I've noticed as well, at least in Canada, that there are a few select book companies that have a monopoly on University and College textbooks. I believe that the Universities get money from these publishers (or "further discounts") if they use their books.
I usually wait for the first day of class before buying books. I read through the course descrpition and determine if the book would even be useful. Futher, even if the text is revised, teachers often don't base examinations on the extra material.
Used bookstores far off-campus are my friend. The ones close by always over-charge.
If the whole point of the legal actions against Microsoft is to break up its monopoly in some way then where is the money going to go to?
Consider if the money - which I would argue - will come close to $1 billion were spent to help fund open source projects: eg Mozilla, Open Office, Freedesktop.org, KDE and GNOME projects.
All are in legitimate need of funding and are crucial to giving consumers a choice for OS and application use. I'm not implying that funding will equate with better quality product, but I'm sure that some of these project could at the very least get some added resources: more computers, internet connections, etc.
Research on sustainable environment and energy on Earth *now* are more important than considering using other planets for energy sources. Otherwise, we will continue to consume too much energy. What's to say that even if we can mine the moon, once that runs out where do we go from there? This is certainly never going to happen in my lifetime, but shouldn't we be more forward looking and more importantly, be more environmentally concious?
After reading some of the posts I'm surprised no one alluded to this.
They took the power cables, CDs, laptops, and other computers and misc items. I don't think that's fair. All they are really looking for it data . I think what they should do instead is confiscate burnt CDs and HDDs.
What evidence are they going to find on a motherboard? I can understand, however if they get the MAC addresses from the NICs. At least HDDs are cheap and easy to replace. They don't have to worry about someone demanding for the rest of their hardware back. I'm sure it would make him a bit happier.
Wow! MS is complaining about lack of choice. That caught me off guard.
Its my belief that MS feels it can no longer expand on its computer and software business. It is now trying to buy out and/or control large amounts of digital media e.g. an ISP, MSNBC, XP Media Edition, Media Player, X-Box, Hotmail and so on. In other words, MS is only complaining because iTunes' success is going to hamper - to some extent - its ability to dominate the digital music format.
Some of these business units, admitedly have not experienced great success. But, what happens if MS decides XP ME which is hooked up to your television only works with their music service, you can only use their media player and you can't setup a regular POP3 account and instead have to use Hotmail (== advertisements)? I think this will inhibit competiton!
IBM has invested resources to developing the Linux kernel. Will IBM also develop its own desktop system? If so, how will it be different from the competition? Will they contribute their code (some or all) to the Linux community under a GPL'd licence? Will it conform to some sort of formal standards? What of the system architecture? Will we see PPC IBM branded desktop computers and/or will it work on Wintel architectures?
I wish MS would implement Service Packs as a way to add other bug fixes to the OS (generally SP's are security only), new add-ons and more features. Additionally, listening to what users want and adding these changes/features into the Service Packs would be nice.
One of the things that make 'Nix based distros, and OS X attractive is that each new development cycle (and they tend to be quick) brings more apps and more features to increase productivity. Granted Linux depends on the developer community and OS X upgrades cost money, MS is comparatively stagnant on technology and OS improvements. MS relies on major development cycles which are generally every 3 to 4 years (e.g. 95 --> NT 4 --> 2000/XP).
For one thing, a major upgrade to IE, Outlook Express and Windows Explorer (make it crash less) are needed. Given all the websites on "Tweaking" Windows 2000/XP, MS should give more thought into making GUI and other OS improvements before Longhorn comes out -- since that will probably be another 2 or 3 year away. In the meantime, OS X should probably be OS XI and RH (for instance) will be at version 11 or 12.
Assume we don't go to donate the computer to a school, charity, or sell it to a used computer store.
What *does* (or should) a proper disposal facility do to ensure environmentally safe procedures for properly computer disposal? What should we look for if we are concerned? I figure since we're asking the question about proper disposal it would be a good idea to define what that means.
Hearing stories of city paper recycling programs sending the garbage to landfills because of low paper costs, I don't feel comforatble sending several pounds of lead & mercury to the landfill either (ie its in the computer and monitor).
Couldn't the Secret Service (FBI... whatever) halt wire large wire transfers over say $10,000k to African bank accounts? Maybe they already are. Canadian and American banks are already doing this to domestic transfers to make sure its not "drug money". I would think large overseas transfers would undergo the same scrutiny.
Maybe it wouldn't have worked in this case. Assuming the scammers are all rotating around using the same bank account numbers, I would hope all wire transfers to those accounts could be stopped. It might save a few people from getting scammed. It might also save a few retiree pensions. Look at it this way - he could have spent the money in the U.S. and now its all in some criminal's pocket in Africa.
Just because he's 73 and has "all that life experience" doesn't mean that he is still able to make clear descisions. Mental and cognitive capabilities decline with age.
The guy was an electronics specialist with over 300K in retirement savings. He's obviously a pretty smart guy and was able to save up a considerable amount.
Call the company and offer consulting services to help them with the transition to outsourcing.
You already know how the company works, how it can better manage its resources and become more efficient. Heck, in the process you might even convince them outsourcing == bad and get your old job back.
Computers will be instrumental in the rebuilding of Iraq.
At *some* point the 'new' Iraqi governemnt will need to build infrastructure. On an immediate basis this would include electrical, water, and communications factilities. Most of these systems are in desparate need of repair and upgrades.
Whatever problems will happen with the government. there is no denying that such upgrades are needed. Computers are needed to run these systems (wheter Linux or Windows boxes run the actual systems is debatable) but employees will most likely need computers for day-to-day tasks. If they were to use say OpenOffice on the computers then as the gov't rebuilds it would make 'sense' to use the same software.
Seems to me that someone who would want to have themselves regarded as a professional journalist (good portfolios and a good reputation usually leads to a promotion) you'd think that he wouldn't use his editorial as a way to thumb his nose at people. What happened to the "editorial" portion of the article? Seems more like a flame.
You seem to think a "hardware" firewall has a chip specifically to filter the packets.
Last time I checked, hardware firewalls actually -need- an OS and software to control filter the packets. Most of them are running an embedded Linux or BSD kernel.
I have some computer books that I don't need anymore on topics like database administration and Linux system security. Sure some of them might be outdated by a few years but I'm sure a lot of people would like to read it.
My local library is doing the same thing. They're selling off books they won't put in circulation. As a taxpayer paying for library services, and as someone who's already bought the books, can anyone think of a way to convince the library to actually put them in circulation. I'd thought about a petition for specific computer books but its too hard to administer.
I don't use EBay. I've tried selling some books using adverts at universities and colleges and I've only sold a few books. My local used book store only gives $0.50 a book. That's why I want to give them to the library to share with others.
As a Canadian taxpayer, I'm peeved at Bombardier for wasting our tax money. They've been heavily subsidized and still fail to return acceptable profits - I think they lost money the last few years . Surpised? No!
Hopefully, if this think actually works, they can actuall MAKE MONEY on it as opposed to the high-speed train, aeroplane and snowmobile divisions.
Cartoons are becoming more popular by making them interested to wide audiences case in point: King of the Hill, The Simpsons and Futureama among others.
Anime has the same appeal. So, whats holding the networks from making an Anime Network? Certainly, there should be enough variety and enough material to make one.
(I'm hopeing some of it has to do with the voice dubbing. Please get better English voices, or just leave the Japanese voices in with subtitles.)
From news reports I've read law enforcement have had a lot of problems catching child pronographers.
Fortunately, it seems some of them have erratic driving skills. Hopefully, the police will pull over a few more of them for driving so poorly!
Its an interesting take but shoudln't the courts see this as completely different issues?
The "Free Beer" issue is pretty common sense. [Most] People don't advertise free beer and invite the whole neighborhood over (there are always exceptions). Its not only a waste of beer and money, but (seriously) the person doing this should know its illegal esp if there are minors or people who might be considered minors and aren't being ID'd.
As for the "War Driving" issue, I think the only thing in common there is the fact that its kind of a free invite (at your own choice). *But* closing off the WiFi and making it secure is a whole different issue and you need some level of technical competence. Joe user and even some experience computer users can't be confident someone isn't going to be able to hack it.
Before this problem gets any worse, is there anything the industry can do to improve security? Should something be added into the legal system to try and protect users being hi-jacked. Should everyone be encouraged to use standard wired ethernet networks instead?
I'm a university student. I don't mind supporting the open source community in any way I can. For example, I've purchased the official Slackware CDs occassionally.
I don't see how/why its beneficial to sell Linux educational discounts for their desktop distro when I can get it for free from the 'Net or for that matter get a different distro for free.
OTOH, I'm using Windows XP Pro right now. I purchased it through my university's bookstore for about 50% off (it was $120 Can if I recall). Its was a great deal and I took advantage of it.
Who needs a Cobalt Qube when the BTX form factor is coming out soon? (Link below for details)
From Anand's website form factors will start at 8.0" x 10.5" for the smaller boards (close enough).I wouldn't pay premium prices even just to have the case when commodity parts will soon be available to accomplish the same.
Portable music is all the rage right now and all the devices need batteries of some sort.
When I had a walkman I'd change batteries (even Duracell, Energizer.. other major brand Alkalines) every 15 to 20 hours play time.
I don't own an IPod but a friend tells me that even though they're rechargable they last about the same.. 15 to 20 hours.
Somehow though, Sony seems to have made the Mini-disc player play for over 60 hours (conservatively... I'd say my play time is closer to 80 hours) on one AA alkaline. Whatever motor they use is obviously very efficient.
My point being... instead of using "better batteries" for everything electronic - or at least portable music - why not ask manufacturers where possible to make products more efficient? I've saved money on batteries and the environment. Yes -- I'll probably buy rechargables soon too.
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I've noticed as well, at least in Canada, that there are a few select book companies that have a monopoly on University and College textbooks. I believe that the Universities get money from these publishers (or "further discounts") if they use their books.
I usually wait for the first day of class before buying books. I read through the course descrpition and determine if the book would even be useful. Futher, even if the text is revised, teachers often don't base examinations on the extra material.
Used bookstores far off-campus are my friend. The ones close by always over-charge.
If the whole point of the legal actions against Microsoft is to break up its monopoly in some way then where is the money going to go to?
Consider if the money - which I would argue - will come close to $1 billion were spent to help fund open source projects: eg Mozilla, Open Office, Freedesktop.org, KDE and GNOME projects.
All are in legitimate need of funding and are crucial to giving consumers a choice for OS and application use. I'm not implying that funding will equate with better quality product, but I'm sure that some of these project could at the very least get some added resources: more computers, internet connections, etc.
I think this is a really bad idea.
Research on sustainable environment and energy on Earth *now* are more important than considering using other planets for energy sources. Otherwise, we will continue to consume too much energy. What's to say that even if we can mine the moon, once that runs out where do we go from there? This is certainly never going to happen in my lifetime, but shouldn't we be more forward looking and more importantly, be more environmentally concious?
After reading some of the posts I'm surprised no one alluded to this.
They took the power cables, CDs, laptops, and other computers and misc items. I don't think that's fair. All they are really looking for it data . I think what they should do instead is confiscate burnt CDs and HDDs.
What evidence are they going to find on a motherboard? I can understand, however if they get the MAC addresses from the NICs. At least HDDs are cheap and easy to replace. They don't have to worry about someone demanding for the rest of their hardware back. I'm sure it would make him a bit happier.
Wow! MS is complaining about lack of choice. That caught me off guard.
Its my belief that MS feels it can no longer expand on its computer and software business. It is now trying to buy out and/or control large amounts of digital media e.g. an ISP, MSNBC, XP Media Edition, Media Player, X-Box, Hotmail and so on. In other words, MS is only complaining because iTunes' success is going to hamper - to some extent - its ability to dominate the digital music format.
Some of these business units, admitedly have not experienced great success. But, what happens if MS decides XP ME which is hooked up to your television only works with their music service, you can only use their media player and you can't setup a regular POP3 account and instead have to use Hotmail (== advertisements)? I think this will inhibit competiton!
Sun has already invested money and resources for its own Java Desktop System.
IBM has invested resources to developing the Linux kernel. Will IBM also develop its own desktop system? If so, how will it be different from the competition? Will they contribute their code (some or all) to the Linux community under a GPL'd licence? Will it conform to some sort of formal standards? What of the system architecture? Will we see PPC IBM branded desktop computers and/or will it work on Wintel architectures?
I wish MS would implement Service Packs as a way to add other bug fixes to the OS (generally SP's are security only), new add-ons and more features. Additionally, listening to what users want and adding these changes/features into the Service Packs would be nice.
One of the things that make 'Nix based distros, and OS X attractive is that each new development cycle (and they tend to be quick) brings more apps and more features to increase productivity. Granted Linux depends on the developer community and OS X upgrades cost money, MS is comparatively stagnant on technology and OS improvements. MS relies on major development cycles which are generally every 3 to 4 years (e.g. 95 --> NT 4 --> 2000/XP).
For one thing, a major upgrade to IE, Outlook Express and Windows Explorer (make it crash less) are needed. Given all the websites on "Tweaking" Windows 2000/XP, MS should give more thought into making GUI and other OS improvements before Longhorn comes out -- since that will probably be another 2 or 3 year away. In the meantime, OS X should probably be OS XI and RH (for instance) will be at version 11 or 12.
Never mind that....
... can't wait to see the competition start!
How many G-Forces can you pull? Nothing more rewarding than making yourself black-out from playing video games!
With a lot of video games posting scores you can post your hi-score
Private: Was that a pigeon with a camera?
Officer: No, the enemy would never make it THAT obvious!
-----
Who are they trying to fool? The camera is hardly covert!
Assume we don't go to donate the computer to a school, charity, or sell it to a used computer store .
What *does* (or should) a proper disposal facility do to ensure environmentally safe procedures for properly computer disposal? What should we look for if we are concerned? I figure since we're asking the question about proper disposal it would be a good idea to define what that means.
Hearing stories of city paper recycling programs sending the garbage to landfills because of low paper costs, I don't feel comforatble sending several pounds of lead & mercury to the landfill either (ie its in the computer and monitor).
Couldn't the Secret Service (FBI... whatever) halt wire large wire transfers over say $10,000k to African bank accounts? Maybe they already are. Canadian and American banks are already doing this to domestic transfers to make sure its not "drug money". I would think large overseas transfers would undergo the same scrutiny.
Maybe it wouldn't have worked in this case. Assuming the scammers are all rotating around using the same bank account numbers, I would hope all wire transfers to those accounts could be stopped. It might save a few people from getting scammed. It might also save a few retiree pensions. Look at it this way - he could have spent the money in the U.S. and now its all in some criminal's pocket in Africa.
Just because he's 73 and has "all that life experience" doesn't mean that he is still able to make clear descisions. Mental and cognitive capabilities decline with age.
The guy was an electronics specialist with over 300K in retirement savings. He's obviously a pretty smart guy and was able to save up a considerable amount.
Call the company and offer consulting services to help them with the transition to outsourcing.
You already know how the company works, how it can better manage its resources and become more efficient. Heck, in the process you might even convince them outsourcing == bad and get your old job back.
Computers will be instrumental in the rebuilding of Iraq.
At *some* point the 'new' Iraqi governemnt will need to build infrastructure. On an immediate basis this would include electrical, water, and communications factilities. Most of these systems are in desparate need of repair and upgrades.
Whatever problems will happen with the government. there is no denying that such upgrades are needed. Computers are needed to run these systems (wheter Linux or Windows boxes run the actual systems is debatable) but employees will most likely need computers for day-to-day tasks. If they were to use say OpenOffice on the computers then as the gov't rebuilds it would make 'sense' to use the same software.
How cocky are you feeling now, Mac elite?
Seems to me that someone who would want to have themselves regarded as a professional journalist (good portfolios and a good reputation usually leads to a promotion) you'd think that he wouldn't use his editorial as a way to thumb his nose at people. What happened to the "editorial" portion of the article? Seems more like a flame.
You seem to think a "hardware" firewall has a chip specifically to filter the packets. Last time I checked, hardware firewalls actually -need- an OS and software to control filter the packets. Most of them are running an embedded Linux or BSD kernel.
Question though: What's the optimal setting for the DVD Burner:
/. readers.
Primary Slave
Secondary Master
Secondary Slave
I'm sorry I don't mean to offend. Afterall, I might offend not only those in L.A. County Read more but now all
I have some computer books that I don't need anymore on topics like database administration and Linux system security. Sure some of them might be outdated by a few years but I'm sure a lot of people would like to read it.
My local library is doing the same thing. They're selling off books they won't put in circulation. As a taxpayer paying for library services, and as someone who's already bought the books, can anyone think of a way to convince the library to actually put them in circulation. I'd thought about a petition for specific computer books but its too hard to administer.
I don't use EBay. I've tried selling some books using adverts at universities and colleges and I've only sold a few books. My local used book store only gives $0.50 a book. That's why I want to give them to the library to share with others.
Any ideas?
As a Canadian taxpayer, I'm peeved at Bombardier for wasting our tax money. They've been heavily subsidized and still fail to return acceptable profits - I think they lost money the last few years . Surpised? No!
Hopefully, if this think actually works, they can actuall MAKE MONEY on it as opposed to the high-speed train, aeroplane and snowmobile divisions.
Cartoons are becoming more popular by making them interested to wide audiences case in point: King of the Hill, The Simpsons and Futureama among others.
Anime has the same appeal. So, whats holding the networks from making an Anime Network? Certainly, there should be enough variety and enough material to make one.
(I'm hopeing some of it has to do with the voice dubbing. Please get better English voices, or just leave the Japanese voices in with subtitles.)
From news reports I've read law enforcement have had a lot of problems catching child pronographers. Fortunately, it seems some of them have erratic driving skills. Hopefully, the police will pull over a few more of them for driving so poorly!
Its an interesting take but shoudln't the courts see this as completely different issues?
The "Free Beer" issue is pretty common sense. [Most] People don't advertise free beer and invite the whole neighborhood over (there are always exceptions). Its not only a waste of beer and money, but (seriously) the person doing this should know its illegal esp if there are minors or people who might be considered minors and aren't being ID'd.
As for the "War Driving" issue, I think the only thing in common there is the fact that its kind of a free invite (at your own choice). *But* closing off the WiFi and making it secure is a whole different issue and you need some level of technical competence. Joe user and even some experience computer users can't be confident someone isn't going to be able to hack it.
Before this problem gets any worse, is there anything the industry can do to improve security? Should something be added into the legal system to try and protect users being hi-jacked. Should everyone be encouraged to use standard wired ethernet networks instead?
They might have stopped some of the Nigerian spam problems and announcing it might help others find out who is responsible fro the scam.
/.'d is one of em.
But other problems crop up too..... like 404 errors after being
I'm a university student. I don't mind supporting the open source community in any way I can. For example, I've purchased the official Slackware CDs occassionally.
I don't see how/why its beneficial to sell Linux educational discounts for their desktop distro when I can get it for free from the 'Net or for that matter get a different distro for free.
OTOH, I'm using Windows XP Pro right now. I purchased it through my university's bookstore for about 50% off (it was $120 Can if I recall). Its was a great deal and I took advantage of it.
Who needs a Cobalt Qube when the BTX form factor is coming out soon? (Link below for details)
From Anand's website form factors will start at 8.0" x 10.5" for the smaller boards (close enough).I wouldn't pay premium prices even just to have the case when commodity parts will soon be available to accomplish the same.
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1876
Portable music is all the rage right now and all the devices need batteries of some sort.
.. 15 to 20 hours.
... I'd say my play time is closer to 80 hours) on one AA alkaline. Whatever motor they use is obviously very efficient.
When I had a walkman I'd change batteries (even Duracell, Energizer.. other major brand Alkalines) every 15 to 20 hours play time.
I don't own an IPod but a friend tells me that even though they're rechargable they last about the same
Somehow though, Sony seems to have made the Mini-disc player play for over 60 hours (conservatively
My point being... instead of using "better batteries" for everything electronic - or at least portable music - why not ask manufacturers where possible to make products more efficient? I've saved money on batteries and the environment. Yes -- I'll probably buy rechargables soon too.