Linux is a lot closer to "world domination" now than it was seven years ago. A lot closer, considering its unlikely beginnings. The fact that Linux on the desktop has now overtaken Apple's market share is proof enough of that. Incidentally, those gains have been made at the expense of Microsoft, not Apple. Apple's market share has not changed significantly over the same period.
Also, everyone you know is statistically insignificant. Anectdotal evidence such as that is not a very persuasive argument, unless you know personally know the computing habits of several thousand people.
Re:Join the Revolution
on
Linux vs. Windows
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· Score: 2, Interesting
According to Economist.com, a natural monopoly is a monopoly that "occurs because it is more efficient for one firm to serve an entire market than for two or more FIRMS to do so, because of the sort of ECONOMIES OF SCALE available in that market."
By this definition, Microsoft is not a natural monopoly because it not clear that it is more efficient for one company (Microsoft) to serve the entire desktop operating system market as opposed to several companies doing so. In software, it is hard to argue economies of scale since software may be scaled indefinitely, effectively making it a commodity that may be produced by anybody.
Although government has not played a significant role in Microsoft's development as a near-monopoly, neither has that situation developed in an organic way. Rather, Microsoft used its increasing market share to unfairly compete in other areas that tend to enforce its position in its core market segments. That has negatively affected the overall market, distorting it to the point that it is now trying to correct itself.
Typing is a skill like any other. It must be learned at some point, and many find it easier to absorb in a classroom environment. I know I did. The structured repitition of the process works and works well.
As far as I'm concerned, my 10th grade typing class was the single most valuable class I have ever taken, with the possible exception of English. It even beat out poli-sci.
First off, Cloudscape runs on nearly every system in current use. MS SQL Express requires Windows (2000 or XP). It also requires a fairly beefy sytem for a light database. Check out the system requirements. Note that specialized MS platforms, such as MS Windows 2000 Datacenter Server (of all things) are not supported.
Finally, that MS crap is still beta software whereas Cloudscape is well tested, enterprise ready code.
Actually, you can hear your heart beating all the time, but your brain filters that out of concious awareness so as not to distract you. You only become aware of it when the pressure rises, which should be interpreted as a sign that you should cease strenuous activity.
I suspect that loss of a pulse would be rather disconcerting. If a sound pattern that your brain has been reacting to all your life has suddenly disappeared, it is hard to imagine that you would not notice.
What others have I forgotten? Just about every modern distro has a cool, easy to use package installer. But when that fails, there's always the old fashioned way:./configure make make install
Properly, it's the USA PATRIOT Act. Note the caps. I'm not being pedantic, the distinction is important. The PATRIOT act has little to do with patriotism and should never be interpreted that way.
The name of the act is an acronym that stands for the Provide Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001. It is all about granting the federal branch of our government sweeping new powers to skirt our inherent human rights, the most important of which are enumerated in the first ten ammendments to our federal constitution: our so-called Bill of Rights. Chiefly, it attacks the first ammendment, which guarantees our freedom of expression, and the fourth ammendment, which protects our right against unreasonable search and seizure of our persons and effects. The veracity of this statement is borne out in many, many instances, of which the subject of the above article is one.
There is a silver lining, however. Our constitution is an exceedling strong document that enjoys massive support among nearly all Americans. Cases such as this one serve to illustrate the problems with bad law, and allow such laws to be struck down on constitutional grounds. Discussions such as the one we are having now serve to promote these issues and cannot be squelched for fear of massive upheaval, thanks to our Constitution.
Whether this particular case will have any measurable affect is yet to be known, but there will eventually be one that does. Remember all power is used and, for good or ill, used it will be. One of these days, some federal agency will cross a line that lands that agency in some seriously hot water, and then the law will change. You can bet on it.
The largest pay the least (good corporate tax lawyers are worth their weight in gold).
Well, gold is currently trading at $389.90 per troy ounce, or $4,678.80 per troy pound. If the average weight of a lawyer is 180 standar pounds, that would mean that he is worth $1,023,487.50.
Personally, I'd put it down my pant leg, but then again, that's my answer for everything.
Re:A brief and redundant article
on
IPv6 is Here
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· Score: 4, Informative
The term domain addresses refers to IP addresses, not domain names.
Cool, this means I can do almost anything!
on
IT's Musical Habits
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· Score: 1
I like electronica, rock, indie, outlaw country, classical, reggae, hip-hop, old folk tunes, punk, ska, swing, and whatever else I forgot. Definitely don't like Britney, though, or anything in that genre.
So I guess Windows Administration is not an option for me. Damn.
It's not as though the members of the Beatles have grown insanely wealthy under current copyright law. I mean, how are they going to live without another copyright extension?
Think of all the starving artists, people! Have you no compassion?
swb said "It used to be that they were actually opposed -- the communists took anti-capitalism, pro-worker philosophy seriously, and corporations at least paid lip service to entrepreneurialism and freedom."
1) Communist countries have never cared about pro-worker philosophy, despite their rhetoric. It's always been about power. Evidence the massively pervasive human rights violations in every Communist country to date.
2) Corporations have always lied egregiously to suit their own ends, and have always paid nothing but lip service to entrepreneurialism and civic freedom. In fact civic freedom, and entrepreneurialism in particular, have never been anything but direct threats to any established corporation.
Corporatism in America was designed to transfer wealth and power from the many to the few. It has performed remarkably well. Communism was also designed to transfer wealth and power from the many to the few (again, in spite of communist rhetoric) but it has not performed quite so well. That, friends, is the real reason the Soviet Union collasped. The arms race that broke their government was merely the manifestation of the struggle between corporatism and communism. It really had little to do with the (false) struggle between Democracy and Despotism (what the corporations called Communism) despite the rhetoric of the corporations and their puppets.
Not to defend Communism, which I agree is a naíve pipe dream, but Soviet Russia was about as Communist as Nazi Germany. Sure, the state owned all the businesses, but the state did not redistribute the wealth equitably in any meaningful sense of the word. That pretty much means they were not Communist; just your average, ordinary, overly oppressive police state grown too large.
Not me, nope. Personally, I can't stand mouse gestures. You see, I use the context menu for just about everything and mouse gestures have a way of interfering with that. Right click, move down and to the right and click on a menu item and the browser does something strange because it thinks I'm trying to gesture. Very frustrating.
On the other hand, it is pretty neat tech and I can definitely see why so many people like it.
What do you think optimizing election systems is all about? Frankly, that's much more important than which warm body happens to inhabit the Oval Office.
Look, Firefox IS NOT READY for prime time. That's why it has a sub 1.0 version number, and why it is considered a 'technology preview'. In this context, some serious bugs are to be expected. Have some patience. The bug has been fixed in develepment and will make it into the normal builds in due time.
If you want to complain, complain about Seamonkey. It suffers from the same bug, yet is at version 1.7.
Oh, and btw, [Ctrl +] (optionally, followed quickly by [Ctrl -]) will cause the page to re-render and display correctly. It's an easy work around until the fix makes it into the official builds.
Crazy? Hardly. A well-known and (largely) trusted organization such as the U.S. Gov't can do more with its recommendation than any software provider could ever do by tooting its own horn.
I'd like to take this opportunity to point out something that is obvious, yet not often commented on.
All of these programs suffer from the same vulnerabilities, namely those that affect the Internet Explorer rendering engine. Any program that uses this redering engine is at risk of all sorts of nasty exploits. These programs include MSIE, Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Explorer (really MSIE with a different skin) and any application that embeds the MSIE rendering engine.
The problem, of course, is that Microsoft broke one of the fundamental rules applying to internet security when it allowed this rendering engine to execute remote code locally with all the privileges of the user running the program. In some cases, it even allows remote exploits to be run under system privileges. The chief vehicle for this ability is ActiveX, but there are other ways. This was done in the name of convenience and presentation with little to no concern for the privacy and security of their customers. To make matters worse, it was done in such a way as to be completely transparent to the user, such that the user often has no idea that a compromise occurred.
When you compare that to the operation of other browsers (none of which take this bone-headed approach), it is small wonder that Microsoft is held in such low esteem by internet engineers and programmers alike.
Slashdot Mirror
Maybe he was drunk and DHS thought he might try to drive the plane.
Galaxina has to be the funniest worst movie ever.
It used to come on late nights on HBO, and my brothers and I always made a point to watch it. Sometimes it's hard not to love a good bad movie.
Linux is a lot closer to "world domination" now than it was seven years ago. A lot closer, considering its unlikely beginnings. The fact that Linux on the desktop has now overtaken Apple's market share is proof enough of that. Incidentally, those gains have been made at the expense of Microsoft, not Apple. Apple's market share has not changed significantly over the same period.
Also, everyone you know is statistically insignificant. Anectdotal evidence such as that is not a very persuasive argument, unless you know personally know the computing habits of several thousand people.
According to Economist.com, a natural monopoly is a monopoly that "occurs because it is more efficient for one firm to serve an entire market than for two or more FIRMS to do so, because of the sort of ECONOMIES OF SCALE available in that market."
By this definition, Microsoft is not a natural monopoly because it not clear that it is more efficient for one company (Microsoft) to serve the entire desktop operating system market as opposed to several companies doing so. In software, it is hard to argue economies of scale since software may be scaled indefinitely, effectively making it a commodity that may be produced by anybody.
Although government has not played a significant role in Microsoft's development as a near-monopoly, neither has that situation developed in an organic way. Rather, Microsoft used its increasing market share to unfairly compete in other areas that tend to enforce its position in its core market segments. That has negatively affected the overall market, distorting it to the point that it is now trying to correct itself.
Typing is a skill like any other. It must be learned at some point, and many find it easier to absorb in a classroom environment. I know I did. The structured repitition of the process works and works well.
As far as I'm concerned, my 10th grade typing class was the single most valuable class I have ever taken, with the possible exception of English. It even beat out poli-sci.
First off, Cloudscape runs on nearly every system in current use. MS SQL Express requires Windows (2000 or XP). It also requires a fairly beefy sytem for a light database. Check out the system requirements. Note that specialized MS platforms, such as MS Windows 2000 Datacenter Server (of all things) are not supported.
Finally, that MS crap is still beta software whereas Cloudscape is well tested, enterprise ready code.
Actually, you can hear your heart beating all the time, but your brain filters that out of concious awareness so as not to distract you. You only become aware of it when the pressure rises, which should be interpreted as a sign that you should cease strenuous activity.
I suspect that loss of a pulse would be rather disconcerting. If a sound pattern that your brain has been reacting to all your life has suddenly disappeared, it is hard to imagine that you would not notice.
urpmi package
emerge package
installpkg package
What others have I forgotten? Just about every modern distro has a cool, easy to use package installer. But when that fails, there's always the old fashioned way:
make
make install
Oh yes, please do. Just be careful. Pent-up points can be very dangerous when loosed upon an unsuspecting populous.
Properly, it's the USA PATRIOT Act. Note the caps. I'm not being pedantic, the distinction is important. The PATRIOT act has little to do with patriotism and should never be interpreted that way.
The name of the act is an acronym that stands for the Provide Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001. It is all about granting the federal branch of our government sweeping new powers to skirt our inherent human rights, the most important of which are enumerated in the first ten ammendments to our federal constitution: our so-called Bill of Rights. Chiefly, it attacks the first ammendment, which guarantees our freedom of expression, and the fourth ammendment, which protects our right against unreasonable search and seizure of our persons and effects. The veracity of this statement is borne out in many, many instances, of which the subject of the above article is one.
There is a silver lining, however. Our constitution is an exceedling strong document that enjoys massive support among nearly all Americans. Cases such as this one serve to illustrate the problems with bad law, and allow such laws to be struck down on constitutional grounds. Discussions such as the one we are having now serve to promote these issues and cannot be squelched for fear of massive upheaval, thanks to our Constitution.
Whether this particular case will have any measurable affect is yet to be known, but there will eventually be one that does. Remember all power is used and, for good or ill, used it will be. One of these days, some federal agency will cross a line that lands that agency in some seriously hot water, and then the law will change. You can bet on it.
Q: How do you know when a politician is lying?
A: When you see his lips moving.
The largest pay the least (good corporate tax lawyers are worth their weight in gold).
Well, gold is currently trading at $389.90 per troy ounce, or $4,678.80 per troy pound. If the average weight of a lawyer is 180 standar pounds, that would mean that he is worth $1,023,487.50.
So yeah, that sounds about right. Lucky bastards.
How would you go about concealing a katana?
Personally, I'd put it down my pant leg, but then again, that's my answer for everything.
The term domain addresses refers to IP addresses, not domain names.
I like electronica, rock, indie, outlaw country, classical, reggae, hip-hop, old folk tunes, punk, ska, swing, and whatever else I forgot. Definitely don't like Britney, though, or anything in that genre.
So I guess Windows Administration is not an option for me. Damn.
Yeah.
It's not as though the members of the Beatles have grown insanely wealthy under current copyright law. I mean, how are they going to live without another copyright extension?
Think of all the starving artists, people! Have you no compassion?
swb said "It used to be that they were actually opposed -- the communists took anti-capitalism, pro-worker philosophy seriously, and corporations at least paid lip service to entrepreneurialism and freedom."
1) Communist countries have never cared about pro-worker philosophy, despite their rhetoric. It's always been about power. Evidence the massively pervasive human rights violations in every Communist country to date.
2) Corporations have always lied egregiously to suit their own ends, and have always paid nothing but lip service to entrepreneurialism and civic freedom. In fact civic freedom, and entrepreneurialism in particular, have never been anything but direct threats to any established corporation.
Corporatism in America was designed to transfer wealth and power from the many to the few. It has performed remarkably well. Communism was also designed to transfer wealth and power from the many to the few (again, in spite of communist rhetoric) but it has not performed quite so well. That, friends, is the real reason the Soviet Union collasped. The arms race that broke their government was merely the manifestation of the struggle between corporatism and communism. It really had little to do with the (false) struggle between Democracy and Despotism (what the corporations called Communism) despite the rhetoric of the corporations and their puppets.
Not to defend Communism, which I agree is a naíve pipe dream, but Soviet Russia was about as Communist as Nazi Germany. Sure, the state owned all the businesses, but the state did not redistribute the wealth equitably in any meaningful sense of the word. That pretty much means they were not Communist; just your average, ordinary, overly oppressive police state grown too large.
Not me, nope. Personally, I can't stand mouse gestures. You see, I use the context menu for just about everything and mouse gestures have a way of interfering with that. Right click, move down and to the right and click on a menu item and the browser does something strange because it thinks I'm trying to gesture. Very frustrating.
On the other hand, it is pretty neat tech and I can definitely see why so many people like it.
Touché
mods, this is not off-topic.
KFG meant to say "You can have fast, good, or cheap. Pick two."
It's an old software design maxim that applies suprisingly well to this subject.
Insightful? No, just another troll.
What do you think optimizing election systems is all about? Frankly, that's much more important than which warm body happens to inhabit the Oval Office.
Look, Firefox IS NOT READY for prime time. That's why it has a sub 1.0 version number, and why it is considered a 'technology preview'. In this context, some serious bugs are to be expected. Have some patience. The bug has been fixed in develepment and will make it into the normal builds in due time.
If you want to complain, complain about Seamonkey. It suffers from the same bug, yet is at version 1.7.
Oh, and btw, [Ctrl +] (optionally, followed quickly by [Ctrl -]) will cause the page to re-render and display correctly. It's an easy work around until the fix makes it into the official builds.
Crazy? Hardly. A well-known and (largely) trusted organization such as the U.S. Gov't can do more with its recommendation than any software provider could ever do by tooting its own horn.
I'd like to take this opportunity to point out something that is obvious, yet not often commented on.
All of these programs suffer from the same vulnerabilities, namely those that affect the Internet Explorer rendering engine. Any program that uses this redering engine is at risk of all sorts of nasty exploits. These programs include MSIE, Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Explorer (really MSIE with a different skin) and any application that embeds the MSIE rendering engine.
The problem, of course, is that Microsoft broke one of the fundamental rules applying to internet security when it allowed this rendering engine to execute remote code locally with all the privileges of the user running the program. In some cases, it even allows remote exploits to be run under system privileges. The chief vehicle for this ability is ActiveX, but there are other ways. This was done in the name of convenience and presentation with little to no concern for the privacy and security of their customers. To make matters worse, it was done in such a way as to be completely transparent to the user, such that the user often has no idea that a compromise occurred.
When you compare that to the operation of other browsers (none of which take this bone-headed approach), it is small wonder that Microsoft is held in such low esteem by internet engineers and programmers alike.