YES, Microsoft is still going "too far". Any "feature" that can't be turned off is not a feature, it's a bug, and forced updates and forced reboots are worse than that, because Microsoft is deliberately not allowing me to have control over my own PC. I've used every version of Windows since version 3.11, but the forced reboots in Windows 10 infuriate me so much that I have already moved several of my machines over to Linux, and plan to migrate all of them away from Windows over the next year. For me, forced reboots have were the last straw that broke the camel's back. Moving forward, I'm moving to Linux.
In case anybody is trying to figure out what the "other factors" are, here is a few additional data points:
1. Facebook suggested my next-door neighbor to me as a potential friend. 2. I have fewer than 20 Facebook friends, and none of them are my neighbors, most are family and relatives in other cities. 3. My Facebook account is linked to a unique email address which I created only for Facebook, and which has not been revealed to any other person or website. 4. I have never imported any contacts into Facebook from any other source. 5. I do not have the Facebook app installed on my phone, and I have never connected to Facebook from my phone using the browser. 6. I have virtually no other apps installed on my phone except for Google Mail, Google Calendar, and Google Maps. 7. No other apps on my phone have been given access to location data, and the GPS is always disabled (to save battery) except when I am actively using Google Maps somewhere I am unfamiliar, (so never anywhere near my own neighborhood). 8. I provide an open wi-fi access point (no password), which is easily accessible from my next-door neighbor's house. 9. I have logged into Facebook using a computer connected to that open wi-fi network.
Could the "other factors" be as simple as IP address?
Python really makes programming fun. I think it would be the perfect language to teach beginners, although I've been programming for decades, in a dozen different languages.
Mainly because Python is interpreted, not compiled, there is an opportunity for immediate feedback, and a level of interactivity that is just not possible with most languages. Entering commands directly into the interpreter console allows for a kind of "conversation" between student and computer that is only possible with an interpreted language. Expressions, function calls, little one-time "experiments", or demonstrations of a particular concept are not just possible, but easy and natural in Python.
Combine Python with the PyGame library, and I think you have a real winning combination for kids of all ages. PyGame gives Python the kind of juicy graphics kids will probably want to play around with once they understand variables and functions.
Python eliminates most of the stuff that clutters up languages like C, Javascript, and PHP. Python reduces the language syntax to the minimum required to understand by the concepts involved, in the clearest, simplest form possible, with a minimum of arbitrary punctuation marks used in unfamiliar ways.
It's also worth mentioning that in addition to being a really great, easy to learn, yet powerful language, Python is also free, open-source software. Check it out.
I been using a simple, free tool that creates a customizable "Live Kiosk CD" that runs a Firefox browser. That's all it does, just Firefox, no desktop, etc. It's really easy to customize the screen resolution, address bar shortcut links, yes or no Java, and a few other things.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sender_Policy_Framewo rk Spammers recently started forging my domain as their return address. I know this because I recieved a bucket-load of bounces every day until I blocked the catch-all address. All of that spam would have been blocked if the servers that bounced it had checked my SPF record first. It clearly specifies that all of the IP addresses where the spam is coming from are not authorized to serve email from my domain.
This is a simple, open standard that can eliminate spam from forged domains, which I would guess is most of it, at this point in history.
if i'm angry when i push the send button, i always regret it. go for a walk, split some firewood, or just sit still, but don't send that email. (save it as a draft if necessary, calm down, then delete without sending)
ancient chinese wisdom: "act a moment of anger, bring a hundred days of sorrow"
best regards,
michael.
ps: i wanted to mark you a "friend" based on this post, but you already were... too bad slashdot doesn't have a "double-friend" category.
I believe it's true, because I got nearly the same call:
In about 1997, when I was working at a small local computer repair shop, I got a call from a panicy, frantic woman, near tears, who was swearing to me that she didn't do anything wrong. She was sure the police were on the way to her house, and she was pleading for help. She said she was just browsing a web page about cats, see went to the kitchen to get a Pepsi, and when she came back, her computer had a message on it that said she had performed an illegal operation...
Personally, my main problem with Ham radio has been the "no commerce" and "no encryption" rules.
Even if you had the license and radio to make a call throught the "phone patch", you couldn't order a pizza, it would be technically illegal, along with anything that could be considered "commerce". And "no encryption" meant not being able to use "packet radio" for something as simple as personal email without literally broadcasting it publicly. No thanks.
If a few channels of Amateur bandwidth were liberated from these two regulatory relics, I think we would see see the same interest we see in WI-FI excite Amateur radio as well. A few small slivers of "long range wi-fi" bandwidth could spark an Amateur radio renaissance, and amazing tech advances, as in the past.
I'm not holding my breath, though. Giving Americans more freedom, especially for private long-distance communication, would probably not be too fashionable in Washington these days. Pray for peace, and better days to come.
I'm going out to buy either a 54G or a 54GS this week, specifically so I can install something that is capable of bandwidth shaping certain IPs in my network, and so obviously I need to make sure I have the right firmware and hardware spec.
The first 4 digits in the serial number (look on the box or the underside of the router) represent the hardware revision:
CDF0 = WRT54G v1.0
CDF1 = WRT54G v1.0
CDF2 = WRT54G v1.1
CDF3 = WRT54G v1.1
CDF5 = WRT54G v2.0
CDF7 = WRT54G v2.2
CDF8 = WRT54G v3.0
CDF9 = WRT54G v3.1
CDFA = WRT54G v4.0
CDFB = WRT54G v5.0
The DD-WRT version of the firmware for the Linksys WRT54G wireless router is a similar to the Sveasoft firmware, but includes Chilispot hotspot and NoCatSplash, without any GPL Controversy
I haven't tried the hotspot features yet, but I like the rest of the DD-WRT software a lot, especially in client mode as a wireless network extender. You can set up firewall rules, time-of-day restrictions, even restrictions on website based on keywords. I don't use most of those features, but they're in there if you want them. DD-WRT also has Traffic shaping by port or mac, VOIP Sipserver, WDS mesh-networking for extending your wireless network by several hops, and optimizations for gaming. It's true GPL, and it makes me feel like a kid in a candy store.
Buy the book "Legal Care For Your Software", published by Nolo Press
If you are intelligent enough to write computer software, you are probably intelligent enough to write a simple legal contract, especially when you can cut-and-paste most of it from examples in the book. I've been writing my own IP contracts for years, never had a bit of legal trouble so far, and don't expect any in the future. I think if you read the book you will find it is not as hard as a lot of people make it sound. I am not a laywer, and honestly, I doubt you need one.
I've been to Burning Man, and it's not that easy to write a "fair description" in 100 words or less.
Although I saw the "nuked" page, and it seems fair, the pictures are great, and he probably uses more than 100 words. (wait for the slashdot effect to cool off, the site will recover).
It's tempting to say "These are not the droids you are looking for, move along...", but you asked nicely, so I'll try to offer a short description.
Burning Man is gathering of about thirty-five thousand people for a week-long art
festival on a dry lake-bed in the Nevada desert. The alkaki dust doesn't form dunes, and no bug or blade of grass can live on it. Miles of flat dry mud form a blank canvas, fresh every year.
Participants bring amazing sculptures and structures of all kinds to the desert, some huge projects, like towering temples and mazes full of art, a gigantic Tesla coil throwing unbelievable lightening bolts, giant sculptures made of laser-light, and thousands of small creative expressions everywhere, crazy costumes and ad-hoc fire-spinning and music jams. I've seen huge vehicles that look like a 100-foot long fire-breathing dragon or a full-sized pirate ship with dozens of people and a rocking party on top. Some people play dance-music or drums late into the night. Earplugs are recommended.
You must bring with you everything you need, not just to survive, but to thrive.
And when the event is over, you take everything home, and leave no trace. Just
planning your packing list for a week in the desert can be enlightening, but learning to "leave no trace" can be equally educational.
No exchange of money is allowed during the event. (with minor exceptions) And although it's a simple concept, I believe it has a profoundly liberating effect on attitudes of participants. This is one of those things that really can not be adequately described in 100 words or less, but really has to be experienced.
Buring Man is a celebration of each individuals' uniqueness, amazing diversity, creativity, skills, humor and generosity. The experience of becoming a participant, not just a spectator, is what really makes Burning Man different. The process seems simple, but Burning Man has subtly changed how I think about my own creativity, self-expression, and citizenship. Perhaps trite, but true, more than almost anything, what you get out of Burning Man totally depends on what you put into it, and every person's experience will be different.
When articles are as good, and correct, as PJ's groklaw articles, it is irrelevant for the sake of criticism who pays the author. There has been virtually no legitimate criticism of the GrokLaw articles, because the facts presented are true and fair.
Conversely, when an "independent published study" is shown to have been designed from the beginning to be severely biased and blatently unfair, then it does become very relevant who paid for that garbage to be published, and the ethical violation should not only crush the reputation of the study's authors, but also fall squarely on the sponsor who has paid the "independent" publisher for the sole purpose of attempting to distance themselves from their own lies, and the serious violation of ethics that represents.
There were a large number of outrageous biases and totally unfair elements in the "study" you are referring to, so the source of the funding became very relevant after the extreme bias had been clearly established.
In the case of Groklaw, there doesn't appear to be any legitimate criticism, so the competitor has resorted to blatent innuendo and ad-hominem attacks. Following my original logic, I would love to know who, if anybody, is paying MOG to be so obviously wrong on so many issues, year after year, and even more curious why anybody pays any attention to someone with MOG's long-standing reputation as an advocate for nonsense.
an especially interesting quote from the end of the speech:
"...Our mission at google is really to build the ultimate search engine. That means that it would understand everything in the world. It would understand exactly what you wanted when you typed the query, and it would give you that, exactly. In computer science they like to call that 'artificial intelligence'. You could type any query into Google, and it would always give you the right answer. It would be smart, and so obviously that is not the easiest thing in the world do to, but as we get closer and closer to that we have little improvements in quality, and we make Google better and better anyway..."
there was a lot more, but that was the punchline. google's motto is "do no evil", and their mission is to make all of the information in the world easily accessable. that's pretty cool. they have always wanted to digitize existing libraries of books, but it has taken ten years to convince people it was possible. he also talked about nanotechnology, and encouraged the idea of ending world poverty. google devotes 70 percent of their resources to the search engine, 20 percent to related technologies, and 10 percent to other unrelated projects. current revenues are over one billion dollars per quarter, so they are spending over a million dollars a day on projects completely un-related to search, in a culture the encourages taking risks and having a healthy disregard for the impossible. it boggles the mind what the future may bring forth from google.
Systems "cleaned" with this procedure may still be infected with a "root kit", so the entire operating system is compromised, and Windows hides relevant files from SpyBot, Anti-virus scanners, and similar tools.
Otherwise you could end up with a PC that seems to be running fine, and shows no visible signs of trouble, such as popup ads, yet is quietly spewing massive quantities of spam. A PC that is obviously infected may be less evil that one that looks clean but isn't.
Plone does what you want right out of the box. It's free, open source software. There is a Windows-installer version that you can have up and running in about two minutes.
Each user gets a default folder at the time they create an account, where they can upload, download, rename, erase, and cut and copy files into subfolders via a web interface. You can also create groups and assign group permissions to folders.
For extra convenience, download the free NetDrive client from Novell. It runs in the background and can map a Plone folder as a mapped network drive in Windows using WebDAV, so for example, the 'P:' drive on my Windows workstation at home is actually a folder on the Plone webserver across town, but I can drag and drop files to it. Plone is an amazingly powerful and easy to use tool by itself, but in combination with NetDrive, it's really, really cool.
Plone has a million and one other uses as well. It's a fully formed web app server based on Python, with hundreds kinds of plug in products, such as group calendar components or wiki pages, that form a complete, extendable content management system. Have fun.
Related patents seem to be included in the license. Here's a quote from the FAQ:
Under the patent license for the Office 2003 XML Reference Schemas, Microsoft offers royalty-free rights both to its issued patents and patents that may be issued in the future.
Speaking both as an author of an ircd and somebody with a comprehensive understanding of what SSL does:
worthless....Read CRYPTO-GRAM and some of Schneier's books.
This quote from Schneier in CRYPTO-GRAM-0303 does not seem to support your opinion:
I wouldn't discard SSL as being irrelevant... Security is only as strong as the weakest link, and SSL is nowhere close to being the weakest link.
Slashdot Mirror
No problem, as long as the warship plans don't include any exposed ventilation shafts that are vulnerable x-wing fighters.
YES, Microsoft is still going "too far". Any "feature" that can't be turned off is not a feature, it's a bug, and forced updates and forced reboots are worse than that, because Microsoft is deliberately not allowing me to have control over my own PC. I've used every version of Windows since version 3.11, but the forced reboots in Windows 10 infuriate me so much that I have already moved several of my machines over to Linux, and plan to migrate all of them away from Windows over the next year. For me, forced reboots have were the last straw that broke the camel's back. Moving forward, I'm moving to Linux.
* here ARE a few additional data points :-p
In case anybody is trying to figure out what the "other factors" are, here is a few additional data points:
1. Facebook suggested my next-door neighbor to me as a potential friend.
2. I have fewer than 20 Facebook friends, and none of them are my neighbors, most are family and relatives in other cities.
3. My Facebook account is linked to a unique email address which I created only for Facebook, and which has not been revealed to any other person or website.
4. I have never imported any contacts into Facebook from any other source.
5. I do not have the Facebook app installed on my phone, and I have never connected to Facebook from my phone using the browser.
6. I have virtually no other apps installed on my phone except for Google Mail, Google Calendar, and Google Maps.
7. No other apps on my phone have been given access to location data, and the GPS is always disabled (to save battery) except when I am actively using Google Maps somewhere I am unfamiliar, (so never anywhere near my own neighborhood).
8. I provide an open wi-fi access point (no password), which is easily accessible from my next-door neighbor's house.
9. I have logged into Facebook using a computer connected to that open wi-fi network.
Could the "other factors" be as simple as IP address?
If you're anywhere near San Francisco, the Exploratorium is a must-see, fun and amazing "hands-on" experience.
A little further south, the spectacular Monterery Bay Aquarium is one of the best in the world.
Python really makes programming fun. I think it would be the perfect language to teach beginners, although I've been programming for decades, in a dozen different languages.
Mainly because Python is interpreted, not compiled, there is an opportunity for immediate feedback, and a level of interactivity that is just not possible with most languages. Entering commands directly into the interpreter console allows for a kind of "conversation" between student and computer that is only possible with an interpreted language. Expressions, function calls, little one-time "experiments", or demonstrations of a particular concept are not just possible, but easy and natural in Python.
Combine Python with the PyGame library, and I think you have a real winning combination for kids of all ages. PyGame gives Python the kind of juicy graphics kids will probably want to play around with once they understand variables and functions.
Python eliminates most of the stuff that clutters up languages like C, Javascript, and PHP. Python reduces the language syntax to the minimum required to understand by the concepts involved, in the clearest, simplest form possible, with a minimum of arbitrary punctuation marks used in unfamiliar ways.
It's also worth mentioning that in addition to being a really great, easy to learn, yet powerful language, Python is also free, open-source software. Check it out.
the correct url for ddwrt is http://www.dd-wrt.org/
http://www.ddwrt.org/ is nothing but "sponsored links"
I been using a simple, free tool that creates a customizable "Live Kiosk CD" that runs a Firefox browser. That's all it does, just Firefox, no desktop, etc. It's really easy to customize the screen resolution, address bar shortcut links, yes or no Java, and a few other things.
The home page is at http://www.kioskcd.com/
I'm not affiliated with the project, just a happy customer.
regards, michael.
really a touching story, and a good suggestion. thanks for sharing.
Perhaps you are asking about SPF.
o rk Spammers recently started forging my domain as their return address. I know this because I recieved a bucket-load of bounces every day until I blocked the catch-all address. All of that spam would have been blocked if the servers that bounced it had checked my SPF record first. It clearly specifies that all of the IP addresses where the spam is coming from are not authorized to serve email from my domain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sender_Policy_Framew
This is a simple, open standard that can eliminate spam from forged domains, which I would guess is most of it, at this point in history.
if i'm angry when i push the send button, i always regret it. go for a walk, split some firewood, or just sit still, but don't send that email. (save it as a draft if necessary, calm down, then delete without sending)
... too bad slashdot doesn't have a "double-friend" category.
ancient chinese wisdom: "act a moment of anger, bring a hundred days of sorrow"
best regards, michael.
ps: i wanted to mark you a "friend" based on this post, but you already were
I believe it's true, because I got nearly the same call:
In about 1997, when I was working at a small local computer repair shop, I got a call from a panicy, frantic woman, near tears, who was swearing to me that she didn't do anything wrong. She was sure the police were on the way to her house, and she was pleading for help. She said she was just browsing a web page about cats, see went to the kitchen to get a Pepsi, and when she came back, her computer had a message on it that said she had performed an illegal operation...
Personally, my main problem with Ham radio has been the "no commerce" and "no encryption" rules.
Even if you had the license and radio to make a call throught the "phone patch", you couldn't order a pizza, it would be technically illegal, along with anything that could be considered "commerce". And "no encryption" meant not being able to use "packet radio" for something as simple as personal email without literally broadcasting it publicly. No thanks.
If a few channels of Amateur bandwidth were liberated from these two regulatory relics, I think we would see see the same interest we see in WI-FI excite Amateur radio as well. A few small slivers of "long range wi-fi" bandwidth could spark an Amateur radio renaissance, and amazing tech advances, as in the past.
I'm not holding my breath, though. Giving Americans more freedom, especially for private long-distance communication, would probably not be too fashionable in Washington these days. Pray for peace, and better days to come.
I'm going out to buy either a 54G or a 54GS this week, specifically so I can install something that is capable of bandwidth shaping certain IPs in my network, and so obviously I need to make sure I have the right firmware and hardware spec.
T _Docu_(EN))
The first 4 digits in the serial number (look on the box or the underside of the router) represent the hardware revision:
CDF0 = WRT54G v1.0
CDF1 = WRT54G v1.0
CDF2 = WRT54G v1.1
CDF3 = WRT54G v1.1
CDF5 = WRT54G v2.0
CDF7 = WRT54G v2.2
CDF8 = WRT54G v3.0
CDF9 = WRT54G v3.1
CDFA = WRT54G v4.0
CDFB = WRT54G v5.0
CGN0 = WRT54GS v1.0
CGN1 = WRT54GS v1.0
CGN2 = WRT54GS v1.1
CGN3 = WRT54GS v2.0
CGN4 = WRT54GS v2.1
CGN5 = WRT54GS v3.0
CGN6 = WRT54GS v4.0
(Source: http://wrt-wiki.bsr-clan.de/index.php?title=DD-WR
As far as I know, the GS version still runs Linux, although it is typically $20 more.
I used the information above to find the last WRT54G v4.0 on the shelf, mixed in with the newer v.5's at my local Office Depot.
The DD-WRT version of the firmware for the Linksys WRT54G wireless router is a similar to the Sveasoft firmware, but includes Chilispot hotspot and NoCatSplash, without any GPL Controversy
I haven't tried the hotspot features yet, but I like the rest of the DD-WRT software a lot, especially in client mode as a wireless network extender. You can set up firewall rules, time-of-day restrictions, even restrictions on website based on keywords. I don't use most of those features, but they're in there if you want them. DD-WRT also has Traffic shaping by port or mac, VOIP Sipserver, WDS mesh-networking for extending your wireless network by several hops, and optimizations for gaming. It's true GPL, and it makes me feel like a kid in a candy store.
Buy the book "Legal Care For Your Software", published by Nolo Press
If you are intelligent enough to write computer software, you are probably intelligent enough to write a simple legal contract, especially when you can cut-and-paste most of it from examples in the book. I've been writing my own IP contracts for years, never had a bit of legal trouble so far, and don't expect any in the future. I think if you read the book you will find it is not as hard as a lot of people make it sound. I am not a laywer, and honestly, I doubt you need one.
I've been to Burning Man, and it's not that easy to write a "fair description" in 100 words or less. Although I saw the "nuked" page, and it seems fair, the pictures are great, and he probably uses more than 100 words. (wait for the slashdot effect to cool off, the site will recover). It's tempting to say "These are not the droids you are looking for, move along...", but you asked nicely, so I'll try to offer a short description.
Burning Man is gathering of about thirty-five thousand people for a week-long art festival on a dry lake-bed in the Nevada desert. The alkaki dust doesn't form dunes, and no bug or blade of grass can live on it. Miles of flat dry mud form a blank canvas, fresh every year.
Participants bring amazing sculptures and structures of all kinds to the desert, some huge projects, like towering temples and mazes full of art, a gigantic Tesla coil throwing unbelievable lightening bolts, giant sculptures made of laser-light, and thousands of small creative expressions everywhere, crazy costumes and ad-hoc fire-spinning and music jams. I've seen huge vehicles that look like a 100-foot long fire-breathing dragon or a full-sized pirate ship with dozens of people and a rocking party on top. Some people play dance-music or drums late into the night. Earplugs are recommended.
You must bring with you everything you need, not just to survive, but to thrive. And when the event is over, you take everything home, and leave no trace. Just planning your packing list for a week in the desert can be enlightening, but learning to "leave no trace" can be equally educational. No exchange of money is allowed during the event. (with minor exceptions) And although it's a simple concept, I believe it has a profoundly liberating effect on attitudes of participants. This is one of those things that really can not be adequately described in 100 words or less, but really has to be experienced.
Buring Man is a celebration of each individuals' uniqueness, amazing diversity, creativity, skills, humor and generosity. The experience of becoming a participant, not just a spectator, is what really makes Burning Man different. The process seems simple, but Burning Man has subtly changed how I think about my own creativity, self-expression, and citizenship. Perhaps trite, but true, more than almost anything, what you get out of Burning Man totally depends on what you put into it, and every person's experience will be different.
When articles are as good, and correct, as PJ's groklaw articles, it is irrelevant for the sake of criticism who pays the author. There has been virtually no legitimate criticism of the GrokLaw articles, because the facts presented are true and fair.
Conversely, when an "independent published study" is shown to have been designed from the beginning to be severely biased and blatently unfair, then it does become very relevant who paid for that garbage to be published, and the ethical violation should not only crush the reputation of the study's authors, but also fall squarely on the sponsor who has paid the "independent" publisher for the sole purpose of attempting to distance themselves from their own lies, and the serious violation of ethics that represents.
There were a large number of outrageous biases and totally unfair elements in the "study" you are referring to, so the source of the funding became very relevant after the extreme bias had been clearly established.
In the case of Groklaw, there doesn't appear to be any legitimate criticism, so the competitor has resorted to blatent innuendo and ad-hominem attacks. Following my original logic, I would love to know who, if anybody, is paying MOG to be so obviously wrong on so many issues, year after year, and even more curious why anybody pays any attention to someone with MOG's long-standing reputation as an advocate for nonsense.
thanks for transcribing this. here are my interpretations for a few places where you put '??' in the text:
You can build totally crazy things [and you can do that cheaply
...what's the lower [bound]
...we had the [honor of having] Marisa Coleman out to Google recently
China is building something like 9 and a half [Manhattan] size cities for the next 15 years...
He also says that. "[...Brand]-USA could use some polishing
...make Google better anyway so its a great [culture].
full transcript is posted here
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=148012&cid=12
an especially interesting quote from the end of the speech:
there was a lot more, but that was the punchline. google's motto is "do no evil", and their mission is to make all of the information in the world easily accessable. that's pretty cool. they have always wanted to digitize existing libraries of books, but it has taken ten years to convince people it was possible. he also talked about nanotechnology, and encouraged the idea of ending world poverty. google devotes 70 percent of their resources to the search engine, 20 percent to related technologies, and 10 percent to other unrelated projects. current revenues are over one billion dollars per quarter, so they are spending over a million dollars a day on projects completely un-related to search, in a culture the encourages taking risks and having a healthy disregard for the impossible. it boggles the mind what the future may bring forth from google.
regards,
michael.
Systems "cleaned" with this procedure may still be infected with a "root kit", so the entire operating system is compromised, and Windows hides relevant files from SpyBot, Anti-virus scanners, and similar tools.
A "Rootkit Revealer" was mentioned on slashdot recently http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/23/13
Otherwise you could end up with a PC that seems to be running fine, and shows no visible signs of trouble, such as popup ads, yet is quietly spewing massive quantities of spam. A PC that is obviously infected may be less evil that one that looks clean but isn't.
regards,
michael.
Plone does what you want right out of the box. It's free, open source software. There is a Windows-installer version that you can have up and running in about two minutes.
Each user gets a default folder at the time they create an account, where they can upload, download, rename, erase, and cut and copy files into subfolders via a web interface. You can also create groups and assign group permissions to folders.
For extra convenience, download the free NetDrive client from Novell. It runs in the background and can map a Plone folder as a mapped network drive in Windows using WebDAV, so for example, the 'P:' drive on my Windows workstation at home is actually a folder on the Plone webserver across town, but I can drag and drop files to it. Plone is an amazingly powerful and easy to use tool by itself, but in combination with NetDrive, it's really, really cool.
Plone has a million and one other uses as well. It's a fully formed web app server based on Python, with hundreds kinds of plug in products, such as group calendar components or wiki pages, that form a complete, extendable content management system. Have fun.
Related patents seem to be included in the license. Here's a quote from the FAQ: