Seriously, we had a TS1000, 16k ram pack and the printer. We had to get a new tape recorder for it becuase ours couldn't save right. I remember the screeen display when it saved or loaded. The TV would just go to hash and when the picture came back, it was done. BTW, it wasn't UHF ch 33 it was VHF 2 or 3. Ah, the joys of trying to program in BASIC, remember those preprinted statements on the keys? I think it was shift-4 to get a Print statement. Used to have a heck of a time trying to run Flight Simulator, not so much the running but the playing. It used to have two modes, Fast and Slow. Fast used to slow down the refresh of the screen to let the CPU concentrate all of it's 1 mHz on actual processing. The printer ran on 24VDC and was thermal. Printed on rolls of 6 inch wide paper. Odd blue print on waxy white paper. Plugged into the expansion slot. Had to be really careful that the ventilation slots were kept clear cause it tended to catch fire. We didn't have a word processor for it, so I remember writing my Christmas list as a bunch of Print statements in Basic. Hey lay off, what did you expect from a nine year old.
Use whatever program you want for the intitial development. Then upload to the final enviroment that the teacher is expecting. If you have written the program correctly, it should run with no modifications or a few compile errors. I had the same problems with my Intro to C++ class. I ended up writing my programs under Codewarrior for Mac and uploading to a VMS machine. Out of 2 semesters worth of programs, I had problems with exactly 1 program. This is an excellent time to learn the differences between the different types of compilers out there. For example, Codewarrior can do a setw() on just about anything but other compilers will only do that on numbers. Besides in an intro class you are not going to be delving into anything platform specific anyway, just files, in and out, arrays and program control, nothing beyond Main() and a few function calls.
Yes, the nuke race was the most visible sign of the arms race, but the actual war was fought in the third world, places like Korea, Vietnam, Afganistan. This was a war of government grabs. The two countries did not directly fight, but rather "supported" the actual warring factions with arms and money. We knew exactly how much the USSR had and the so called "missle gap" was non existent. Nixon knew that as veep but Kennedy did not. That was why he was able to pound Nixon during the debates. Nixon could not divulge what he knew without tiping off the other side that we knew their abilites and endangering our agents in the field. So the whole arms race was kind of stuck in an endless loop. Next i while i keeps on increasing. The history of the Cold War is really a scary but interesting read. Read up, it explains why France is 80% nuclear but the US is scared to death of the stuff.
These companies are fighting a losing battle. What we are seeing here is old line companies that were built on old analog technologies fighting to remain revelant in the face of the digital tide. What these companies don't seem to realize is that they can no longer control the disemmenation of information, kinda like the Catholic Church when the printing press was invented. Basically if someone can get information into a computer, its bits can be twiddeled. The only way to completely ensure that stuff cannot be copied is to lock down the entire playback system and I'll be a monkeys uncle if I'm gonna let some company tell me what I can and cannot do with material I legally purchased.
Apple already tried that. It was a project called "Star Trek". 4 engineers from Novell and 14 from Apple succeeded in getting the Finder, QuickTime and some pieces of QuickDraw GX running on x86 hardware. The problem was it was source level compatible not binary compatible. Every Mac application would have to have been rewritten to work. Anything that directly taked to Mac iron simply would not run. For the whole sorid history of Apple and its mistakes pick up Apple Confidential by Owen W. Linzmayer.
The mb in an SE is flat against the bottom. The sigs are in raised plastic inside the rear of the case. BTW, the same ones are in the PLUS and all earlier machines. They stopped after the SE however. The Mac II has sigs on a metal plate indside the case, but that's the absolute end of sigs in an Apple.
I really don't know if you have ever had an RSI but they really, really, hurt, a lot. I am 24 years old with RSI in my hands from enforced typing at a lousy keyboard for 6.30 hours every day. I was doing tech support for a major technology distributor. I did ask about changing my workspace but the company decided to blame it on the fact that I did some yard work a week before I filed for a change in my space. Absolutly NO!! changes were made. By the end of the day my hand was so swollen and hurt so much I was able to place it directly into a snow pack and not feel the cold. By the end of the year I quit. It is just over a year now and my hand is still not right. Oh sure, I can move my fingers individually now, but it still (a year later) hurts after typing for 20 min. I have to take about 30 min off before I can type again. I say it's about time some regs were placed on the office. Hopefully the PHB's out there will realize that the conditions in some areas of the workplace have degenerated to those approching the Industrial Revolution. Go up to Rhode Island and see the old mills and then tell me that these sort of laws are not needed.
Will it get little robotic fleas and ticks as well? Where do you have to take it for the 6 month checkup? Would I have to get it fixed so it doesn't try to do the nasty with my Mac or my Aptiva?
I can think of no practical reason to get one of these things, which means that I will need one even more. But, the real question is what happens when your AIBO breaks? I just couldn't chuck something like that into the trash. I mean I've still got a working and sort of productive 8086 for Pete's sake. I'm starting to get feelings for my SyJet. Now SONY builds something that purposefully plays on my softer spots for neato machines. For shame!
In truth though, nothing compares to an actual animal you rescued from the local shelter. Plus, there's no registration cards to return.
Media attention on Linux is just that, attention. There are good and bad points, I have a short film on the subject. Would someone please get the lights?
Good Effects: Joe User walks into Software Hut and sees a box of {insert your fav. distro here} sitting on a shelf. Thinks "Hey isn't this that new OS everyone's trying?" Joe has just supported the Cause. Due to supporting the Cause, Mr. Software company sees Joe's purchase and decides to build more apps, thus furthering the Cause. Joe may see something in the OS that he doesn't like, and may learn programming to fix it. Joe gets that nice feeling of accomplishment, posts fix to a user group and gets mild recognition for his discovery.
Bad Effects: Joe User thinks that the install will be just like it is on Windoze and tries to use it on some non-supported stuff. Joe User is not familiar with the concept of checking for a more recent build or drivers. Joe User is fustrated by lack of boxed software and keeps on using Ms Windows. More people start to think that Linux can "Save the World" and get really upset when they find that "Yes, it breaks like any other piece of software out there"
As a community we really to need to make sure that the Media knows that Linux is not a cure-all, yet. It is an excellent option for someone who knows what they are doing and is not afraid to tinker. We must avoid the "Holier-then-thou" mentality that I see perodically affecting the Mac world. Most newbies are really skittish about not being comfortably in the majority where each need is attended to by some thing you are not allowed to change. This is a brave new world gentlemen, and we must see that the way is made ready for the huddled masses yearning to breath free. I ask each of you to take a newbie in hand and explain to them the ins and outs, don't send them packing off to a FAQ without an explanation. Remember, you were once new as well.
But, in all seriousness, whatever attention Linux gets at this point is good. Look at what John C. Davorak did for the iBook.
I'm sure that after they get the actual engines of the project running correctly, then we will see the teams working on the look and feel of the various interfaces. I know that in some of the programs I write, the output is not at all readable, I'm just looking for the result I wanted. The prettyness comes later. If noone seems to be working on the Mac look and feel, how about signing up to work on that?
Rule 1: never buy software that says version 1.0 on it.
I would also like to add that the same rule holds forth for new hardware. The G4 is a wholly new platform. It stands to reason that Apple would have some problems with ramp-up. Sounds like someone skipped a few milestones on the project chart, like the step that says "does it work according to the specifications?" and "can we make enough?" That just shows a lack of planning that is not an emergency on my part. Also, most Mac folx will agree that it is not the company we love, but rather the machines. I am starting to see a problem within the company. After Mr. Jobs comes up with an idea, the actual process should be passed to someone who can take care of all the picky little things that need to be done to assure the Company that Things Like This don't Happen Again. Perhaps Mr. Jobs should not be involved with the daily runnings but the overall vision (yuck, I hate that word) of the Company.
I really didn't see any tough questions in the article. Maybe if they had Mike Wallace show up unexpectedly with a camera crew, we would get some answers. You know, some good old fashioned journalism questions like, "When did you stop buying companies and squashing them?" Honestly, I have no problems with Bill G the man, but his business practices leave much to be desired. I do see Microsoft as being replaced in the future, I doubt that Linux will do it alone however. We may see a division along the lines of a Mac-like OS on the desktop, with Linux running the backroom operations. Secondly, the general purpose computer may also go away entirely, replaced by small devices that communicate with each other but do one or two things really well. Example, my TV does an excellent job of being a TV, its a lousy web display. In that light I think Bill is right, MS is not long for this world.
This is not the same IBM that we all grew up with. You know the lumbering giant stuck in the mud. I think we all owe MS a big thanks for knocking IBm on its ass. I believe that IBM even by acknowledging Linux exists does more for its legitimacy than all the FUD being heaved at it by MS. According to an IBM guy I talked to the company is still really steamed about OS/2. They and everyone else knew that OS/2 was better, like BetaMax, but MS hamstrung them with licenses. IBM sees this a simple way to get some back. Rather than fight with MS, IBM fighres they will just take their balls and play with someone else. This really gets IBM out of some really nasty agreements and has several beneficial effects. The first is that IBM no longer has to pay royalties to MS and they can lower prices to compete in the market. Second it gives IBM a great deal of credibility in emerging technologies. This leaves MS with the unhappy position of having to buy their way in. Since IBM is mostly a hardware company, they do not have any problems with changing to support new software, unlike MS whose sole claim to fame is Windows. IBM is correct to not endorse one distro. To do so would lock them into the same agreements that they had with MS. Not gonna do it, would not be prudent at this time.
I am quite aware that the rest of the world uses the metric system. My car has metric parts on it for pete's sake. I keep wrenches for both metric and the US system. Personally I find that the customary bolts rust to metric sizes quite well. Let me ask a question here, If Canada and some parts of the world can learn dual languages, why not let the US have dual measurments? I find that in daily use the US system works very well. Long distances get measured in miles, short ones in feet, shorter in inches. I went to school back in the late 70's through 80's. We learned metric alongside the customary system. In the lab classes I used metric, everywhere else I used the US system, just the same as if I went to France or Germany I would be expected to know the language. So for all you conversion advocates, I will continue getting 20 gallons of gas, driving 20 miles to work at 60 miles an hour, using a 3/16in screwdriver and likeing it! I ask you, in this present day, is the unit of measurement really important? If the measurement is not what you need just convert to what you want and go on. By the way I know how to use and the difference between milli- centi- and kilo- meters, doesn't mean that I like them.
IBM is doing exactly what any good business does. Find a crack in the competition and use that crack against them. IBM could not beat MS on the OS front. MS is just too strong. However, the MS business model does not permit them to enter the free software market. IBM, not being dependent upon software sales, is able to move into the OSS market and start product seeding while gaining general community goodwill. The idea is simplicity itself. Put out some software, a few tools for development and some hardware to run it all on and you have just made an end around run over MS. By the time MS gets a business strategy going about OSS, IBM will have become a part of the OSS fabric and be very difficult to remove. This is just the huge shot in the arm OSS needs. Let's not forget that the PC was considered a toy before IBM put one out.
I was diagnosed with RSI in December, not Carpal Tunnel but the first step. It seemed to be directly caused by (forced) typing all day. I was doing telephone tech support where every call had to be completley logged. What helped first was quitting, but I find that the genuine Apple keyboards are altoghter the most comfortable I have used. (No joke) I will also say that the old mechanical keyboards have really reduced the pain and swelling when I have to use a PC. It seems that the greater key throw and firmer resistance force the hands into the proper typing positions. You just can't type as fast with them which is good. I still use the method my piano teacher used for playing. Pretend that you are typing with a ball in the palm of your hand. No matter what The Man says about it, you really need to stop frequently and do something else. A stiff shot of cortisone does wonders.
Finally, someone with common sense. Hopefully this will pass, but I doubt it. If states and counties see all their commerce leaving for cyberspace, maybe they will get the hint, are you listening Erie County legislature, that money will go where consumers get the most bang for the buck.
Coolness, does this mean that I can finally put my Timex Sinclair 1000 on the internet? I had the ram pack AND the printer. Hopefully someone will port Mosiac to its wierd BASIC lang and I can have another machine that will time out trying to load up Slashdot.
I'm proud to say that my second OS after DOS was OS/2. I did my first install (ver2.1 with MM/PM) on a 386SX/25 with 1MB of memory (want do you expect I was a sophmore in college, I had no money). It was the first time I have ever seen an OS actually blow out a microprocessor. A week of running it melted the poor thing. I upgraded to an AST 486 with 12mb of ram and ran the same install for two years with no software problems. The only time it crashed hard was when a hard drive failed and took out the swap file, the PM backups and a lot of games. Six minutes of changing the paths in the config.sys, had a working but limping system up and running. Most of my time was in Win/OS rather than straight OS/2, but I was the only one in the rez hall who could do that while still keeping Descent, NASCAR Racing and a terminal session running. I've got to say that OS/2 was the closest I ever got to actually having Big Iron in my computer. I defy anyone to name an OS that has 2 kernels running at the same time and can switch them when one of them fails. Yes, the single ended input queue blew chunks, but a good app was written to expect that. I've since moved to a Mac but I still kinda miss the OS/2 desktop and having 3 copies of needed files on hand when the whole deal bites the dust. Reboot, wait for the little box, hit alt-F1 and select the most recent desktop backup and !bang! there you were again. To bad the rest of the world went for bloatware and frills. By the way playing with the appearance manager and the thickness of the lines made for a much better looking desktop.
Correct me if I'm wrong but,,
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I really don't see how this would work. If I am on the 'net, then I am sending out packets to the nearest switch where they are being multiplexed with other stuff and sprayed out over the cloud. It is only through the good graces of a working router table that this stuff works. Wouldn't they have to tap the last mile of copper just to keep the tap legal and avoid the huge suit that I would bring if my stuff got caught up in an ongoing legal investigation of someone else?
Also, you know that Bill of Rights they taught us in skool? They actually exist, I've seen them. Someone ought to show them to Janet and Bill, they make for some darn fine reading.
What is the reason for this classification of a otherwise normal but slightly eccentric human? Save things like autism for the folx who really need the label for legit reasons. This is just a theory of mine, but I firmly believe that we all fit somewhere on a graduated scale that extends from one extreme to another. It may very well be a mild form of autism, but does that necessarly mean that anyone who likes to do one thing to the exclusion of something else is also ill? I can't play sports to save my life, hell Nike would probably pay me a lot of money to not wear their shoes. If there is one thing that I pulled from this article, it is that, as a group, we all need to get out more. Many geeks that I know are not terribly good social-wise until they get into a group of other geeks, then you can almost feel the packets running around. A good bit of follow-up research would be to analyze the same geeks in a geek-friendly social setting. I'm sure that the picture will change to one of a group of people who are more interested in the WHAT, WHY, and HOW end of the scale than in idle chatter. So what if Bill G. rocks on his heels when giving a presentation. So do I. I get the distinct feeling that I have not made a good connection at the internet and data link layers and the TCP layer is just spraying frames all over the place. Don't we all have better things to do?
According to Bit by Bit (good book, by the way) the race to crack Enigma led them to create Colossus. Somehow, the creators of Colussus came to the US to see von Neumann's EDVAC. The group then went back to England where Turing, studying notes on the EDVAC, proceded to invent the first fully electronic stored program computer ever. At that point Great Britain stole the lead in computing technology. They went on to develop EDSAC while the US stalled on a patent fight over ENIAC.
As an biege G3 user, I will have to agree here. I was lucky enough to see one of IBM's really big servers not to long ago in person. There were two of them, pitch black with matching monitor, kbd, mouse and rack. That thing just screamed power. Especially when put next to a biege Compaq. If color and style have no place in "serious computing", just take a look at some of the old pictures of mainframes. Supposedly, when IBM was building its first mainframe, Thomas Watson wanted the columns in the room removed so everyone could see the whole machine. That couldn't be dome becuase the columns were holding up the room, so they were removed from all photos of the machine. Dark, imposing, something that says "Bow down and worship the raised floor I stand on" really speaks to people in a emotional way that a biege box with a spec list just does not. To expend this logic a bit further, I really don't see Joe Average lusting after a Honda Accord, even though that's what he drives. The auto manufacturers know that when he wants is Firebird with the Ram Air Injection and the really big engine. That's the same nerve that Apple has exposed. It's called want.
It is likely to be an Apple thing for now. The catch about a digital display is that requires a video card that knows how to talk to the monitor and puts out a digital signal. Most video cards today all put out an analog signal. If the display catches on, someone, probably ATI, may put out a card for the IBM compatibles.
What computer guy would really want to work for the FBI? After the plastering they've taken in the media and the general idea of a dumb G'man so prevelant in society, I can't really say that I'm surprised. This is happening all over the country. The area's that really need geeks can't get them. Of course, the FBI has never had a stock offering and made anyone rich overnight.
Personally, if they are hiring for geek type jobs, where do I sign up? Could be kind of neat to know that you had a part in busting some big international operation and those perps are now seeing the harsh light of justice. I've been watching way to much Dragnet.
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Seriously, we had a TS1000, 16k ram pack and the printer. We had to get a new tape recorder for it becuase ours couldn't save right. I remember the screeen display when it saved or loaded. The TV would just go to hash and when the picture came back, it was done. BTW, it wasn't UHF ch 33 it was VHF 2 or 3. Ah, the joys of trying to program in BASIC, remember those preprinted statements on the keys? I think it was shift-4 to get a Print statement. Used to have a heck of a time trying to run Flight Simulator, not so much the running but the playing. It used to have two modes, Fast and Slow. Fast used to slow down the refresh of the screen to let the CPU concentrate all of it's 1 mHz on actual processing. The printer ran on 24VDC and was thermal. Printed on rolls of 6 inch wide paper. Odd blue print on waxy white paper. Plugged into the expansion slot. Had to be really careful that the ventilation slots were kept clear cause it tended to catch fire. We didn't have a word processor for it, so I remember writing my Christmas list as a bunch of Print statements in Basic. Hey lay off, what did you expect from a nine year old.
Use whatever program you want for the intitial development. Then upload to the final enviroment that the teacher is expecting. If you have written the program correctly, it should run with no modifications or a few compile errors. I had the same problems with my Intro to C++ class. I ended up writing my programs under Codewarrior for Mac and uploading to a VMS machine. Out of 2 semesters worth of programs, I had problems with exactly 1 program. This is an excellent time to learn the differences between the different types of compilers out there. For example, Codewarrior can do a setw() on just about anything but other compilers will only do that on numbers. Besides in an intro class you are not going to be delving into anything platform specific anyway, just files, in and out, arrays and program control, nothing beyond Main() and a few function calls.
Yes, the nuke race was the most visible sign of the arms race, but the actual war was fought in the third world, places like Korea, Vietnam, Afganistan. This was a war of government grabs. The two countries did not directly fight, but rather "supported" the actual warring factions with arms and money. We knew exactly how much the USSR had and the so called "missle gap" was non existent. Nixon knew that as veep but Kennedy did not. That was why he was able to pound Nixon during the debates. Nixon could not divulge what he knew without tiping off the other side that we knew their abilites and endangering our agents in the field. So the whole arms race was kind of stuck in an endless loop. Next i while i keeps on increasing. The history of the Cold War is really a scary but interesting read. Read up, it explains why France is 80% nuclear but the US is scared to death of the stuff.
These companies are fighting a losing battle. What we are seeing here is old line companies that were built on old analog technologies fighting to remain revelant in the face of the digital tide. What these companies don't seem to realize is that they can no longer control the disemmenation of information, kinda like the Catholic Church when the printing press was invented. Basically if someone can get information into a computer, its bits can be twiddeled. The only way to completely ensure that stuff cannot be copied is to lock down the entire playback system and I'll be a monkeys uncle if I'm gonna let some company tell me what I can and cannot do with material I legally purchased.
Apple already tried that. It was a project called "Star Trek". 4 engineers from Novell and 14 from Apple succeeded in getting the Finder, QuickTime and some pieces of QuickDraw GX running on x86 hardware. The problem was it was source level compatible not binary compatible. Every Mac application would have to have been rewritten to work. Anything that directly taked to Mac iron simply would not run.
For the whole sorid history of Apple and its mistakes pick up Apple Confidential by Owen W. Linzmayer.
The mb in an SE is flat against the bottom. The sigs are in raised plastic inside the rear of the case. BTW, the same ones are in the PLUS and all earlier machines. They stopped after the SE however. The Mac II has sigs on a metal plate indside the case, but that's the absolute end of sigs in an Apple.
I really don't know if you have ever had an RSI but they really, really, hurt, a lot. I am 24 years old with RSI in my hands from enforced typing at a lousy keyboard for 6.30 hours every day. I was doing tech support for a major technology distributor. I did ask about changing my workspace but the company decided to blame it on the fact that I did some yard work a week before I filed for a change in my space. Absolutly NO!! changes were made. By the end of the day my hand was so swollen and hurt so much I was able to place it directly into a snow pack and not feel the cold. By the end of the year I quit. It is just over a year now and my hand is still not right. Oh sure, I can move my fingers individually now, but it still (a year later) hurts after typing for 20 min. I have to take about 30 min off before I can type again.
I say it's about time some regs were placed on the office. Hopefully the PHB's out there will realize that the conditions in some areas of the workplace have degenerated to those approching the Industrial Revolution. Go up to Rhode Island and see the old mills and then tell me that these sort of laws are not needed.
Will it get little robotic fleas and ticks as well? Where do you have to take it for the 6 month checkup? Would I have to get it fixed so it doesn't try to do the nasty with my Mac or my Aptiva?
I can think of no practical reason to get one of these things, which means that I will need one even more. But, the real question is what happens when your AIBO breaks? I just couldn't chuck something like that into the trash. I mean I've still got a working and sort of productive 8086 for Pete's sake. I'm starting to get feelings for my SyJet. Now SONY builds something that purposefully plays on my softer spots for neato machines. For shame!
In truth though, nothing compares to an actual animal you rescued from the local shelter. Plus, there's no registration cards to return.
Media attention on Linux is just that, attention. There are good and bad points, I have a short film on the subject. Would someone please get the lights?
Good Effects: Joe User walks into Software Hut and sees a box of {insert your fav. distro here} sitting on a shelf. Thinks "Hey isn't this that new OS everyone's trying?" Joe has just supported the Cause. Due to supporting the Cause, Mr. Software company sees Joe's purchase and decides to build more apps, thus furthering the Cause. Joe may see something in the OS that he doesn't like, and may learn programming to fix it. Joe gets that nice feeling of accomplishment, posts fix to a user group and gets mild recognition for his discovery.
Bad Effects: Joe User thinks that the install will be just like it is on Windoze and tries to use it on some non-supported stuff. Joe User is not familiar with the concept of checking for a more recent build or drivers. Joe User is fustrated by lack of boxed software and keeps on using Ms Windows. More people start to think that Linux can "Save the World" and get really upset when they find that "Yes, it breaks like any other piece of software out there"
As a community we really to need to make sure that the Media knows that Linux is not a cure-all, yet. It is an excellent option for someone who knows what they are doing and is not afraid to tinker. We must avoid the "Holier-then-thou" mentality that I see perodically affecting the Mac world. Most newbies are really skittish about not being comfortably in the majority where each need is attended to by some thing you are not allowed to change. This is a brave new world gentlemen, and we must see that the way is made ready for the huddled masses yearning to breath free. I ask each of you to take a newbie in hand and explain to them the ins and outs, don't send them packing off to a FAQ without an explanation. Remember, you were once new as well.
But, in all seriousness, whatever attention Linux gets at this point is good. Look at what John C. Davorak did for the iBook.
I'm sure that after they get the actual engines of the project running correctly, then we will see the teams working on the look and feel of the various interfaces. I know that in some of the programs I write, the output is not at all readable, I'm just looking for the result I wanted. The prettyness comes later.
If noone seems to be working on the Mac look and feel, how about signing up to work on that?
Haven't we all learned something by now?
Rule 1: never buy software that says version 1.0 on it.
I would also like to add that the same rule holds forth for new hardware. The G4 is a wholly new platform. It stands to reason that Apple would have some problems with ramp-up. Sounds like someone skipped a few milestones on the project chart, like the step that says "does it work according to the specifications?" and "can we make enough?" That just shows a lack of planning that is not an emergency on my part.
Also, most Mac folx will agree that it is not the company we love, but rather the machines. I am starting to see a problem within the company. After Mr. Jobs comes up with an idea, the actual process should be passed to someone who can take care of all the picky little things that need to be done to assure the Company that Things Like This don't Happen Again. Perhaps Mr. Jobs should not be involved with the daily runnings but the overall vision (yuck, I hate that word) of the Company.
Just my two bits.
I really didn't see any tough questions in the article. Maybe if they had Mike Wallace show up unexpectedly with a camera crew, we would get some answers. You know, some good old fashioned journalism questions like, "When did you stop buying companies and squashing them?" Honestly, I have no problems with Bill G the man, but his business practices leave much to be desired. I do see Microsoft as being replaced in the future, I doubt that Linux will do it alone however. We may see a division along the lines of a Mac-like OS on the desktop, with Linux running the backroom operations. Secondly, the general purpose computer may also go away entirely, replaced by small devices that communicate with each other but do one or two things really well. Example, my TV does an excellent job of being a TV, its a lousy web display. In that light I think Bill is right, MS is not long for this world.
This is not the same IBM that we all grew up with. You know the lumbering giant stuck in the mud. I think we all owe MS a big thanks for knocking IBm on its ass. I believe that IBM even by acknowledging Linux exists does more for its legitimacy than all the FUD being heaved at it by MS. According to an IBM guy I talked to the company is still really steamed about OS/2. They and everyone else knew that OS/2 was better, like BetaMax, but MS hamstrung them with licenses. IBM sees this a simple way to get some back. Rather than fight with MS, IBM fighres they will just take their balls and play with someone else. This really gets IBM out of some really nasty agreements and has several beneficial effects. The first is that IBM no longer has to pay royalties to MS and they can lower prices to compete in the market. Second it gives IBM a great deal of credibility in emerging technologies. This leaves MS with the unhappy position of having to buy their way in. Since IBM is mostly a hardware company, they do not have any problems with changing to support new software, unlike MS whose sole claim to fame is Windows. IBM is correct to not endorse one distro. To do so would lock them into the same agreements that they had with MS. Not gonna do it, would not be prudent at this time.
I am quite aware that the rest of the world uses the metric system. My car has metric parts on it for pete's sake. I keep wrenches for both metric and the US system. Personally I find that the customary bolts rust to metric sizes quite well. Let me ask a question here, If Canada and some parts of the world can learn dual languages, why not let the US have dual measurments? I find that in daily use the US system works very well. Long distances get measured in miles, short ones in feet, shorter in inches. I went to school back in the late 70's through 80's. We learned metric alongside the customary system. In the lab classes I used metric, everywhere else I used the US system, just the same as if I went to France or Germany I would be expected to know the language. So for all you conversion advocates, I will continue getting 20 gallons of gas, driving 20 miles to work at 60 miles an hour, using a 3/16in screwdriver and likeing it! I ask you, in this present day, is the unit of measurement really important? If the measurement is not what you need just convert to what you want and go on. By the way I know how to use and the difference between milli- centi- and kilo- meters, doesn't mean that I like them.
IBM is doing exactly what any good business does. Find a crack in the competition and use that crack against them. IBM could not beat MS on the OS front. MS is just too strong. However, the MS business model does not permit them to enter the free software market. IBM, not being dependent upon software sales, is able to move into the OSS market and start product seeding while gaining general community goodwill. The idea is simplicity itself. Put out some software, a few tools for development and some hardware to run it all on and you have just made an end around run over MS. By the time MS gets a business strategy going about OSS, IBM will have become a part of the OSS fabric and be very difficult to remove. This is just the huge shot in the arm OSS needs. Let's not forget that the PC was considered a toy before IBM put one out.
I was diagnosed with RSI in December, not Carpal Tunnel but the first step. It seemed to be directly caused by (forced) typing all day. I was doing telephone tech support where every call had to be completley logged. What helped first was quitting, but I find that the genuine Apple keyboards are altoghter the most comfortable I have used. (No joke) I will also say that the old mechanical keyboards have really reduced the pain and swelling when I have to use a PC. It seems that the greater key throw and firmer resistance force the hands into the proper typing positions. You just can't type as fast with them which is good.
I still use the method my piano teacher used for playing. Pretend that you are typing with a ball in the palm of your hand. No matter what The Man says about it, you really need to stop frequently and do something else. A stiff shot of cortisone does wonders.
Finally, someone with common sense. Hopefully this will pass, but I doubt it. If states and counties see all their commerce leaving for cyberspace, maybe they will get the hint, are you listening Erie County legislature, that money will go where consumers get the most bang for the buck.
Coolness, does this mean that I can finally put my Timex Sinclair 1000 on the internet? I had the ram pack AND the printer. Hopefully someone will port Mosiac to its wierd BASIC lang and I can have another machine that will time out trying to load up Slashdot.
I'm proud to say that my second OS after DOS was OS/2. I did my first install (ver2.1 with MM/PM) on a 386SX/25 with 1MB of memory (want do you expect I was a sophmore in college, I had no money). It was the first time I have ever seen an OS actually blow out a microprocessor. A week of running it melted the poor thing. I upgraded to an AST 486 with 12mb of ram and ran the same install for two years with no software problems. The only time it crashed hard was when a hard drive failed and took out the swap file, the PM backups and a lot of games. Six minutes of changing the paths in the config.sys, had a working but limping system up and running.
Most of my time was in Win/OS rather than straight OS/2, but I was the only one in the rez hall who could do that while still keeping Descent, NASCAR Racing and a terminal session running. I've got to say that OS/2 was the closest I ever got to actually having Big Iron in my computer. I defy anyone to name an OS that has 2 kernels running at the same time and can switch them when one of them fails. Yes, the single ended input queue blew chunks, but a good app was written to expect that. I've since moved to a Mac but I still kinda miss the OS/2 desktop and having 3 copies of needed files on hand when the whole deal bites the dust. Reboot, wait for the little box, hit alt-F1 and select the most recent desktop backup and !bang! there you were again. To bad the rest of the world went for bloatware and frills. By the way playing with the appearance manager and the thickness of the lines made for a much better looking desktop.
I really don't see how this would work. If I am on the 'net, then I am sending out packets to the nearest switch where they are being multiplexed with other stuff and sprayed out over the cloud. It is only through the good graces of a working router table that this stuff works. Wouldn't they have to tap the last mile of copper just to keep the tap legal and avoid the huge suit that I would bring if my stuff got caught up in an ongoing legal investigation of someone else?
Also, you know that Bill of Rights they taught us in skool? They actually exist, I've seen them. Someone ought to show them to Janet and Bill, they make for some darn fine reading.
What is the reason for this classification of a otherwise normal but slightly eccentric human? Save things like autism for the folx who really need the label for legit reasons. This is just a theory of mine, but I firmly believe that we all fit somewhere on a graduated scale that extends from one extreme to another. It may very well be a mild form of autism, but does that necessarly mean that anyone who likes to do one thing to the exclusion of something else is also ill? I can't play sports to save my life, hell Nike would probably pay me a lot of money to not wear their shoes. If there is one thing that I pulled from this article, it is that, as a group, we all need to get out more. Many geeks that I know are not terribly good social-wise until they get into a group of other geeks, then you can almost feel the packets running around. A good bit of follow-up research would be to analyze the same geeks in a geek-friendly social setting. I'm sure that the picture will change to one of a group of people who are more interested in the WHAT, WHY, and HOW end of the scale than in idle chatter.
So what if Bill G. rocks on his heels when giving a presentation. So do I. I get the distinct feeling that I have not made a good connection at the internet and data link layers and the TCP layer is just spraying frames all over the place. Don't we all have better things to do?
According to Bit by Bit (good book, by the way) the race to crack Enigma led them to create Colossus. Somehow, the creators of Colussus came to the US to see von Neumann's EDVAC. The group then went back to England where Turing, studying notes on the EDVAC, proceded to invent the first fully electronic stored program computer ever. At that point Great Britain stole the lead in computing technology. They went on to develop EDSAC while the US stalled on a patent fight over ENIAC.
FUD anyone?
As an biege G3 user, I will have to agree here. I was lucky enough to see one of IBM's really big servers not to long ago in person. There were two of them, pitch black with matching monitor, kbd, mouse and rack. That thing just screamed power. Especially when put next to a biege Compaq. If color and style have no place in "serious computing", just take a look at some of the old pictures of mainframes. Supposedly, when IBM was building its first mainframe, Thomas Watson wanted the columns in the room removed so everyone could see the whole machine. That couldn't be dome becuase the columns were holding up the room, so they were removed from all photos of the machine.
Dark, imposing, something that says "Bow down and worship the raised floor I stand on" really speaks to people in a emotional way that a biege box with a spec list just does not.
To expend this logic a bit further, I really don't see Joe Average lusting after a Honda Accord, even though that's what he drives. The auto manufacturers know that when he wants is Firebird with the Ram Air Injection and the really big engine. That's the same nerve that Apple has exposed. It's called want.
It is likely to be an Apple thing for now. The catch about a digital display is that requires a video card that knows how to talk to the monitor and puts out a digital signal. Most video cards today all put out an analog signal. If the display catches on, someone, probably ATI, may put out a card for the IBM compatibles.
What computer guy would really want to work for the FBI? After the plastering they've taken in the media and the general idea of a dumb G'man so prevelant in society, I can't really say that I'm surprised. This is happening all over the country. The area's that really need geeks can't get them. Of course, the FBI has never had a stock offering and made anyone rich overnight.
Personally, if they are hiring for geek type jobs, where do I sign up? Could be kind of neat to know that you had a part in busting some big international operation and those perps are now seeing the harsh light of justice. I've been watching way to much Dragnet.