We have a huge 80Gb mp3 file storage at work. It's a box with a big RAID array running NFS and Samba. Unofficial, of course.:)
When I'm writing Perl all day, I like to crank up my Sublime bootlegs (all mp3) in my headphones. My favorite coding music is the version of "40oz to Freedom" off the "Contact Buzz" cd. That, and "I Love My Dog" off of the same disc. You can't beat the reggae groove bassline for coding. Sometimes I even kinda dance a little bit in my chair while I'm listening to it.:-)
Other favorites while working are:
The Samples (check out my The Samples mp3 archive! ftp.blueaspen.com )
1960s and 1970s country music. ("Foggy Mountain Breakdown" by Lester Flatt and Earl Skruggs, "Coal Miner's Daughter" by Loretta Lynn, and, of course, "East Bound and Down" which is the theme to Smokey and the Bandit. I forget the guys name...)
Dwight Yoakam (the "LIVE" cd or anything off of "Just Looking For a Hit")
Ben Harper (any of his cds)
Robert Earl Keen (each and everyone one of his CDs!)
I remember running a filter suite called "magickfilter" (or something spelling variation of that) back in about 1994 on my slackware linux box. You could do "lpr pr0n.gif" and it worked flawlessly on my HP LaserJet. It was also very easy to set up.
One thing it did not have, however, was the ability to have custom printer filters applied by a printer server. In other words, I wanted to be able to send the job from a client workstation to a central printer server, have a custom PostScript-based coverpage (with the printee's username on it) prepended to the print job. Since it used plain ole lpd, this was not possible. It was only possible to do printer filters on the client workstation, not the print server. We wanted to print out a cool coverpage with our schools logo and the username in a nice helvetica font but could never find something to do the job. Perhaps CUPS has this figured out?
It's very unfortunate that people still insist on printing stuff out, but if they have to do it, might as well do it right! chris
The thing is, this guy *did* speak for the company. One of the first things they tell you when you go to work for a big corporation is that you are not the official company spokesperson and that you better not speak like you are. Divulging this tech support call to a major online publication would probably be considered "speaking for the company", at least it would where I work.
I agree with you that my use of the word "boycott" was a little too strong. I'm serious when I say that I have doubts about Loki's concern for customers' privacy but I will not judge them until I see an official Loki press release on this. If they publicly apoligize, then I will know that this tech support person screwed up and that this is not the way Loki treats their customers. Otherwise, I can assure you that I won't buy any of their products.:-)
They didn't breach confidentially by paraphrasing what the caller said. Squistle (the author of the letter) didn't give the callers name or location, only the fact that the caller was a male and that he worked for Microsoft.
Like hell, they didn't. They said that he was a male Microsoft employee that worked on a project which was evaluating Linux. He had a 450MHz PIII with a Loki game installed on it. Believe me, he would not be that hard to track down.
Since this was never a "real" tech support call, is any "real" privacy being violated?
Uhm, it looked pretty damn "real" to me. What, are you saying that this tech just made up this story?
Are you also going to boycott all Microsoft products because they are trying to fake a study on Linux usability?
Who said anything about faking a story on Linux usability? Corporations test out competitors' products all the time, to help them improve their own products. The only thing we know about this was that this was a usability test. Anything beyond that is pure speculation.
I'm disgusted with the hordes of slashdot readers that are ranting against Microsoft and overlooking the fact that Loki, hungry for publicity, has revealed the details of a private tech support call made by one of their users.
I'm even more disgusted with the./ editors for posting this crap. It saddens me to see that Slashdot, who supposedly is a defender of citzens' privacy, has shown complete disregard for this person's private matters. Are you guys really this desperate for ad banner impressions that you have to stoop to these levels? If Microsoft or some other "evil" had posted this tech support call, I'm sure it would get an article on/. and at least 300 flaming comments. Instead, a linux company does the same thing and suddenly it's "Microsoft is hiring idiots and trying to spread FUD, blah blah blah".
Please join me in boycotting Loki. I'm not about to trust these clowns with a tech support call, much less my credit card number.
Yep, the Fraunhofer codec is pretty much unbeatable when it comes to quality. Most people say they can't tell the difference between encoders and I can't under most conditions but when I put on my high-end studio-quality headphones, I can tell the difference between them. You notice it most when you hear high-pitched noises, which appear a bit "tinny" when encoded with other codecs. I think it would be sweet if someone hacked WINE (or something else maybe?) to let us use Windows CODECs under UNIX.
Our old ISP, texas.net, had this problem. The root of the problem is the use of name-based virtual hosts as opposed to ip-based virtual hosts (see the NameVirtualHost directive in the Apache docs). Cyber Patrol, etc., block by IP. We solved the problem by switching ISPs. You may have legal recourse in this situation. Our company is an online retailer and you can imagine how this cut into our sales and pissed us off when we discovered it. Switch ISPs (we love our ISP, Internet Direct, check em out) and contact your attorney.
FreeBSD's networking code is based on the original BSD networking code which has been around forever.
Linux's TCP/IP stack was redone in 2.2.x and has not had enough time to mature.
Don't get me wrong--I'm not dissing linux. The idea behind Linux rocks but the fact is, FreeBSD is more "solid". FreeBSD's code is tightly controlled by a core group of programmers who are less/not likely to add experimental/partially-working features to the -STABLE releases. I can't tell you how many times I've found partially-working stuff in Linux kernels.
My advice to you would be to try it for yourself. Download a -STABLE release, install it, and put it head-to-head with Linux. That's what we did a year ago, before we made the big move from Linux to FreeBSD.
I would definitely do this at the router, if you can afford it. FreeBSD certainly rocks but doing this from a decent Cisco would be your best bet if you really want to do it right.
If you can't afford a decent Cisco router, build a fast machine out of high-quality parts (or better yet, buy a Dell) and Intel NICs and install FreeBSD and the ET/BWMGR software.
I think you'd be making a big mistake to use experimental Linux code on a very un-mature version of Linux (2.2.x) to try and do this.
I would highly, highly reccommend that you use FreeBSD, especially if you are in a commercial/ISP environment. Linux is great and all but you can't beat FreeBSD's rock-solid tried-and-true TCP/IP stack. http://www.freebsd.org
Don't flatter yourselves, people. I don't think Adobe gives a rats ass about The Gimp. The vast majority of professional artists use and will continue to use Adobe products. Adobe works on Macs, which most digital artists use because they are simple to use.
Adobe does not want buy Corel because of Corel's involvment with Linux. They want to buy Corel because Corel makes CorelDraw and Corel PhotoPaint, which are great competitors to Illustrator and Photoshop.
You linux zealots really get to me. So many of you think Linux is the end-all solution for everyone. Uhm, hello Betty, wake up! Most computer users aren't as smart as us unix users and really don't give a shit what OS they run.
Don't get me wrong, I like linux alright. Personally, I prefer FreeBSD and Solaris. I just realize that unix has its place (amongst techies) and that most companies and computer users have absolutely no need for it.
Try running 'hostid' on a Sun system. Each machine has a unique host ID number associated with it. I'm not sure if this is tied to the CPU(s). Its probably tied to some auxiliary chip on the motherboard. Nevertheless, they do have this. I'd love to see the State of Arizona get by without Sun servers. This would definitely affect ISPs such as @Home who use Suns, as well as the major universities in AZ (UofA, ASU, NAU, etc.) and who knows how many government agencies and smaller ISPs.
On the other hand, you have to see this proposed law for what it is. It appears to me that it is designed to *PROTECT* the consumer.
personally, i think courses/classes are a complete waste of time. setting up a LAN at your home is a good idea but won't help you much when it comes to learning how to support *PRODUCTION* systems. That's a whole 'nuther world. I started off with a linux box at home. Then I got a job working as a unix admin for various departments on the college campus (unm.edu - U of New Mexico). These helped me alot. I learned about production operating systems like Solaris and FreeBSD and how to write perl. I made horrible grades in college because all I did was work and play on Unix. I left college after 5 years (with 66 hours of credit, heh) and went to work for a large national cable modem ISP based in Redwood City, CA. After about 6 months at that job (high stress, low reward but i leared alot!), I took the job I currently have as a unix admin at a start-up in Provo UT. I guess I'm doing pretty good (salary wise) for a 24-year-old without a college experience. I can sum up how to become a unix admin in one word: RTFM.
I guess I should explain the point I was trying to make in my previous comment. What I mean is this:
The way that SGI should market this box is as an NT-based graphics box, basically designed to run SoftImage and Maya and run them really really fast. High-end 3D stuff basically.
NT boxes seem to be taking over the 3D design market. The reason is simple: price. You can put together an NT box with a very decent 3D graphics adapter for a fraction of what you can put together an equivalent SGI or Sun box for. SGI needs to capture this market. There is NO point in trying to build this box to run linux. If you want a good linux box (or FreeBSD if you're like me), there are a million zillion other choices out there. Specialize, specialize, specialize.
SGI could care less about linux. This machine is targeted at folks who want to run packages like SoftImage and Maya, which run under NT. This box will do just fine without linux support.
Slashdot Mirror
We have a huge 80Gb mp3 file storage at work. It's a box with a big RAID array running NFS and Samba. Unofficial, of course. :)
:-)
:-)
When I'm writing Perl all day, I like to crank up my Sublime bootlegs (all mp3) in my headphones. My favorite coding music is the version of "40oz to Freedom" off the "Contact Buzz" cd. That, and "I Love My Dog" off of the same disc. You can't beat the reggae groove bassline for coding. Sometimes I even kinda dance a little bit in my chair while I'm listening to it.
Other favorites while working are:
The Samples (check out my The Samples mp3 archive! ftp.blueaspen.com )
1960s and 1970s country music. ("Foggy Mountain Breakdown" by Lester Flatt and Earl Skruggs, "Coal Miner's Daughter" by Loretta Lynn, and, of course, "East Bound and Down" which is the theme to Smokey and the Bandit. I forget the guys name...)
Dwight Yoakam (the "LIVE" cd or anything off of "Just Looking For a Hit")
Ben Harper (any of his cds)
Robert Earl Keen (each and everyone one of his CDs!)
Spearhead ("Home")
2pac
Jimi Hendrix
Too $hort
Snoop Doggy Dogg
The Ziggens
Afro Cuban All-Stars
BR5-49
Lots of rare Dave Matthews
Guy Clark
Jimmy Buffett
Toots and the Maytals
Rusted Root
Frank Sinatra (my current musical "kick")
and of course, Elvis
Nope, I'm not eclectic at all.
I remember running a filter suite called "magickfilter" (or something spelling variation of that) back in about 1994 on my slackware linux box. You could do "lpr pr0n.gif" and it worked flawlessly on my HP LaserJet. It was also very easy to set up.
One thing it did not have, however, was the ability to have custom printer filters applied by a printer server. In other words, I wanted to be able to send the job from a client workstation to a central printer server, have a custom PostScript-based coverpage (with the printee's username on it) prepended to the print job. Since it used plain ole lpd, this was not possible. It was only possible to do printer filters on the client workstation, not the print server. We wanted to print out a cool coverpage with our schools logo and the username in a nice helvetica font but could never find something to do the job. Perhaps CUPS has this figured out?
It's very unfortunate that people still insist on printing stuff out, but if they have to do it, might as well do it right! chris
The thing is, this guy *did* speak for the company. One of the first things they tell you when you go to work for a big corporation is that you are not the official company spokesperson and that you better not speak like you are. Divulging this tech support call to a major online publication would probably be considered "speaking for the company", at least it would where I work.
:-)
I agree with you that my use of the word "boycott" was a little too strong. I'm serious when I say that I have doubts about Loki's concern for customers' privacy but I will not judge them until I see an official Loki press release on this. If they publicly apoligize, then I will know that this tech support person screwed up and that this is not the way Loki treats their customers. Otherwise, I can assure you that I won't buy any of their products.
chris
They didn't breach confidentially by paraphrasing what the caller said. Squistle (the author of the letter) didn't give the callers name or location, only the fact that the caller was a male and that he worked for Microsoft.
Like hell, they didn't. They said that he was a male Microsoft employee that worked on a project which was evaluating Linux. He had a 450MHz PIII with a Loki game installed on it. Believe me, he would not be that hard to track down.
Since this was never a "real" tech support call, is any "real" privacy being violated?
Uhm, it looked pretty damn "real" to me. What, are you saying that this tech just made up this story?
Are you also going to boycott all Microsoft products because they are trying to fake a study on Linux usability?
Who said anything about faking a story on Linux usability? Corporations test out competitors' products all the time, to help them improve their own products. The only thing we know about this was that this was a usability test. Anything beyond that is pure speculation.
I'm disgusted with the hordes of slashdot readers that are ranting against Microsoft and overlooking the fact that Loki, hungry for publicity, has revealed the details of a private tech support call made by one of their users.
./ editors for posting this crap. It saddens me to see that Slashdot, who supposedly is a defender of citzens' privacy, has shown complete disregard for this person's private matters. Are you guys really this desperate for ad banner impressions that you have to stoop to these levels? If Microsoft or some other "evil" had posted this tech support call, I'm sure it would get an article on /. and at least 300 flaming comments. Instead, a linux company does the same thing and suddenly it's "Microsoft is hiring idiots and trying to spread FUD, blah blah blah".
I'm even more disgusted with the
Please join me in boycotting Loki. I'm not about to trust these clowns with a tech support call, much less my credit card number.
chris
When you drive through Hondo (little town in South Texas for you non-Texans), there is a sign that says:
"THIS IS GOD'S TOWN. PLEASE DON'T DRIVE LIKE HELL THROUGH IT."
man, I miss TX.
-Stuck on the LA Freeways
Yep, the Fraunhofer codec is pretty much unbeatable when it comes to quality. Most people say they can't tell the difference between encoders and I can't under most conditions but when I put on my high-end studio-quality headphones, I can tell the difference between them. You notice it most when you hear high-pitched noises, which appear a bit "tinny" when encoded with other codecs. I think it would be sweet if someone hacked WINE (or something else maybe?) to let us use Windows CODECs under UNIX.
Our old ISP, texas.net, had this problem. The root of the problem is the use of name-based virtual hosts as opposed to ip-based virtual hosts (see the NameVirtualHost directive in the Apache docs). Cyber Patrol, etc., block by IP. We solved the problem by switching ISPs. You may have legal recourse in this situation. Our company is an online retailer and you can imagine how this cut into our sales and pissed us off when we discovered it. Switch ISPs (we love our ISP, Internet Direct, check em out) and contact your attorney.
FreeBSD's networking code is based on the original BSD networking code which has been around forever.
Linux's TCP/IP stack was redone in 2.2.x and has not had enough time to mature.
Don't get me wrong--I'm not dissing linux. The idea behind Linux rocks but the fact is, FreeBSD is more "solid". FreeBSD's code is tightly controlled by a core group of programmers who are less/not likely to add experimental/partially-working features to the -STABLE releases. I can't tell you how many times I've found partially-working stuff in Linux kernels.
My advice to you would be to try it for yourself. Download a -STABLE release, install it, and put it head-to-head with Linux. That's what we did a year ago, before we made the big move from Linux to FreeBSD.
One thing I forgot to add...
I would definitely do this at the router, if you can afford it. FreeBSD certainly rocks but doing this from a decent Cisco would be your best bet if you really want to do it right.
If you can't afford a decent Cisco router, build a fast machine out of high-quality parts (or better yet, buy a Dell) and Intel NICs and install FreeBSD and the ET/BWMGR software.
I think you'd be making a big mistake to use experimental Linux code on a very un-mature version of Linux (2.2.x) to try and do this.
Here's a product that should do what you need:
http://www.etinc.com/bwmgr.htm
I would highly, highly reccommend that you use FreeBSD, especially if you are in a commercial/ISP environment. Linux is great and all but you can't beat FreeBSD's rock-solid tried-and-true TCP/IP stack. http://www.freebsd.org
good luck!
Here's an excerpt their WHOIS db entry:
Domain Name: HUSHMAIL.COM
Administrative Contact:
Hush Communications, Admin acct. (HC507-ORG) hushadmn@HOTMAIL.COM
(512)-441-0205
Fax- (512)-441-8052
Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
Hush Communications, Tech acct. (HC508-ORG) hushtech@YAHOO.COM
(512)-441-0205
Fax- (512)-441-8052
Billing Contact:
Hush Communications, Admin acct. (HC507-ORG) hushadmn@HOTMAIL.COM
(512)-441-0205
Fax- (512)-441-8052
Note the Hotmail and Yahoo accounts listed.
Don't flatter yourselves, people. I don't think Adobe gives a rats ass about The Gimp. The vast majority of professional artists use and will continue to use Adobe products. Adobe works on Macs, which most digital artists use because they are simple to use.
Adobe does not want buy Corel because of Corel's involvment with Linux. They want to buy Corel because Corel makes CorelDraw and Corel PhotoPaint, which are great competitors to Illustrator and Photoshop.
You linux zealots really get to me. So many of you think Linux is the end-all solution for everyone. Uhm, hello Betty, wake up! Most computer users aren't as smart as us unix users and really don't give a shit what OS they run.
Don't get me wrong, I like linux alright. Personally, I prefer FreeBSD and Solaris. I just realize that unix has its place (amongst techies) and that most companies and computer users have absolutely no need for it.
-cjs
Try running 'hostid' on a Sun system. Each machine has a unique host ID number associated with it. I'm not sure if this is tied to the CPU(s). Its probably tied to some auxiliary chip on the motherboard. Nevertheless, they do have this. I'd love to see the State of Arizona get by without Sun servers. This would definitely affect ISPs such as @Home who use Suns, as well as the major universities in AZ (UofA, ASU, NAU, etc.) and who knows how many government agencies and smaller ISPs.
On the other hand, you have to see this proposed law for what it is. It appears to me that it is designed to *PROTECT* the consumer.
-chris
cjs@imall.com
personally, i think courses/classes are a complete waste of time. setting up a LAN at your home is a good idea but won't help you much when it comes to learning how to support *PRODUCTION* systems. That's a whole 'nuther world. I started off with a linux box at home. Then I got a job working as a unix admin for various departments on the college campus (unm.edu - U of New Mexico). These helped me alot. I learned about production operating systems like Solaris and FreeBSD and how to write perl. I made horrible grades in college because all I did was work and play on Unix. I left college after 5 years (with 66 hours of credit, heh) and went to work for a large national cable modem ISP based in Redwood City, CA. After about 6 months at that job (high stress, low reward but i leared alot!), I took the job I currently have as a unix admin at a start-up in Provo UT. I guess I'm doing pretty good (salary wise) for a 24-year-old without a college experience. I can sum up how to become a unix admin in one word: RTFM.
-cjs
I guess I should explain the point I was trying to make in my previous comment. What I mean is this:
The way that SGI should market this box is as an NT-based graphics box, basically designed to run SoftImage and Maya and run them really really fast. High-end 3D stuff basically.
NT boxes seem to be taking over the 3D design market. The reason is simple: price. You can put together an NT box with a very decent 3D graphics adapter for a fraction of what you can put together an equivalent SGI or Sun box for. SGI needs to capture this market. There is NO point in trying to build this box to run linux. If you want a good linux box (or FreeBSD if you're like me), there are a million zillion other choices out there. Specialize, specialize, specialize.
SGI could care less about linux. This machine is targeted at folks who want to run packages like SoftImage and Maya, which run under NT. This box will do just fine without linux support.