recovery console and delete the file (if you're not worried about losing your AV program).
NTFSDos is one utility that allows you to boot from a floppy and access the NTFS drives. It allows you to write to the NTFS drive, but not to copy files off. (For copying files off, Linux and BSD can both mount NTFS drives and bypass that dreaded NTFS "security"). For NT4, it's a great investment to fix your NTFS problems. Go in, delete the problem file, and you're done.
To fix the registry (so it doesn't delete anything, it takes a little more work, but it can be done.
What's NTFS have to do with it? Or is that part of your sig?
On NT:
"gone.scr" is a task that's running. It's easily killed.
"pentagone" is shown as a running app. It's easily ended.
c:\winnt\system32\gone.scr is HSR, that doesn't stop you from deleting it.
Then make the registry changes and you're set.
Well, that's if you're not running outlook. If you are, then you need smack yourself around a while, do the above, uninstall outlook, then you're pretty much set.
Before I ran the virus, I ran Arkosoft's System Snapshot to see what the virus was doing. Did this at 10:30AM before I knew it was a virus so I could at least figure out how to undo the damage if it hit. Great little app.
All the reports, thousands of them, will be filing hourly reports from the games back to their editors. I'm not sure how they plan to do it, but I suspect they'll use the provided "public" terminals so they can fire off results and other tidbits to those waiting at home. I don't suppose they'd let reports jack in with their own laptops, too much security risk there.
Not quite. D&D and AD&D developed along similiar lines. Many players back in the early 80s started with D&D and made the move to AD&D. Others went straight to AD&D. However, not all did. Some of us preferred the simpler D&D rules over the more complex and more confining AD&D rules. We preferred not to have to carry massive tomes around that explained every little detail, but rather to use their own imaginations and play a more freewheeling game.
In 1978/79, the AD&D Players and DM Guides were released. In 1980, the D&D 2nd ed. Basic and Expert guides were released. In 1993, the 3rd ed. B & E. 1994- D&D Companion. 1995 D&D Masters, 1996 Immortals. AD&D 2nd Ed wasn't released until 1998. So you see, D&D was not just the "forerunner" of AD&D, but rather a similar but separate line of gaming.
I stopped playing D&D in 1994 and AD&D in 1996.
By that time I'd moved on to Ultima and Bard's Tale. The big attraction was being able to play without having to coordinate everyone's schedule. It was easier when we were younger to get everyone together, but as people started dating, partying, and/or taking studies seriously, weekend-long sessions just didn't happen.
We old farts try to get together now and then, but with work, wives, kids, kid's activities, vacations, it takes weeks of advance planning to get something organized, if your gaming buddies live within 50 miles. Online gaming has been a boon to us with lives, in that we can put the kids to sleep, tell the wives to go do the "girl" thing, then hack and slash again with our ol' buds be they on the other side of the country.
Well, the heat's not "wasted" per se, there just wasn't any way to really use the heat prior to this device coming along (aside from the simple things like interior heat).
Now this new technology can be used to make engines much more efficient. As you add more of these devices, the less you'll have to cool the engine by means of the water cooling system. Smaller radiators, maybe even get rid of the radiator fan. I don't know how much this device will actually cool the engine, but I suppose you add enough and you can get rid of the radiator altogether.
I think the biggest impact will be on Harley-Davidson! They introduced their new generation bike not too long ago, and to cool their new engine, they had to add a radiator. If this could eliminate that radiator, it would make a lot of people happy.
Yep, my phone came free with my service. Didn't pay a dime. No, it doesn't play Fur Elise or the William Tell Overature, no it doesn't have calendering, no it doesn't have games, no it isn't internet ready, no doesn't do text messaging, and no, it doesn't crash.
Or, people who can tear their tendons out of their bones...
Yes, certain genetic enhancements, such as higher RBC count, can be done without (i assume) much damage to the body.
However, there are limits to other enhancements. The human body has had millions of years to become somewhat optimized. When you start increasing certain aspects with disregard for others, you create problems.
Just building muscle mass on power weight lifters won't matter much unless you also increase the strength of all the supporting structures. Yes, you could pretty easily increase muscle mass/density to lift an extra 200kg. But how much more weight can the wrist take before snapping? The small bones of the feet?
Sprinters- just how much stress can you put on your feet when you start? Sure, tweaking those leg muscles so they can pump faster will help, but the start is the most critical part of a sprint. Gene therapy to build stronger bones and tendons in the feet so that it can withstand more pressure at the starting point would be key to winning races. IIRC, the foot can withstand 20G's or so. Well, if you could double it, then the sprinters would be able to get off the line that much quicker.
Perhaps that's where the competition will be. How far can you push the body, during competition, without breaking. Sorta like the drag races of today- the cars that win are the ones that are the best, but most importantly, don't blow headers and gaskets coming off the line.
We'll start watching the olympics for the same reasons we watch the nascar races; for the crashes.
Good point. That's what they're saying, but who knows how much they will capture?
How do they do they do that I wonder? I'm not a programmer, but it seems pretty complicated to me to detect when PGPTray (which is already running as a Doze process) pops up the passphrase window so that Magic Lantern can start recording. Seems like it would be easier to just capture everything.
Hackers won't need to mod the program, just capture the data it pumps out. I can see this as THE hack. Once you can get Magic Lantern installed onto a system, just capture the data or intercept the packets. Since the hacked system won't detect Magic Lantern, you just need to write code capture the output. We'll see dozens of new viruses a day that capture this output. Sooner or later symantec will get tired of writing hundreds of updates a week trying to stop these intercept viruses while keeping the keylogger hidden.
As for firewalls, well this thing has got to send it's data somewhere, and once people figure out where it should be easy enough to detect and block or reroute to somewhere more fun.
I don't suppose it would actually send data all the way back to the FBI, probably to some machine sitting at the ISP. But if it were hardcoded, can you imagine the DDOS potential of just sending out the FBI logger as a VIRUS ITSELF?
It has NO anti-skip memory. Ok, my car doesn't have the best shocks but it should not skip as often as it does. It even skips with MP3s! You'd expect the software could have been written to store a few seconds in memory before playing, but no, it just skips, and skips bad.
It skips when it gets hot. After about 2 hours on the road in the winter, it just plain overheats. Ok, the placement of the stereo in the dash isn't ideal, it sits in front of the winshield vents and above the front vents. I've installed a 3" cooling fan (powered by the auto antenna lead) to draw off heat, but it still overheats. It's a little better riding with the faceplate flipped down, that allows air to pass through the CD slot and also reduces the heat from the faceplate. Even with the fan, I need to turn it off to let it cool or drive without heat. It's rated to operate up to 40C and I know that it doesn't get more than 30C in the dash. So it just plain sucks. How often do I make 3+ hour trips? Every weekend snowboarding if I can, and it really sucks not having tunes while driving through upstate NY and VT.
Lately having problems reading CDRs. The unit is telling me it's a laser focus issue and needs service. Fantastic. It's barely over a year old now.
Right now, I'm using the line-in to play MP3s off my laptop. I'm probably gonna pull the CDCMP3 and replace it with a cheap stereo with a line-in, one less likely to get stolen. I wouldn't mind the CDCMP3 being stolen, it'd give me a reason to replace it with something that works. However, I don't want to have to replace a broken window as well.
Really, the way to go is to buy a cheaper stereo with a line in and use a laptop or other MP3 unit (I also use my Rio 300 for shorter trips). Yeah, it's not as easy to control or as cool, but it's cheaper and there's less chance of it getting stolen. I bought it when it first came out, before any of the reviews, and I now seriously regret not having waited for those reviews.
CD and HD based MP3 players just aren't up to an hour on a treadmill or two on the pavement. I still carry my ol' Rio 300 which stores about 30 minutes of music and several smartmedia cards to finish the trip. I'll probably upgrade to a Rio 500 when I get around to it, but the 300 still works for me.
Load up those machines with Windows. Let them try running Disney's Lion King CD in XP under the 640x480x256 "compatible" mode. Let them find that users on one system can't have their own video resolutions. Let them try to disable the paperclip. Let them try to get their non-ms multimedia keyboard working.
It won't be long before we see them here complaining about it.
No, Amiga owners never called them Commodores
on
Message from Kabul
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· Score: 1
Every Amiga owner I've known has called them Amigas, never as Commodores. They were adamant that their multi-tasking, awesome sound and graphics Amigas were not mistaken for the simple little more than a console system that was the C64 that the rest of us had.
Maybe I should dig out my Okidata color printer and send it to him so he can print out his porn. Tell him to go easy on that tri-color ribbon, they're probably hard to find now. You can rewind the ribbon and use it a few times to save money if you don't care too much about the quality. Of course, it's extremely slow since the ribbon has repeating 8.5" segments of C, Y, &M, and needs to make three passes per line. But I guess he'll have time enough to print while waiting for the next image to download on his 1200bps modem.
10 PRINT "THE TALIBAN SUCKS"
20 GOTO 10
RUN
Oh, and did I miss an article about Linux ported to the C64? I haven't been reading the Linux on xbox/ps2/dreamcast/washingmachine/toasteroven posts too carefully.
No one is going to calcualte the materials needed for a bridge while standing there overlooking a river. Maybe 1000 years ago when they were deciding exactly how many logs needed to support three columns of heavy cavalry, but not today. Surveyors go out and take measurements. Engineers go out and take core samples of the ground. They do traffic surveys. Once the data is gathered, then they design the bridge. They don't design it in bits and pieces in the field.
PDAs have found limited use in the field, but mostly to gather data and take notes. That data is fed later into a full sized 'puter that does the number crunching and spits out results.
For example, in many places around the world forest and park rangers use PDAs to track animal sightings. Sure, with a powerful PDA they could crunch those numbers, but what would it mean? Nothing. Not until all the data from all the rangers is collected, then you have useful data about animal numbers, migration patterns, etc. Data from one unit is pretty useless by itself.
Still, assuming with wireless, you communicate with other wireless units and manage to do some collective computing to get the results. Now what does the ranger do with the data while in the field? The data will be useful in the larger picture, but for the individual ranger? Maybe he can tell hikers which parts of his range the bears are gathering.
Which comes to the point, it will probably find a niche. But I doubt it will make any significant impact.
And, unbeknownst to you and thousands of others, the site that maintains the list has been hacked, and you are downloading empty lists that allow every exploit.
It's a good idea, but there's a problem when you create a central point of failure.
It is by no means an easy thing to do. The article itself states that it's not easy.
The linuxworld.com article is good, but waving it under the nose of the CIO isn't going to change things. Can we guarantee that after 5 years there will be a substantial cost savings? I can say on paper that yes, if everything remains the same, if MS continues to license software at the same fees, if Linux continues develop and continues to be free, if a dozen other factors don't change, then yes, it's probable. Will I bet my job on it? No. Is the IT director going to bet his job on it? No. Is the CIO going to bet his job on it? No.
Yes, those IT directors that do, those CIOs that are willing to take that risk have a lot to gain (me, I might get a small raise, and can list the experience on my resume, but I don't get much out of it).
The idea that even if productivity increases by 1% is enticing, but well it's a sales pitch. Every software company has thrown this out, and yes, if we could improve productivity by 1%, it would be fantastic. But the problem is, if NT crashes, the user reboots, goes to the coffee machine, goes out for a smoke, and comes back and continues their work. There's the 1% lost. If they don't crash, they get the work done early, and spend the extra time talking to their neighbor or surfing the 'net. I can guarantee the potential of 1% increase in productivity due to their systems not crashing, but I can't guarantee it will ever materialize.
From the article;
The challenge is to change minds not just technology.
It requires a massive shift in thinking. If you're in a young, cutting edge company, then you might be able to sell the change. If you're stuck in any of the vast majority of companies, then there's not much chance of Linux appearing on the desktop. Let's face it, if you want to save $1M over five years, you lay off a bunch of people and make the rest slave harder. It's a tried and true method and shows up on the balance sheet immediately. That's capitalism for you.
Personally, I use BSD on my laptop and my server at home. I have Linux dual-booting with 98 on my desktop there (for games). If (or when) I start my own consulting company, you can bet I'll have BSD/Linux. Here at work, I'm making progress getting Linux into the data center since there you see an immediate savings. However, on the desktop, it's a dead issue.
There are no more "field" trips to a desktop. If it gets screwed up, you tell your management software to blow down a new image. That's the whole point of a corporate desktop. You don't bother remote admin because it's cheaper to send down a new image. Personal files on the desktop? Sorry, it's not yours, it's our machine and all business related files are on the network file server like our propriatary file management app makes you do. If you saved a file locally, tough, you shouldn't have been doing it.
Install their own software? They don't have the rights. If they do install their own software, their violating the AUP of the company. It's our desktop, not theirs.
When it comes down to the high TCO of a desktop, it's supporting the USERS with the APPS. That will remain whether it's NT, Linux, or Mac. Users are users.
Linux may make inroads into the corporate world (aside from small pockets of developers) when:
1. There are tools that plug into our management systems to adequately manage the desktop.
2. When we decide to stop spending millions of dollars developing our custom file management, accounting, billing, purchasing, instant messaging, telephone billing, office directory, HR, Benefits, the IE only Intranet, Remote Access, PKI, and the apps that integrate all the above, and start spending that money plus 100x more on hiring Linux coders, buying a duplicate server for each backend since they are mission critical apps we're not going to test the Linux clients hitting live servers, hire Network Admins to take care of the new test servers, hire trainers to train users how to use Linux and StarOffice, hire a slew of more technical support to handle the increased number of phone calls during the transition, hire a slew of people to handle all the document conversion issues that will inevitably come up.
Actually, it will NEVER happen because the first thing the CIO will ask is "Where's the ROI?" And when we show him the numbers, and say that converting to Linux on all the desktops will never pay off but we may break even in 10 years of not having to purchase Microsoft Office licenses for each desktop, the plan will get shitcanned. That's why we won't see Linux on the corporate desktop.
Think of your favorite games that have FMV sequences. The actual game engine, software, controls the FMV "movie". But the entire CD is considered software.
Take Microsoft's Encarta on DVD. I'm sure MS isn't going to say that's a "movie" no matter how many videos it contains.
A "movie" DVD, on the other hand, contains a relatively small "software" portion and a comparatively larger "movie" portion (plural if you consider the outtakes, trailers, interviews). So what's the difference? The actual sizes of the "software" and "movie"???
It's absurd to consider a DVD anything BUT software.
Ugg: No, ever since he put that log across the stream he's been all "holier than thou" to the rest of us.
Ogg: Damn engineers. When will they learn to leave well enough alone? If some supernatural being we haven't gotten around to naming yet wanted us to use trees to cross streams, he would have given us something to cut down those trees.
Ugg: Did you see what Trogg used to chop down the tree? He didn't chew it like the rest of us, he used a rock tied to a stick! I hear he's also playing with fire too. Calls it cooking. Says it will revolutionalize eating. I'm telling you Ogg, there's something wrong with that kid.
Slashdot Mirror
They can make a bundle, pay off the technology. I hear Madam Cleo is having problems with the psychic network, maybe the scientists can get her to work for them.
It wasn't actually Shroedinger's cat. He was a dog person. He used his girlfriend's cat, which he didn't like too much anyway.
Heh heh... yeah, I would like to think that, but there are a lot of people who bought computers with XP on them.
With XP, you can just go into safe mode and edit the registry and delete the file, or you can go to the recovery console and delete the file (if you're not worried about losing your AV program).
Or you can ditch XP and load Linux or FreeBSD...
NTFSDos is one utility that allows you to boot from a floppy and access the NTFS drives. It allows you to write to the NTFS drive, but not to copy files off. (For copying files off, Linux and BSD can both mount NTFS drives and bypass that dreaded NTFS "security"). For NT4, it's a great investment to fix your NTFS problems. Go in, delete the problem file, and you're done. To fix the registry (so it doesn't delete anything, it takes a little more work, but it can be done.
What's NTFS have to do with it? Or is that part of your sig?
On NT:
"gone.scr" is a task that's running. It's easily killed.
"pentagone" is shown as a running app. It's easily ended.
c:\winnt\system32\gone.scr is HSR, that doesn't stop you from deleting it.
Then make the registry changes and you're set.
Well, that's if you're not running outlook. If you are, then you need smack yourself around a while, do the above, uninstall outlook, then you're pretty much set.
Before I ran the virus, I ran Arkosoft's System Snapshot to see what the virus was doing. Did this at 10:30AM before I knew it was a virus so I could at least figure out how to undo the damage if it hit. Great little app.
All the reports, thousands of them, will be filing hourly reports from the games back to their editors. I'm not sure how they plan to do it, but I suspect they'll use the provided "public" terminals so they can fire off results and other tidbits to those waiting at home. I don't suppose they'd let reports jack in with their own laptops, too much security risk there.
Not quite. D&D and AD&D developed along similiar lines. Many players back in the early 80s started with D&D and made the move to AD&D. Others went straight to AD&D. However, not all did. Some of us preferred the simpler D&D rules over the more complex and more confining AD&D rules. We preferred not to have to carry massive tomes around that explained every little detail, but rather to use their own imaginations and play a more freewheeling game. In 1978/79, the AD&D Players and DM Guides were released. In 1980, the D&D 2nd ed. Basic and Expert guides were released. In 1993, the 3rd ed. B & E. 1994- D&D Companion. 1995 D&D Masters, 1996 Immortals. AD&D 2nd Ed wasn't released until 1998. So you see, D&D was not just the "forerunner" of AD&D, but rather a similar but separate line of gaming.
I stopped playing D&D in 1994 and AD&D in 1996. By that time I'd moved on to Ultima and Bard's Tale. The big attraction was being able to play without having to coordinate everyone's schedule. It was easier when we were younger to get everyone together, but as people started dating, partying, and/or taking studies seriously, weekend-long sessions just didn't happen.
We old farts try to get together now and then, but with work, wives, kids, kid's activities, vacations, it takes weeks of advance planning to get something organized, if your gaming buddies live within 50 miles. Online gaming has been a boon to us with lives, in that we can put the kids to sleep, tell the wives to go do the "girl" thing, then hack and slash again with our ol' buds be they on the other side of the country.
I can't wait for NWN.
Well, the heat's not "wasted" per se, there just wasn't any way to really use the heat prior to this device coming along (aside from the simple things like interior heat).
Now this new technology can be used to make engines much more efficient. As you add more of these devices, the less you'll have to cool the engine by means of the water cooling system. Smaller radiators, maybe even get rid of the radiator fan. I don't know how much this device will actually cool the engine, but I suppose you add enough and you can get rid of the radiator altogether.
I think the biggest impact will be on Harley-Davidson! They introduced their new generation bike not too long ago, and to cool their new engine, they had to add a radiator. If this could eliminate that radiator, it would make a lot of people happy.
Yep, my phone came free with my service. Didn't pay a dime. No, it doesn't play Fur Elise or the William Tell Overature, no it doesn't have calendering, no it doesn't have games, no it isn't internet ready, no doesn't do text messaging, and no, it doesn't crash.
Or, people who can tear their tendons out of their bones...
Yes, certain genetic enhancements, such as higher RBC count, can be done without (i assume) much damage to the body.
However, there are limits to other enhancements. The human body has had millions of years to become somewhat optimized. When you start increasing certain aspects with disregard for others, you create problems.
Just building muscle mass on power weight lifters won't matter much unless you also increase the strength of all the supporting structures. Yes, you could pretty easily increase muscle mass/density to lift an extra 200kg. But how much more weight can the wrist take before snapping? The small bones of the feet?
Sprinters- just how much stress can you put on your feet when you start? Sure, tweaking those leg muscles so they can pump faster will help, but the start is the most critical part of a sprint. Gene therapy to build stronger bones and tendons in the feet so that it can withstand more pressure at the starting point would be key to winning races. IIRC, the foot can withstand 20G's or so. Well, if you could double it, then the sprinters would be able to get off the line that much quicker.
Perhaps that's where the competition will be. How far can you push the body, during competition, without breaking. Sorta like the drag races of today- the cars that win are the ones that are the best, but most importantly, don't blow headers and gaskets coming off the line.
We'll start watching the olympics for the same reasons we watch the nascar races; for the crashes.
Good point. That's what they're saying, but who knows how much they will capture? How do they do they do that I wonder? I'm not a programmer, but it seems pretty complicated to me to detect when PGPTray (which is already running as a Doze process) pops up the passphrase window so that Magic Lantern can start recording. Seems like it would be easier to just capture everything.
1-10 Unscrupulous companies taking advantage of new ranking system
11-20 Unscrupulous companies taking advantage of older methods such as creating fake websites
21 A humorous site that really has nothing to do with your search but has been modded up 'cause it's funny.
22-30 Somewhat legit sites that are still abusing the system but not as much as the others.
31-34 Somewhat relevent sites
35 A site with no relevence but one that attracts a lot of clueless people
36-40 Getting better
40+ Results you were looking for.
Hackers won't need to mod the program, just capture the data it pumps out. I can see this as THE hack. Once you can get Magic Lantern installed onto a system, just capture the data or intercept the packets. Since the hacked system won't detect Magic Lantern, you just need to write code capture the output. We'll see dozens of new viruses a day that capture this output. Sooner or later symantec will get tired of writing hundreds of updates a week trying to stop these intercept viruses while keeping the keylogger hidden.
As for firewalls, well this thing has got to send it's data somewhere, and once people figure out where it should be easy enough to detect and block or reroute to somewhere more fun.
I don't suppose it would actually send data all the way back to the FBI, probably to some machine sitting at the ISP. But if it were hardcoded, can you imagine the DDOS potential of just sending out the FBI logger as a VIRUS ITSELF?
I wish I could send it back.
What sucks about it?
It has NO anti-skip memory. Ok, my car doesn't have the best shocks but it should not skip as often as it does. It even skips with MP3s! You'd expect the software could have been written to store a few seconds in memory before playing, but no, it just skips, and skips bad.
It skips when it gets hot. After about 2 hours on the road in the winter, it just plain overheats. Ok, the placement of the stereo in the dash isn't ideal, it sits in front of the winshield vents and above the front vents. I've installed a 3" cooling fan (powered by the auto antenna lead) to draw off heat, but it still overheats. It's a little better riding with the faceplate flipped down, that allows air to pass through the CD slot and also reduces the heat from the faceplate. Even with the fan, I need to turn it off to let it cool or drive without heat. It's rated to operate up to 40C and I know that it doesn't get more than 30C in the dash. So it just plain sucks. How often do I make 3+ hour trips? Every weekend snowboarding if I can, and it really sucks not having tunes while driving through upstate NY and VT.
Lately having problems reading CDRs. The unit is telling me it's a laser focus issue and needs service. Fantastic. It's barely over a year old now.
Right now, I'm using the line-in to play MP3s off my laptop. I'm probably gonna pull the CDCMP3 and replace it with a cheap stereo with a line-in, one less likely to get stolen. I wouldn't mind the CDCMP3 being stolen, it'd give me a reason to replace it with something that works. However, I don't want to have to replace a broken window as well.
Really, the way to go is to buy a cheaper stereo with a line in and use a laptop or other MP3 unit (I also use my Rio 300 for shorter trips). Yeah, it's not as easy to control or as cool, but it's cheaper and there's less chance of it getting stolen. I bought it when it first came out, before any of the reviews, and I now seriously regret not having waited for those reviews.
CD and HD based MP3 players just aren't up to an hour on a treadmill or two on the pavement. I still carry my ol' Rio 300 which stores about 30 minutes of music and several smartmedia cards to finish the trip. I'll probably upgrade to a Rio 500 when I get around to it, but the 300 still works for me.
Load up those machines with Windows. Let them try running Disney's Lion King CD in XP under the 640x480x256 "compatible" mode. Let them find that users on one system can't have their own video resolutions. Let them try to disable the paperclip. Let them try to get their non-ms multimedia keyboard working.
It won't be long before we see them here complaining about it.
Every Amiga owner I've known has called them Amigas, never as Commodores. They were adamant that their multi-tasking, awesome sound and graphics Amigas were not mistaken for the simple little more than a console system that was the C64 that the rest of us had.
Maybe I should dig out my Okidata color printer and send it to him so he can print out his porn. Tell him to go easy on that tri-color ribbon, they're probably hard to find now. You can rewind the ribbon and use it a few times to save money if you don't care too much about the quality. Of course, it's extremely slow since the ribbon has repeating 8.5" segments of C, Y, &M, and needs to make three passes per line. But I guess he'll have time enough to print while waiting for the next image to download on his 1200bps modem.
10 PRINT "THE TALIBAN SUCKS"
20 GOTO 10
RUN
Oh, and did I miss an article about Linux ported to the C64? I haven't been reading the Linux on xbox/ps2/dreamcast/washingmachine/toasteroven posts too carefully.
Yochai Benkler, Coase's Penguin, or Linux and the Nature of the Firm
If you don't read any of the others, read that one, it talks about us!
No one is going to calcualte the materials needed for a bridge while standing there overlooking a river. Maybe 1000 years ago when they were deciding exactly how many logs needed to support three columns of heavy cavalry, but not today. Surveyors go out and take measurements. Engineers go out and take core samples of the ground. They do traffic surveys. Once the data is gathered, then they design the bridge. They don't design it in bits and pieces in the field.
PDAs have found limited use in the field, but mostly to gather data and take notes. That data is fed later into a full sized 'puter that does the number crunching and spits out results.
For example, in many places around the world forest and park rangers use PDAs to track animal sightings. Sure, with a powerful PDA they could crunch those numbers, but what would it mean? Nothing. Not until all the data from all the rangers is collected, then you have useful data about animal numbers, migration patterns, etc. Data from one unit is pretty useless by itself.
Still, assuming with wireless, you communicate with other wireless units and manage to do some collective computing to get the results. Now what does the ranger do with the data while in the field? The data will be useful in the larger picture, but for the individual ranger? Maybe he can tell hikers which parts of his range the bears are gathering.
Which comes to the point, it will probably find a niche. But I doubt it will make any significant impact.
And, unbeknownst to you and thousands of others, the site that maintains the list has been hacked, and you are downloading empty lists that allow every exploit.
It's a good idea, but there's a problem when you create a central point of failure.
It is by no means an easy thing to do. The article itself states that it's not easy.
The linuxworld.com article is good, but waving it under the nose of the CIO isn't going to change things. Can we guarantee that after 5 years there will be a substantial cost savings? I can say on paper that yes, if everything remains the same, if MS continues to license software at the same fees, if Linux continues develop and continues to be free, if a dozen other factors don't change, then yes, it's probable. Will I bet my job on it? No. Is the IT director going to bet his job on it? No. Is the CIO going to bet his job on it? No.
Yes, those IT directors that do, those CIOs that are willing to take that risk have a lot to gain (me, I might get a small raise, and can list the experience on my resume, but I don't get much out of it). The idea that even if productivity increases by 1% is enticing, but well it's a sales pitch. Every software company has thrown this out, and yes, if we could improve productivity by 1%, it would be fantastic. But the problem is, if NT crashes, the user reboots, goes to the coffee machine, goes out for a smoke, and comes back and continues their work. There's the 1% lost. If they don't crash, they get the work done early, and spend the extra time talking to their neighbor or surfing the 'net. I can guarantee the potential of 1% increase in productivity due to their systems not crashing, but I can't guarantee it will ever materialize.
From the article; The challenge is to change minds not just technology. It requires a massive shift in thinking. If you're in a young, cutting edge company, then you might be able to sell the change. If you're stuck in any of the vast majority of companies, then there's not much chance of Linux appearing on the desktop. Let's face it, if you want to save $1M over five years, you lay off a bunch of people and make the rest slave harder. It's a tried and true method and shows up on the balance sheet immediately. That's capitalism for you.
Personally, I use BSD on my laptop and my server at home. I have Linux dual-booting with 98 on my desktop there (for games). If (or when) I start my own consulting company, you can bet I'll have BSD/Linux. Here at work, I'm making progress getting Linux into the data center since there you see an immediate savings. However, on the desktop, it's a dead issue.
There are no more "field" trips to a desktop. If it gets screwed up, you tell your management software to blow down a new image. That's the whole point of a corporate desktop. You don't bother remote admin because it's cheaper to send down a new image. Personal files on the desktop? Sorry, it's not yours, it's our machine and all business related files are on the network file server like our propriatary file management app makes you do. If you saved a file locally, tough, you shouldn't have been doing it.
Install their own software? They don't have the rights. If they do install their own software, their violating the AUP of the company. It's our desktop, not theirs.
When it comes down to the high TCO of a desktop, it's supporting the USERS with the APPS. That will remain whether it's NT, Linux, or Mac. Users are users.
Linux may make inroads into the corporate world (aside from small pockets of developers) when:
1. There are tools that plug into our management systems to adequately manage the desktop.
2. When we decide to stop spending millions of dollars developing our custom file management, accounting, billing, purchasing, instant messaging, telephone billing, office directory, HR, Benefits, the IE only Intranet, Remote Access, PKI, and the apps that integrate all the above, and start spending that money plus 100x more on hiring Linux coders, buying a duplicate server for each backend since they are mission critical apps we're not going to test the Linux clients hitting live servers, hire Network Admins to take care of the new test servers, hire trainers to train users how to use Linux and StarOffice, hire a slew of more technical support to handle the increased number of phone calls during the transition, hire a slew of people to handle all the document conversion issues that will inevitably come up.
Actually, it will NEVER happen because the first thing the CIO will ask is "Where's the ROI?" And when we show him the numbers, and say that converting to Linux on all the desktops will never pay off but we may break even in 10 years of not having to purchase Microsoft Office licenses for each desktop, the plan will get shitcanned. That's why we won't see Linux on the corporate desktop.
Think of your favorite games that have FMV sequences. The actual game engine, software, controls the FMV "movie". But the entire CD is considered software.
Take Microsoft's Encarta on DVD. I'm sure MS isn't going to say that's a "movie" no matter how many videos it contains.
A "movie" DVD, on the other hand, contains a relatively small "software" portion and a comparatively larger "movie" portion (plural if you consider the outtakes, trailers, interviews). So what's the difference? The actual sizes of the "software" and "movie"???
It's absurd to consider a DVD anything BUT software.
Ogg: Hey Ugg, have you seen Trogg lately?
Ugg: No, ever since he put that log across the stream he's been all "holier than thou" to the rest of us.
Ogg: Damn engineers. When will they learn to leave well enough alone? If some supernatural being we haven't gotten around to naming yet wanted us to use trees to cross streams, he would have given us something to cut down those trees.
Ugg: Did you see what Trogg used to chop down the tree? He didn't chew it like the rest of us, he used a rock tied to a stick! I hear he's also playing with fire too. Calls it cooking. Says it will revolutionalize eating. I'm telling you Ogg, there's something wrong with that kid.
Ogg: {shakes head}