Those were the first two words that came to mind. Ass hats.
Is it really so bad that users of broadband like to utilize as much of the pipe as they are appropriated? I think that if capping is implemented, the prices of the broadband connections should be decreased appropriately - since you will be recieving a lesser service.
What is a computer, when you get down to it? The CPU. What are graphic and multimedia applications when you get right down to it? Code meant to drive a CPU to give desirable results.
I have been using both Macs and x86 systems extensively for all manner of purposes since 1998. Neither really holds much of an architectural advantage when it comes to a specific type of function, and any slight advantage that is had by either tends to be so small that it isn't noticable. One thing is for certain: x86 hardware is far cheaper for the same amount of power.
Example: Photoshop 7 runs just as fast and efficiently on my dual 867MHz G4 with 512MB of RAM (booted into OS 10.2) as it does on my AthlonXP 1800 (1.533GHz) system with 256Mb of RAM running Windows 98SE, Windows 2000 Pro SP4, or Windows XP SP2. Video playback is identical (both systems have identical 64MB Nvidia graphics cards). Differences in compiling times are negligable.
Don't buy into the marketing hype. A $2,000 Macintosh system will run just as well as a $900 self-built x86 system. Everyone that has to use both platforms daily knows this. I don't have a preference for either architecture or operating system - just take my word as someone that has had to do extensive product testing on both x86 and Macintosh for years.
They built a 1000-node cluster out of expensive and yet-to-be-proven G5 systems. I wouldn't expect much rationality out of such a camp, even when it comes to website design.
The hype and panic brings needed attention to an often overlooked scientific field: watching out for big ass shit that could annihilate us. We spend far too little on this kind of work as it is.
These lawsuits are beginning to rely too heavily upon nit-picking small points. How long until Microsoft is allowed to sue OpenOffice.org because the "functional structure" of OpenOffice Writer infringes upon the proir art of Microsoft Word?
This is silly. I am suing all males of the human species, because their penis infringes upon my own penis's "functional structure" (although I admit that due to their vastly smaller size, our structures are different).
Come to think of it, I guess that my father would call me out on the whole "prior art" thing there.
LINDEN, Utah -- Canopy Group to move some operations overseas, sell of poorly performing GNAA
Shocking news slammed into the Slashdot community today, as SCO announced that they were moving their legal team offshore to India, where the consulting firm Ganesh Al Abu will continue SCOs legal battle against American companies IBM and Red Hat. Along with this move, Canopy Group is "shedding excess", and has agreed to an all-cash sell of the recently acquired GNAA to media giant Ziff Davis.
"This alarmingly erratic reshuffling of Canopy Group's cards can only be viewed as a desperate attempt to increase the usefulness of their dwindling revenue streams, while still providing the world with first-class, paradigm altering bullshit" said Lonnie Leftnut LeRoueax, Microsoft Canada's vice president of marketing. In an awkward moment, Free Software Foundation's Richard Stallman screamed the following into the telephone during an interview earlier today:
TrollKore News: "Mister Stallamn, do you find Canopy Group's recent business moves questionable, perhaps a sign that they realize that their legal allegations may lack merit?" Stallman: "GNU/Linux! GNU! free! give it all away! MAN NIPPLES!!!" TrollKore News: "....."
Linden, Utah based SCO has recently been the target of intense criticism by the Open Source community (specifically Linux companies and consultants) for their recent campaign to protect their software patents and intellectual property. IBM violated a SCO contract earlier this year when they illegally misappropriated SCO owned Unix operating system code into the Linux operating system. SCO is now seeking $3 billion USD in damages against the software giant for their illegal activities. US Linux software company Red Hat incorporated recently sued SCO, seeking damages for harming their business. In a smoke filled Clarion Hotel suite, surrounded by female strippers and lurid collections of single-malt whiskey, SCO CEO Darl McBride muttered "19 dollars a share and climbing baby, only in America!".
-- TrollKore correspondent Mao Che Minh contributed to this report
If you compare Linux based PDAs with Sony offerings, Sony always delivers more bang for the buck (usually much, much more bang). Palm offerings appear to always be equivalent with comparable Linux PDAs "spec wise". Once you get into the $500-$600 range, Sharp's Zaurus murders Sony and Palm in terms of raw power (more powerful CPUs), memory (64MB expandable compared to 16MB), storage (usually two to three times as much), and ability (multimedia playback comparable to a Pentium 500MHz workstation).
I love it when the Slashdot editors reveal to us their immense ignorance and lack of awareness by posting duplicate stories. Their inability to effectively manage a weblog between seven to eight people is what keeps Slashdot from becoming a legitimate source of technology news and satire, and instead "just a discussion forum".
The editor's lack of cleverness and almost childish and poorly thought out comments don't help their cause either. And before you ask me how I can insult the Slashdot team while paying for the site: the discussion board is fine, because we the readers drive it, and it is this that I support - not their shoddy attempt at journalism.
Listen, when you choose to use a Microsoft product you are doing so under the assumption that you are giving away a great deal of your rights, that you are contributing to a monopoly and any parties that have the ability to gain from that, and that you are about to lose a lot of control over your own system/property. This well-written-in-EULA-but-hardly-mentioned-aloud-ag reement is no secret. In some cases, in certain interpretations, this can be a good thing: like automatic patches for security vulnerabilities. However, there are many reasons why such intrusive behavior - regardless of motive - is bad.
Overall, I would say that such a willing loss of control, freedom, and some can even argue morals, is good for the home desktop/console market at large (though it is alarming to realize that software console could be so badly written that it would demand security updates). For the corporate setting, such a sacrifice is unacceptable and even hazardous - as the article mentions.
The underlying sentiment of the article, the editors here, and a large population of Slashdot is that "Microsoft is behaving badly - Linux is good". I agree with this sentiment and philosophy, but only to a certain degree. Microsoft Windows is an extremely well established desktop operating system with very mature gaming technologies. For this reason, I feel that it should remain the home desktop choice. As a server operating system or workstation operating system, I feel that it costs companies too much, is too closed, is too insecure, is not flexible enough, and most importantly, is not powerful enough. The entire business ethic and development model of Microsoft is so painfully harmful to large businesses that it's laughable.
Bottom line: If you willingly use a Microsoft product, don't be suprised when they bend you over: they have been doing to everyone for years. Linux should prevail on your servers and workstations, Windows should prevail at home, for basic common sense reason and moral justifications.
My coworker's son left his system on, and people were downloading the movie "S.W.A.T." from him. A few days later Cox Communications (his ISP) sent him a letter telling him that the MPAA detected his illegal file sharing, and demanded that the file be deleted and the letter responded to within two days or he would lose his Internet connection - permanently.
So while the MPAA is responding quickly to detected threats, they aren't seeking to estort money like the RIAA.
Ten bucks says that this endeavor will go widely unnoticed by 90% of developers. Now I'm just a lowly IT worker, managing web servers and crawling under desks, but I do know that 95% of the developers in corporate America do not read Slashdot, and 95% of the ones that do are so intimately involved with Microsoft or Microsoft dependant technologies that this book/article/section/endeavor won't mean a damn. And before the trolls bark: YES, Microsoft = less security in development. Not by design - hardly - but rather because if a developer is working on a project that is Microsoft centric from the ground up, he/she is likely working on a time table set by some PHB a hundred miles away, and has been working on such projects for years, and has long since given up on making good, secure code, and rather coding whatever keeps his/her salary.
Once you have worked 50 hours a week in a corporate setting for 5 years as a developer (2 years) and a run-of-the-mill network/system/any-god-damn-thing-they-can-get-you -to administer(4 years, you will understand.
More like "score one for sensibility". GPS is merely another means of tracking one's proverbial pray - as is celluar phone transmissions and web server logs. It is only fitting that a judge realized this plain and obvious fact.
What is really interesting is that law enforcement officials really did "just suppose" that it was their right to use this technology to build a case without restrictions, authorization, or even explination.
The real question is: will Mandrake accept all advertisement requests? I hope not - I hope Mandrake excercies a certain degree of moral judgement in their decision making.
I would hate to have to relive those all of those "You can enlarge your penis!!" moments, or once again be haunted by "Britney XXX HOT and young CAUGHT J-Lo action action!!".
Now, that's not to say that I would be apprehensive towards "Jenna" advertisements. Those always bring a smile to my face.
"Now TV commercials are advertising accelerators that speed up your dial-up connection by up to 5 times, they say...They work by using improved compression and caching. The downside is they don't help streaming video or audio."
What a 15 year old boy sees:
"Those net speeder shits work yo! it do not get mp3z n stuff faster, but you wont hav 2 wait as long 4 the big pr0n pictures load! its only 5 bills a month too. Lets hit up the cindy margolis site!"
As I depart from work, I shoot a shameful glance in my router's direction.....both of us know that he will be suffering again soon....I Love U, Blaster, SoBig, Melissa - the scares are still fresh in this running-config.
I am sorry Cisco, for Microsoft has found a new RPC flaw - tonight your e0 shall be stretched wide like goatse.
When I saw that header, I was hoping that the article would involve ballistics, automatic weapons, and close-range muzzle burns. Instead, it's only about litigation.
An inadvertent self inflicted 12 gauge round to the foot must hurt. The press is going to have a field day with this one. Even my non-techie friends (the kind that still don't know the difference between a right click and mashing both buttons at the same time despite using a computer for years) were talking about this case before I had even read it on Slashdot. This is serious bad publicity.
I was one of the few that believed that partaking in copyright infringement against the RIAA was immoral, out of general principle, and made you no better then them. I now understand that hindering their revenues streams by any means possible is a just action - a righteous act against a truly oppressive and immoral beast.
You did what a lot of Linux developers fail to do: start a business around services that people really need, and just so happen to use Linux to get it done. In the end, the clients won't really care what is under the hood as long as it works.
My most successful string of open source solutions involved a small break with an audio-video company. I set up a small Linux network, with a small CRM that was based on, believe it or not, a web based PHP driven "application" that I designed to catalogue my DVDs, VHS tapes, CDs, games, books, and comic books. mySQL is the backend, Apache its "OS". I added a few useful modules from popular CRMs that I found on Sourceforge. All of this meant nothing to my client, they were only happy that it fit their every need (they were managing customer data, billing, scheduling, and reports across a series of applications like Excel and Quick Books Pro, and good old pen and paper). Needless to say, not only was my solution extremely scalable and cheap, but it removed the hassle of having to have a file cabinet handy and three or four programs. All they did was click a little link on their KDE panel, and up came Mozilla and their portal to my program.
They quickly refferred me to their lawyer's office, my own dentist, and another small business that specialized in boat repair. I quickly made about $12,000 in my spare time, and not one bit of the software I used cost anything. I have yet to return to any of their sites to fix anything since, and this was over a year ago. The only thing I did was give them each a call when Redhat made RHN available so that they could sign up and have their systems updated for them remotely, for very little $$$. The circle of Linux business life eventually brought money back to Red Hat, whom's OS I used for free as an ISO download, at all of these sites.
Make comparisons between what current medical software offers, and what yours can/will. Identify weak points in the current software, or user annoyances (even little things, like the printer that the software company decideds to use as their "solution", but drives the users mad), and promise that these annoynaces and weaknesses will not be present in yours.
Then, talk about the benefits of an open source application, and talk about it's longevity and low cost of future manipulation. But only briefly, don't get too technical on them. Instead, attack the human aspect. Do some research and find out what the doctors and medical staffers themselves really hate, not their bosses/directors.
Let's do a quick comparison. The following is the current going prices of the listed hardware on newegg.com:
$47.00 - ECS K7S5A mainboard, AGP 2x/4x, USB 2.0 (onboard 10/100 NIC)
$74.00 - AMD AthlonXP 2200+ (1.8GHz, 266MHz FSB) retail
$80.00 - 512MB PC2100 RAM (major brand)
$129.00 - Nvidia GeForceFX 5200 Ultra 128MB DDR
$33.00 - Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! Dolby Digital 5.1 SB0220
$63.00 - Acer DVD/CDRW 48x24x48x16 Drive
$72.50 - Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM 2MB cache
$40.00 - Standard ATX AOpen case with 300watt and front USB ports
$34.99 - Belkin Wireless keyboard and mouse combo
$369.00 - Optiquest Q170 17" LCD Monitor, 1280x1024, 80Hz
Grand Total: $942.49
With Linux from ISO: $942.49
With Microsoft Windows XP Home, SP1a ($93): $1,035.49
The above system is more powerful than Apple's midrange "revamped" offering, the 1.25GHz G4 with a 17" display, which runs $1,799.00. That's $763.51 more expensive than the above system with Windows XP Home SP1a. $763.51 more for a system with closed hardware, half the system memory, half the video RAM, and less raw computing power. Why would anyone willingly pay so much more money for so much less?
Slashdot Mirror
Is it really so bad that users of broadband like to utilize as much of the pipe as they are appropriated? I think that if capping is implemented, the prices of the broadband connections should be decreased appropriately - since you will be recieving a lesser service.
I have been using both Macs and x86 systems extensively for all manner of purposes since 1998. Neither really holds much of an architectural advantage when it comes to a specific type of function, and any slight advantage that is had by either tends to be so small that it isn't noticable. One thing is for certain: x86 hardware is far cheaper for the same amount of power.
Example: Photoshop 7 runs just as fast and efficiently on my dual 867MHz G4 with 512MB of RAM (booted into OS 10.2) as it does on my AthlonXP 1800 (1.533GHz) system with 256Mb of RAM running Windows 98SE, Windows 2000 Pro SP4, or Windows XP SP2. Video playback is identical (both systems have identical 64MB Nvidia graphics cards). Differences in compiling times are negligable.
Don't buy into the marketing hype. A $2,000 Macintosh system will run just as well as a $900 self-built x86 system. Everyone that has to use both platforms daily knows this. I don't have a preference for either architecture or operating system - just take my word as someone that has had to do extensive product testing on both x86 and Macintosh for years.
They built a 1000-node cluster out of expensive and yet-to-be-proven G5 systems. I wouldn't expect much rationality out of such a camp, even when it comes to website design.
The hype and panic brings needed attention to an often overlooked scientific field: watching out for big ass shit that could annihilate us. We spend far too little on this kind of work as it is.
This is silly. I am suing all males of the human species, because their penis infringes upon my own penis's "functional structure" (although I admit that due to their vastly smaller size, our structures are different).
Come to think of it, I guess that my father would call me out on the whole "prior art" thing there.
Shocking news slammed into the Slashdot community today, as SCO announced that they were moving their legal team offshore to India, where the consulting firm Ganesh Al Abu will continue SCOs legal battle against American companies IBM and Red Hat. Along with this move, Canopy Group is "shedding excess", and has agreed to an all-cash sell of the recently acquired GNAA to media giant Ziff Davis.
"This alarmingly erratic reshuffling of Canopy Group's cards can only be viewed as a desperate attempt to increase the usefulness of their dwindling revenue streams, while still providing the world with first-class, paradigm altering bullshit" said Lonnie Leftnut LeRoueax, Microsoft Canada's vice president of marketing. In an awkward moment, Free Software Foundation's Richard Stallman screamed the following into the telephone during an interview earlier today:
TrollKore News: "Mister Stallamn, do you find Canopy Group's recent business moves questionable, perhaps a sign that they realize that their legal allegations may lack merit?"
Stallman: "GNU/Linux! GNU! free! give it all away! MAN NIPPLES!!!"
TrollKore News: "....."
Linden, Utah based SCO has recently been the target of intense criticism by the Open Source community (specifically Linux companies and consultants) for their recent campaign to protect their software patents and intellectual property. IBM violated a SCO contract earlier this year when they illegally misappropriated SCO owned Unix operating system code into the Linux operating system. SCO is now seeking $3 billion USD in damages against the software giant for their illegal activities. US Linux software company Red Hat incorporated recently sued SCO, seeking damages for harming their business. In a smoke filled Clarion Hotel suite, surrounded by female strippers and lurid collections of single-malt whiskey, SCO CEO Darl McBride muttered "19 dollars a share and climbing baby, only in America!".
-- TrollKore correspondent Mao Che Minh contributed to this report
If you compare Linux based PDAs with Sony offerings, Sony always delivers more bang for the buck (usually much, much more bang). Palm offerings appear to always be equivalent with comparable Linux PDAs "spec wise". Once you get into the $500-$600 range, Sharp's Zaurus murders Sony and Palm in terms of raw power (more powerful CPUs), memory (64MB expandable compared to 16MB), storage (usually two to three times as much), and ability (multimedia playback comparable to a Pentium 500MHz workstation).
The editor's lack of cleverness and almost childish and poorly thought out comments don't help their cause either. And before you ask me how I can insult the Slashdot team while paying for the site: the discussion board is fine, because we the readers drive it, and it is this that I support - not their shoddy attempt at journalism.
Overall, I would say that such a willing loss of control, freedom, and some can even argue morals, is good for the home desktop/console market at large (though it is alarming to realize that software console could be so badly written that it would demand security updates). For the corporate setting, such a sacrifice is unacceptable and even hazardous - as the article mentions.
The underlying sentiment of the article, the editors here, and a large population of Slashdot is that "Microsoft is behaving badly - Linux is good". I agree with this sentiment and philosophy, but only to a certain degree. Microsoft Windows is an extremely well established desktop operating system with very mature gaming technologies. For this reason, I feel that it should remain the home desktop choice. As a server operating system or workstation operating system, I feel that it costs companies too much, is too closed, is too insecure, is not flexible enough, and most importantly, is not powerful enough. The entire business ethic and development model of Microsoft is so painfully harmful to large businesses that it's laughable.
Bottom line: If you willingly use a Microsoft product, don't be suprised when they bend you over: they have been doing to everyone for years. Linux should prevail on your servers and workstations, Windows should prevail at home, for basic common sense reason and moral justifications.
So while the MPAA is responding quickly to detected threats, they aren't seeking to estort money like the RIAA.
Once you have worked 50 hours a week in a corporate setting for 5 years as a developer (2 years) and a run-of-the-mill network/system/any-god-damn-thing-they-can-get-you -to administer(4 years, you will understand.
What is really interesting is that law enforcement officials really did "just suppose" that it was their right to use this technology to build a case without restrictions, authorization, or even explination.
I would hate to have to relive those all of those "You can enlarge your penis!!" moments, or once again be haunted by "Britney XXX HOT and young CAUGHT J-Lo action action!!".
Now, that's not to say that I would be apprehensive towards "Jenna" advertisements. Those always bring a smile to my face.
A single image he sent me, since we met.
All tenderly his messenger he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented bung still wet-
One perfect troll.
I knew the language of the internet;
"The anus spreads," it said, "ASCII art enclosed."
Manhood, long, hanging like an amulet
One perfect troll.
Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect hole, do you suppose?
Ah no, it's always just my luck to get
One perfect troll.
Truly an American icon
Sorry, couldn't resist.
"Now TV commercials are advertising accelerators that speed up your dial-up connection by up to 5 times, they say...They work by using improved compression and caching. The downside is they don't help streaming video or audio."
What a 15 year old boy sees:
"Those net speeder shits work yo! it do not get mp3z n stuff faster, but you wont hav 2 wait as long 4 the big pr0n pictures load! its only 5 bills a month too. Lets hit up the cindy margolis site!"
I am sorry Cisco, for Microsoft has found a new RPC flaw - tonight your e0 shall be stretched wide like goatse.
You can imagine my dissapointment.
I was one of the few that believed that partaking in copyright infringement against the RIAA was immoral, out of general principle, and made you no better then them. I now understand that hindering their revenues streams by any means possible is a just action - a righteous act against a truly oppressive and immoral beast.
Fuck em. I can't believe that they did this.
My most successful string of open source solutions involved a small break with an audio-video company. I set up a small Linux network, with a small CRM that was based on, believe it or not, a web based PHP driven "application" that I designed to catalogue my DVDs, VHS tapes, CDs, games, books, and comic books. mySQL is the backend, Apache its "OS". I added a few useful modules from popular CRMs that I found on Sourceforge. All of this meant nothing to my client, they were only happy that it fit their every need (they were managing customer data, billing, scheduling, and reports across a series of applications like Excel and Quick Books Pro, and good old pen and paper). Needless to say, not only was my solution extremely scalable and cheap, but it removed the hassle of having to have a file cabinet handy and three or four programs. All they did was click a little link on their KDE panel, and up came Mozilla and their portal to my program.
They quickly refferred me to their lawyer's office, my own dentist, and another small business that specialized in boat repair. I quickly made about $12,000 in my spare time, and not one bit of the software I used cost anything. I have yet to return to any of their sites to fix anything since, and this was over a year ago. The only thing I did was give them each a call when Redhat made RHN available so that they could sign up and have their systems updated for them remotely, for very little $$$. The circle of Linux business life eventually brought money back to Red Hat, whom's OS I used for free as an ISO download, at all of these sites.
You gotta love it.
Then, talk about the benefits of an open source application, and talk about it's longevity and low cost of future manipulation. But only briefly, don't get too technical on them. Instead, attack the human aspect. Do some research and find out what the doctors and medical staffers themselves really hate, not their bosses/directors.
"When reporters visited teh apartment last night, Brianna..."
WILDCAT?!? Is that yuo?!?
My employer is pretty good when it comes to workplace privacy and freedom. Afterall, they don't seem to mind me reading Slas
$47.00 - ECS K7S5A mainboard, AGP 2x/4x, USB 2.0 (onboard 10/100 NIC)
$74.00 - AMD AthlonXP 2200+ (1.8GHz, 266MHz FSB) retail
$80.00 - 512MB PC2100 RAM (major brand)
$129.00 - Nvidia GeForceFX 5200 Ultra 128MB DDR
$33.00 - Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! Dolby Digital 5.1 SB0220
$63.00 - Acer DVD/CDRW 48x24x48x16 Drive
$72.50 - Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM 2MB cache
$40.00 - Standard ATX AOpen case with 300watt and front USB ports
$34.99 - Belkin Wireless keyboard and mouse combo
$369.00 - Optiquest Q170 17" LCD Monitor, 1280x1024, 80Hz
Grand Total: $942.49
With Linux from ISO: $942.49
With Microsoft Windows XP Home, SP1a ($93): $1,035.49
The above system is more powerful than Apple's midrange "revamped" offering, the 1.25GHz G4 with a 17" display, which runs $1,799.00. That's $763.51 more expensive than the above system with Windows XP Home SP1a. $763.51 more for a system with closed hardware, half the system memory, half the video RAM, and less raw computing power. Why would anyone willingly pay so much more money for so much less?
No, I know a troll (trust me), and didn't bother to respond.