The underlying concepts for this distribution seem fantastic. Browsing through the Gentoo site, I noticed verbiage to this effect in multiple places:
"Gentoo Linux is a versatile and fast, completely free x86-based Linux distribution geared towards developers and network professionals..."
Are there any similar projects in the works for other computing architectures (Mac, Sun, etc)? Not trying to open another can of worms, just thought I'd ask...:)
"I don't think all those AI coders out there are thrilled by the idea that their lifes work is used for games..."
Maybe they're thrilled, maybe they aren't. Aside from conducting interviews with the researchers themselves, we really don't have any way of knowing. That's sort of beside the point, though.
I think the simple fact of the matter is that both applications probably benefit each other, although possibly not in the way most people might think. When I started out programming, a lot of my initial projects were focused on game development. A recurring theme in my thinking was ways to make the computer opponent "smarter", which naturally led me to wonder how I could make the computer learn new tactics and adapt to the human player's actions. As I quickly learned, adaptive systems research is serious stuff.
So, I decided to dig into whatever materials I could get my hands on related to artificial intelligence research and theory. To be honest, I never really got very far, but it remains an interest of mine to this day. I'd be willing to bet some of tomorrow's leading AI researchers are playing video games today. That seems like a pretty good benefit to me.
I guess the key point is this: if a particular application of a certain technology gets people excited about it, and interested in researching it, it's a Good Thing.
"Shame, Slashdot--suggestions in here may do damage to your weaker-minded readership. Please don't run stories like this."
Ummm... that would be *the reader's* problem, not the editors'. I think you forgot to note the simple fact that the story was posted by the the editors, but "comments are owned by the poster."
This is a forum designed to allow people to swap experiences in all arenas related to technology, science, etc. This is not a censorship-prone environment, and people generally understand it's okay to speak your mind (at the risk of moderation, of course). Anyone who would take comments in this story as actual medical advice are about as idiotic as those who interpret a discussion regarding law here as "legal advice." In other words, if you're dumb enough to do that, you deserve what you get.
If society filtered all our information for us, and delivered it in neat little pre-digested packages for our consumption (oh, wait, AOL...), we'd be much worse off as a whole. Instead, we strive to break down communications barriers, allowing each person to decide for him/herself what's right and reasonable. Please keep this in mind before encouraging censhorship in the name of "protecting people from themselves."
I can't for the life of me figure our why this person decided to post this as an AC. This is good stuff, at least in my opinion.
I have to echo the argument that as we aren't exactly sure what the long-term effects of introducing large quanities of CO2 into our biosphere will have (although, as deforestation continues, the effects of such may become more pronounced more rapidly than otherwise), we should probably start examining ways to reduce the factors contributing to such emissions.
No, I'm not suggesting we tell Big Industry to shove it. I'm not saying we should all rush out and buy bicycles either. I *am* saying we all have something of an obligation to look at the potential consequences of our actions, if only for self preservation purposes. If you don't think things could possibly hit a critical point within your lifetime, try thinking about your kids and grandkids. Don't plan on having any kids? All right, start thinking abour your friends' children/grandchildren. Don't have any friends? Wow, that must suck.
Moderators, please mod the parent comment up. Nobody has to agree with the poster's position, but it's good to see people at least thinking for themselves in a logical fashion.
Darn it all, now I'm gonna have to go buck wild with/. story linking:). A few searches on stuff I remembered from recent history yield:
More Ergonomic Keyboards - Basically bemoaning the woes of uncomfortable keyboarding among us geeks, which leads us on to:
Thumbs Are the New Fingers for GameBoy Youth - Your point, illustrated as well as can be:). I suppose those fortunate enough to members of the video game generation will reap their rewards. Still, improvements might be on the way:
Virtual Keyboard a Reality - This would be my pick for an acceptable solution/workaround. Supporting such devices shouldn't be too difficult, seeing as how the Sharp device is running a Linux variant anyhow.
Just a few thoughts, mixed with gratuitous linkage...
Quoting from the spec page: "Edit text or e-mail effortlessly with a standard QWERTY keyboard."
I searched and searched, but somehow couldn't find the option to purchase the 1-foot tall man add-on module to assist in data entry. I would have bought it, but the keyboard's so small...;).
I checked over the specs for this over at the Oracle site... looks impressive! Now, if only you didn't have to use Oracle to take advantage of this sort of thing; PostgreSQL is standing in first place as my database platform of choice for most tasks.
Is there any kind of equivalent work being done in the OSS community, perhaps based on PGSQL? The platform I'm working on for web-based content management is actually headed toward being usable (and will be licensed under the GPL as soon as that happens), but doesn't use the "real" system FS for storage at all. BLOBs are used for file storage instead, and performance seems to be fairly good:). Of course, now that I've said that the Gods will strike me down...
I suppose the best way to go is to structure the system such that it can be used for intranet-style doc/file management, in addition to being able to dish up web-based content (whether for internal or external access/use). We'll see how it shapes up, I guess:).
Hardware has come a long way since the days of BeOS 4 (I believe that's the last version that used a "true" database backend for the filesystem). With the added power we have these days, it seems the old performance issues might be largely eliminated. Now, I'm not trying to portray myself as an advocate of "throwing hardware at a software problem"; to me, it's really more a case of "we can now do things we couldn't do before." This is somewhat akin to being able to do better 3D modelling on PCs due to new capabilities in 3D hardware acceleration.
If I remember correctly, Be originally used a "true" database backend as the filesystem, but ran into performance issues compared to the R5 fs implementation. I can't help but wonder how many of these issues were largely due to the speed of the technology used at the time.
I suppose it depends on your application, but I know a lot of web-based platforms already use true db backends (Oracle, PostgreSQL) to handle all data storage, representing a filesystem as a hierarchial set of rows in numerous tables. I've written several applications this way, and am currently working on a content management platform which also uses this model. Need to make a change to the filesystem structure (adding attributes, changing the security model)? Just modify the DB structure and you're done, especially with databases like PostgreSQL where you can use the database engine itself for a *lot* of functions (via triggers, stored procedures, security settings, etc).
As more and more functionality is brought into web-based application environments, I can see the importance of "old style" filesystems starting to fade somewhat for a lot of apps. Yes, they'll still be necessary (the database itself has to reside somewhere, obvisouly), but not in the same way they used to be. Just a few thoughts:).
I *really* do hate to nitpick here, but the story title really is misleading (and, unfortunately, made me think about those God-awful "inventor assistance" infomercials). This guy isn't looking for inventors per se, although some engineers might be nice.
You know, guys and gals to actually produce something tangible from the concepts he's come up with (err... invented). This is more like a job listing for the engineering types of Menlo Park (a la Edison-esque).
Re:Very, Very Slow Computers
on
Stopping Light
·
· Score: 1, Funny
See, I thought so too... then I came across this staggering news article from the Associated Press:
Dateline: Slashdot
In a shocking new development, computer researchers commonly referred to as "hackers" have made a disheartening discovery. Apparent claims by quantum physics researchers related to stopping light have been disproven. John L. Haxor, lead researcher for the team that disproved the claim, explains:
You see, they didn't *actually* stop light. The software they were using to map the positions of discrete photons suffers from an "endless loop" condition. This causes the positional mapping of photon locations on their monitors to appear motionless.
When asked for potential causes for this error, Mr. Haxor could only say:
This situation clearly illustrates the danger of doing serious physics research while jacked up on Jolt colas and Marlboros. If we're gonna make any progress in this country, caffeine free diet Coke must be fully utilized by the research community.
The errorneous research team could not be reached for comment.
and in related news, it was revealed today that the popular character "Big Bird" is actually a covert operative dedicated to educating our youth on the immorality of processed lunch meat products.
but I'm gonna say it anyhow. This story caught my interest, as most/. book reviews tend to focus on nonfiction works (programming guides, business model stuff, etc). It made me think about how long it's been since I made the time to dive into a good fantasy novel.
I suppose writing thousands of lines of code a week, maintaining various databases, and burning through caffeine/nicotine supplies is okay (and pays the bills), but it really isn't *life*. Okay, it might be life at the moment, but that begs the question: should it be? I know I could use some more balance in my life... I used to read one to two books a day as a teenager (and somehow still found the time to generate heaps of code). I suppose it's just something to think about...
Re:A mainframe for 700 users?
on
Linux On Big Iron
·
· Score: 2, Funny
Ah... but where would they get the nifty calendar stuff Exchange gives you? Oh, wait... we were talking about *email* servers;). I never did get that stuff...
Okay so there are bunches of indie film sites on the web... a good start. Let's take this a step further.
Here on/., the single most common gripe I've heard (and have made myself) regarding the "entertainment industry" has been their lack of attention to really leveraging the web for media sales. They've spent an awful lot of money trying to hold back the tidal wave of "rampant piaracy of their products", but haven't really made any great strides with offering an acceptable sales channel online. Alrighty then, to hell with them.
This is Slashdot. Only God knows how many web designers, database programmers, and general purpose coders hit this site on a daily basis. Why haven't we fired up a community-driven initiative to build a site that allows indie groups (both video and audio-based) to sell their wares directly to the public via the web? This *really* shouldn't be all that complicated. Maybe it already exists, and none of us know about it.
I suppose the point is simple: most of the people I know would *gladly* pay a buck or two to download a couple of songs, as opposed to leeching them off [insert favorite P2P server here]. Not that there's anything technically wrong with P2P services... all I'm saying is I *know* people will pay if someone would only build a decently usable system to offer up the goods. Maybe the established music industry would take a lesson from such a venture, and get their own ball rolling as well.
I'm a perl programmer, database designer, and fairly competent GUI/page designer. Anyone want to start a forum somewhere as a central place to meet and throw ideas around? This merits action, not just conversation.:)
There might just be another way to look at this... don't take it as a "finished" deal, more as a proof of concept to be extended further.
I have a PC running inside a Wizards of the Coast cardboard box (K6-2/300), and have been considering other wacky ways of doing the case for it (no, I will not just use a spare PC case;]).
The PC isn't going to be upgraded any further, as it's already just a linux development workstation and test web/db server. I could take the assembled components, build a basic cardboard frame around the assembly to keep a rectangular (1 PCI card height) form factor, and then simply fill the interior with spray foam. This would yield two benefits: (1) The exterior cardboard frame doesn't actually support the components once the foam has solidified, so it doesn't have to be strong (and could probably be removed afterward), (2) the PC is still a rectangular form factor and *very* stable (no cards coming lose in this thing!).
Yep, this is definitely a go. I'll be headed to a hardware store in the morning, and my finished result should at least be more aesthetically pleasing than the "sheep mound" these guys built;).
Very good point... the unit would have to support DVD-R in order to be truly useful. Pioneer appears to have a nice unit that does CD-R/CD-RW, DVD-R/DVD-RW here: Pioneer DVR-A03.
Checking around a bit, it would appear that this model retails for around $399 USD. Not a bad price to pay, really.
Now, I'd probably go for that plus the $70 drive (playback/retrieval only) for a complete solution. Tack on a MySQL database and a couple of perl scripts (maybe even over a local web server) to control the playback operations, and you're set!:)
Home Depot run waiting to happen
on
Cable Chaos
·
· Score: 1
... for a few sections of PVC tubing. Yep, PVC. There are a couple of ways to go with this.
If you're concerned with the "tackiness" factor, you can spray paint the tubing to match your decor, and run it only along baseboards and such.
If you're a Geek's Geek, you'll want to invest in showing off your mad skillz. To this effect, run the PVC tubing in such a manner that your entire dorm room resembles a demented tinker toy nightmare.
Of course, if you're gonna be taking any courses involving structural engineering, you can get ahead of the game by tossing out the PVC and building your enclosures entirely from toothpicks and thread. No gumdrops allowed here, as the aroma from their slow yet steady decomposure might lessen your chances of getting laid by the local female population somewhat.
Then again, to heck with it, either go with the gumdrops, or even bake tubular enclosures from wheat dough. This will probably score you a few points in chemistry, and may in fact prove to be the groundwork on an eventual doctoral thesis (think of the myriad uses for bread-based tubular structures in today's competetive marketplace!).
Or perhaps you could just leave some of the equipment at home and spend more time studying? Eh, what do I know;)...
This doesn't really work well at all if users have the ability to run CGI scripts (perl/php/etc). CGIs typically run as the uid/gid of the web server process (typically apache or nobody, death to any man running apache as root). Due to this, Joe Cracker could simply use his 31337 perl coding skillz to read the contents of a target file in any other user's directory.
Now, you might say this won't work for files chmod'ed in such a manner that the web server process can't read them. Okay, granted that's true. But what happens when Joe Customer wants to set up a file containing his database login information, to be accessed by a perl script delivering content to his visitors? The file has to be readable by the web server process...
Really, using a CGI wrapper (such as scgi-wrap) or suexec, both of which allow users to execute cgi scripts as their userid, is the best current solution aside from using actually virtual private servers (say on *bsd, where jails are tight).
I've heard this question from *loads* of folks... and my answer is always the same. Just get a DVD player with MP3 play capability! You can get great units for both in-dash car operation and/or home audio use
Here's some links:
Wow. You defineatly (definitely) have a lot of spare time on your hands. I wasnt (wasn't) looking for a grammar lesson. Maybe you should get a real hobby or possibly find a new porn site to subscribe to (oooohhh...). I intended to use "convenient hastle" (hassle) its (it's) a play on words dumb ass (really should be dumbass). Is english your second language? You seem to have trouble understanding my post.
Horribly off-topic (oh well), but I couldn't help but crack up laughing at your.sig. In reference to such, please allow me to point out that the cached page still retains their standard disclaimer:
"Google is not affiliated with the authors of this page nor responsible for its content."
Slashdot Mirror
The underlying concepts for this distribution seem fantastic. Browsing through the Gentoo site, I noticed verbiage to this effect in multiple places:
"Gentoo Linux is a versatile and fast, completely free x86-based Linux distribution geared towards developers and network professionals
Are there any similar projects in the works for other computing architectures (Mac, Sun, etc)? Not trying to open another can of worms, just thought I'd ask...
"I don't think all those AI coders out there are thrilled by the idea that their lifes work is used for games
Maybe they're thrilled, maybe they aren't. Aside from conducting interviews with the researchers themselves, we really don't have any way of knowing. That's sort of beside the point, though.
I think the simple fact of the matter is that both applications probably benefit each other, although possibly not in the way most people might think. When I started out programming, a lot of my initial projects were focused on game development. A recurring theme in my thinking was ways to make the computer opponent "smarter", which naturally led me to wonder how I could make the computer learn new tactics and adapt to the human player's actions. As I quickly learned, adaptive systems research is serious stuff.
So, I decided to dig into whatever materials I could get my hands on related to artificial intelligence research and theory. To be honest, I never really got very far, but it remains an interest of mine to this day. I'd be willing to bet some of tomorrow's leading AI researchers are playing video games today. That seems like a pretty good benefit to me.
I guess the key point is this: if a particular application of a certain technology gets people excited about it, and interested in researching it, it's a Good Thing.
"In other news, we are now over 41,000 page views! Thanks so much to all the sites that have linked us."
How you like us now?
(as the roaring tide of a slashdotting gathers momentum)
"Shame, Slashdot--suggestions in here may do damage to your weaker-minded readership. Please don't run stories like this."
Ummm... that would be *the reader's* problem, not the editors'. I think you forgot to note the simple fact that the story was posted by the the editors, but "comments are owned by the poster."
This is a forum designed to allow people to swap experiences in all arenas related to technology, science, etc. This is not a censorship-prone environment, and people generally understand it's okay to speak your mind (at the risk of moderation, of course). Anyone who would take comments in this story as actual medical advice are about as idiotic as those who interpret a discussion regarding law here as "legal advice." In other words, if you're dumb enough to do that, you deserve what you get.
If society filtered all our information for us, and delivered it in neat little pre-digested packages for our consumption (oh, wait, AOL...), we'd be much worse off as a whole. Instead, we strive to break down communications barriers, allowing each person to decide for him/herself what's right and reasonable. Please keep this in mind before encouraging censhorship in the name of "protecting people from themselves."
I think they call it "FORTRAN", or something like that...
(yes, it's a joke)
I can't for the life of me figure our why this person decided to post this as an AC. This is good stuff, at least in my opinion.
I have to echo the argument that as we aren't exactly sure what the long-term effects of introducing large quanities of CO2 into our biosphere will have (although, as deforestation continues, the effects of such may become more pronounced more rapidly than otherwise), we should probably start examining ways to reduce the factors contributing to such emissions.
No, I'm not suggesting we tell Big Industry to shove it. I'm not saying we should all rush out and buy bicycles either. I *am* saying we all have something of an obligation to look at the potential consequences of our actions, if only for self preservation purposes. If you don't think things could possibly hit a critical point within your lifetime, try thinking about your kids and grandkids. Don't plan on having any kids? All right, start thinking abour your friends' children/grandchildren. Don't have any friends? Wow, that must suck.
Moderators, please mod the parent comment up. Nobody has to agree with the poster's position, but it's good to see people at least thinking for themselves in a logical fashion.
"Perhaps I can interest you in a twelve inch pianist?
Only if your pianist can also play the world's smallest violin (while doing data entry on the Sharp Zaurus at 60 wpm).
Darn it all, now I'm gonna have to go buck wild with
More Ergonomic Keyboards - Basically bemoaning the woes of uncomfortable keyboarding among us geeks, which leads us on to:
Thumbs Are the New Fingers for GameBoy Youth - Your point, illustrated as well as can be
Virtual Keyboard a Reality - This would be my pick for an acceptable solution/workaround. Supporting such devices shouldn't be too difficult, seeing as how the Sharp device is running a Linux variant anyhow.
Just a few thoughts, mixed with gratuitous linkage...
Quoting from the spec page: "Edit text or e-mail effortlessly with a standard QWERTY keyboard."
I searched and searched, but somehow couldn't find the option to purchase the 1-foot tall man add-on module to assist in data entry. I would have bought it, but the keyboard's so small...
I checked over the specs for this over at the Oracle site... looks impressive! Now, if only you didn't have to use Oracle to take advantage of this sort of thing; PostgreSQL is standing in first place as my database platform of choice for most tasks.
Is there any kind of equivalent work being done in the OSS community, perhaps based on PGSQL? The platform I'm working on for web-based content management is actually headed toward being usable (and will be licensed under the GPL as soon as that happens), but doesn't use the "real" system FS for storage at all. BLOBs are used for file storage instead, and performance seems to be fairly good
I suppose the best way to go is to structure the system such that it can be used for intranet-style doc/file management, in addition to being able to dish up web-based content (whether for internal or external access/use). We'll see how it shapes up, I guess
Hardware has come a long way since the days of BeOS 4 (I believe that's the last version that used a "true" database backend for the filesystem). With the added power we have these days, it seems the old performance issues might be largely eliminated. Now, I'm not trying to portray myself as an advocate of "throwing hardware at a software problem"; to me, it's really more a case of "we can now do things we couldn't do before." This is somewhat akin to being able to do better 3D modelling on PCs due to new capabilities in 3D hardware acceleration.
If I remember correctly, Be originally used a "true" database backend as the filesystem, but ran into performance issues compared to the R5 fs implementation. I can't help but wonder how many of these issues were largely due to the speed of the technology used at the time.
I suppose it depends on your application, but I know a lot of web-based platforms already use true db backends (Oracle, PostgreSQL) to handle all data storage, representing a filesystem as a hierarchial set of rows in numerous tables. I've written several applications this way, and am currently working on a content management platform which also uses this model. Need to make a change to the filesystem structure (adding attributes, changing the security model)? Just modify the DB structure and you're done, especially with databases like PostgreSQL where you can use the database engine itself for a *lot* of functions (via triggers, stored procedures, security settings, etc).
As more and more functionality is brought into web-based application environments, I can see the importance of "old style" filesystems starting to fade somewhat for a lot of apps. Yes, they'll still be necessary (the database itself has to reside somewhere, obvisouly), but not in the same way they used to be. Just a few thoughts
I *really* do hate to nitpick here, but the story title really is misleading (and, unfortunately, made me think about those God-awful "inventor assistance" infomercials). This guy isn't looking for inventors per se, although some engineers might be nice.
You know, guys and gals to actually produce something tangible from the concepts he's come up with (err... invented). This is more like a job listing for the engineering types of Menlo Park (a la Edison-esque).
See, I thought so too... then I came across this staggering news article from the Associated Press:
Dateline: Slashdot
In a shocking new development, computer researchers commonly referred to as "hackers" have made a disheartening discovery. Apparent claims by quantum physics researchers related to stopping light have been disproven. John L. Haxor, lead researcher for the team that disproved the claim, explains:
You see, they didn't *actually* stop light. The software they were using to map the positions of discrete photons suffers from an "endless loop" condition. This causes the positional mapping of photon locations on their monitors to appear motionless.
When asked for potential causes for this error, Mr. Haxor could only say:
This situation clearly illustrates the danger of doing serious physics research while jacked up on Jolt colas and Marlboros. If we're gonna make any progress in this country, caffeine free diet Coke must be fully utilized by the research community.
The errorneous research team could not be reached for comment.
and in related news, it was revealed today that the popular character "Big Bird" is actually a covert operative dedicated to educating our youth on the immorality of processed lunch meat products.
yes... it's a joke...
but I'm gonna say it anyhow. This story caught my interest, as most
I suppose writing thousands of lines of code a week, maintaining various databases, and burning through caffeine/nicotine supplies is okay (and pays the bills), but it really isn't *life*. Okay, it might be life at the moment, but that begs the question: should it be? I know I could use some more balance in my life... I used to read one to two books a day as a teenager (and somehow still found the time to generate heaps of code). I suppose it's just something to think about...
Ah... but where would they get the nifty calendar stuff Exchange gives you? Oh, wait... we were talking about *email* servers
Okay so there are bunches of indie film sites on the web... a good start. Let's take this a step further.
Here on
This is Slashdot. Only God knows how many web designers, database programmers, and general purpose coders hit this site on a daily basis. Why haven't we fired up a community-driven initiative to build a site that allows indie groups (both video and audio-based) to sell their wares directly to the public via the web? This *really* shouldn't be all that complicated. Maybe it already exists, and none of us know about it.
I suppose the point is simple: most of the people I know would *gladly* pay a buck or two to download a couple of songs, as opposed to leeching them off [insert favorite P2P server here]. Not that there's anything technically wrong with P2P services... all I'm saying is I *know* people will pay if someone would only build a decently usable system to offer up the goods. Maybe the established music industry would take a lesson from such a venture, and get their own ball rolling as well.
I'm a perl programmer, database designer, and fairly competent GUI/page designer. Anyone want to start a forum somewhere as a central place to meet and throw ideas around? This merits action, not just conversation.
There might just be another way to look at this... don't take it as a "finished" deal, more as a proof of concept to be extended further.
I have a PC running inside a Wizards of the Coast cardboard box (K6-2/300), and have been considering other wacky ways of doing the case for it (no, I will not just use a spare PC case
The PC isn't going to be upgraded any further, as it's already just a linux development workstation and test web/db server. I could take the assembled components, build a basic cardboard frame around the assembly to keep a rectangular (1 PCI card height) form factor, and then simply fill the interior with spray foam. This would yield two benefits: (1) The exterior cardboard frame doesn't actually support the components once the foam has solidified, so it doesn't have to be strong (and could probably be removed afterward), (2) the PC is still a rectangular form factor and *very* stable (no cards coming lose in this thing!).
Yep, this is definitely a go. I'll be headed to a hardware store in the morning, and my finished result should at least be more aesthetically pleasing than the "sheep mound" these guys built
Very good point... the unit would have to support DVD-R in order to be truly useful. Pioneer appears to have a nice unit that does CD-R/CD-RW, DVD-R/DVD-RW here: Pioneer DVR-A03.
Checking around a bit, it would appear that this model retails for around $399 USD. Not a bad price to pay, really.
Now, I'd probably go for that plus the $70 drive (playback/retrieval only) for a complete solution. Tack on a MySQL database and a couple of perl scripts (maybe even over a local web server) to control the playback operations, and you're set!
... for a few sections of PVC tubing. Yep, PVC. There are a couple of ways to go with this.
- If you're concerned with the "tackiness" factor, you can spray paint the tubing to match your decor, and run it only along baseboards and such.
- If you're a Geek's Geek, you'll want to invest in showing off your mad skillz. To this effect, run the PVC tubing in such a manner that your entire dorm room resembles a demented tinker toy nightmare.
Of course, if you're gonna be taking any courses involving structural engineering, you can get ahead of the game by tossing out the PVC and building your enclosures entirely from toothpicks and thread. No gumdrops allowed here, as the aroma from their slow yet steady decomposure might lessen your chances of getting laid by the local female population somewhat.Then again, to heck with it, either go with the gumdrops, or even bake tubular enclosures from wheat dough. This will probably score you a few points in chemistry, and may in fact prove to be the groundwork on an eventual doctoral thesis (think of the myriad uses for bread-based tubular structures in today's competetive marketplace!).
Or perhaps you could just leave some of the equipment at home and spend more time studying? Eh, what do I know
This doesn't really work well at all if users have the ability to run CGI scripts (perl/php/etc). CGIs typically run as the uid/gid of the web server process (typically apache or nobody, death to any man running apache as root). Due to this, Joe Cracker could simply use his 31337 perl coding skillz to read the contents of a target file in any other user's directory.
Now, you might say this won't work for files chmod'ed in such a manner that the web server process can't read them. Okay, granted that's true. But what happens when Joe Customer wants to set up a file containing his database login information, to be accessed by a perl script delivering content to his visitors? The file has to be readable by the web server process...
Really, using a CGI wrapper (such as scgi-wrap) or suexec, both of which allow users to execute cgi scripts as their userid, is the best current solution aside from using actually virtual private servers (say on *bsd, where jails are tight).
I've heard this question from *loads* of folks... and my answer is always the same. Just get a DVD player with MP3 play capability! You can get great units for both in-dash car operation and/or home audio use
Here's some links:
Samsung Player
Apex Player ($70!!!)
Have a good day!
Uhhhmmm... nah, I can't resist.
Wow. You defineatly (definitely) have a lot of spare time on your hands. I wasnt (wasn't) looking for a grammar lesson. Maybe you should get a real hobby or possibly find a new porn site to subscribe to (oooohhh...). I intended to use "convenient hastle" (hassle) its (it's) a play on words dumb ass (really should be dumbass). Is english your second language? You seem to have trouble understanding my post.
Have a nice day.
Horribly off-topic (oh well), but I couldn't help but crack up laughing at your
"Google is not affiliated with the authors of this page nor responsible for its content."
Now, if that ain't funny, I don't know what is
Ahh, yes... I can see it now. Let's take a look at Junior's birthday gift list:
- Model airplane.
- Train set.
- New computer.
- Oxyacetylene torch (pocket size).
Alternately, an enterprising youth could go the "chemistry set" route and apply a dab of HCl to the problem