This study is wrong - all of us know that's not how it works!
The parasite makes men more attractive, more intelligent, and enables them to play strange futuristic instruments.
On the other hand, if you do wish to dislodge it, all you have to do is tickle the pelvic splanchnic ganglion and get ready for the ride of your lives.
No, but if you're looking for a hot tip, I just got one from a guy I don't know named "Antonio Quintela."
He tells me that:
"ONE OF THE BIGGEST
CRUISE LINE SERVICE AND TICKET SALES AGENCIES IN EURASIA
HAS JUST COMPLETED ANOTHER RECORD-BRAKING SEASON AND
IS LOOKING FOR FURTHER EXPANSION IN 2007."
The symbol is IFLT.PK and the price is at $0.01 right now, but he seems pretty optimistic about a 10,000% increase.
Thank you for informing me of this revolutionary development in communication technology!
For the past several years, I've relied on H20/IP to provide a network solution for streaming media. I heard about it on this weird web site called Slashdot awhile back. I've always felt hampered by the need to rely on gravity and physics (I'm afraid Congress may pass a constitutional amendment repealing these laws), and it is somewhat irritating to have to establish a 1-10m line-of-sight vertical link between nodes.
As I am working with video, I'll need a decent amount of bandwidth. Also, how do you address the problems of attenuation and cross-talk? Have you hired repeaters? Further, are there "translators" available to provide communication with other protocols such as my favorite, NetBEUI? And finally, but most importantly, is there a stack available for SCO/UNIX? I really don't want to rely upon an operating system filled with unreliable code under dispute (again, fear of Congress).
Again, thanks a million!! I'm running to the hardware store on my Segway right now to pick up supplies! Can't wait to try it out.
Freedom is deprecated; it will soon be replaced by Nationalism 0.2 in the next legislative session.
I suppose this is a concept that is hardly difficult for a thinking person to unearth, but as no one above my threshold has yet commented upon it, I'll take the soapbox.
This sort of hacktivism is nothing more then the digital analogue of a violent protest. While I most certainly do not agree with the platform and politics of the GOP, I believe that it is these hackers that pose a greater danger to my 'free speech.' While the Republicans have paid to host a web site and run a server in order to communicate their vision to the world, this wonderful group of people has decided not to fight back with cogent argumentation and stunning logic, but rather with a wildly underwhelming attempt to flood the server.
This sort of free campaign fodder offered to the Republicans can only harm Kerry's cause (though he is no prize pig himself...). Just wait for the War on Terrorism to go electronic: I can't wait for a digital reprisal of Ari Fleisher's 2001 declaration that "People have to watch what they say and watch what they do."
It's time people began to think. I honestly believe that a logical policy analysis reveals the truth. Left to themselves, people reading campaign literature from either side should be able to discern the better candidate. Even card-carrying GOP members that plan to vote a straight ticket deserve to learn what their party stands for and believes.
Now flip the coin. Suppose it were Republicans DDOS'ing progressive web sites such as Salon.com, Kuro5hin, or (heaven forbid) Slashdot. Shouldn't we all have the right to publish in peace? Attack my logic and my political views if you'd like. I'm not here to argue today, but it seems to me that this is obviously a "bad idea."
Yesterday, a wonderful article was published in Salon regarding planned protests of the GOP convention. Article summary: "If militants violently disrupt the GOP convention, it could be Chicago 1968 redux -- and Christmas in August for the Bush campaign." There is nothing like a free victory in a battle not fought.
We recognize the right to free speech, but I personally believe in the right of anyone to be heard. By my personal moral code, the correct way to respond to a man shouting wildly on the street is not to toss a brick his way, but rather to engage in conversation.
Just trying out the software, it seems to be pretty slick -- just about on par with OpenOffice.org, though a little faster. Complicated Word documents don't open well, but for the basic, simple purposes a person using a free office suite would require, it is really a decent application.
What I'd really like to see is Open Source groups working with state governments to accomplish the same purpose for free (speech / beer). Many more possibilities are available.
In any case, I think this is an excellent step forward for the state; though we may not be doing well economically (like most states), it is nice to see advancement in technology. Indiana already offers several other services, such as Access Indiana, something resembling e-government, and a full-text newspaper, magazine, and journal databased called Inspire.
I really hate to come off as rude, but if you look a little more closely, you'll notice a few things. First, the product is provided by SimDesk to Indiana residents free for two years. At the end of this period, if the state decides to keep it, it will cost about $1 per resident, paid for presumably by tax dollars. Essentially, the state is not competing with any private companies, at least at this point; rather, a private corporation is offering free access to a product/service for a rather lengthy trial period.
It seems like a decent deal, really, but the ability to opt out would be nice.
One of the biggest selling points at my company is our "live-voice-answer" policy. Essentially, we've found that our customers don't like to wait on hold and that that can be enough to swing them from buying from us or a competitor. The costs of hiring extra support people do add up, but if your product is good enough, the two often cancel out.
Or, failing that, consider rewarding your customers for waiting. If you can set up music so that it is simply one continuous track for each caller, start feeding them 'offer codes' or something of the sort -- discounts, free company t-shirt, a CD, who knows. I'd enjoy that.
Several others have posted comments regarding the legality of such fees and the deception surrounding them. Not a lawyer, and I don't understand exactly where the line is drawn, but I can tell you that a lawsuit would hold up. Case in point: Verizon.
I'll be the first to come out against the obesity lawsuits against McDonalds -- Frivolous court-clogging litigation ranks quite highly on my list of pet peeves. By that token, suing your wireless carrier to recoup $2.93 per month to the tune of legal fees, court costs, and simply the time involved would be quite outrageous. However, were I to take up such a matter, it would be not for the money involved, but for the principle. I've no problem with a corporation recovering extra costs due to the imposition of federal fees and standards from consumers assuming such fees are small and reasonable. I do not appreciate being lied to or otherwise misled -- it is one thing to pass costs back onto the customer, but quite another to masquerade a cost as a state or federal mandatory tax.
In any case, Verizon made this mistake. I never had much of a problem with receiving a $40.21 bill for my $36 plan sans overage -- I've more or less accepted that I'm going to get screwed over no matter what. Apparently a few were a little more upset than I; in November, I received notification that I was part of a class-action lawsuit of fellow customers against Verizon and its affiliates dating back to 1993. Due to their engagement in such practices, the company has been ordered to pay these customers something like $20, offer free text messaging, or free wireless web for a period of time. Nothing required to claim it either...apparently it is all automatic.
So, as silly of an idea as a lawsuit may seem, litigation seems to be a viable option, assuming you have an incredible amount of free time on your hands and are bothered by such deceptive practices enough to take the issue upon yourself.
Of course, knowing T-Mobile, I'd be more likely to go after them for their lack of coverage or decent service than slight-overbilling;-).
Hitachi made a PDA, powered by a fuel cell...they plan to expand the battery power to 40 hours.
This is incorrect. If the submitter were to take the time to read the actual article...or the editors...they would have noticed this more surprising tidbit:
NEC Corp. has developed a notebook personal computer (PC) powered by a fuel cell that runs for five hours and plans to extend the operating time to 40 hours for commercial sale in 2005.
Toshiba Corp. has developed a fuel cell-based notebook PC that runs for five hours and a handheld-device fuel cell that weighs 130 grams. Toshiba plans to commercialize them in 2005.
While a PDA that runs for a paltry five hours and weighs over a pound isn't exactly impressive (quite the opposite, in fact), a laptop with a forty-hour battery [fuel cell] would be incredible. Not only would that solve the problem of waiting for endless charging cycles to complete, it would also resolve the issue of batteries losing their life over time (I type this on a PIII-900 Gateway that scarcely lasts an hour and half with a second battery installed). The only issue now seems to be rechargability, as I don't believe that this is possible with a fuel cell.
For those too lazy to shop around for a link, the logo is visible on the FBI homepage along with a fairly extensive notice.
The wording is what really gets me...very colloquial for such a terse organization:
PIRATES IN CYBERSPACE
Not Exactly Fun and Games
Does the number THREE BILLION DOLLARS get your attention? ... Did you notice that "new" FBI seal in the corner? Only 5 stars; no laurel leaves; shield moved up to the top of the blue field. That's the official FBI Anti-Piracy seal, just unveiled today... and you'll be seeing a lot of it in the days to come. Not just on the warning screens of videos and DVDs, but on the millions and millions of CDs, games, software packages, and other digital media that are produced each year. Oh, and one last thing:
Protect yourself!
Great stuff. Of course, I'd always thought of the red, black, and white FBI WARNING screen on VHS and DVD's as somewhat of a, well, warning...but hey, new times, new logo.
They consider this an effort to combat piracy. I somehow doubt that half an hour in Photoshop will do much to address the problem.
Granted, I'm all for the protection of artists and such, but the usual practice of protecting the 'big stars' (who tend to fall short of being 'artists') while leaving independent musicians and filmmakers out in the cold isn't exactly what I'd had in mind.
These efforts specifically target criminal enterprises -- and link the considerable resources and efforts of private sector companies and trade associations with law enforcement partnerships (on local, state, federal, and international levels) to identify and stop them.
And that's not all.
Here's hoping there will some benefit to those that still create their work rather than serve as a mere mouthpiece.
I dunno about this place....many qualms. I don't know how could I possibly support an organization that refuses to hang the dead, mummified remains of my Summum spiritual companions (or brothers or whatever) on the walls of a data storage center.
In all seriousness, though they seem to have an open mind regarding material allowed to be stored, they substantially limit their potential market. For instance, "To eliminate fire risk, the company won't store paper or anything that might burn." I suppose this makes sense. But then they start turning down precious metals (and by that logic, stones such as diamonds and valuable jewelry), refusing to store cryogenically frozen human cells.
Additionally, I have to wonder about the security of the place. It only has about ten employees, which would put suspects on a short list, but at the same time gives the mountain comparatively little protection from outside attackers. Furthermore, the excavation was done only thirty or so years ago, so it hasn't yet stood the test of time. Not long ago, they completed some more major construction adding second and third floor mezanines...I have to wonder as to whether or not any of this has affected the structural integrity and to what extent. Of course, the southwest isn't exactly the most stable region either...earthquakes are many.
But let's put all of that aside for a moment. We have a company that has its eyes on the future!
We figure computers are not going to go away," Nowa said.
Yesterday afternoon I received a Dell ad in the mail. On the back cover, they advertise a new PC recylcing service. For $7.50, you can recycle up to 50 lbs of computer equipment, up to three items from any manufacturer. Additionally, they give you a handy 10% off coupon for use toward a new Dell purchase.
Furthermore, they have also launched a new Dell Donations program to benefit the National Cristina Foundation. If you have hardware (ad says 'above Pentium I'--ambiguous as to whether or not your P-166 would be accepted), they'll take it and fix it up for disabled/disadvantaged children and adults.
Instead of forcing you to drive or UPS it to a distribution center or a warehouse, they send an Airborne Express guy out to your house or business to pick it up. I have to admit, I'm rather impressed by this program.
Just for kicks, I decided to run the tool linked on that site. Turns out I'm in for some trouble (?).
Output from my Windows notebook:
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600] (C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.
C:\Documents and Settings\Scott>"C:\Documents and Settings\Scott\Desktop\y2k.exe " Y2K by Harlend Computer Services . Copyright (C) 1998-1999.
This copy of Y2K has NOT been registered for installation.
Checking your Windows configuration...
Testing the O/S clock... Failed
Testing the BIOS clock...
Good news! The BIOS in this PC will roll over properly into the New Millennium, and correctly recognises 2000 as a leap year.
It seems that though this system, made in 2001 is just fine. Windows XP, with a service pack from just a few months ago, is still not Y2K compliant. Maybe this is the reason GoLive keeps crashing and my popcorn does not fully pop.
We really need to quash the precedent being set here...It seems that each and every day there is another movement to make copyright violation (a long-beat-to-death civil matter) a criminal offense. Granted, the move of Buckles from ATF to RIAA has little to do with actual congressional matters, but you'd better bet that he'll have Senator Orrin Hatch's (of nuke-your-PC fame) backing. Donate to the EFF, support the ACLU, do whatever.
The last thing we need is another one of these. Soon enough, the INS will be deporting pirates...I can't wait!
I'll admit, if the product is all that the review makes it out to be then I would be very interested. Cheap, too--it's selling for $169.99 + free shipping. Of course, you still have to add in your connectivity of choice, but regardless, a more than reasonable price considering some of what I've seen from similar media delivery companies such as Escient and SonicBlue.
Unfortunately, it seems that it's only a nice deal if you can get it to work.Three reviewers over at Review Centre are a little less than satisfied:
"Oritron NPD3117 networked DVD player is a very unreliable product. The first one I had, it stopped working after two weeks. I couldn't get the DVD door to open reliably...While playing DVD movie, the pixel would just break up all over the screen. The service center was no help. They did replaced my breaken unit. The second unit broke after one week."
A second author had difficulties with networking:
"Had to return the first Oritron NPD3117 DVD player because networking did not function properly. Second player sent worked for a month and then would not turn on properly with wireless network card."
The third review seems to be quite pleased with the product. Overall, it sounds like a nice player, but it suffers from poor implementation (or at least Q/A in manufacturing). It would be nice, however, if they were able to get these issues resolved. However, if problems such as these are as prevalent as they appear to be, my money if perfectly content with rotting in the bank until something slightly more functional appears on the market. I can only hope the promised firmware updates will help to alleviate the glitches.
Rule No. 153: You cut the fat, you cut the flavor.
I am not a lawyer, of course, but it seems to me that SCO's lawsuit with IBM really does have no direct bearing upon individual linux users. Rather, SCO would most likely use the win against IBM as fuel for the fire to prove that the courts would generally smile upon such a misuse of our already-screwed up judicial system. In the meantime, they will most likely sue everyone else that they can (i.e., you and me) knowing that we do not have the resources to fight them and therefore will settle and pay an egregious sum of cash that we do not owe.
Of course, it would be nice if SCO would dump the SCOSource division (company?) dedicated to "defending their intellectual property" and actually develop some intellectual property. Granted, UnixWare et al are not in good shape, but hey, that hasn't stopped other software companies from developing defunct software
While those photos are extremely impressive (the best of a Mac that I've seen), I must say that my attention was drawn to his friend's site referenced at the end of the photo tour:
"Yeah, I have friends that use "windows" too, even one that thinks he's funny. Check him out here:http://asherbond.com/a5.
Introducing the Powa Mack A5: "If beauty is skin deep, nobody told Bad Boy Asher Bond - The new Powa Mack A5 is stunningly gorgeous - both inside and out. I used a Twinklecam, Web Camera with a Fisher Price Flashlight, to capture the metallic textures and elegant curves of the worlds second 32-bit Bad Boy Asher Bond personal computer. Thank you for visiting - I hope you enjoy - Asher Bond"
With grades five and under(!), don't expect the kids to be wowed with logic. Try explaining the concepts of AND, OR, XORing, etc. to your children this evening. You said that your daughter was in third grade, so I'd expect something along the lines of "Daddy, that's boring!" Add two years to that and you'll get something like "Shut up dad, that's boring..."
Regardless, it seems to me that they won't care about seeing a program that you wrote. Let's say, for example, that you wrote the NT kernel on which your laptop's Win2k is based, as well as the Explorer interface. Singlehandedly, nonetheless. I doubt that the class(es) would be any more impressed by this than they would by a simple:
Hello, world!
Therefore, two options: (1) Be boring and target the possible one or two outcase kids in there that might actually care. (2) Make some sort of whiz-bang video, flash animation, or any other kind of neato hoo-hah.
The former allows you to stay true to yourself and your profession, while the latter plays to your audience in a pleading attempt to get them to care about what you do and reinforce your right to the oxygen you consume. To be perfectly honest, I'd go whiz-bang and play "Multimedia Content Developer" instead of "TPS Report Author."
I have to admit, this is definitely one of the better write-ups that I have seen on the subject. Most, as the article states, base all decisions on the TCO (amount spent) rather than the ROI, which allows organizations to determine how much they would save in the long run if they were to switch.
Main thrust seems to be that the savings increase with the amount of technical resources converted to Linux systems. Perhaps this could be a deciding factor for many companies and organizations considering taking the plunge.
Favorite Quote:
"Discount retailing's a tight business, and we're wicked cheap," explains Burlington Coat Factory CIO Mike Prince..."Instead of having a superhorse you have a team of horses -- you don't have to have this genetic [RISC] wonder."
I have to say...this worm is gettin around unlike any that I've seen before. Checking last night's firewall logs on my box at home I can see that I'm being scanned about twice a minute, though it tapered off a bit after midnight. Still, 517 port 135 scans between sunset and sunrise is a tad more than I'm used to.
I've had two or three people get ahold of me so far trying to remove it...Not too hard on 2k/XP machines. The shutdowns can be prevented by popping up Task Manager and killing msblast.exe's process, "windows auto update" from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE--Software--Microsoft--Windows-- CurrentVersion--Run. After that, it's just a matter of deleting msblast.exe from %SYSTEMROOT% and tossing on the patch. Alternately, Symantec's removal tool is nice too.
Haha, I hope I'm not (though I am certain that I am...) the only one that, at first glance, interpreted the headline as Fidel illegally obtaining some cheap Viagra on the 'net or some equally funny sexually-enabling object.
In all seriousness though, I have to admit that I have serious doubts regarding any impact that this story could possbily have...The 'mock trial' has no real-world implications, and even if it did, well...inconclusive.
So, why? this is the part where you rip into me for missing an 'obvious' point.
Sadly, that is not how it works. The RIAA is after IP addresses, not usernames. They begin downloading a file from someone with K-Lite's username (or any other) and then check to see what IP they are connected to. At that point, they have enough information to go to the user's ISP with the same pretty little subpoena that gets sent to everyone else.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it doesn't seem like this would do too much good. I suppose, as another user suggested, one could simply disable the sharing of files, but then again, that just gives RIAA an easier win. Oh well....off to Gnutella!
Slashdot Mirror
This study is wrong - all of us know that's not how it works!
The parasite makes men more attractive, more intelligent, and enables them to play strange futuristic instruments.On the other hand, if you do wish to dislodge it, all you have to do is tickle the pelvic splanchnic ganglion and get ready for the ride of your lives.
*Side effects can include massive bone loss.
But then again, it's not nearly as funny as the comment he left on the ReadWrite blog:
I think that's just about all that needs to be said here.
Cheers,
- Scott
No, but if you're looking for a hot tip, I just got one from a guy I don't know named "Antonio Quintela."
He tells me that:
The symbol is IFLT.PK and the price is at $0.01 right now, but he seems pretty optimistic about a 10,000% increase.
We'll see what happens...
Thank you for informing me of this revolutionary development in communication technology!
For the past several years, I've relied on H20/IP to provide a network solution for streaming media. I heard about it on this weird web site called Slashdot awhile back. I've always felt hampered by the need to rely on gravity and physics (I'm afraid Congress may pass a constitutional amendment repealing these laws), and it is somewhat irritating to have to establish a 1-10m line-of-sight vertical link between nodes.
As I am working with video, I'll need a decent amount of bandwidth. Also, how do you address the problems of attenuation and cross-talk? Have you hired repeaters? Further, are there "translators" available to provide communication with other protocols such as my favorite, NetBEUI? And finally, but most importantly, is there a stack available for SCO/UNIX? I really don't want to rely upon an operating system filled with unreliable code under dispute (again, fear of Congress).
Again, thanks a million!! I'm running to the hardware store on my Segway right now to pick up supplies! Can't wait to try it out.
Freedom is deprecated; it will soon be replaced by Nationalism 0.2 in the next legislative session.
I suppose this is a concept that is hardly difficult for a thinking person to unearth, but as no one above my threshold has yet commented upon it, I'll take the soapbox.
This sort of hacktivism is nothing more then the digital analogue of a violent protest. While I most certainly do not agree with the platform and politics of the GOP, I believe that it is these hackers that pose a greater danger to my 'free speech.' While the Republicans have paid to host a web site and run a server in order to communicate their vision to the world, this wonderful group of people has decided not to fight back with cogent argumentation and stunning logic, but rather with a wildly underwhelming attempt to flood the server.
This sort of free campaign fodder offered to the Republicans can only harm Kerry's cause (though he is no prize pig himself...). Just wait for the War on Terrorism to go electronic: I can't wait for a digital reprisal of Ari Fleisher's 2001 declaration that "People have to watch what they say and watch what they do."
It's time people began to think. I honestly believe that a logical policy analysis reveals the truth. Left to themselves, people reading campaign literature from either side should be able to discern the better candidate. Even card-carrying GOP members that plan to vote a straight ticket deserve to learn what their party stands for and believes.
Now flip the coin. Suppose it were Republicans DDOS'ing progressive web sites such as Salon.com, Kuro5hin, or (heaven forbid) Slashdot. Shouldn't we all have the right to publish in peace? Attack my logic and my political views if you'd like. I'm not here to argue today, but it seems to me that this is obviously a "bad idea."
Yesterday, a wonderful article was published in Salon regarding planned protests of the GOP convention. Article summary: "If militants violently disrupt the GOP convention, it could be Chicago 1968 redux -- and Christmas in August for the Bush campaign." There is nothing like a free victory in a battle not fought.
We recognize the right to free speech, but I personally believe in the right of anyone to be heard. By my personal moral code, the correct way to respond to a man shouting wildly on the street is not to toss a brick his way, but rather to engage in conversation.
So please, think. It might work.
-Scott
Just trying out the software, it seems to be pretty slick -- just about on par with OpenOffice.org, though a little faster. Complicated Word documents don't open well, but for the basic, simple purposes a person using a free office suite would require, it is really a decent application.
What I'd really like to see is Open Source groups working with state governments to accomplish the same purpose for free (speech / beer). Many more possibilities are available.
In any case, I think this is an excellent step forward for the state; though we may not be doing well economically (like most states), it is nice to see advancement in technology. Indiana already offers several other services, such as Access Indiana, something resembling e-government, and a full-text newspaper, magazine, and journal databased called Inspire.
I wish other states would do the same.
I really hate to come off as rude, but if you look a little more closely, you'll notice a few things. First, the product is provided by SimDesk to Indiana residents free for two years. At the end of this period, if the state decides to keep it, it will cost about $1 per resident, paid for presumably by tax dollars. Essentially, the state is not competing with any private companies, at least at this point; rather, a private corporation is offering free access to a product/service for a rather lengthy trial period.
It seems like a decent deal, really, but the ability to opt out would be nice.
-Scott
One of the biggest selling points at my company is our "live-voice-answer" policy. Essentially, we've found that our customers don't like to wait on hold and that that can be enough to swing them from buying from us or a competitor. The costs of hiring extra support people do add up, but if your product is good enough, the two often cancel out.
Or, failing that, consider rewarding your customers for waiting. If you can set up music so that it is simply one continuous track for each caller, start feeding them 'offer codes' or something of the sort -- discounts, free company t-shirt, a CD, who knows. I'd enjoy that.
In any case, good luck!
-Scott
Several others have posted comments regarding the legality of such fees and the deception surrounding them. Not a lawyer, and I don't understand exactly where the line is drawn, but I can tell you that a lawsuit would hold up. Case in point: Verizon.
I'll be the first to come out against the obesity lawsuits against McDonalds -- Frivolous court-clogging litigation ranks quite highly on my list of pet peeves. By that token, suing your wireless carrier to recoup $2.93 per month to the tune of legal fees, court costs, and simply the time involved would be quite outrageous. However, were I to take up such a matter, it would be not for the money involved, but for the principle. I've no problem with a corporation recovering extra costs due to the imposition of federal fees and standards from consumers assuming such fees are small and reasonable. I do not appreciate being lied to or otherwise misled -- it is one thing to pass costs back onto the customer, but quite another to masquerade a cost as a state or federal mandatory tax.
In any case, Verizon made this mistake. I never had much of a problem with receiving a $40.21 bill for my $36 plan sans overage -- I've more or less accepted that I'm going to get screwed over no matter what. Apparently a few were a little more upset than I; in November, I received notification that I was part of a class-action lawsuit of fellow customers against Verizon and its affiliates dating back to 1993. Due to their engagement in such practices, the company has been ordered to pay these customers something like $20, offer free text messaging, or free wireless web for a period of time. Nothing required to claim it either...apparently it is all automatic.
So, as silly of an idea as a lawsuit may seem, litigation seems to be a viable option, assuming you have an incredible amount of free time on your hands and are bothered by such deceptive practices enough to take the issue upon yourself.
Of course, knowing T-Mobile, I'd be more likely to go after them for their lack of coverage or decent service than slight-overbilling ;-).
-Scott
Hitachi made a PDA, powered by a fuel cell...they plan to expand the battery power to 40 hours.
This is incorrect. If the submitter were to take the time to read the actual article...or the editors...they would have noticed this more surprising tidbit:
While a PDA that runs for a paltry five hours and weighs over a pound isn't exactly impressive (quite the opposite, in fact), a laptop with a forty-hour battery [fuel cell] would be incredible. Not only would that solve the problem of waiting for endless charging cycles to complete, it would also resolve the issue of batteries losing their life over time (I type this on a PIII-900 Gateway that scarcely lasts an hour and half with a second battery installed).
The only issue now seems to be rechargability, as I don't believe that this is possible with a fuel cell.
In any case, this is a tremendous step forward.
-Scott
For those too lazy to shop around for a link, the logo is visible on the FBI homepage along with a fairly extensive notice.
The wording is what really gets me...very colloquial for such a terse organization:
Great stuff. Of course, I'd always thought of the red, black, and white FBI WARNING screen on VHS and DVD's as somewhat of a, well, warning...but hey, new times, new logo.
They consider this an effort to combat piracy. I somehow doubt that half an hour in Photoshop will do much to address the problem.
Granted, I'm all for the protection of artists and such, but the usual practice of protecting the 'big stars' (who tend to fall short of being 'artists') while leaving independent musicians and filmmakers out in the cold isn't exactly what I'd had in mind.
Here's hoping there will some benefit to those that still create their work rather than serve as a mere mouthpiece.In all seriousness, though they seem to have an open mind regarding material allowed to be stored, they substantially limit their potential market. For instance, "To eliminate fire risk, the company won't store paper or anything that might burn." I suppose this makes sense. But then they start turning down precious metals (and by that logic, stones such as diamonds and valuable jewelry), refusing to store cryogenically frozen human cells.
Additionally, I have to wonder about the security of the place. It only has about ten employees, which would put suspects on a short list, but at the same time gives the mountain comparatively little protection from outside attackers. Furthermore, the excavation was done only thirty or so years ago, so it hasn't yet stood the test of time. Not long ago, they completed some more major construction adding second and third floor mezanines...I have to wonder as to whether or not any of this has affected the structural integrity and to what extent. Of course, the southwest isn't exactly the most stable region either...earthquakes are many.
But let's put all of that aside for a moment. We have a company that has its eyes on the future!
Merry Christmas,
Scott
><>
Yesterday afternoon I received a Dell ad in the mail. On the back cover, they advertise a new PC recylcing service. For $7.50, you can recycle up to 50 lbs of computer equipment, up to three items from any manufacturer. Additionally, they give you a handy 10% off coupon for use toward a new Dell purchase.
Furthermore, they have also launched a new Dell Donations program to benefit the National Cristina Foundation. If you have hardware (ad says 'above Pentium I'--ambiguous as to whether or not your P-166 would be accepted), they'll take it and fix it up for disabled/disadvantaged children and adults.
Instead of forcing you to drive or UPS it to a distribution center or a warehouse, they send an Airborne Express guy out to your house or business to pick it up. I have to admit, I'm rather impressed by this program.
More information available here.
Just for kicks, I decided to run the tool linked on that site. Turns out I'm in for some trouble (?).
Output from my Windows notebook:
It seems that though this system, made in 2001 is just fine. Windows XP, with a service pack from just a few months ago, is still not Y2K compliant. Maybe this is the reason GoLive keeps crashing and my popcorn does not fully pop.
We really need to quash the precedent being set here...It seems that each and every day there is another movement to make copyright violation (a long-beat-to-death civil matter) a criminal offense. Granted, the move of Buckles from ATF to RIAA has little to do with actual congressional matters, but you'd better bet that he'll have Senator Orrin Hatch's (of nuke-your-PC fame) backing. Donate to the EFF, support the ACLU, do whatever.
The last thing we need is another one of these. Soon enough, the INS will be deporting pirates...I can't wait!
-Scott
I'll admit, if the product is all that the review makes it out to be then I would be very interested. Cheap, too--it's selling for $169.99 + free shipping. Of course, you still have to add in your connectivity of choice, but regardless, a more than reasonable price considering some of what I've seen from similar media delivery companies such as Escient and SonicBlue.
Unfortunately, it seems that it's only a nice deal if you can get it to work. Three reviewers over at Review Centre are a little less than satisfied:
A second author had difficulties with networking:The third review seems to be quite pleased with the product. Overall, it sounds like a nice player, but it suffers from poor implementation (or at least Q/A in manufacturing). It would be nice, however, if they were able to get these issues resolved. However, if problems such as these are as prevalent as they appear to be, my money if perfectly content with rotting in the bank until something slightly more functional appears on the market. I can only hope the promised firmware updates will help to alleviate the glitches.
Rule No. 153: You cut the fat, you cut the flavor.
Well...
I am not a lawyer, of course, but it seems to me that SCO's lawsuit with IBM really does have no direct bearing upon individual linux users. Rather, SCO would most likely use the win against IBM as fuel for the fire to prove that the courts would generally smile upon such a misuse of our already-screwed up judicial system. In the meantime, they will most likely sue everyone else that they can (i.e., you and me) knowing that we do not have the resources to fight them and therefore will settle and pay an egregious sum of cash that we do not owe.
Of course, it would be nice if SCO would dump the SCOSource division (company?) dedicated to "defending their intellectual property" and actually develop some intellectual property. Granted, UnixWare et al are not in good shape, but hey, that hasn't stopped other software companies from developing defunct software
-CSA
I can just see it now...Letters from Redmond storming Ford headquarters...
Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.
heh...
-CSA
Excellent pictures.
While those photos are extremely impressive (the best of a Mac that I've seen), I must say that my attention was drawn to his friend's site referenced at the end of the photo tour:
"Yeah, I have friends that use "windows" too, even one that thinks he's funny. Check him out here: http://asherbond.com/a5.
Introducing the Powa Mack A5: "If beauty is skin deep, nobody told Bad Boy Asher Bond - The new Powa Mack A5 is stunningly gorgeous - both inside and out. I used a Twinklecam, Web Camera with a Fisher Price Flashlight, to capture the metallic textures and elegant curves of the worlds second 32-bit Bad Boy Asher Bond personal computer. Thank you for visiting - I hope you enjoy - Asher Bond"
Face it,
With grades five and under(!), don't expect the kids to be wowed with logic. Try explaining the concepts of AND, OR, XORing, etc. to your children this evening. You said that your daughter was in third grade, so I'd expect something along the lines of "Daddy, that's boring!" Add two years to that and you'll get something like "Shut up dad, that's boring..."
Regardless, it seems to me that they won't care about seeing a program that you wrote. Let's say, for example, that you wrote the NT kernel on which your laptop's Win2k is based, as well as the Explorer interface. Singlehandedly, nonetheless. I doubt that the class(es) would be any more impressed by this than they would by a simple:
Hello, world!
Therefore, two options:
(1) Be boring and target the possible one or two outcase kids in there that might actually care.
(2) Make some sort of whiz-bang video, flash animation, or any other kind of neato hoo-hah.
The former allows you to stay true to yourself and your profession, while the latter plays to your audience in a pleading attempt to get them to care about what you do and reinforce your right to the oxygen you consume. To be perfectly honest, I'd go whiz-bang and play "Multimedia Content Developer" instead of "TPS Report Author."
Good luck!
-CSA
I have to admit, this is definitely one of the better write-ups that I have seen on the subject. Most, as the article states, base all decisions on the TCO (amount spent) rather than the ROI, which allows organizations to determine how much they would save in the long run if they were to switch.
Main thrust seems to be that the savings increase with the amount of technical resources converted to Linux systems. Perhaps this could be a deciding factor for many companies and organizations considering taking the plunge.
Favorite Quote:
"Discount retailing's a tight business, and we're wicked cheap," explains Burlington Coat Factory CIO Mike Prince..."Instead of having a superhorse you have a team of horses -- you don't have to have this genetic [RISC] wonder."
-CSA
I have to say...this worm is gettin around unlike any that I've seen before. Checking last night's firewall logs on my box at home I can see that I'm being scanned about twice a minute, though it tapered off a bit after midnight. Still, 517 port 135 scans between sunset and sunrise is a tad more than I'm used to.
- CurrentVersion--Run. After that, it's just a matter of deleting msblast.exe from %SYSTEMROOT% and tossing on the patch. Alternately, Symantec's removal tool is nice too.
I've had two or three people get ahold of me so far trying to remove it...Not too hard on 2k/XP machines. The shutdowns can be prevented by popping up Task Manager and killing msblast.exe's process, "windows auto update" from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE--Software--Microsoft--Windows-
Happy patching!
Haha, I hope I'm not (though I am certain that I am...) the only one that, at first glance, interpreted the headline as Fidel illegally obtaining some cheap Viagra on the 'net or some equally funny sexually-enabling object.
In all seriousness though, I have to admit that I have serious doubts regarding any impact that this story could possbily have...The 'mock trial' has no real-world implications, and even if it did, well...inconclusive.
So, why? this is the part where you rip into me for missing an 'obvious' point.
Mods, this is a troll...the page linked to is nothing more than the MSIE bug causing MS-based browsers to crash. Please mod down promptly.
Thanks!
Sadly, that is not how it works. The RIAA is after IP addresses, not usernames. They begin downloading a file from someone with K-Lite's username (or any other) and then check to see what IP they are connected to. At that point, they have enough information to go to the user's ISP with the same pretty little subpoena that gets sent to everyone else.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it doesn't seem like this would do too much good. I suppose, as another user suggested, one could simply disable the sharing of files, but then again, that just gives RIAA an easier win. Oh well....off to Gnutella!
-csa