I am my most productive as a professional technical writer when I have a range of quality tools with a minimum of glitz, an interface that works with me, and, honestly, when there aren't a lot of distractions (email, rss feeds, games, and heck, even the chance to surf the web.)
Amazingly, that works out to be AppleWorks 3 with Beagle Bros Timeout extensions on an Apple//e.
The sad part is I can't tell if I'm making a joke or telling you the God's honest truth...
Why is anyone getting all bent out of shape over this? The MiniPCI slot isn't intended to be user-servicable. That's what we have PCMCIA (aka PC Card) slots for. You want new technology? Just slap in a PCMCIA card and you're in business! No limitations there.
Now I admit that this is a GREAT theory: that the antivirus companies write and release new and variants of existing viruses only to drive the need for their products.
That said, the AV products have been out for SO LONG, and viruses EVEN LONGER, if this were true, someone would have certainly come out of the woodwork by now.
The gaming industry is not the only industry with disgruntled workers willing to blow the whistle on specific problems anonumously.
Why even worry about mounting and unmounting volumes from Linux?
I just use Norton Ghost, which has been happily backing up my Linux partitions (or whole drives, pretty much regardless of partition types) for a few years now.
With just one or two boot floppies, I can back up and restore my Linux drives to either: other internal IDE drives, other parititons on the same drive, external USB1 and USB2 drives, burnable CDs, or burnable DVDs.
Heck, it is so fast and reliable, I've been known to backup the drive just before even *trying out* new software or options, and if I don't like it, I just Ghost it back to how it was.
Now, I know it isn't free, or even Linux based, but it is hard to argue with cheap, reliable, and fast backup procedures that just work all the time...
This is probably the best advice I've seen yet. I had several off-campus computer related jobs when I went to UCSD 15 years ago (yes, there were computers then, smart-ass.) When I graduated, I actually had more than an "Education" section on my resume, and I had a job in the field within 2 weeks of graduation, and SEVERAL offers to choose from. And I barely had a 3.0 GPA.
Overall, in response to the article, there is a good career to be made translating "programmer-speak" into Plain English, mostly because there are legions of good progammers who just can't explain themselves, what certain hardware/software does/is supposed to do, or justify why one way is better than another way. I haven't done any real coding in years any more, but I'm earning a good living writing every day in a language known as "English."
It sure is a good thing I took all those "other" classes back then!
This is going to be short since I need to get back to work. (heh heh heh)
Contracting usually requires dilligence and pro-activeness, plus a willingness to take care of the details of an employer (since you are really employing yourself here), but the benefits (sometimes) include a better hourly rate compared to employees, and MUCH more flexibility. If you combine all these traits and pick up other smaller contracts to fill up any extra time you have, you'll earn that much more (remember, YOU are the employer, and YOU can tell your employees -- you-- that it's OK to moonlight, even during "working hours.")
First, the boring and annoying stuff. Get an individual health plan for yourself and employees. Kaiser, Blue Cross, and others offer good coverage and good prices. (My Kaiser coverage is much better than my salaried co-workers at one big company.) Check with an independant insurance broker for other options. There are many.
Invest for retirement with an IRA, Sep IRA, or Roth IRA. Don't know about these things? OK, see a financial advisor too.
My Advisor is also my tax guy, which is a good thing, because the Income Taxes get a LOT more complicated too as a contractor. If you're "employer" isn't withholding, then *YOU* need to do it yourself. On the other hand, there are MANY more legal deductions you can make for equipment, work space, classes, books, office supplies and such. You REALLY need a tax guy to guide you.
Now for the good stuff. Because you don't get sick days, vacation days, benefits, or "stability" (but in my experience, salaried employees are just as likely to be layed off as contracters when the shit hits the fan in a company. YMMV), you must DEMAND a better pay rate than salaried employees. I'd say at least 15%, but shoot for as much more as you can get.
Since you're not an employees, negotiate the ability to work at home X days a week, if possible. Don't abuse the privilege if you can get it. Being home makes up for a lot of the loss of other things.
Consider taking other consulting jobs on the side sometimes. Make that experience you have really pay.
Make sure your terms of employment give you the rights to develop professional ideas outside teh office. Previous slashdot articles cover this. Remember that the limitations imposed on salaried employees SHOULD NOT APPLY TO YOU in exachange for the lack of stability.
Well, that's just off the top of my head.
I like contacting so much that I've turned down salaraied positions at the companies I've contracted for. If you like the flexibity, then the work is worth it, but note that you probably won't advance up the ranks of the company as a contractor. If this is important to you, then you need to negotiate that up front, or don't be a contractor.
It seems to me that the mainboards I regularly service and the systems I maintain tend to be less trouble-prone when they have Intel chipsets. I'm not saying that they are trouble-free, but supporting an Intel board is far easier in terms of downloads and drivers and compatibility than VIA and other chipsets, especially after a few years pass. That's why my last two personal PCs were made with Intel CPUs -- I can drive them with a mainboard with an Intel chipset.
Remember when you could use an AMD CPU in a board with an Intel chipset? The last time I could do that was with an Intel TX-chipset equipped board and an AMD K6-3. That system is STILL running just great for me, even 5 or 6 years after it was made. I don't generally see similarly aged VIA (or other chipset equipped) boards still working well.
If somehow I could get a modern AMD processor working in a modern mainboard with an Intel chipset, I would buy and build that system in a heartbeat.
So forgive me if I don't care that I can use anotehr chipset with an Intel CPU.
I'm sure readers outside California know this, but in case you didn't know...
Some other states apply their car tax by the vehicle's weight, due to the very sensible reason that a heaver car wears down the roads more than a lighter car, and therefore more repairs (and hence, more cost) are required with heavy cars.
Obviously, SUVs and luxury cars pay more, while lighter and frugal cars pay less, PLUS it just makes sense: if you chew up the pavement and make more potholes because of your heavier car, then you SHOULD pay more.
Of course, this makes too much sense for my state's DMV to figure out...
Now that SFF machines are completely capable of doing EVERYTHING a "full sized" ATX system can do (except have lots of internal drives), what's the point?
Systems like those from Shuttle and Soltek are built with custom mainboards that work with their custom case and cooling systems as a truly integrated system, and save space and power as well.
It won't be long before *your* next computer is an SFF system, and it sure won't be based on BTX.
I swear to god, as soon as some huge website run by billionaires gets its domain transferred out from under them, heads will roll and this assinine "rule" will get changed.
Or perhaps someone at icann.org is asleep at the switch themselves? (hint hint)
Of course, I just doublechecked that warrenernst.com has the correct contact info.;-)
I've been building my own machines since my first 486-33, and they've always been tall beige towers. I travel to a few gaming conventions a year, plus occasionally lug it to a client's facility for troubleshooting.
When the first SFF (small form factor) machines came out, I was interested, but they were very limited with low-rent technology. That's not the case anymore. You want a PCI Express, or the latest Athlon-64, or maybe you want a steady-as-a-rock Intel 865 chipset and matching P4? There are well built SFF machines that fit the bill, and all you give up are PCI slots.
My latest gaming machine is a Soltek 3401 (review at http://www.sfftech.com/showdocs.cfm?aid=464) with what was at the time the highest-end stuff, a P4 at 3 Ghz, a Radeon 9800XT, and to get a real gameport, a SB Audigy in the only PCI slot, along with two optical drives. The resulting machine is rock-steady, even overclocked and running 24/7 and playing all the latest games. Plus, it is a snap to travel to conventions with - it came with its own backback and I can check it in as a carry on. Bringing it to clients' is no problem either.
This computer is the quietest I've ever had (save for the fanless, hard driveless Apple//e) and extremely reliable. When at conventions, it stays just as fast and delivers gameplay just as good as any of those modded, neon-lit monsters other folks bring, but at 1/3 the size.
Though this FIC board doesn't seem to be very overclockable, most Shuttles and Solteks are. And don't worry about SFF power supplies - they are designed to be efficient and work well despite their low wattage ratings. Just try some high-end cards and be prepared to see them work fine.
If the idea of an SFF machine interests you, check out the reviews and ask around at the forums of http://www.sfftech.com/. I'm glad I did.
I know exactly what you mean. I *JUST* retired my beloved 800CT last month and sold it on ebay this week.
It shouldn't be that hard to make something with the specs of a two year old notebook, but sell it for *CHEAP* and with a WARRANTY. If I need to crunch serious numbers or play games, I go to my firebreathing desktop machine - I want something portably, light, and cheap that runs Linux well.
Ultimately, I went the used route. Last year I got an ultraportable Sony PGC505T (2.5 pounds, PII @300, etc), and Debian was happy.
Still I wanted something just a little larger for somewhat more complicated development work, along with a larger screen and keyboard. Again, the used route was the way, scoring a Compaq Armada e500 (PIII @ 850, 512 megs ram, 1400x1080 screen, $430) purchased with a 30-day warranty. Again, debian is happy with it.
But I shouldn't have to. If Compaq were to sell this notebook NEW with the exact same specs for $750, I'd probably get it. Something smaller and lighter and a little less powerful would be a buy too.
Having serviced my client machines for years, including a wide variety of notebooks, the only advice I can offer is to stick with a name-brand vendor for a notebook. If the vender offers a "professional line" and a "consumer line" of machines, get the professional line if for no other reason that it was designed to be sturdier and serviced by an IT department instead of being sent back of every little thing. If you aren't buying a used machine from someone you know personally, try to get it from a company that offers even a basic warranty to make sure all the parts work when you get it. If it was built well by a good company, good production and engineering will see you through.
At least, usually.;-)
As a bonus, when you get a used, cheap notebook, you don't have to worry about every tiny scratch or ding, or if it get stolen (gasp), you aren't out $2000.
"...Konfabulator takes a Dual G5/2.0 with 1.5G of RAM and makes it run like an Apple IIc."
COOOL!! My 20 year old Apple IIc has been getting a little tired lately. Now I can buy Apple's latest and greatest, install Konfabulator, and PRESTO! a green screen monitor, a nice keyboard, support for all my 5.25" disks, and all my AppleWorks files can live again!
You'd think if this were the case, the Konfabulator would be advertising this to the Apple II community as a feature!
(former Beagle Bros tech support)
How would testing on the ground uncovered this?
on
Saving Huygens
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
So I'm reading this and am amazed at the engineering savvy and all, and being a former JPL contractor, am not at all surprised that a real "on the ground" test wasn't performed for financial reasons.
But I'm trying to figure out how "on the ground" testing would have discovered this problem. The actual probe and the actual spacecraft could not have been moving so fast relative to each other on a test bench to duplucate the Doppler effect it would encounter in Titan.
It would have to have been simulated on the test bench, right? But the reading of the article suggests that simulating this, even if both craft were on the test bench talking to each other, would not have been performed because no one but this guy thought to do it years after the fact.
In fact, it seems to me that if testing actual inter-craft communications HAD been done, NO ONE would have still been thinking about it years later, and the REAL PROBLEM might not have ever been considered, tested, and taken care of.
In othe words, it sure was a good thing that no one tested the communications systems on the test bench between both craft!
I'm sure I'm misunderstanding something though, so if someone knows, I'd love to hear it.
You yourself probably operate a motor vehicle that uses lug nuts (or bolts) to keep the wheels on the car. When was the last time *you* checked them for proper torque?
Mistake and omissions happen everywhere, and all the time.
Slashdot JUST covered the Inflatable Reentry Vehicles story on September 3, so its nice to see that people are thinking of inflatable items to cover the whole trip.
Incidentally, those wacky Russians did a test of this thing's ability to survive reentry and it seemed to to pretty ok. Check it out.
" (5) "E-mail address" means a valid e-mail address, or the valid
e-mail address of the holder of the account from which the
dissemination took place."
Now the term "valid" has got me thinking. As has been mentioned, "root@localhost" is certainly valid. There must also be some "see-no-evil" outfit willing to supply you with a VALID email address, but would be uncooperative to any US authority attempting to determine actual real-life identity from it.
So, if YOU know of such an outfit, let us know, so we can remain within the boundaries of the law!;-0
Right-click on the My Documents folder and click Properties. There's a "Target folder location" field and a browse button. Pick a new folder on another partition. If you didn't already create one, it will do so automatically. No Registry hacking necessary.
This is almost the first thing I do on my own machines, so that when I re-Ghost partitions, none of my documents get hosed.
Of ALL the various computer problems I need to take care of for my clients on a daily basis, their ability to locate their "lost" files is NOT one of them.
Microsoft "solved" this problem for all intents and purposes by having every program save its files in the "My Documents" folder or a subfolder therein, and allowing for filenames that can be long and have spaces.
Sometimes I feel like Microsoft is rearranging the deck chairs while the ship is sinking. Anyone remember that cool "Tripping the Rift" movie? The ship is falling to pieces and the onboard repair robot repaired the machine that makes ice cubes first. The outraged captain smacked it with wrench and screamed "We're floating in space you decide to fix the stupid ice machine? Get to work on the fucking hyperdrive!!!"
Slashdot Mirror
No loss there. -Llama
Amazingly, that works out to be AppleWorks 3 with Beagle Bros Timeout extensions on an Apple //e.
The sad part is I can't tell if I'm making a joke or telling you the God's honest truth...
Honestly, the things we get worked up over...
At least, none that we can see. ;-)
Am I the only person who read this as "Where Have all the Cylons Gone?"
It could be:
<
=
<
or
>
=
>
Meaning, obviously, that this new Intel product is Less Than, Equal to, and Less Than
or
this new Intel Product is Greater Than, Equal To, and Greater Than
I think when we realize that it is being compared to AMD offerings, the orientation of the new trademark is obvious...
That said, the AV products have been out for SO LONG, and viruses EVEN LONGER, if this were true, someone would have certainly come out of the woodwork by now.
The gaming industry is not the only industry with disgruntled workers willing to blow the whistle on specific problems anonumously.
If this were true, we'd have proof by now...
My question is this: What happens to all the bread? Where does it go?
Chuckle chuckle snort
With just one or two boot floppies, I can back up and restore my Linux drives to either: other internal IDE drives, other parititons on the same drive, external USB1 and USB2 drives, burnable CDs, or burnable DVDs.
Heck, it is so fast and reliable, I've been known to backup the drive just before even *trying out* new software or options, and if I don't like it, I just Ghost it back to how it was.
Now, I know it isn't free, or even Linux based, but it is hard to argue with cheap, reliable, and fast backup procedures that just work all the time...
Overall, in response to the article, there is a good career to be made translating "programmer-speak" into Plain English, mostly because there are legions of good progammers who just can't explain themselves, what certain hardware/software does/is supposed to do, or justify why one way is better than another way. I haven't done any real coding in years any more, but I'm earning a good living writing every day in a language known as "English."
It sure is a good thing I took all those "other" classes back then!
Contracting usually requires dilligence and pro-activeness, plus a willingness to take care of the details of an employer (since you are really employing yourself here), but the benefits (sometimes) include a better hourly rate compared to employees, and MUCH more flexibility. If you combine all these traits and pick up other smaller contracts to fill up any extra time you have, you'll earn that much more (remember, YOU are the employer, and YOU can tell your employees -- you-- that it's OK to moonlight, even during "working hours.")
First, the boring and annoying stuff. Get an individual health plan for yourself and employees. Kaiser, Blue Cross, and others offer good coverage and good prices. (My Kaiser coverage is much better than my salaried co-workers at one big company.) Check with an independant insurance broker for other options. There are many.
Invest for retirement with an IRA, Sep IRA, or Roth IRA. Don't know about these things? OK, see a financial advisor too.
My Advisor is also my tax guy, which is a good thing, because the Income Taxes get a LOT more complicated too as a contractor. If you're "employer" isn't withholding, then *YOU* need to do it yourself. On the other hand, there are MANY more legal deductions you can make for equipment, work space, classes, books, office supplies and such. You REALLY need a tax guy to guide you.
Now for the good stuff. Because you don't get sick days, vacation days, benefits, or "stability" (but in my experience, salaried employees are just as likely to be layed off as contracters when the shit hits the fan in a company. YMMV), you must DEMAND a better pay rate than salaried employees. I'd say at least 15%, but shoot for as much more as you can get.
Since you're not an employees, negotiate the ability to work at home X days a week, if possible. Don't abuse the privilege if you can get it. Being home makes up for a lot of the loss of other things.
Consider taking other consulting jobs on the side sometimes. Make that experience you have really pay.
Make sure your terms of employment give you the rights to develop professional ideas outside teh office. Previous slashdot articles cover this. Remember that the limitations imposed on salaried employees SHOULD NOT APPLY TO YOU in exachange for the lack of stability.
Well, that's just off the top of my head.
I like contacting so much that I've turned down salaraied positions at the companies I've contracted for. If you like the flexibity, then the work is worth it, but note that you probably won't advance up the ranks of the company as a contractor. If this is important to you, then you need to negotiate that up front, or don't be a contractor.
Remember when you could use an AMD CPU in a board with an Intel chipset? The last time I could do that was with an Intel TX-chipset equipped board and an AMD K6-3. That system is STILL running just great for me, even 5 or 6 years after it was made. I don't generally see similarly aged VIA (or other chipset equipped) boards still working well.
If somehow I could get a modern AMD processor working in a modern mainboard with an Intel chipset, I would buy and build that system in a heartbeat.
So forgive me if I don't care that I can use anotehr chipset with an Intel CPU.
Some other states apply their car tax by the vehicle's weight, due to the very sensible reason that a heaver car wears down the roads more than a lighter car, and therefore more repairs (and hence, more cost) are required with heavy cars.
Obviously, SUVs and luxury cars pay more, while lighter and frugal cars pay less, PLUS it just makes sense: if you chew up the pavement and make more potholes because of your heavier car, then you SHOULD pay more.
Of course, this makes too much sense for my state's DMV to figure out...
Systems like those from Shuttle and Soltek are built with custom mainboards that work with their custom case and cooling systems as a truly integrated system, and save space and power as well.
It won't be long before *your* next computer is an SFF system, and it sure won't be based on BTX.
I swear to god, as soon as some huge website run by billionaires gets its domain transferred out from under them, heads will roll and this assinine "rule" will get changed.
Or perhaps someone at icann.org is asleep at the switch themselves? (hint hint)
Of course, I just doublechecked that warrenernst.com has the correct contact info. ;-)
When the first SFF (small form factor) machines came out, I was interested, but they were very limited with low-rent technology. That's not the case anymore. You want a PCI Express, or the latest Athlon-64, or maybe you want a steady-as-a-rock Intel 865 chipset and matching P4? There are well built SFF machines that fit the bill, and all you give up are PCI slots.
My latest gaming machine is a Soltek 3401 (review at http://www.sfftech.com/showdocs.cfm?aid=464) with what was at the time the highest-end stuff, a P4 at 3 Ghz, a Radeon 9800XT, and to get a real gameport, a SB Audigy in the only PCI slot, along with two optical drives. The resulting machine is rock-steady, even overclocked and running 24/7 and playing all the latest games. Plus, it is a snap to travel to conventions with - it came with its own backback and I can check it in as a carry on. Bringing it to clients' is no problem either.
This computer is the quietest I've ever had (save for the fanless, hard driveless Apple //e) and extremely reliable. When at conventions, it stays just as fast and delivers gameplay just as good as any of those modded, neon-lit monsters other folks bring, but at 1/3 the size.
Though this FIC board doesn't seem to be very overclockable, most Shuttles and Solteks are. And don't worry about SFF power supplies - they are designed to be efficient and work well despite their low wattage ratings. Just try some high-end cards and be prepared to see them work fine.
If the idea of an SFF machine interests you, check out the reviews and ask around at the forums of http://www.sfftech.com/. I'm glad I did.
It shouldn't be that hard to make something with the specs of a two year old notebook, but sell it for *CHEAP* and with a WARRANTY. If I need to crunch serious numbers or play games, I go to my firebreathing desktop machine - I want something portably, light, and cheap that runs Linux well.
Ultimately, I went the used route. Last year I got an ultraportable Sony PGC505T (2.5 pounds, PII @300, etc), and Debian was happy.
Still I wanted something just a little larger for somewhat more complicated development work, along with a larger screen and keyboard. Again, the used route was the way, scoring a Compaq Armada e500 (PIII @ 850, 512 megs ram, 1400x1080 screen, $430) purchased with a 30-day warranty. Again, debian is happy with it.
But I shouldn't have to. If Compaq were to sell this notebook NEW with the exact same specs for $750, I'd probably get it. Something smaller and lighter and a little less powerful would be a buy too.
Having serviced my client machines for years, including a wide variety of notebooks, the only advice I can offer is to stick with a name-brand vendor for a notebook. If the vender offers a "professional line" and a "consumer line" of machines, get the professional line if for no other reason that it was designed to be sturdier and serviced by an IT department instead of being sent back of every little thing. If you aren't buying a used machine from someone you know personally, try to get it from a company that offers even a basic warranty to make sure all the parts work when you get it. If it was built well by a good company, good production and engineering will see you through.
At least, usually. ;-)
As a bonus, when you get a used, cheap notebook, you don't have to worry about every tiny scratch or ding, or if it get stolen (gasp), you aren't out $2000.
COOOL!! My 20 year old Apple IIc has been getting a little tired lately. Now I can buy Apple's latest and greatest, install Konfabulator, and PRESTO! a green screen monitor, a nice keyboard, support for all my 5.25" disks, and all my AppleWorks files can live again!
You'd think if this were the case, the Konfabulator would be advertising this to the Apple II community as a feature!
(former Beagle Bros tech support)
But I'm trying to figure out how "on the ground" testing would have discovered this problem. The actual probe and the actual spacecraft could not have been moving so fast relative to each other on a test bench to duplucate the Doppler effect it would encounter in Titan.
It would have to have been simulated on the test bench, right? But the reading of the article suggests that simulating this, even if both craft were on the test bench talking to each other, would not have been performed because no one but this guy thought to do it years after the fact.
In fact, it seems to me that if testing actual inter-craft communications HAD been done, NO ONE would have still been thinking about it years later, and the REAL PROBLEM might not have ever been considered, tested, and taken care of.
In othe words, it sure was a good thing that no one tested the communications systems on the test bench between both craft!
I'm sure I'm misunderstanding something though, so if someone knows, I'd love to hear it.
Mistake and omissions happen everywhere, and all the time.
Incidentally, those wacky Russians did a test of this thing's ability to survive reentry and it seemed to to pretty ok. Check it out.
" (5) "E-mail address" means a valid e-mail address, or the valid e-mail address of the holder of the account from which the dissemination took place."
Now the term "valid" has got me thinking. As has been mentioned, "root@localhost" is certainly valid. There must also be some "see-no-evil" outfit willing to supply you with a VALID email address, but would be uncooperative to any US authority attempting to determine actual real-life identity from it.
So, if YOU know of such an outfit, let us know, so we can remain within the boundaries of the law! ;-0
Why not indeed.
This is almost the first thing I do on my own machines, so that when I re-Ghost partitions, none of my documents get hosed.
Microsoft "solved" this problem for all intents and purposes by having every program save its files in the "My Documents" folder or a subfolder therein, and allowing for filenames that can be long and have spaces.
Sometimes I feel like Microsoft is rearranging the deck chairs while the ship is sinking. Anyone remember that cool "Tripping the Rift" movie? The ship is falling to pieces and the onboard repair robot repaired the machine that makes ice cubes first. The outraged captain smacked it with wrench and screamed "We're floating in space you decide to fix the stupid ice machine? Get to work on the fucking hyperdrive!!!"
Microsoft need a similar push.