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User: Enry

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  1. Certenly not everthing is correct. on Y2K and Nuclear Weapons · · Score: 1

    There is a web site (seen on /. I thought) that offered $1000 to a person who could prove that their car will not start on jan 1, 2000 because of a Y2K issue.

  2. Use vi, or even applix. on LA Weekly: The Lonliness of Linux · · Score: 1

    applix won't import Word 95 or Word 97 files. The last version that it will import or export (according to their web site) is Word 6.0.

  3. Undergeek on Perfect tie knot mathematically found · · Score: 1

    Err...no.. I just worked for the govt. in a facility where ties were the norm. Since I had to wear a tie, I figured I may as well do something other than the regular paisley and atomic structres of sugar that everyone seems to wear. Good thing was, the only other person who shared this opinion was the head honcho of our group, who ususally wore ties with cows on them.

  4. Undergeek on Perfect tie knot mathematically found · · Score: 1

    I like ties (and suits) too. Just not at work. Aside from the rather standard selection, I also have bugs bunny, mickey mouse, winnie the pooh, and a couple other kickass ties. I had this really really great tie with Marvin the Martian on it, but it wound up getting soaked in a rainstorm, and alas has never been the same since. (Note to self: silk ties+water+dryer = bad idea.)

  5. Wordperfect, shmordperfect... on Corel Desktop Linux · · Score: 1

    Ayup. I'm seeing the same problem. StarOffice or Applix may be a bit better at it (I don't know). The other issue I have with WP is the interface. Bleah! Why do I need to go poking around menus to create a bullet list? Even Word has that on their toolbar.

  6. Hardware doesn't want to be free... on Sun Opening Microprocessor Technology · · Score: 1

    I think this is the closest that Sun will get to OSH (Open Source Hardware). In my office (we're a hardware manufacturer) I can throw a stick and hit 3 different software people. I can also hit 2 or 3 hardware designers. No chip designers.

    OSS proliferates because everyone has easy access to the means to manufacture (compile) the code. OSH will have a harder time because it has to be physically produced, and there is no way that you'll ever get a hardware company to produce hardware for free. It won't happen.

    All this being said, I think this (releasing the designs of chips) is the closest you'll get to actual OSH. However, this may make products like UltraPenguin better, since the coders can take a look inside the chip...

    Bravo to Sun for doing this. I hope more hardware manufacturers follow this model.

  7. When I went job hunting... on Salary Histories · · Score: 1

    I'm not a EE (MIS/QA/customer support), I took my current salary ($x) and gave that to my headhunter along with my proposed salary ($y = $x+15K). While interviewing at different companies, it came out that they were willing to spend $y+10K for my position. I wound up low-balling myself!

    I was able to use this info to renegotiate with my current employer, and everything turned out happy.

    I guess the point is, know what you're making, what they're willing to spend, and what you're really worth. I think the third point is the most important, since that can't be found on some survey sheet, and probably the hardest to find out.

    I also think that people should go on the job hunting thing at least once every few years so that (a) they stay in "shape" just in case, (b) you just might find the perfect job, (c) you can find out what you're worth.

  8. Crack team of 14 year olds on Bell Atlantic/Mac/ADSL Crusade Fails · · Score: 1

    I hate to sound like some MediaOne employee pulling the M1 line (I'm not), but aside from getting put on hold with them, the service has been excellent. A separate line had to be run around my house to get the cable modem service activated, and the installation was very professional, to putting in a coax jack on the wall and marking that segment of cable as "data only - do not filter". All that for $50 for install (plus $50 for the ethernet card).

    When I got the cable service installed (about two weeks earlier), I was told that the house was already set up for cable and I could hook it in immediately. When that didn't work (and got put on hold for an hour), they sent a service person out to check the line (it was disconnected at the pole). That visit was free of charge. The total time from me ordering the service to getting cable TV was about 3 days.

    In contrast, when I signed up with Time Warner, I was told the earliest install was 2 weeks from that day (on a saturday when I'd be out of town). After finally scheduling an install for the week, I asked them to call me before the person would show up so I could be hone. I got a call a little later merely asking "how long will it take you to get home?". Thinking they were asking to plan ahead, I told 'em 20 minutes. Turns out they were sending the cable guy there to install. When I *finally* got the install, the guy walked in the door, hooked in the cable box, made me sign all the papers, and left.

  9. That sucks on Bell Atlantic/Mac/ADSL Crusade Fails · · Score: 1

    As a Linux user on a MediaOne cable modem, I can't completely sympathize. M1 has the policy of "we can handle it, but it's not officially supported". If I call them up tomorrow and give them a MAC from a Sparc, they'd happily take it and away-hey-hey I go. Of course, I know that if I call with a problem, they won't be able to help unless I prove the problem is on their side.

    It's sad to see BA treating their customers like this.

  10. Still no G2 player for Linux! on RealNetworks releases Linux content tool · · Score: 1

    Great....I'll stick with MP3 as well for now.

  11. hehehe on "King of Spin" Breaks Record · · Score: 1

    I got it.

    Where do I sign up for the international orchestra? I can kinda be in tune while singing in the car....

  12. Keynote I'd like to hear... on Linus to give COMDEX Keynote · · Score: 1

    Linus tells us what Transmeta is *really* doing.

  13. Good article.. on A tiny protest makes a big noise · · Score: 2

    But let me take it a step further.

    The press for the past few years has had plenty to write about to get everyone's attention riveted (OJ, JonBenet, Clinton, Iraq, Y2K). Now that most of those stories have lost or are losing steam, what's left? The trials and tribulations the company with the world's largest company (in capital anyway - yes, MS is worth more than GE).

    The MS trial itself is not very TV newsworthy. Too many issues, too much that the talking heads can explain in 30 seconds or less. How do you fully explain that MS has lied on videotape three times and what the lies really were? They had a hard enough time explaining what the president was accused of!

    How about instead you focus on a group of people demanding refunds for software they don't use? It explains the frustration that the press sees in the public when anyone talks about MS. Noone that I know of says "MS is a good company". It's always "damn MS software crashing". Protests are neat and tidy. They get explained well. Good quotes from ESR and the like that can be printed on the third page of the newspaper.

    That is why the press followed this. That is why the press followed this protest and not the protest when Win98 was released.

  14. Important points on Redhat 5.2 2.2-Kernel Update · · Score: 1

    It looks like it's got ipchains, which I don't think was in the regular disto. Also has updated samba (2.0) in case you want it.
    I've been using 2.2 at home since the release on my 5.2 with no ill effects.

  15. Set up connection not access Internet on Microsoft Video Blunder · · Score: 1

    It depends. If you're dialing into a 33.6k modem with a 33.6k modem, both will try to sync up at 33.6 first. If you have a 28.8 modem dialing into a 33.6, the 33.6 will try to sync at 33.6, then 31, then keep going down the line until it hits 28.8, at which point they sync up.

  16. Why the change in serial? on Introducing Linux 2.2 · · Score: 1

    Why were the cua devices removed? What do you do if you want to open a port and not block on CD? Bleah.

  17. A few things... on Review:The Age of Spiritual Machines · · Score: 1

    1) AI is going to need some *major* advances in the next 20 years, once that I don't think will happen fast enough. For one thing, AI now is still the same it was 20 years ago.
    The best the computer could do was learn from its mistakes, and anyone who ever took a programming class can write something like that. Noone is still quite sure how the brain works, and until we understand that, we can't duplicate its functionality.
    Take a look at a real AI example: speech recognition. It's been around for years, and the technology and accuracy is improving, but it still can't handle context of words. Go try the latest version of Dragon Dictate as an example.

    2) Technology is starting to hit its limits. NPR had a report a few months ago about the fact that with chip manufacturers using smaller and smaller chips, there's no way to chips them without using X-rays (someone with a better knowlege of this back me up here). This indicates that Moore's law may be running into a brick wall in the next few years. With a limit in growth of CPU horsepower, you'll start to see limits on AI, since you need a lot of CPU speed to try and emulate the human brain.

  18. RH 5.2 is 2.2 ready on Linux 2.2 Released · · Score: 1

    I compiled 2.2 last night on my RH 5.2 system with few extra RPMs (I threw in KDE) and everything worked fine. Didn't have to upgrade anything. But for some reason I can't get the fb working...

  19. @#$%#$@ RedHat Install... on Stop:Quickie Time · · Score: 1

    Ahh..I remember seeing the SVGA package being installed and thinking "WTF is this?". I'll give that a shot tonight.

  20. What about Iridium? on Internet for ships at sea · · Score: 1

    Isn't this the kind of thing you'd use Iridium for? LEO satellites whipping around, so you don't need to actually aim at a satellite. Would at least make it easier for ships that are heaving about the North Atlantic.

  21. Actually... on Will Firewire be the death of SCSI? · · Score: 1

    Huh? FireWire is supposed to hit 1.2GB soon. Last I heard (this was about 18 mos ago) the silicon was being made for 800Mhz.

  22. Actually... on Will Firewire be the death of SCSI? · · Score: 1

    If anything, FireWire (aka IEEE 1394) will quickly replace things like Fiber Channel and the other wacko high-end drive mechanisms. Since Adaptec is one of the driving forces behind FW, I don't think that they want to see their bread-and-butter (SCSI cards and chips) go away anytime soon.

    The reason that USB isn't as big a hit as it should be is that only one PC OS has good support for it - Win98. Oh yea. That works. As part of some testing, I installed a pair of Labtec USB speakers in a Win98 system (no other sound card) and it worked perfectly, from the typical windows sounds to handling CD-Audio (it does CDDA from the CD-ROM to the speakers).

    So why doesn't Linux have USB support? Easy. Few USB devices to begin with, and nothing to compare the usage with. Given that Adaptec has opened up, and I'm sure Apple wants us Linux people to buy their stuff, you'll probably see more FW support coming out for Linux.