When Time-Warner and AOL merged everybody said the media world had changed forever. Turns out they were wrong. In the high flying days of the stock market boom any merger seemed like a good idea. I am willing to bet all the people involved in the TW/AOL merger think it was a big mistake now. What were they thinking anyway? "In the future the Internet will only consist dial-up connections through AOL servers and we can give them Time-Warner content". People move on and sometimes technology does not. I am not saying that AOL will cease to exist, there will always be a place for them in the Internet world, but to believe that they would be a dominant player because they are right now is ludicrous. I predict TW/AOL will eventually become two separate companies again, the writing is on the wall.
According to the Slashdot story posted earlier today, Apple may have to change their marketing a little before the next upgrade:
Mac OS X is the only high volume desktop operating system to include Java 2. And with this release, the new Internet Explorer 5.1 fully supports Java in the browser.
I remember back in college (circa 1991) going into an engineering professor's office and seeing a gigantic wooden sliderule about 5 feet in length. Apparently, the engineering fundamentals program spent the first few weeks using such props to instruct engineers-to-be on the finer points of how to use a sliderule. Now they just teach them how to use a high level language like Matlab, tell them to forget common sense, and always believe the answer that the computer gives them.
Sliderules should be used as part of an engineering appreciation course along with hand calculations and calculators that cost $500.
I just read an interesting interview with Steve Mills from IBM in Sky Magazine where he proclaims with much pride that:
"No company in the world realizes as many software patents in a given year as IBM, and that has been the case as long as software patents have been granted."
I suspect that IBM's patents make a little more sense and don't cover mainstream computing issues that seem immediately obvious, but you have to wonder how they are getting so many and what they cover.
There seems to be a lot of discussion about how Red Hat can survive but VA Linux is dying. So how long before VA Linux has their own distribution to compete with Red Hat? They said they are focusing on software. Also, who knows more about setting up and maintaining servers Red Hat or VA Linux?
I think I read about this lab once before in a Dilbert cartoon:
"The technology resonates with customers of every walk. The lab acts as a paradigm enhancer, a way to think outside of the box," said Bodin. IBM's Pervasive Computing team gets the opportunity to invent the synergies between IBM and customers every time a customer tours the lab.
Marketing nonsense aside, I think the technology this project represents is impressive. No consumer in the world would want it in their house, but it is a nice demonstration. If you want to turn a light on in the kitchen, 99.99999% of the world will do it with a light switch, not their refrigerator.
The other question about their setup is where is Jabber?
I think everybody is missing the point here. By "increase in productivity" they mean that this new system will be faster than walking up to every computer and using the admin password to snoop around.
If a user can logon to a system that a sysadmin operates and a company owns, why can't a sysadmin logon to a system that a user operates and a company owns? Notice the common denominator there. Either way, the company can do whatever the hell they want because they own the systems!
I have lived in the Atlanta area since just before the Olympics. It is one of the fastest growing radio markets and the one that all the advertisers and promotors want. I can't tell you how many times I have turned on the three big stations and heard the same song within five minutes of each other. These are stations that supposedly have different audiences (rock, top 40, and generation-X) but they all play the same damn music! When I travel out of town I hear different music, good music. Why is this not being played in Atlanta? My guess is payola. It has gotten a little better lately, we have two new stations that allow you to listen to slightly different music during the non-peak hours. Other times it is the same old prepackaged crap that somebody on a committee somewhere thinks I need to hear over and over again.
This first segment was interesting, I hope the other two are just as good. The more people that think about this, the more likely it is to change the system.
The latest issue of Invention & Technology has a cover story on the X-15 program that ran during the 1960s. The program made possible, but was overshadowed by, the space program.
They talk at the end about scramjet research that was scrapped at the end of the program and how we would be much farther ahead than we are now in developing a space plane if it had been completed.
Another excellent research program brought to its knees by public ignorance and apathy.
It all comes from the ground in some form, but it has been concentrated to the point where it is lethal. So, after it has been used (and calmed down a bit) turn the stuff back into dust and spread it around the earth in small enough doses that it is undetectable next to normal natural radioactive ore.
I am sure there is a problem since nobody disposes of waste this way. I can imagine the ignorant outcry of the masses: "Not in my backyard!".
Oh well.
Price of immortal fame...
on
Tito In Space
·
· Score: 5
$20 million dollars.
Something that nobody is really discussing is how this man's life is going to be once he returns. Dennis Tito is going to be everywhere, he may be a millionaire, but he isn't an astronaut. The majority of humanity has more of what it takes to become a millionaire than an astrounaut anyday.
So think about it, the speaking tours, the talk shows, the morning news shows, the endorsements, it will be non-stop. Let's not forget the book deal about his ordeal. I am not saying that he did it for the fame, but he will be able to afford a lot more trips after he gets back.
I am going to open up a history book in ten years and see this man's name.
Let's face it, the only way to really "simulate" an explosion in a movie is to hide flash pots behind our speakers.
Don't forget about laser and gun fire. Maybe laser projectors and optics behind the center speaker so when Han Solo fires toward the screen I have to dive behind my couch. I think a movie would be much more realistic if I had actual bullets wizzing by my head.
You bring up an interesting point for discussion. Why the heck do we still have the floppy drive and THAT old interface?
Are all our computers in 30 years going to have every bus ever created on them for the sake of backwards compatibility? I kinda like what USB did for the serial port, if you REALLY need a 9-pin serial port running at (a mere) 9600 baud you buy an adapter to use the legacy hardware. The floppy drive interface should be removed from motherboards and if somebody really needs one, they can get a USB device.
Now I am curious how fast a web site could gather such information. There must be millions of UPC codes out there. I am sure the guys who started CDDB were thinking the same thing at some point. I have never found a CD that the CDDB didn't know about.
I would imagine that the data would be created in an exponential fashion, with common items that everybody has in the cabinet (Coca-Cola comes to mind) coming in pretty fast.
So, who in this community has the balz (and resources) to start OpenUPC.org with an interface similar to CDDB?
I would imagine that retailers make an awful lot of money selling their database of UPC codes to stores. Maybe they just give it to them so they can sell their products. Anybody know how grocery stores get all that information into their registers?
There was an infomercial on this morning from Digial Convergence before Comedy Central came on the air. Pretty lame stuff, but they were showing just how widespread the CueCat is going to be. They claimed newspapers, magazines, catalogs, television commercials...the works. It probably took them 5 years to get all the agreements from all the different companies that they are working with.
Is anybody interested in creating www.openUPC.org? It would be just like the CDDB but for UPC codes.
Well, this whole discussion can be summarized pretty well by the moderation as of this post
-1 130
0 124
1 73
2 14
3 4
4 0
5 0
The signal-to-noise ratio is pathetic! Either this should not have been posted or/. readers need a tutorial on how to filter topics that they do not want to read.
Why would somebody attach a negative comment to a story that they claim they didn't want to read in the first place?
I am not a lawyer, but I don't see anything in there about the bitmaps on the site. All that is mentioned are the articles. If Linux.com decides to take some action against this guy they are probably going to be on some shaky legal ground.
One more thing, if I use Slashcode to develop a site like/., I would credit Slashcode not every site that uses it (including/.).
Slashdot Mirror
When Time-Warner and AOL merged everybody said the media world had changed forever. Turns out they were wrong. In the high flying days of the stock market boom any merger seemed like a good idea. I am willing to bet all the people involved in the TW/AOL merger think it was a big mistake now. What were they thinking anyway? "In the future the Internet will only consist dial-up connections through AOL servers and we can give them Time-Warner content". People move on and sometimes technology does not. I am not saying that AOL will cease to exist, there will always be a place for them in the Internet world, but to believe that they would be a dominant player because they are right now is ludicrous. I predict TW/AOL will eventually become two separate companies again, the writing is on the wall.
In case you were curious about the final rankings, you can find them here
I am sure max2010 meant to say "hunk of code" not "junk of code". Right? The 'j' and the 'h' are right next to each other on the keyboard.
Netscape was once the darling of open source, how times have changed.
Stopping posting Napster stories. Nobody cares anymore. Keep it to "Stuff that matters". Maybe just one more when they finally die.
I remember back in college (circa 1991) going into an engineering professor's office and seeing a gigantic wooden sliderule about 5 feet in length. Apparently, the engineering fundamentals program spent the first few weeks using such props to instruct engineers-to-be on the finer points of how to use a sliderule. Now they just teach them how to use a high level language like Matlab, tell them to forget common sense, and always believe the answer that the computer gives them.
Sliderules should be used as part of an engineering appreciation course along with hand calculations and calculators that cost $500.
There seems to be a lot of discussion about how Red Hat can survive but VA Linux is dying. So how long before VA Linux has their own distribution to compete with Red Hat? They said they are focusing on software. Also, who knows more about setting up and maintaining servers Red Hat or VA Linux?
Just a thought.
Marketing nonsense aside, I think the technology this project represents is impressive. No consumer in the world would want it in their house, but it is a nice demonstration. If you want to turn a light on in the kitchen, 99.99999% of the world will do it with a light switch, not their refrigerator.
The other question about their setup is where is Jabber?
I think everybody is missing the point here. By "increase in productivity" they mean that this new system will be faster than walking up to every computer and using the admin password to snoop around.
If a user can logon to a system that a sysadmin operates and a company owns, why can't a sysadmin logon to a system that a user operates and a company owns? Notice the common denominator there. Either way, the company can do whatever the hell they want because they own the systems!
If you don't like it, don't work there.
I have lived in the Atlanta area since just before the Olympics. It is one of the fastest growing radio markets and the one that all the advertisers and promotors want. I can't tell you how many times I have turned on the three big stations and heard the same song within five minutes of each other. These are stations that supposedly have different audiences (rock, top 40, and generation-X) but they all play the same damn music! When I travel out of town I hear different music, good music. Why is this not being played in Atlanta? My guess is payola. It has gotten a little better lately, we have two new stations that allow you to listen to slightly different music during the non-peak hours. Other times it is the same old prepackaged crap that somebody on a committee somewhere thinks I need to hear over and over again.
This first segment was interesting, I hope the other two are just as good. The more people that think about this, the more likely it is to change the system.
The latest issue of Invention & Technology has a cover story on the X-15 program that ran during the 1960s. The program made possible, but was overshadowed by, the space program.
They talk at the end about scramjet research that was scrapped at the end of the program and how we would be much farther ahead than we are now in developing a space plane if it had been completed.
Another excellent research program brought to its knees by public ignorance and apathy.
for getting RID of nuclear waste:
It all comes from the ground in some form, but it has been concentrated to the point where it is lethal. So, after it has been used (and calmed down a bit) turn the stuff back into dust and spread it around the earth in small enough doses that it is undetectable next to normal natural radioactive ore.
I am sure there is a problem since nobody disposes of waste this way. I can imagine the ignorant outcry of the masses: "Not in my backyard!".
Oh well.
$20 million dollars.
Something that nobody is really discussing is how this man's life is going to be once he returns. Dennis Tito is going to be everywhere, he may be a millionaire, but he isn't an astronaut. The majority of humanity has more of what it takes to become a millionaire than an astrounaut anyday.
So think about it, the speaking tours, the talk shows, the morning news shows, the endorsements, it will be non-stop. Let's not forget the book deal about his ordeal. I am not saying that he did it for the fame, but he will be able to afford a lot more trips after he gets back.
I am going to open up a history book in ten years and see this man's name.
Just my 2 cents
Let's face it, the only way to really "simulate" an explosion in a movie is to hide flash pots behind our speakers.
Don't forget about laser and gun fire. Maybe laser projectors and optics behind the center speaker so when Han Solo fires toward the screen I have to dive behind my couch. I think a movie would be much more realistic if I had actual bullets wizzing by my head.
The possibilities are endless!
You bring up an interesting point for discussion. Why the heck do we still have the floppy drive and THAT old interface?
Are all our computers in 30 years going to have every bus ever created on them for the sake of backwards compatibility? I kinda like what USB did for the serial port, if you REALLY need a 9-pin serial port running at (a mere) 9600 baud you buy an adapter to use the legacy hardware. The floppy drive interface should be removed from motherboards and if somebody really needs one, they can get a USB device.
I wonder if Microsoft had an emergency meeting yet to try to get this into the next version of Windows so they can claim to be innovative.
They probably decided against it because it would be too confusing to the average Windows user.
Sounds like a good opportunity for Apple to innovative too. Increase that market share from 0.1% to 0.2%.
How Smart Things Think(tm) my ass!
I hope Slackware goes out on its own and makes a TON of money. It was the first distribution I ever installed (from floppy!) and I still use it today.
Cut those ties that bind and see which way the wind blows.
If one of the DMOZ editors did want to hurt themselves because of the changes, they would be unable to access the suicide category.
Interesting, thanks for the info.
Now I am curious how fast a web site could gather such information. There must be millions of UPC codes out there. I am sure the guys who started CDDB were thinking the same thing at some point. I have never found a CD that the CDDB didn't know about.
I would imagine that the data would be created in an exponential fashion, with common items that everybody has in the cabinet (Coca-Cola comes to mind) coming in pretty fast.
So, who in this community has the balz (and resources) to start OpenUPC.org with an interface similar to CDDB?
I would imagine that retailers make an awful lot of money selling their database of UPC codes to stores. Maybe they just give it to them so they can sell their products. Anybody know how grocery stores get all that information into their registers?
There was an infomercial on this morning from Digial Convergence before Comedy Central came on the air. Pretty lame stuff, but they were showing just how widespread the CueCat is going to be. They claimed newspapers, magazines, catalogs, television commercials...the works. It probably took them 5 years to get all the agreements from all the different companies that they are working with.
Is anybody interested in creating www.openUPC.org? It would be just like the CDDB but for UPC codes.
Well, this whole discussion can be summarized pretty well by the moderation as of this post
/. readers need a tutorial on how to filter topics that they do not want to read.
-1 130
0 124
1 73
2 14
3 4
4 0
5 0
The signal-to-noise ratio is pathetic! Either this should not have been posted or
Why would somebody attach a negative comment to a story that they claim they didn't want to read in the first place?
Can the kids play their games while I am recording my favorite TV shows?
-D-
The Linux.com legal statement is here.
I am not a lawyer, but I don't see anything in there about the bitmaps on the site. All that is mentioned are the articles. If Linux.com decides to take some action against this guy they are probably going to be on some shaky legal ground.
One more thing, if I use Slashcode to develop a site like
-D-