Most government IT work has shit all to do with desktop OSS's. If an agency needs a bunch of machines for word processing, fine, go with a linux vendor. If they need some custom work that only exists for Windows, go that route.
The key is placing all potential vendors on equal ground, and not preferring one over the other because of ideology.
I want to see linux adopted in government. I write software for government agencies (public safety, police and fire specifically), and I've been pushing the bosses towards porting some of our major products towards linux.
But I want to see linux win out because of technical merit, not because of capital F free or some other jingoistic nonsense.
You realize that 99% of government has nothing whatsoever to do with some office worker typing letters in word or open office.
There's metric shitloads of custom code for specific tasks written for Windows. Theres shitloads of it for unix. There's shitloads of it for other mainframe OS's.
Ideally, they'd choose the best platform and tools for the task at hand, and not bog the process down by ideology at the taxpayers expense - which is the concern, and the basis for the comparison to socialist russia.
Umm, no, government waste is when you make policies that impede the ability to use the best and cheapest tool for a certain task, and wind up having to pay someone to reinvent the wheel for you.
Government using linux, good. Government forcing the use of linux and ignoring sound procurement procedures, bad.
You do realize that people can disagree with your pro-linux attitudes, and many do, and for good reason.
From the release.
"Governor Mitt Romney must put a stop to this boondoggle," CAGW President Tom Schatz said. "People mistakenly refer to Linux as 'free' software because it can be freely altered and distributed. Yet while the software itself is free, the cost to maintain and upgrade it can become very expensive. Like all procurement decisions, the best policy on the use of software is to place all products on equal footing. It is critical that taxpayers receive the best quality programs at the least cost."
I agree. Government policies that close doors to competition are bad. Linux might work in some situations, but not in others. There are plenty of good software packages out there to use, and plenty of specific packages for government, that wont exist in OSS until someone is paid (gobs of cash) to write them.
Imagine if they started taxing goods coming across the border?
That would be really poopy!
I'd probably call it a doody tax!
Though asian retailers have never had a problem misrepresenting whats in the packages, or what it cost, to avoid such charges. Apparently the NGC I bought from Lik Sang was only with 20 bucks (thats what was on the declaration).
As others have noted, the price is kind of silly. I mean you can get a copy of one of those "arcade classics" games for your console or PC and end up with a dozen games for under 10 bucks.
The newest title is 1992, and is Relief Pitcher, an utterly forgettable baseball game. I was hoping to see some of the good titles, like the capcom titles that ship with the Hot Rod joysticks..
Actually they're all atari games now that I look twice. I'm sure Capcom and others would be willing to talk turkey, all those old SNK titles might be worth a few bucks.
Though, emulators aren't the real thing. I like my full sized bad dudes and SFII machines.
I recall a time a friend was going to come visit me. I spoke to him on the phone, and started to give him directions from the main highway. It went thusly:
Me: Ok, take the HWY eastbound until you cross the toll bridge, then take the first exit and...
Him: No I looked it up on MapQuest.
Me: MapQuest has our area all screwed up, just write this down, take the first exit, go straight, take the second right and...
Him: nah, I already printed the maps out on mapquest
So, the day comes when he's coming over. I get a call..
Him: Hey, I can't find your house.
Me: Where are you?
Him: I'm at a WalMart
Me: WalMart? What city are you in?
Him: [name of city and closest street sign]
Me: Dude, you passed my street about 75 miles ago. Turn around, go back, take the last exit before the bridge and..
Him: No, that's wrong, MapQuest says..
Me: I FUCKING KNOW WHERE I LIVE!
Him: But but mapquest!....
Though, as long as you stick to the more travelled areas, and get directions to businesses, MapQuest more or less comes through. It's just the rural and residential streets it sucks at...
The internet, while a good source of information, is also a great source of bullshit.
I use it almost exclusively for technical information, mostly computer related. But it's so full of hoaxes, FUD, and rantings from the lunatic fringe, that that's about the extent to which I trust it.
My favorite line from the Davis apologists is the one about how all those illegals "contribute to the economy", working in fields or whatever.
I'd California's current situation proves that all that untaxed income from being payed under the table does nothing but hurt real business and citizens who have to pick up the cost of all these social programs with higher taxes.
It's not like illegal field workers are big spenders.
Oh well. If California was the size (economically and politically) of Rhode Island noone would give a rats ass. The sad thing is, what happens there affects the whole country.
Seriously, though, B-mo needs to do more than just provide free wireless. Cleaning up the panhandlers, crackheads, pot peddlers and other assorted dirtbags would go along way to revitalizing the district's nightlife.
It's a cool place to go, it's a shame the city's so dirty and crime ridden. Working in the public safety field, and living in the area, I've spoken with lots of b-mo cops, and morale there is so low. They're just so overwhelmed with typical inner city crime that they've become completely apathetic.
Last year when that crack dealer burned down some ladies home (because she supposedly called the cops on him), and killed her and her 5 children, it should have sent a wake-up call, but the b-mo police just hit the snooze button.
Oh well, wireless is pretty cool, but it's not an area that you'd want to sit in the open with your two thousand dollar laptop.
There are plenty of small companies, like the one I ended up at, who don't have a "human resources" department, and frankly noone here has the time to interview applicants. We hire mostly through a headhunter, which is how I got here.
Once in awhile someone will know someone who'll be a good fit, but by and large the frim we use does a really good job of understanding what we're about and doesnt waste our time with dozens of resume's.
I posted a brief resume to monster.com, within a few days a headhunter called me up with a position in mind. A week later I was employed.
A good headhunter will find you, and a good headhunter will charge your employer, not you for his services. If he wants a check, he's just jerking you around.
The oddity of Coke's promotion revolves around how winners will get their prizes. The cans used will be equipped with Global Positioning System transponders
Don't feel bad, I'm sure you didn't know what GPS stood for, thinking it was just another hip sounding acronymn you saw on slashdot.
Why don't we all just say screw these proprietary IM clients.
If all your non-techie friends know that they cant contact you for free tech support over MSN or Yahoo, they wont use it.
Let them die due to lack of use, or at least cripple 'em. Don't legitimize that kind of dogshit.
Re:now, really, what's with the arms?
on
The "Spider Case"
·
· Score: 1
It should be easy enough to put a firewire hub in the main case, and run a cable down each arm, or SATA cables, get a raid array going with a drive at each foot.
Too bad it uses one of those mini-itx boards, since you end up using your one pci slot for a real graphics card or something.
With a case mod so friggin huge, why not put a real computer in there (flexatx with a honkin athlon or p4)
I've said many time's I'm not altogether impressed technically with miniitx mods. It's too easy, heat and size problems are already solved for you.
Buy the gameboy advance player for 40 bucks and hook it to your gamecube.
GBA player + (used) gamecube ~= 120 bucks.
There is, however, a TV tuner with composite inputs for GBA available. Anyone have a link to the thing? It'd sure come in handy next time the power goes out.
Slashdot Mirror
No, you can audit closed source. The auditors would just sign an agreement not to disclose the source.
If some one fails to deliver, another vendor can pick up whrer they left off with minimum disruption.
And maximum cost. This is about taxpayers dollars. If corporations want to do such things with private cash, be my guest.
Most government IT work has shit all to do with desktop OSS's. If an agency needs a bunch of machines for word processing, fine, go with a linux vendor. If they need some custom work that only exists for Windows, go that route.
The key is placing all potential vendors on equal ground, and not preferring one over the other because of ideology.
I want to see linux adopted in government. I write software for government agencies (public safety, police and fire specifically), and I've been pushing the bosses towards porting some of our major products towards linux.
But I want to see linux win out because of technical merit, not because of capital F free or some other jingoistic nonsense.
You realize that 99% of government has nothing whatsoever to do with some office worker typing letters in word or open office.
There's metric shitloads of custom code for specific tasks written for Windows. Theres shitloads of it for unix. There's shitloads of it for other mainframe OS's.
Ideally, they'd choose the best platform and tools for the task at hand, and not bog the process down by ideology at the taxpayers expense - which is the concern, and the basis for the comparison to socialist russia.
Umm, no, government waste is when you make policies that impede the ability to use the best and cheapest tool for a certain task, and wind up having to pay someone to reinvent the wheel for you.
Government using linux, good. Government forcing the use of linux and ignoring sound procurement procedures, bad.
Who misread what?
You do realize that people can disagree with your pro-linux attitudes, and many do, and for good reason.
From the release.
"Governor Mitt Romney must put a stop to this boondoggle," CAGW President Tom Schatz said. "People mistakenly refer to Linux as 'free' software because it can be freely altered and distributed. Yet while the software itself is free, the cost to maintain and upgrade it can become very expensive. Like all procurement decisions, the best policy on the use of software is to place all products on equal footing. It is critical that taxpayers receive the best quality programs at the least cost."
I agree. Government policies that close doors to competition are bad. Linux might work in some situations, but not in others. There are plenty of good software packages out there to use, and plenty of specific packages for government, that wont exist in OSS until someone is paid (gobs of cash) to write them.
Yuk yuk yuk yer so fonny
I'm talking about the Annapolis/DC/baltimore area. I have a 5 acre backyard. I'm not trading it in for a 4x8 cement balcony, thanks.
Imagine if they started taxing goods coming across the border?
That would be really poopy!
I'd probably call it a doody tax!
Though asian retailers have never had a problem misrepresenting whats in the packages, or what it cost, to avoid such charges. Apparently the NGC I bought from Lik Sang was only with 20 bucks (thats what was on the declaration).
The convenience, and ability to comparison shop by seeing prices from a few dozen retailers side by side for that new video card, is still there.
It still beats living in a town that has only Best Buy and a ridiculously overpriced little shop that sells second rate chinese hardware.
Even with tax and shipping I can get that Radeon 9800 almost 100 bucks cheaper online.
These are still the main dumps, or are they official 100% dumps from atari?
Or, in other words, what happens when the copy of Batman you downloaded is redumped, and no longer works in the latest release of MAME?
As others have noted, the price is kind of silly. I mean you can get a copy of one of those "arcade classics" games for your console or PC and end up with a dozen games for under 10 bucks.
The newest title is 1992, and is Relief Pitcher, an utterly forgettable baseball game. I was hoping to see some of the good titles, like the capcom titles that ship with the Hot Rod joysticks..
Actually they're all atari games now that I look twice. I'm sure Capcom and others would be willing to talk turkey, all those old SNK titles might be worth a few bucks.
Though, emulators aren't the real thing. I like my full sized bad dudes and SFII machines.
I recall a time a friend was going to come visit me. I spoke to him on the phone, and started to give him directions from the main highway. It went thusly:
....
Me: Ok, take the HWY eastbound until you cross the toll bridge, then take the first exit and...
Him: No I looked it up on MapQuest.
Me: MapQuest has our area all screwed up, just write this down, take the first exit, go straight, take the second right and...
Him: nah, I already printed the maps out on mapquest
So, the day comes when he's coming over. I get a call..
Him: Hey, I can't find your house.
Me: Where are you?
Him: I'm at a WalMart
Me: WalMart? What city are you in?
Him: [name of city and closest street sign]
Me: Dude, you passed my street about 75 miles ago. Turn around, go back, take the last exit before the bridge and..
Him: No, that's wrong, MapQuest says..
Me: I FUCKING KNOW WHERE I LIVE!
Him: But but mapquest!
Though, as long as you stick to the more travelled areas, and get directions to businesses, MapQuest more or less comes through. It's just the rural and residential streets it sucks at...
The internet, while a good source of information, is also a great source of bullshit.
I use it almost exclusively for technical information, mostly computer related. But it's so full of hoaxes, FUD, and rantings from the lunatic fringe, that that's about the extent to which I trust it.
My favorite line from the Davis apologists is the one about how all those illegals "contribute to the economy", working in fields or whatever.
I'd California's current situation proves that all that untaxed income from being payed under the table does nothing but hurt real business and citizens who have to pick up the cost of all these social programs with higher taxes.
It's not like illegal field workers are big spenders.
Oh well. If California was the size (economically and politically) of Rhode Island noone would give a rats ass. The sad thing is, what happens there affects the whole country.
California's governors sure do know how to drive business out-of-state, don't they?
My VoIP phone is ringing. It's Ahnold. He says "Hasta la vista, baby bells!"
Dont forget to stop by the hard rock cafe, and spend 15 bucks on *the crappiest* hamburger you'll ever eat in your entire life.
Strangely enough, the food at the Hard Rocks in Toronto and Niagra is actually palatable. What's the deal with the B-mo Hard Rock?
Isabel blew much of into the bay.
Seriously, though, B-mo needs to do more than just provide free wireless. Cleaning up the panhandlers, crackheads, pot peddlers and other assorted dirtbags would go along way to revitalizing the district's nightlife.
It's a cool place to go, it's a shame the city's so dirty and crime ridden. Working in the public safety field, and living in the area, I've spoken with lots of b-mo cops, and morale there is so low. They're just so overwhelmed with typical inner city crime that they've become completely apathetic.
Last year when that crack dealer burned down some ladies home (because she supposedly called the cops on him), and killed her and her 5 children, it should have sent a wake-up call, but the b-mo police just hit the snooze button.
Oh well, wireless is pretty cool, but it's not an area that you'd want to sit in the open with your two thousand dollar laptop.
There are plenty of small companies, like the one I ended up at, who don't have a "human resources" department, and frankly noone here has the time to interview applicants. We hire mostly through a headhunter, which is how I got here.
Once in awhile someone will know someone who'll be a good fit, but by and large the frim we use does a really good job of understanding what we're about and doesnt waste our time with dozens of resume's.
I posted a brief resume to monster.com, within a few days a headhunter called me up with a position in mind. A week later I was employed.
A good headhunter will find you, and a good headhunter will charge your employer, not you for his services. If he wants a check, he's just jerking you around.
It probably won't turn on until you open the can.
The oddity of Coke's promotion revolves around how winners will get their prizes. The cans used will be equipped with Global Positioning System transponders
Don't feel bad, I'm sure you didn't know what GPS stood for, thinking it was just another hip sounding acronymn you saw on slashdot.
Why don't we all just say screw these proprietary IM clients.
If all your non-techie friends know that they cant contact you for free tech support over MSN or Yahoo, they wont use it.
Let them die due to lack of use, or at least cripple 'em. Don't legitimize that kind of dogshit.
It should be easy enough to put a firewire hub in the main case, and run a cable down each arm, or SATA cables, get a raid array going with a drive at each foot.
Too bad it uses one of those mini-itx boards, since you end up using your one pci slot for a real graphics card or something.
With a case mod so friggin huge, why not put a real computer in there (flexatx with a honkin athlon or p4)
I've said many time's I'm not altogether impressed technically with miniitx mods. It's too easy, heat and size problems are already solved for you.
And you swallow more jizz than Taco on prom night.
Buy the gameboy advance player for 40 bucks and hook it to your gamecube.
GBA player + (used) gamecube ~= 120 bucks.
There is, however, a TV tuner with composite inputs for GBA available. Anyone have a link to the thing? It'd sure come in handy next time the power goes out.
If you want your code stolen by M$ and linksys, with no contribution back to the community, sure, use BSD
You can't give something away, and at the same time complain that it was stolen.