We go through a large # of computers a year, and I try to donate the carcass, or at least make sure it's recycled properly. (Charitable organizations, unless specially equipped to handle PCs, are wary of junk computer donations.)
However, I *always* remove the hard disk drive, disassemble it, and give it the sledge hammer treatment. I just don't have the time to get them running again, and write the erase patterns to every track and sector.
Maybe if there's ever a good, transparent, drive-level PGP available, I'll rethink this strategy, but until then, I put on the safety glasses and hammer away, after opening the drive case to expose the platters.
Here's a sugesstion to drive manufacturers--make a convention where if certain pins on the IDE connector are jumpered together, and the drive powered up, it will do a low-level format automatically. Then I might choose to erase the disks, so long as I didn't have to hook them up to a computer and run a program.
A hilarious must-read for those who followed the:CueCat debacle (and for those of us who worked there)."
The people--from the CEOs to the Unix sysadmins--who worked for dot-coms with phony business plans should ALL take responsibility for the current sorry state of the economy.
No, I'm a Windows XP guy! Plug-and-Play, that's what I always say.
What was interesting about Graffiti was that ORDINARY NON-GEEK PEOPLE--people in Marketing, HR, Management--didn't mind learning Graffiti. This was contrary to everyone's expectation, including mine.
I have the book "Defying Gravity" about the Newton team. (NO, I didn't buy it, Apple gave it to me, along with a newton.)
The saddest thing in the story is that some poor soul on the Newton team, stressed to the limits, committed suicide! These people were told that they were going to make the world a better place, and if they screwed up, the world will suffer. Apparently, some really believed the bull, and (almost) literally, "drank the cool-aid" albeit with a pistol.
Palm's use of Graffiti was one of the most interesting marketing decisions ever made!
Apple thought it was so important to have real handwrighting recognition in the Newton, for example, that it was willing to adopt the technology before it was ready. Conventional wisdom said that ordinary users wouldn't want to learn a funny way of writing.
Boy was Conventional Wisdom wrong! It was FUN to learn grafitti. When I first got my Palm, I couldn't wait to learn it, so I can be "in the club" like everyone else. I ran their practice app, and got good at it within an hour.
Jot's probably not too different; maybe they can put in a "Graffity Compatibility mode" now that Palm's paying the royalties.
...and go out of business? It's just a matter of time.
I must admit, I have a soft-spot for SCO. Long before the dotcom boom, they had a hot tub, and a lax dress code. I remember visiting their offices when I worked at Olivetti, and saw employees walking naked down the hallway on their way to/from the redwood hottub.
...will be spread in JPEGs, GIFs, PDFs,.txt files, etc.
I don't think anyone has spent too much time looking for buffer overflows in the most common decoders for these filetypes; and I'm sure they exist.
As soon as someone figures out how to the Microsoft's LZW decompressor to overrrun its stack, or how to get a stack corruption in Adobe's Acrobat reader, it will be possible to spread viruses easily, becuase most people aren't afraid to open.GIF or.PDF files.
Have we run out of links on the Internet? We really have to post links to half-finished websites? I was expecting to see that animated gif of the jackhammer and the "under construction sign."
It is because Linux admins, although slightly more expensive, can handle a significantly larger number of systems than their Windows counterparts."
It makes you wonder if companies paid more money for Windows admins, instead of hiring the cheapest H1-B imports they can find, would they find that their Windows admins could handle a larger # of systems.
On a real piano, you don't "feel the hammers hitting the strings". There's an "escapement mechanism" that releases the hammer before it hits the strings. There's no mechanical linkage between key and hammer at the actual moment of impact. Inertia carries it there.
Harder hit doesn't mean more sound. FASTER hit does. This is how a concert pianist can play for hours without killing his hands and wrists. Want more sound? Lift your fingers higher so they press the keys faster.
A synth is not a piano. It's an instument--usually contolled by a keyboard--that can produce a wide range of sounds.
I cannot perform on a fake piano. It has to be real. No "good keyboard player" has ever learned to play on anything but a real piano. At least none that I ever met.
In fact, I want to know if my liquor store clerk has ever been charged with littering. I want to know if the guy making my lunch likes to wear women's underwear. It's my right to be fully informed, isn't it?
Being CONVICTED of a crime is public information. (Like it or not.)
Being CHARGED with a crime (littering in your example) isn't. You're not guilty until convicted. So no, you won't have a right to know.
I believe it's legal in most states to wear Women's Underwear. Again, you don't have a right to inspect your lunchman's underwear without his consent.
But what if the guy you hired to paint your house was a convicted con-artist? Wouldn't you want to know?
I just wanted to let potential readers know--so that they can make an informed decision.
I submitted a legit review, which ended with the sentence: "Note: The author is an admitted, and conviced pedophile." (And I gave a link to a CNN story)
Nowhere did I tell people not to buy the book. I just wanted them to be fully informed.
Amazon rejected my review of Patrick Naughton's book about programming in Java
Why? Because I thought it was important for potential buyers to know that this book was written by an admitted, convicted pedophile. I thought that some buyers would want to know this.
Apparently, Jeff Bezos loves pedophiles (he's a pedophile-phile) because he rejected the review three times. I gave up after that.
His phonograph! (I'd guess that most readers of Mad are adults.)
I've seen a revival of portable phonographs. A few stores here are carrying $100-$200 portable stereo phonographs this season as a "nostalgia" item. I suppose goyim like to set these around their tree, playing Grandma's old vinyl as the old Lionel train runs in circles.
Maybe it's time to find a way to manufacture really cheap phonographs to reintroduce vinyl to kids.
I was working at Adobe Sytstems on Photoshop when OS2 Warp came out. OS2 users were like a "crazy cult" that we didn't want to deal with.
For a number of reasons, Photoshop didn't run on OS/2. The OS/2 community accused us of conspiring with Microsoft (!) to purposely make Photoshop incompatible with OS/2.
Technical note: One of the reasons was OS/2 "FindResource" API wasn't compatible with Microsoft's. And IBM kept telling its users to complain to us, instead of fixing it.
If you want the gory details, search google os2 groups for "microsoft conspiracy".
Slashdot Mirror
...until my employer made me work with Java visionary and author Patrick Naughton. Now I don't want anything to do with it.
However, I *always* remove the hard disk drive, disassemble it, and give it the sledge hammer treatment. I just don't have the time to get them running again, and write the erase patterns to every track and sector.
Maybe if there's ever a good, transparent, drive-level PGP available, I'll rethink this strategy, but until then, I put on the safety glasses and hammer away, after opening the drive case to expose the platters.
Here's a sugesstion to drive manufacturers--make a convention where if certain pins on the IDE connector are jumpered together, and the drive powered up, it will do a low-level format automatically. Then I might choose to erase the disks, so long as I didn't have to hook them up to a computer and run a program.
The people--from the CEOs to the Unix sysadmins--who worked for dot-coms with phony business plans should ALL take responsibility for the current sorry state of the economy.
What was interesting about Graffiti was that ORDINARY NON-GEEK PEOPLE--people in Marketing, HR, Management--didn't mind learning Graffiti. This was contrary to everyone's expectation, including mine.
The saddest thing in the story is that some poor soul on the Newton team, stressed to the limits, committed suicide! These people were told that they were going to make the world a better place, and if they screwed up, the world will suffer. Apparently, some really believed the bull, and (almost) literally, "drank the cool-aid" albeit with a pistol.
Apple thought it was so important to have real handwrighting recognition in the Newton, for example, that it was willing to adopt the technology before it was ready. Conventional wisdom said that ordinary users wouldn't want to learn a funny way of writing.
Boy was Conventional Wisdom wrong! It was FUN to learn grafitti. When I first got my Palm, I couldn't wait to learn it, so I can be "in the club" like everyone else. I ran their practice app, and got good at it within an hour.
Jot's probably not too different; maybe they can put in a "Graffity Compatibility mode" now that Palm's paying the royalties.
I must admit, I have a soft-spot for SCO. Long before the dotcom boom, they had a hot tub, and a lax dress code. I remember visiting their offices when I worked at Olivetti, and saw employees walking naked down the hallway on their way to/from the redwood hottub.
I don't think anyone has spent too much time looking for buffer overflows in the most common decoders for these filetypes; and I'm sure they exist.
As soon as someone figures out how to the Microsoft's LZW decompressor to overrrun its stack, or how to get a stack corruption in Adobe's Acrobat reader, it will be possible to spread viruses easily, becuase most people aren't afraid to open .GIF or .PDF files.
Here's something really cool--a 3D webcam!
It makes you wonder if companies paid more money for Windows admins, instead of hiring the cheapest H1-B imports they can find, would they find that their Windows admins could handle a larger # of systems.
Otherwise it matters!
Besides, I thought the /. party line was that school is irrelevant. Or did that notion die with the dotcoms?
BZZZZZZZZZZZZT!
The Stanford Theatre still shows nitrate films. Of course, they had to get a specially designed projection booth and a fire permit.
What you're referring to is a "Digital Piano," which is specifically made to emulate a piano.
- On a real piano, you don't "feel the hammers hitting the strings". There's an "escapement mechanism" that releases the hammer before it hits the strings. There's no mechanical linkage between key and hammer at the actual moment of impact. Inertia carries it there.
- Harder hit doesn't mean more sound. FASTER hit does. This is how a concert pianist can play for hours without killing his hands and wrists. Want more sound? Lift your fingers higher so they press the keys faster.
- A synth is not a piano. It's an instument--usually contolled by a keyboard--that can produce a wide range of sounds.
I cannot perform on a fake piano. It has to be real. No "good keyboard player" has ever learned to play on anything but a real piano. At least none that I ever met.This is one of the best points in this whole thread, even though I think you sound a little wacky.
I want to know! Mickey needs to be free.
He was my boss for a while, and the biggest asshole I ever met.
Being CONVICTED of a crime is public information. (Like it or not.)
Being CHARGED with a crime (littering in your example) isn't. You're not guilty until convicted. So no, you won't have a right to know.
I believe it's legal in most states to wear Women's Underwear. Again, you don't have a right to inspect your lunchman's underwear without his consent.
But what if the guy you hired to paint your house was a convicted con-artist? Wouldn't you want to know?
I just wanted to let potential readers know--so that they can make an informed decision.
I submitted a legit review, which ended with the sentence: "Note: The author is an admitted, and conviced pedophile." (And I gave a link to a CNN story)
Nowhere did I tell people not to buy the book. I just wanted them to be fully informed.
Why? Because I thought it was important for potential buyers to know that this book was written by an admitted, convicted pedophile. I thought that some buyers would want to know this.
Apparently, Jeff Bezos loves pedophiles (he's a pedophile-phile) because he rejected the review three times. I gave up after that.
...by revewing books on Amazon that I never read! I suspect I'm not the only one.
I've seen a revival of portable phonographs. A few stores here are carrying $100-$200 portable stereo phonographs this season as a "nostalgia" item. I suppose goyim like to set these around their tree, playing Grandma's old vinyl as the old Lionel train runs in circles.
Maybe it's time to find a way to manufacture really cheap phonographs to reintroduce vinyl to kids.
I used to love when a _Mad Magazine_ or _National Geographic_ came with an Evatone Soundsheet. It would be great to see those again.
For a number of reasons, Photoshop didn't run on OS/2. The OS/2 community accused us of conspiring with Microsoft (!) to purposely make Photoshop incompatible with OS/2.
Technical note: One of the reasons was OS/2 "FindResource" API wasn't compatible with Microsoft's. And IBM kept telling its users to complain to us, instead of fixing it.
If you want the gory details, search google os2 groups for "microsoft conspiracy".