I bought the Mini because it's significantly smaller than the 15 gig iPod. It's also much more solidly built thanks to the aluminum case. Moving the controls under the jog dial is also a huge improvement. But the size and sturdiness were what convinced me: The mini fits into a relatively cramped pocket on a pair of jeans or gym shorts.. the regular iPod just can't do that.
The drive used in the iPod Mini retails for much more than the Mini sells for. Apple is either getting an amazing volume price from Hitachi or they are taking it up their collective asses in order to infiltrate the market.
Snoopy was found dead in a Vegas hotel room, at the bottom of the tub. CSI Gil Grissom suspects foul play as several small, yellow feathers were found at the scene.
And it never ceases to amaze -me- how that arrogance permeates our society. I'll have you know I am an American and I love my country, and that's why I fear for my country when I see it heading down the same path of previous great empires. The question is: will the arrogant sods like you pull your heads of the sand in time to help save her? Or will you continue to close your eyes and cover your ears to reality until there's nothing left?
I'm a senior admin with a big company, specializing in Windows based systems. My day to day PC is a 15" Powerbook. I can use the Microsoft RDP client to log into any of the Win servers, SSH to log into the Unix stuff and can pretty much do my job with no hiccups or workarounds. The only exception is that Entourage has weak MS Exchange support, so I'm typically using webmail. With Fink installed I have basic tools like nmap and ethereal at my disposal. My only real gripe is that Apple and Broadcam don't open up access to the network hardware.. Being able to put my NICs into promiscuous mode would be a big help. There's a workaround - I could get an Orinoco or Aironet PCMCIA card.. but I'd prefer to use the integrated hardware.
As far as Linux distros go, Yellow Dog Linux runs very nicely on most older Macs.. but as of yet there is no support for the Radeon 9600 in my book. Text is fine for most stuff but I'd love to run KDE or Gnome in Yellow Dog.
Anyway, I think Apple's got a real opportunity. The Virginia Tech cluster shows their potential and this article is good PR, despite the "frustrate law enforcement" comment. Seeing a room full of Powerbooks at NASA was pretty cool, too.
The answers do lie in space. There is no hope left for humanity on Earth. If we do not figure out how to leave the cradle, soon, we will fall into darkness and disappear. Permanent extra-terrestrial colonies are our only long-term hope.
That's a very reckless and naive belief. When you move into a house, do you trash it and ruin it and then simply flee to the next available house? Our maturity as a species depends on our ability to gain wisdom through maintaining our own home and then work on expanding to new homes, not burning our current home to the ground and spreading on to the next suitable habitat for us to exploit and ruin.
Two major Mars exploration missions ended in failure. One of them because somebody couldn't tell the difference between the English and metric measurement systems. A second space shuttle was lost due to a problem that was pointed out by a journalist during a post-launch press conference and arrogantly dismissed by NASA. Now this. I think it's time to reconsider the validity of spending billions on disaster after disaster when so much needs to be taken care of at home. And no, the answers to all the world's problems are not necessarily in space, unless Tang and pens that can write upside down can stop war and famine.
Personally, I expected this kind of response. The Matrix was fluke in that it came out of nowhere and surprised nearly everyone. The hype surrounding the sequels set the bar impossibly high. Especially when the W brothers essentially wrote themselves into a corner with the first movie. And that's not a bad thing, it's a great story. They should have simply recognized that going for more would pollute the waters. I think they would have been better off sticking to things in an "expanded universe" such as demonstrated by the Animatrix. Then they would have been freer to explore without dilluting the impact and mystique of the first him. But to each their own, I certainly plan on seeing Reloaded and Revolutions. But I have set the bar low in terms of my expectations for the same kind of experience I got from The Matrix.
Here's an example. After using Linux for several years, I gave FreeBSD a try and was very impressed by the solid kernel and coherent userland. There were a few things I couldn't fathom out though, like getting USB joysticks working, and asking on the mailing lists or similar forums always got the same kind of responses: "Go back to Linux if you want that", "FreeBSD is brill and doesn't need to support it" etc.
It's this zealotry, patronising attitude and belief that FreeBSD is the "one true OS" that is really damaging its acceptance.
Golly, now perhaps you understand what longtime Windows users are made to feel like when they ask similar questions of the Linux community!
When did I ever write that I preferred MS SQL or actively chose to use it for a given application? I run the stuff, I am not the sole decision maker on -what- is to be run. If my recommendations are vetoed, then I do my best to cope with what I'm given.
You obviously completely ignored what I wrote regarding service packs. I never disputed any of what you had to say, but facts are facts - most application vendors don't QA their software on a patch by patch basis, they wait until there's a service pack or at least a roll-up. I can bitch and moan about it all I want, but that's the way it is. And I'm sure that 99% of those patches would not break the application, but if by installing them I'm risking invalidating our support agreement and endangering my job by deliberately ignoring our patch/change management process, do you think I'm going to do that?
Yes, life WOULD be easier if it was perfect. But guess what, it's not.
It's amazing how many people just don't feal they have to upgrade their machines. Im stil getting nimda hits. The sql exploit is using a vulnerability 6mos old!
What's amazing to me is how many people are apparently clueless about how things like change management and patch management work. As an administrator, I would -love- to be able to immediately patch all of my production servers with all of the latest patches the very moment they're released. And in many cases, I do.
But there are some applications where that just doesn't fly. Databases, particularly MS SQL Server, being one of those. More often than not, we are completely at the mercy of a vendor. We buy a vendor's product, which requires MS SQL on the back end. We configure a Win2k server w/ SQL 2000 running, per their specs. And also within their specs is typically a -very- specific list of what service packs and versions of MDAC are supported for their application. And while their compatibility matrix may be dead current at the time we sign on the dotted line and deploy their product, more often than not there's a pretty significant lag between the release of a given patch, hotfix or service pack and the vendor giving us their stamp of approval to install said patches on the servers. If we apply these patches without their go ahead, we risk not only breaking the application, but we also risk invalidating the support contract with the vendor. And yes, we can poke and prod and cajole the vendors all day long to get their asses in gear and QA their product, but the reality of it is that they're slow.
Some of the vendors we use are tiny (less than 10 people) shops and others are Fortune 500 companies. No matter how big or small they are, it takes time for them to QA their stuff and get back to us. And that's exactly what happened with this worm. The initial hotfix was released in June. Then a security roll-up that included the fix was released in October. Finally, the fix was included as part of the full release of SQL 2000 Service Pack 3, which was released on January 17th. That was 8 days ago. Most, if not all of our vendors, do not QA for every single patch that comes along. Instead, they QA when there is a major update release, such as a service pack. And applying a service pack to a SQL server in full production is not something taken lightly. Hell, even Microsoft's own article regarding today's outbrreak very specifically notes that a full install of SQL 2K SP3 should not be done without serious consideration, instead they push installing either the individual fix or the security roll-up.
So, all that being said, whoever launched this worm did us a favor. They sent us a wake up call. They released the worm very quickly after the service pack containing the fix was issued. Obviously the writers of said worm felt their window of opportunity was shrinking. They chose to release the worm on a Saturday, when they knew it would get mass attention and catch everyone off guard. They released it on Super Bowl weekend in the US, a time when our collective guard is down and our thoughts are focused on the big game and the parties that go with it.
Whoever wrote this worm made it mild. It's memory resident only. A simple reboot of an infected server removes the worm completely. The patch to protect a given server was small and easily obtained as well as well-documented. And the payload of the worm, if you can even call it that, was quite benign. The exploit they used allowed commands to be executed on the server under the same context that SQL Server runs. In most cases, the SQL Server service account is at -least- a local administrator on any given SQL server, if not a Domain Admin. Whoever wrote this virus stuck a loaded shotgun in our collective faces and then proceeded to fire it into the concrete wall behind us rather than kill us with it. It was a warning. A warning, that despite having lost a day of my weekend time, I appreciated. We all need a good wakeup call now and then.
And I know Slashdot is the nexus of armchair quarterbacking ponytail-laden granola whiners and critics, and I shouldn't let statements like the above one which prompted my reply get to me, but I did feel the need to clearly and concisely state that there's a hell of a lot more to it than what most people are saying.
Anyhow, if you're one of the fellow IT Slaves who had to duke it out with this worm, enjoy the remainder of your weekend. And be mindful, I'm sure variants and copycats of this worm are already in the chute.
First off, I see absolutely no similarity between this robot and a guided rocket with high explosives crammed into its nose.
Sure, you say that -now-, but you'll be sorry when your Roomba spots your Muslim Terrorist Prayer Mat and automatically detonates, eradicating you and your terrorist buddies in a ball of righteous, American fire.
Marketing is where the people who are full of buzzwords, mission statements, slogans and an overinflated sense of self-importance always wind up collecting. They perpetuate these ridiculous ad schemes not because they work, but because it keeps them in a job.
Do -you- know anybody that's based a major purchase off of a popup ad on the Internet? Everyone I know immediately -loses- interest in a given product when assaulted by popup ads for it. Those little wireless camera thingies, for example. In theory, they seem pretty cool and they have a lot of practical uses (other than the implied use of spying on JC Penny catalog models per their ads). But I will smolder in Hell before I ever buy one because of their obnoxious advertising..
So who -is- buying them?
Slashdot Mirror
...by dissecting your iPod, why not buy this ?
I bought the Mini because it's significantly smaller than the 15 gig iPod. It's also much more solidly built thanks to the aluminum case. Moving the controls under the jog dial is also a huge improvement. But the size and sturdiness were what convinced me: The mini fits into a relatively cramped pocket on a pair of jeans or gym shorts.. the regular iPod just can't do that.
The drive used in the iPod Mini retails for much more than the Mini sells for. Apple is either getting an amazing volume price from Hitachi or they are taking it up their collective asses in order to infiltrate the market.
You're new at the whole interpeting sarcasm thing, huh?
It's blue and it plays music real good. I walk around with it and listen to music. It's pretty.
Thank God there are scientists researching this shocking phenomenon.
Sun will be shifting the core of their OS X from Unix to MacOS System 7.
We should send a probe loaded with Red Devil lye to help even things out.
Snoopy was found dead in a Vegas hotel room, at the bottom of the tub. CSI Gil Grissom suspects foul play as several small, yellow feathers were found at the scene.
http://store.apple.com
And it never ceases to amaze -me- how that arrogance permeates our society. I'll have you know I am an American and I love my country, and that's why I fear for my country when I see it heading down the same path of previous great empires. The question is: will the arrogant sods like you pull your heads of the sand in time to help save her? Or will you continue to close your eyes and cover your ears to reality until there's nothing left?
What a fitting font for an empire in danger of collapsing under the weight of its own arrogance..
I'm a senior admin with a big company, specializing in Windows based systems. My day to day PC is a 15" Powerbook. I can use the Microsoft RDP client to log into any of the Win servers, SSH to log into the Unix stuff and can pretty much do my job with no hiccups or workarounds. The only exception is that Entourage has weak MS Exchange support, so I'm typically using webmail. With Fink installed I have basic tools like nmap and ethereal at my disposal. My only real gripe is that Apple and Broadcam don't open up access to the network hardware.. Being able to put my NICs into promiscuous mode would be a big help. There's a workaround - I could get an Orinoco or Aironet PCMCIA card.. but I'd prefer to use the integrated hardware.
As far as Linux distros go, Yellow Dog Linux runs very nicely on most older Macs.. but as of yet there is no support for the Radeon 9600 in my book. Text is fine for most stuff but I'd love to run KDE or Gnome in Yellow Dog.
Anyway, I think Apple's got a real opportunity. The Virginia Tech cluster shows their potential and this article is good PR, despite the "frustrate law enforcement" comment. Seeing a room full of Powerbooks at NASA was pretty cool, too.
Listen, I love the guy's music. Movement in Still Life was great. But honestly, what does he know about the future?
Last time I checked this was writing and not speaking. You should think before you write.
That's a very reckless and naive belief. When you move into a house, do you trash it and ruin it and then simply flee to the next available house? Our maturity as a species depends on our ability to gain wisdom through maintaining our own home and then work on expanding to new homes, not burning our current home to the ground and spreading on to the next suitable habitat for us to exploit and ruin.
Two major Mars exploration missions ended in failure. One of them because somebody couldn't tell the difference between the English and metric measurement systems. A second space shuttle was lost due to a problem that was pointed out by a journalist during a post-launch press conference and arrogantly dismissed by NASA. Now this. I think it's time to reconsider the validity of spending billions on disaster after disaster when so much needs to be taken care of at home. And no, the answers to all the world's problems are not necessarily in space, unless Tang and pens that can write upside down can stop war and famine.
Personally, I expected this kind of response. The Matrix was fluke in that it came out of nowhere and surprised nearly everyone. The hype surrounding the sequels set the bar impossibly high. Especially when the W brothers essentially wrote themselves into a corner with the first movie. And that's not a bad thing, it's a great story. They should have simply recognized that going for more would pollute the waters. I think they would have been better off sticking to things in an "expanded universe" such as demonstrated by the Animatrix. Then they would have been freer to explore without dilluting the impact and mystique of the first him. But to each their own, I certainly plan on seeing Reloaded and Revolutions. But I have set the bar low in terms of my expectations for the same kind of experience I got from The Matrix.
Here's an example. After using Linux for several years, I gave FreeBSD a try and was very impressed by the solid kernel and coherent userland. There were a few things I couldn't fathom out though, like getting USB joysticks working, and asking on the mailing lists or similar forums always got the same kind of responses: "Go back to Linux if you want that", "FreeBSD is brill and doesn't need to support it" etc.
It's this zealotry, patronising attitude and belief that FreeBSD is the "one true OS" that is really damaging its acceptance.
Golly, now perhaps you understand what longtime Windows users are made to feel like when they ask similar questions of the Linux community!
A taste of one's own medicine, I'd say.
Yeah, typical response.
When did I ever write that I preferred MS SQL or actively chose to use it for a given application? I run the stuff, I am not the sole decision maker on -what- is to be run. If my recommendations are vetoed, then I do my best to cope with what I'm given.
You obviously completely ignored what I wrote regarding service packs. I never disputed any of what you had to say, but facts are facts - most application vendors don't QA their software on a patch by patch basis, they wait until there's a service pack or at least a roll-up. I can bitch and moan about it all I want, but that's the way it is. And I'm sure that 99% of those patches would not break the application, but if by installing them I'm risking invalidating our support agreement and endangering my job by deliberately ignoring our patch/change management process, do you think I'm going to do that?
Yes, life WOULD be easier if it was perfect. But guess what, it's not.
What's amazing to me is how many people are apparently clueless about how things like change management and patch management work. As an administrator, I would -love- to be able to immediately patch all of my production servers with all of the latest patches the very moment they're released. And in many cases, I do.
But there are some applications where that just doesn't fly. Databases, particularly MS SQL Server, being one of those. More often than not, we are completely at the mercy of a vendor. We buy a vendor's product, which requires MS SQL on the back end. We configure a Win2k server w/ SQL 2000 running, per their specs. And also within their specs is typically a -very- specific list of what service packs and versions of MDAC are supported for their application. And while their compatibility matrix may be dead current at the time we sign on the dotted line and deploy their product, more often than not there's a pretty significant lag between the release of a given patch, hotfix or service pack and the vendor giving us their stamp of approval to install said patches on the servers. If we apply these patches without their go ahead, we risk not only breaking the application, but we also risk invalidating the support contract with the vendor. And yes, we can poke and prod and cajole the vendors all day long to get their asses in gear and QA their product, but the reality of it is that they're slow.
Some of the vendors we use are tiny (less than 10 people) shops and others are Fortune 500 companies. No matter how big or small they are, it takes time for them to QA their stuff and get back to us. And that's exactly what happened with this worm. The initial hotfix was released in June. Then a security roll-up that included the fix was released in October. Finally, the fix was included as part of the full release of SQL 2000 Service Pack 3, which was released on January 17th. That was 8 days ago. Most, if not all of our vendors, do not QA for every single patch that comes along. Instead, they QA when there is a major update release, such as a service pack. And applying a service pack to a SQL server in full production is not something taken lightly. Hell, even Microsoft's own article regarding today's outbrreak very specifically notes that a full install of SQL 2K SP3 should not be done without serious consideration, instead they push installing either the individual fix or the security roll-up.
So, all that being said, whoever launched this worm did us a favor. They sent us a wake up call. They released the worm very quickly after the service pack containing the fix was issued. Obviously the writers of said worm felt their window of opportunity was shrinking. They chose to release the worm on a Saturday, when they knew it would get mass attention and catch everyone off guard. They released it on Super Bowl weekend in the US, a time when our collective guard is down and our thoughts are focused on the big game and the parties that go with it.
Whoever wrote this worm made it mild. It's memory resident only. A simple reboot of an infected server removes the worm completely. The patch to protect a given server was small and easily obtained as well as well-documented. And the payload of the worm, if you can even call it that, was quite benign. The exploit they used allowed commands to be executed on the server under the same context that SQL Server runs. In most cases, the SQL Server service account is at -least- a local administrator on any given SQL server, if not a Domain Admin. Whoever wrote this virus stuck a loaded shotgun in our collective faces and then proceeded to fire it into the concrete wall behind us rather than kill us with it. It was a warning. A warning, that despite having lost a day of my weekend time, I appreciated. We all need a good wakeup call now and then.
And I know Slashdot is the nexus of armchair quarterbacking ponytail-laden granola whiners and critics, and I shouldn't let statements like the above one which prompted my reply get to me, but I did feel the need to clearly and concisely state that there's a hell of a lot more to it than what most people are saying.
Anyhow, if you're one of the fellow IT Slaves who had to duke it out with this worm, enjoy the remainder of your weekend. And be mindful, I'm sure variants and copycats of this worm are already in the chute.
JL
diz be fo my boyz j rock and fro fro
First off, I see absolutely no similarity between this robot and a guided rocket with high explosives crammed into its nose.
Sure, you say that -now-, but you'll be sorry when your Roomba spots your Muslim Terrorist Prayer Mat and automatically detonates, eradicating you and your terrorist buddies in a ball of righteous, American fire.
I got a Roomba for my boyfriend and my Mother for Christmas. They think it's the neatest thing since sliced bread.
Why would you get your boyfriend a Roomba when he has you to do his cleaning for him? o_o
(bracing for -1 Sexist Pig
Robots, anime, Microsoft. Robots, anime, Microsoft.
I think we understand.
Marketing is where the people who are full of buzzwords, mission statements, slogans and an overinflated sense of self-importance always wind up collecting. They perpetuate these ridiculous ad schemes not because they work, but because it keeps them in a job. Do -you- know anybody that's based a major purchase off of a popup ad on the Internet? Everyone I know immediately -loses- interest in a given product when assaulted by popup ads for it. Those little wireless camera thingies, for example. In theory, they seem pretty cool and they have a lot of practical uses (other than the implied use of spying on JC Penny catalog models per their ads). But I will smolder in Hell before I ever buy one because of their obnoxious advertising.. So who -is- buying them?