I love net2phone recharging calling card. Let's my wife call Venezuela for 11 cents a minute and always a clear call. That's better than most deals I've seen. I've yet to see a cheaper/clear call deal. I've seen it at 8cents but you can't hear a word the other person is saying.
When we both signed up they gave us a ton of free minutes too so it was a great deal.
This is a pretty good service when you make a crap load of long distant calls to foreign countries. We have cells and we call anywhere in the continental US for free.
Mostly has to do with infrastructure. In South Korea they rapidly put up buildings that would only last 20-30 years and are now tearing them down. If you've ever been to cities around Seoul the buildings are setup all like cookie cutters almost.
ALSO. the telcos do not really own the DSL over in S. Korea, it's the utilities. They installed a network in their underground/utilities tunnels in Seoul to use as a communications array for the utility system and then ended up converting it all to DSL. I hate to say all this and NOT provide references (read it in online article too) but I think this is a reasonable assessment as to why broadband popped up overnight in S. Korea.
*HOWEVER* In the US, where we have cable and phone lines everywhere, you'd think we'd put some serious money into investing it. Telcos and cable providers should be raking in the $$$ but they do not because of two issues. 1.) a large majority of Americans do not think broadband or the Internet is important. This is either 40% or 60% but I cannot recall the Pew Internet American Life Project reports. 2.) Digital Divide If you look at Internet user statistics a majority of Hispanics and African Americans are lagging behind significantly and these are primarily low income families. If you do not have the skills or a computer or training to use it, you've got another set of barriers besides money. Look at old people, sure they CAN learn how to use it, but most do not. about 50% of those 50 and older are not using it, and are less willing to pay for broadband.
In Japan and S. Korea, you don't need to pay for broadband OR for a computer. Just go to an Internet/gamer cafe for cheap and get whatever you need done in there. Even write your paper and get it printed. The market isn't really there and won't be for another 5-10 years. Give it time though.
As a future librarian, I noticed a trend for most librarians to avoid using Wikipedia as a reference source. That being said, there should be some serious peer reviewing process of the Web links they provide as their referencing. Was it found through dmoz (ODP) or lii.org? We take referencing very seriously and these are two sites that we trust enough to do referencing from at public libraries.
although we do use google sometimes because it's a quick fix for random questions.
Not necessarily meaningless. It's good to know where to put your marketing $$$ toward.
I saw a huge ass NEWEGG advert next to a 76 gas shell station recently.
I buy AMD because it's cheaper when putting together a PC from scratch. a lot of us do the same.
I find people are reluctant to buy an AMD based computer because they're already willing to plop down money on a PC. why not just go Intel/whateverispopularbrandname then?
this is also a good sign as it means there is a growing number of DIY computer people.
or cheap bastards!
Wouldn't it be cool if
ePaper had a built in Web Browser? Then you'd be able to connect to the Internet via wireless.
Then I'd be able to go visit library purchased subscription databases to do research from full text databases or read an eBook.
oh wait, how I'm supposed to type on this thing? that's still a ways off.
Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves about virtual that or superhighway this.
We're so totally far from having everything online and everyone being online. We forget as techies how about 3/4 of the US, much less the world could give a rat's ass about the hype. Now that's the digital divide. Jessamyn nailed it on the head. http://www.librarian.net/stax/1496
ePaper has potential for many applications, but there's a reason why they're going for adverts first.
$$$, not something that has a use.
--librarian. free. information
Hi all. Felt like I had a lot to say here. Forgive the formatting. I'm not too sure what y'all would prefer, so I kept it plain old text. I also figure since it's my first posting, I won't be replying to this one. Just in case I anger anyone.
---my attempt at humor---
I remember spending a week or so in hell installing Citrix servers.
When one of the old teachers came by to see what applications could be installed; she made a silly joke; she earned a "boot to the head!"
"Does it come in any other flavor?"
---the wordy part of my post---
Don't do it. Read the support forums for Citrix. I had to read it for a year. Anything that requires that much tweaking should not be at this production level of demand.
Even if you're willing to bear all the hiccups, and the troubleshooting (general issues), more troubleshooting (securing/breaking applications) and even more troubleshooting (after you tweak the systems, which is a requirement for any widely distributed Citrix install), just remember..this is Windows. How long do you think it'll be before you have to format the drive and start from scratch...all over again? even 5 years from production level approval is a pain. you'd have to implement a log for every single change; and any tech will tell you how much they cut into your time "after" work. cuz even w/ a great backup strategy, nothing is guaranteed recovery. especially if your hardware blows out, and you can't get an exact replacement or the system admin who knew everything and didn't document suddenly is unavailable for whatever reason. Then a reinstall is a must.
---re-run a wacky idea---
What would be cool is if you take all your old workstations and implement this: Find someway to get the VNC viewer application to run on them via whichever supported OS or Java.
Then the users can launch VNC viewer to connect to the remote low-end Win2KPro boxes (workstation rack?) using microatx or whatever preferred mobo you could find. don't forget to implement ssh! you will need one Win2KPro box and license per user workstation. are there any license limitation by using it this way? cuz technically it'sonly one user per workstation still. but at least you don't have to pay again for monitors or speakers....just replacement monitors, keyboards and mice. i'd hate to think you'd have to buy all those security attachments all over again for the newer boxes too.
Admittedly, the cost will still give people stress, but at the same time isn't it worth it? you'll have practically no major thefts. and VNC is freeeeeeee.....
this would be just as easy to maintain too, instead of running around campus troubleshooting a machine. you just go to the workstation rack.
I don't know if this place makes workstation racks, but they sell chassis. Putting a workstation mobo into it might no work or a lot of work. http://www.rackmountnet.com/ Someone know how much it would cost to rack a workstation?
You'd probably need to figure out a script or custom program to execute the VNC Viewer app in such a way to prevent users from connecting to the same workstations, and let the workstations still be identifiable in such a way, to know which workstation needs to be repaired. For example, for workstation #284, rename My Computer to "Computer 284" for the end user to ID and the tech will know which machine to pull out.
You could always make this an "in house" project so you could control everything.
Of course you'll probably still need Samba or something similar to handle intensive user disk mounting.
Also your students could access their accounts/windows via java capable web browser from anywhere. That way they could access the VNC X servers or a few spare Window workstations set aside. of course you'd have to implement some higher security standards there. like probably block out certain ips' from connecting and requiring complex passwords. I'm sure/. community could figure out a million other things they could do as well to secure.
Has anyone heard of an implementation like this? What would be any extra logistics? What about minimum "terminal" hardware req? I was thinking there might be issues with the cost of added power, but older workstations and lower end 200-300wattPSU from newer workstations would still mean power savings. Also on top of having to worry about continous power consumption, what about outages? Harddrive sleeping shouldn't impact too much into user experience. You could turn off the older workstations and turn them back on when you needed to.
Just make sure you've got adequate ventiliation and cooling your workstation racks. or else one big bonfire.
Slashdot Mirror
I believe Penny Talk is part of net2phone?
I love net2phone recharging calling card. Let's my wife call Venezuela for 11 cents a minute and always a clear call. That's better than most deals I've seen. I've yet to see a cheaper/clear call deal. I've seen it at 8cents but you can't hear a word the other person is saying.
When we both signed up they gave us a ton of free minutes too so it was a great deal.
This is a pretty good service when you make a crap load of long distant calls to foreign countries. We have cells and we call anywhere in the continental US for free.
Mostly has to do with infrastructure.
In South Korea they rapidly put up buildings that would only last 20-30 years and are now tearing them down. If you've ever been to cities around Seoul the buildings are setup all like cookie cutters almost.
ALSO. the telcos do not really own the DSL over in S. Korea, it's the utilities. They installed a network in their underground/utilities tunnels in Seoul to use as a communications array for the utility system and then ended up converting it all to DSL. I hate to say all this and NOT provide references (read it in online article too) but I think this is a reasonable assessment as to why broadband popped up overnight in S. Korea.
*HOWEVER* In the US, where we have cable and phone lines everywhere, you'd think we'd put some serious money into investing it. Telcos and cable providers should be raking in the $$$ but they do not because of two issues.
1.) a large majority of Americans do not think broadband or the Internet is important. This is either 40% or 60% but I cannot recall the Pew Internet American Life Project reports.
2.) Digital Divide
If you look at Internet user statistics a majority of Hispanics and African Americans are lagging behind significantly and these are primarily low income families.
If you do not have the skills or a computer or training to use it, you've got another set of barriers besides money. Look at old people, sure they CAN learn how to use it, but most do not. about 50% of those 50 and older are not using it, and are less willing to pay for broadband.
In Japan and S. Korea, you don't need to pay for broadband OR for a computer. Just go to an Internet/gamer cafe for cheap and get whatever you need done in there. Even write your paper and get it printed. The market isn't really there and won't be for another 5-10 years. Give it time though.
As a future librarian, I noticed a trend for most librarians to avoid using Wikipedia as a reference source. That being said, there should be some serious peer reviewing process of the Web links they provide as their referencing. Was it found through dmoz (ODP) or lii.org? We take referencing very seriously and these are two sites that we trust enough to do referencing from at public libraries.
although we do use google sometimes because it's a quick fix for random questions.
Not necessarily meaningless. It's good to know where to put your marketing $$$ toward.
I saw a huge ass NEWEGG advert next to a 76 gas shell station recently.
I buy AMD because it's cheaper when putting together a PC from scratch. a lot of us do the same.
I find people are reluctant to buy an AMD based computer because they're already willing to plop down money on a PC. why not just go Intel/whateverispopularbrandname then?
this is also a good sign as it means there is a growing number of DIY computer people.
or cheap bastards!
Wouldn't it be cool if ePaper had a built in Web Browser? Then you'd be able to connect to the Internet via wireless. Then I'd be able to go visit library purchased subscription databases to do research from full text databases or read an eBook. oh wait, how I'm supposed to type on this thing? that's still a ways off. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves about virtual that or superhighway this. We're so totally far from having everything online and everyone being online. We forget as techies how about 3/4 of the US, much less the world could give a rat's ass about the hype. Now that's the digital divide. Jessamyn nailed it on the head. http://www.librarian.net/stax/1496 ePaper has potential for many applications, but there's a reason why they're going for adverts first. $$$, not something that has a use. --librarian. free. information
Hi all. Felt like I had a lot to say here.
/. community could figure out a million other things they could do as well to secure.
Forgive the formatting. I'm not too sure what
y'all would prefer, so I kept it plain old text.
I also figure since it's my first posting,
I won't be replying to this one.
Just in case I anger anyone.
---my attempt at humor---
I remember spending a week or so in hell installing Citrix servers.
When one of the old teachers came by to see what
applications could be installed; she made a silly joke; she earned a "boot to the head!"
"Does it come in any other flavor?"
---the wordy part of my post---
Don't do it.
Read the support forums for Citrix.
I had to read it for a year.
Anything that requires that much tweaking should not be at this production level of demand.
Even if you're willing to bear all the hiccups, and the troubleshooting (general issues), more troubleshooting (securing/breaking applications) and even more troubleshooting (after you tweak the systems, which is a requirement for any widely distributed Citrix install), just remember..this is Windows.
How long do you think it'll be before you have to format the drive and start from scratch...all over again?
even 5 years from production level approval is a pain.
you'd have to implement a log for every single change; and any tech will tell you how much they cut into your time "after" work.
cuz even w/ a great backup strategy, nothing is guaranteed recovery.
especially if your hardware blows out,
and you can't get an exact replacement or the system admin who knew everything and didn't document suddenly is unavailable for whatever reason.
Then a reinstall is a must.
---re-run a wacky idea---
What would be cool is if you take all your old workstations and implement this:
Find someway to get the VNC viewer application
to run on them via whichever supported OS or Java.
Then the users can launch VNC viewer to connect to the remote low-end Win2KPro boxes (workstation rack?) using microatx or whatever preferred mobo you could find.
don't forget to implement ssh!
you will need one Win2KPro box and license per user workstation.
are there any license limitation by using it this way?
cuz technically it'sonly one user per workstation still.
but at least you don't have to pay again for monitors or speakers....just replacement monitors, keyboards and mice.
i'd hate to think you'd have to buy all those security attachments all over again for the newer boxes too.
Admittedly, the cost will still give people stress, but at the same time isn't it worth it?
you'll have practically no major thefts.
and VNC is freeeeeeee.....
this would be just as easy to maintain too, instead of running around campus troubleshooting a machine.
you just go to the workstation rack.
I don't know if this place makes workstation racks, but they sell chassis. Putting a workstation mobo into it might no work or a lot of work. http://www.rackmountnet.com/
Someone know how much it would cost to rack a workstation?
You'd probably need to figure out a script or custom program to execute the VNC Viewer app in such a way to prevent users from connecting to the same workstations, and let the workstations still be identifiable in such a way, to know which workstation needs to be repaired.
For example, for workstation #284, rename My Computer to "Computer 284" for the end user to ID and the tech will know which machine to pull out.
You could always make this an "in house" project so you could control everything.
Of course you'll probably still need Samba or something similar to handle intensive user disk mounting.
Also your students could access their accounts/windows via java capable web browser from anywhere.
That way they could access the VNC X servers or a few spare Window workstations set aside.
of course you'd have to implement some higher security standards there.
like probably block out certain ips' from connecting and requiring complex passwords.
I'm sure
Has anyone heard of an implementation like this?
What would be any extra logistics?
What about minimum "terminal" hardware req?
I was thinking there might be issues with the cost of added power, but older workstations and
lower end 200-300wattPSU from newer workstations
would still mean power savings.
Also on top of having to worry about continous power consumption, what about outages?
Harddrive sleeping shouldn't impact too much into
user experience.
You could turn off the older workstations
and turn them back on when you needed to.
Just make sure you've got adequate ventiliation and cooling your workstation racks.
or else one big bonfire.