All this fancy tech stuff is great. But, if you watch the news right now, you'll see that this fancy schmancy stuff isn't terribly helpful when you are burried in a sand strom or up to your hips in mud and bullets are zinging every which way.
There's a time for tech. But, there are always going to be times when nothing will take the place of simple brute force.
XML took a massive blow when its co-creator went public and said that it wasn't good and that it was too complicated for developers, generating headlines throughout the tech community.
Now he returns trying to "clarify" his stance on the matter. But, the fact is that all the clarifications are not going to garner nearly as much interest as the initial statement saying basically, that XML sucks. The damage has been done.
Regardless of whether XML is good or bad, it now faces a long uphill battle. Having one of the creators of XML deride it was/is a devastating blow to XML and his initial statement will be brought out against XML everytime there is even the slightest resistance to using it in a project. From now on, every time someone mentions XML, someone else is going to say; "It sucks! Even its own creator said so. There's no way we should use it."
I would say that the SuSE OpenExchange server is a pretty good solution, overall. It is still not perfect but, it does work and it is fairly well integrated. BUt, I do have an issue with it. The price of OpenExchage server is too high. Indeed, for a shop of the size you describe, it costs almost as much as MS Exchange 2000.
SuSE OpenExchange is a combination of open source applications that have been nicely integrated with each other, by SuSe. It is built using Postfix for the MTA, Cyrus for IMAP, OpenLDAP for the directory, Apache for the web interface, and a few others.
However, there are other simialr solutions available, that you should look at too. SCO makes Volution Messaging, recently renamed to Office Mail Server. Also, there is the Kolab (I refuse to call it Kroupware) project. All three solutions use the Postfix, Cyrus, OpenLDAP, Apache, etc components stitched together to create a unified groupware system.
One major distinction between the three solutions is price. While OpenExchange and Office Mail Server are NOT cheap, Kolab is FREE.
It's petty theft. Some what akin to grabbing an apple from the cart, as you pass a green grocer's shop.
It is theft. It is wrong. But, the value is so low that the authorities are not going to attempt to enforce the law in such cases. You therefore, become a nuisance to the grocer and in the future he either hits you in the head with a broom or he moves his apple cart back inside the store.
The same applies to this persons bandwidth. If they feel that they have suffered a loss they will make an effort to prevent it in the future. Perhaps they will learn something about securing wireless access points. In your case, since you seem to have a conscience, don't do it any more. But, don't lose any sleep over this incident.
Here we go again with the pathetic locks/doors analogy. So, going by your post, the next time you leave your doors or windows open I, or anyone else, is free to use your home as they please?
Some how, I think you would have a real issue if I were to take over your place for an afternoon.
Hmm, what's this in the fridge? Oops, didn't mean to spill that on your carpet, awe screw it. You know, I prefer the sofa over here. Hey, nice disco shirt! I'll just borrow it for a while. Oooh!!! Killer laptop, I guess if you needed it you would have taken it with you or locked the door. Well, I'll take it. Thanks.
Agreed, and yet Arcserve is still the best all-round backup solution for small to mid-sized systems. Arcserve backs up and restores several Unixes including Linux, Windows Netware and who knows what else. It has excellent scheduling and tape management as well as options(sold separately) for open files, databases including MS Exchange, disaster recovery, virus scanning, automated tape libraries and more.
For large scale systems Legato would be my choice but, the cost of Legato rules it out for anything but the largest setups.
The exploit has been in the wild since last Wednesday. Microsoft has known about it since that time. Five days to a patch is really good for Microsoft but, the last Apache bug was fixed on the day of discovery, long before any exploits appeared.
The fact is that everything you will learn at any university is going to be dated. As has been said before, it takes a great deal of time to properly develop a new or up-to-date course. The profs have to be trained first.
But, no matter how progressive the school is, they will still be behind the industry curve, unless they themselves are developing the technology. When you get out of school you will not have been fully educated on the latest and greatest technology. That's why you do internships and graduate work and entry level positions.
Only after you have finished learning the "legacy" stuff and then spent time in a job getting up to speed on the present day technologies, as well as getting some hands on professional experience under your belt, can you hope to be up-to-date. Then you will find that you have to spend the rest of your career "running" as hard as you can, in order to keep up-to-date.
But, here comes the biggest kick in the huevos. Every single generation of students wants/tries to change things. Evry single one. Each one seems to feel that they know better, what should be done. But, the sad fact is that, you don't have the necessary life, business, political, technical experience to be qualified to make that decision.
I'm sure that all the present students will proceed to flame me for this last statement. But, they, and you, will see in the next 10 years or so that, you really aren't qualified. Only after several years will you develop the necessary life/political/business/technical experience to be truely qualified to make decisions on changes for the future. So, for now, sit back and learn. That's what you are there for, not to run the show.
You never said but, I'll bet that at least some of the old RS232 stuff that you are learning is indeed new to you. Also, RS232 is STILL heavily used in a very wide range of technical industries and it will continue to be for some time to come.
ANYTHING is possible. Far fewer things are probable, let alone practical.
The space elevator concept is possible but, it is highly improbable and extraordinarily impractical. It would however give new meaning to the term "shoe string budget". Which is usually not something you want lives depending on.
The earth is a closed system. Our garbage, though it may be destroying the *present* environment, is an important part of that closed system. Removing significant amounts of almost anything, even garbage, from the earth will have a far greater and worse effect on mother nature than anything else we have done so far.
Right now, we may be killing our environment with our garbage. But, after we are gone the earth will continue. If we remove significant amounts of anything from the earth, it will likely die and be like the moon.
Re:why not construct this
on
The Space Elevator
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Why does Bush not say that his goal for America is to construct this during this decade?
Well, to put it simply, he's not a complete and utter moron! Please, don't compare this space elevator lunacy with JFK. JFK proposed a difficult but doable task that was definitely within the nations technical capability. The space elevator is only feesible in the minds of those who have read TOO MUCH Heinlein.
No doubt you encountered the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Assesment test. These types of tests are fairly common and are becoming increasingly common. It isn't a pass/fail type test. Rather it is an assesment of a person's personality. It categorizes your personality into one of several group types. Are you anal and perhaps good for an accounting position? Or are you an artsy, people person that would be well suited for a marketing position?
The thing is that, these tests are amazingly accurate. If you answer honestly and then look at the results, you will see that it does accurately categorize your personality. Even if you don't want to admit that the results match you, you will certainly remember other people describing you as that type in the past. Remember that the test doesn't say anything bad about you. It just categorizes your type. If you were a detail oriented, structured, authoritarian(anal), you probably would not get along well in a job with a company filled with optimistic, free-style, unstructured, talkative, artsy types.
But, as much as it hurts, you shouldn't take it personally. The company has decided what type of personallity they like and feel is best for a position. This means that others in the department and company are likely of the same personality type. If you were of a different personality type and were awarded the position, you would likely have had problems. You would have likely had some friction with your co-workers or perhaps they would have driven you crazy. Such situations are not good for the company or YOU.
A fact of life is that this "profiling" happens in every interview. You, however are more accustommed to it in the more subtle and personal method, where the HR person is mentally profiling you throughout the interview. The thing is that some people/interviewers are good at assessing a person's personality and determining if they are a good fit or not, while other interviewers are no good at it. These tests provide the company with a more standard means of assessing an individual and reduce the likelyhood of a bad interviewer making the wrong assessment.
LinkSys and all these other hardware companies are not tiny firms. Hiring an open-source developer for a few months would not affect their profit. (and for the conspiracy theorists: Unless they happen to be getting subsidies by Microsoft for ignoring Linux...)
This is a very common mistake that is made by SO many Linux users. They take it as an afront that Linux drivers are ignored.
The reality of the matter is far different. While it is true that they could develop a Linux driver rather inexpensively, the real cost is in the support.
First, remember that the Linux "market" is tiny when compared to the Windows market so, there isn't a lot of money to be made there in the first place. But manufacturers such as Linksys spend a great deal of money on the support for their products. The complexities of Linux would require more support than the Windows support does and this means more money spent.
Just imagine the ordeal that Linksys would have to go through to talk Joe Sixpack through the installation and configuration of the drivers on his Gentoo install. And immediately after that they will have to do the same thing for the next person but, this time it will be SuSE.
Simply put it just isn't worth it for Linksys et al. They have nothing against Linux, it is simply a matter of economics. Even now, with a clear policy of "We do not support Linux!" they must still dedicate resources to answering questions about Linux drivers.
innovations in IT are most often simply more trouble than they are worth
I see this everyday. Not just in the areas that they are talking about in the article. I see it most commonly on enterprise applications.
For example a company will have a mainframe based app that they have used for years through a terminal emulator. Everyone knows how to use it and flies through the application often typing several screens in advance. But, some bright spark thinks that green screens are passe and insists on "updating" the application. They spend LOTS of money developing some gui database application or, worse yet, some browser based interface to the application.
Suddenly, the application is slower than molasses, going up hill on a cold day. No one knows how to navigate the new interface and productivity takes a major dive.
Naturally, the bright sparks asssume the problem is old hardware and spend another fortune upgrading equipment to get performance back to where it was before. It's a total waste of time and money, not to mention that it pisses off the user community in a major way.
In the past I have repeatedly questioned the supposed higher salaries of Unix and Linux Admins. Here is a new job posting from the infamous city of largo.
TECHNOLOGY MANAGER (J-17)$38,334 starting salary. Associate's Degree in Computer Science or computer related field. business/Public Administrator, or Criminal Justice; two years police related technology experience two years UNIX-AX, INFORMIX, and Thin Client and local area networks beneficial. Send resume to: City of Largo, Human Resources, P.O. Box 296, Largo, FL 33779-0296; Internet (Plain text only): resumelargo.com.; Fax: (727) 587-6782. CLOSING DATE: Open Until Filled EOE/M/F/V-VP-Smoke Free/Drug Free Workplace
Now granted, this is a low-level position despite the job title of, Techanology Manager. But, in Largo MCSEs get more than this.
Another day, another vulnerability. These exploits are getting more bizzare and more useless every day. The risk factor here is ridiculously low.
I don't want to here about anymore useless exploits or no risk vulnerabilities. If you really want my window title, I'll telll you what it is; Getting Hacked Through Your Terminal - Konqueror
Now, when someone gets an exploit to replace the Slashdot ads with Goatse, then I'll be impressed.
Slashdot Mirror
a powerful processor
enough memory
dvd drive
high-end graphics card
and more
All for only $200. You can't get a PC with the same specs for near that price.
Did you vote?
We were really lacking in the instant messaging server department. No if they would only come out with an MP3 player, they'd take over the world.
Cisco is in the process of purchasing LinkSys. Who knows what you'll get, when next you buy an AiroNet.
Vote
Two quotes from Austin Powers immediately come to mind.
Of course; "Fire the giant freakin laser!"
But as to the likelyhood... "Riiight..."
Did you vote?
All this fancy tech stuff is great. But, if you watch the news right now, you'll see that this fancy schmancy stuff isn't terribly helpful when you are burried in a sand strom or up to your hips in mud and bullets are zinging every which way.
There's a time for tech. But, there are always going to be times when nothing will take the place of simple brute force.
Where's my sledge hammer?
XML took a massive blow when its co-creator went public and said that it wasn't good and that it was too complicated for developers, generating headlines throughout the tech community.
Now he returns trying to "clarify" his stance on the matter. But, the fact is that all the clarifications are not going to garner nearly as much interest as the initial statement saying basically, that XML sucks. The damage has been done.
Regardless of whether XML is good or bad, it now faces a long uphill battle. Having one of the creators of XML deride it was/is a devastating blow to XML and his initial statement will be brought out against XML everytime there is even the slightest resistance to using it in a project. From now on, every time someone mentions XML, someone else is going to say; "It sucks! Even its own creator said so. There's no way we should use it."
Did you Vote for Linux?
I would say that the SuSE OpenExchange server is a pretty good solution, overall. It is still not perfect but, it does work and it is fairly well integrated. BUt, I do have an issue with it. The price of OpenExchage server is too high. Indeed, for a shop of the size you describe, it costs almost as much as MS Exchange 2000.
SuSE OpenExchange is a combination of open source applications that have been nicely integrated with each other, by SuSe. It is built using Postfix for the MTA, Cyrus for IMAP, OpenLDAP for the directory, Apache for the web interface, and a few others.
However, there are other simialr solutions available, that you should look at too. SCO makes Volution Messaging, recently renamed to Office Mail Server. Also, there is the Kolab (I refuse to call it Kroupware) project. All three solutions use the Postfix, Cyrus, OpenLDAP, Apache, etc components stitched together to create a unified groupware system.
One major distinction between the three solutions is price. While OpenExchange and Office Mail Server are NOT cheap, Kolab is FREE.
Did you Vote for Linux?
It's petty theft. Some what akin to grabbing an apple from the cart, as you pass a green grocer's shop.
It is theft. It is wrong. But, the value is so low that the authorities are not going to attempt to enforce the law in such cases. You therefore, become a nuisance to the grocer and in the future he either hits you in the head with a broom or he moves his apple cart back inside the store.
The same applies to this persons bandwidth. If they feel that they have suffered a loss they will make an effort to prevent it in the future. Perhaps they will learn something about securing wireless access points. In your case, since you seem to have a conscience, don't do it any more. But, don't lose any sleep over this incident.
Here we go again with the pathetic locks/doors analogy. So, going by your post, the next time you leave your doors or windows open I, or anyone else, is free to use your home as they please?
Some how, I think you would have a real issue if I were to take over your place for an afternoon.
Hmm, what's this in the fridge? Oops, didn't mean to spill that on your carpet, awe screw it. You know, I prefer the sofa over here. Hey, nice disco shirt! I'll just borrow it for a while. Oooh!!! Killer laptop, I guess if you needed it you would have taken it with you or locked the door. Well, I'll take it. Thanks.
TTFN
But, this is simply a marketing decision. Most of the "lesser" applications, the ones without certification, usually aren't hot sellers at the depot.
Did you Vote for Linux?
Some folks will likely find this survey of interest.
www.linuxsurveys.com
Agreed, and yet Arcserve is still the best all-round backup solution for small to mid-sized systems. Arcserve backs up and restores several Unixes including Linux, Windows Netware and who knows what else. It has excellent scheduling and tape management as well as options(sold separately) for open files, databases including MS Exchange, disaster recovery, virus scanning, automated tape libraries and more.
For large scale systems Legato would be my choice but, the cost of Legato rules it out for anything but the largest setups.
The exploit has been in the wild since last Wednesday. Microsoft has known about it since that time. Five days to a patch is really good for Microsoft but, the last Apache bug was fixed on the day of discovery, long before any exploits appeared.
The fact is that everything you will learn at any university is going to be dated. As has been said before, it takes a great deal of time to properly develop a new or up-to-date course. The profs have to be trained first.
But, no matter how progressive the school is, they will still be behind the industry curve, unless they themselves are developing the technology. When you get out of school you will not have been fully educated on the latest and greatest technology. That's why you do internships and graduate work and entry level positions.
Only after you have finished learning the "legacy" stuff and then spent time in a job getting up to speed on the present day technologies, as well as getting some hands on professional experience under your belt, can you hope to be up-to-date. Then you will find that you have to spend the rest of your career "running" as hard as you can, in order to keep up-to-date.
But, here comes the biggest kick in the huevos. Every single generation of students wants/tries to change things. Evry single one. Each one seems to feel that they know better, what should be done. But, the sad fact is that, you don't have the necessary life, business, political, technical experience to be qualified to make that decision.
I'm sure that all the present students will proceed to flame me for this last statement. But, they, and you, will see in the next 10 years or so that, you really aren't qualified. Only after several years will you develop the necessary life/political/business/technical experience to be truely qualified to make decisions on changes for the future. So, for now, sit back and learn. That's what you are there for, not to run the show.
You never said but, I'll bet that at least some of the old RS232 stuff that you are learning is indeed new to you. Also, RS232 is STILL heavily used in a very wide range of technical industries and it will continue to be for some time to come.
ANYTHING is possible. Far fewer things are probable, let alone practical.
The space elevator concept is possible but, it is highly improbable and extraordinarily impractical. It would however give new meaning to the term "shoe string budget". Which is usually not something you want lives depending on.
The earth is a closed system. Our garbage, though it may be destroying the *present* environment, is an important part of that closed system. Removing significant amounts of almost anything, even garbage, from the earth will have a far greater and worse effect on mother nature than anything else we have done so far.
Right now, we may be killing our environment with our garbage. But, after we are gone the earth will continue. If we remove significant amounts of anything from the earth, it will likely die and be like the moon.
Why does Bush not say that his goal for America is to construct this during this decade?
Well, to put it simply, he's not a complete and utter moron! Please, don't compare this space elevator lunacy with JFK. JFK proposed a difficult but doable task that was definitely within the nations technical capability. The space elevator is only feesible in the minds of those who have read TOO MUCH Heinlein.
No doubt you encountered the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Assesment test. These types of tests are fairly common and are becoming increasingly common. It isn't a pass/fail type test. Rather it is an assesment of a person's personality. It categorizes your personality into one of several group types. Are you anal and perhaps good for an accounting position? Or are you an artsy, people person that would be well suited for a marketing position?
The thing is that, these tests are amazingly accurate. If you answer honestly and then look at the results, you will see that it does accurately categorize your personality. Even if you don't want to admit that the results match you, you will certainly remember other people describing you as that type in the past. Remember that the test doesn't say anything bad about you. It just categorizes your type. If you were a detail oriented, structured, authoritarian(anal), you probably would not get along well in a job with a company filled with optimistic, free-style, unstructured, talkative, artsy types.
But, as much as it hurts, you shouldn't take it personally. The company has decided what type of personallity they like and feel is best for a position. This means that others in the department and company are likely of the same personality type. If you were of a different personality type and were awarded the position, you would likely have had problems. You would have likely had some friction with your co-workers or perhaps they would have driven you crazy. Such situations are not good for the company or YOU.
A fact of life is that this "profiling" happens in every interview. You, however are more accustommed to it in the more subtle and personal method, where the HR person is mentally profiling you throughout the interview. The thing is that some people/interviewers are good at assessing a person's personality and determining if they are a good fit or not, while other interviewers are no good at it. These tests provide the company with a more standard means of assessing an individual and reduce the likelyhood of a bad interviewer making the wrong assessment.
But even sadder is that it is true. And this is being put out by the State, no less.
Is Michael getting a free copy of MS Visual Studio.Net or is it a copy of Windows 2003?
Don't tell us, that you fell for the larger penis that they promised.....
That's it exactly!!
Unfrotunately, I can't read Japanese so price and availability are still unknown.
LinkSys and all these other hardware companies are not tiny firms. Hiring an open-source developer for a few months would not affect their profit. (and for the conspiracy theorists: Unless they happen to be getting subsidies by Microsoft for ignoring Linux...)
This is a very common mistake that is made by SO many Linux users. They take it as an afront that Linux drivers are ignored.
The reality of the matter is far different. While it is true that they could develop a Linux driver rather inexpensively, the real cost is in the support.
First, remember that the Linux "market" is tiny when compared to the Windows market so, there isn't a lot of money to be made there in the first place. But manufacturers such as Linksys spend a great deal of money on the support for their products. The complexities of Linux would require more support than the Windows support does and this means more money spent.
Just imagine the ordeal that Linksys would have to go through to talk Joe Sixpack through the installation and configuration of the drivers on his Gentoo install. And immediately after that they will have to do the same thing for the next person but, this time it will be SuSE.
Simply put it just isn't worth it for Linksys et al. They have nothing against Linux, it is simply a matter of economics. Even now, with a clear policy of "We do not support Linux!" they must still dedicate resources to answering questions about Linux drivers.
innovations in IT are most often simply more trouble than they are worth
I see this everyday. Not just in the areas that they are talking about in the article. I see it most commonly on enterprise applications.
For example a company will have a mainframe based app that they have used for years through a terminal emulator. Everyone knows how to use it and flies through the application often typing several screens in advance. But, some bright spark thinks that green screens are passe and insists on "updating" the application. They spend LOTS of money developing some gui database application or, worse yet, some browser based interface to the application.
Suddenly, the application is slower than molasses, going up hill on a cold day. No one knows how to navigate the new interface and productivity takes a major dive.
Naturally, the bright sparks asssume the problem is old hardware and spend another fortune upgrading equipment to get performance back to where it was before. It's a total waste of time and money, not to mention that it pisses off the user community in a major way.
In the past I have repeatedly questioned the supposed higher salaries of Unix and Linux Admins. Here is a new job posting from the infamous city of largo.
.; Fax: (727) 587-6782. CLOSING DATE: Open Until Filled EOE/M/F/V-VP-Smoke Free/Drug Free Workplace
TECHNOLOGY MANAGER (J-17)$38,334 starting salary. Associate's Degree in Computer Science or computer related field. business/Public Administrator, or Criminal Justice; two years police related technology experience two years UNIX-AX, INFORMIX, and Thin Client and local area networks beneficial. Send resume to: City of Largo, Human Resources, P.O. Box 296, Largo, FL 33779-0296; Internet (Plain text only): resumelargo.com
Now granted, this is a low-level position despite the job title of, Techanology Manager. But, in Largo MCSEs get more than this.
Another day, another vulnerability. These exploits are getting more bizzare and more useless every day. The risk factor here is ridiculously low.
I don't want to here about anymore useless exploits or no risk vulnerabilities. If you really want my window title, I'll telll you what it is; Getting Hacked Through Your Terminal - Konqueror
Now, when someone gets an exploit to replace the Slashdot ads with Goatse, then I'll be impressed.