Does that not make it seem that Office "is" a standard?
They key word missing here is open. The MS Office Word document format is not open - it is very difficult to impliment (you have to reverse engineer it) in external software. Their new XML format - while more easy to parse (being a plain text format) is stymied by a patent on the format! 'Standards' that are not open are not standards an outside developer can easily adopt.
Furthermore, throughout the MS Word lifecycle their so-called 'standards' have changed on a consistent basis. The effect of this has been to force users to upgrade. What motivation could a company have for not maintaining backwards compatibility with their previous 'standards'? They will say they wanted to bring new features to end users; nonetheless that can be accomplished without breaking previous standards - their actions only serving to lock-in users, and keep the competition out.
I honestly think we're better off trying to find a way to get Microsoft to give developers the information they need to develop software based on the Microsoft standard.
Developers have tried working with Microsoft for many years, but the steep cost of entry, the barriers to complete understanding, constantly changing APIs and standards, and the direct competition of Microsoft with those same developers - make it difficult for proprietary developers and nearly impossible for hobbyists and other FOSS developers working on a shoestring to use Microsoft standards. After I delved into that world for several years - I quickly realized they were trying to sell me snake oil using smoke and mirrors..NET is just another iteration of this practice. Luckily for me Linux and the gamut of free and open source software came along - giving me a choice I didn't have before.
I suggest that you PROMOTE discussion forums, chat rooms, etc, as a way to teach typing skills, free thought, and creative writing.
Typing skills, perhaps. Free thought (whatever that is), maybe. Creative writing - never.
Good writing (creative or otherwise) is a process that is far removed from the quick, off the cuff ramblings that pass for content on discussion boards and messaging systems. While it may provide some useful information, these venues do not lead to better writers or better writing (as evidenced by the/. 'content').
If you are really worried about it - write your own license based on the GPL version you like - and strike all the verbiage you don't.
For instance, you could call it "MyPL" (My Public License) - and drive on.
Only you are responsible for the consequences of your actions - you can choose to license *your* software any way you think is appropriate, regardless of whether RMS likes it or not.
I saw one report from the Sheriff of Jefferson Parish - who said he has closed off all the roads into the parish from New Orleans - and has armed and deputized 100 more deputies to hold it. He said if anyone tries to break through the road block will be shot.
On the other hand, the Mayor of New Orleans told the people sheltering under the bridge leading to that parish - to go ahead and walk out accross the bridge to the West side of the Mississippi River into that same area to seek help. This is a disaster waiting to happen.
People need to let go of the fear, and work together with their neighbors to restore order - instead of lumping everyone together in one category - 'us' versus 'them'.
Hindsite is 20/20 - but the worse mistake the government down there made was telling everyone to go to the Superdome. Instead, the Mayor's office in consultation with FEMA should have looked at a contour map of the city, determined where the 'dry' parts would be - and set up shelters in those areas. This would have diffused the situation - and allowed resources to be brought to bare more readily.
As it is, a difficult situation is made worse by poor planning, overwhelming the limited resources available.
The military needs to go in there and organize all the folks waiting at the dome into bus-sized 'sticks' - get them seperated, and assign one soldier per stick to be the liaison - who will stick with them through the whole process until they are on the buses to their new location. That person will be responsible for their group - for feeding, medical care, and other special needs. Assuming each bus holds 50 people, you will need 600 solders just to do that duty; this doesn't include medics, system support teams to provide food, water and other supplies. I would say at a minimum a full battalion (800+ soldiers) to manage the whole process.
If I was a FEMA rep or one of the military commanders I would have been thinking about this - because that location is now the flashpoint for much of the lawlessness being seen in the city now. The report that FEMA didn't know about the throngs at the Superdome may seem specious at first glance - but understand this, they were probably under the assumption that of the '20,000' originally reported at the Superdome immediately after the hurricane, 11,000+ are already at the Astrodome in Houston, and many more on buses enroute - 'Problem Solved'. The breakdown came when the New Orleans government put out the word for refugees to 'come to the Superdome' - Big Mistake! as I mentioned above. Knowing the conditions at the Superdome, the government should have told the populace to go anywhere *but* the Superdome. Now, the population of the Superdome has swelled to 30,000 by some estimates - no wonder things deteriorated and people are dieing.
Marshal law has been declared in the city, the military commanders need to gain control of the situation with an iron fist - sooner rather than later.
OSDL should be wary. The question needs to be asked, why is Microsoft approaching OSDL to partner on this now - when they were bashing Linux and FOSS in general as "communistic"?
Given Microsoft's track record the phrase "embrace, extend, destroy" comes to mind.
I read another article regarding this syndrome, and it mentioned that someone with Aspberger's while they may have a large vocabulary, they do not understand completely what they are communicating (more like parroting what they have heard or read).
That right there provides a key element for diagnosis (I'm just a geek, apparently).
I have to wonder about a great deal of you folks though...
When I went to the university you had two options:
1.) CS degree (both hardware and software branches of this possible) 2.) MIS degree
The MIS degree was light on science/math and focused on information technology (probably equivalent to what you would get from ITT Tech). A "Specialist" - who could build a basic system using existing tools. (I think quite a few of these folks went on to become CIOs)
The CS degree, on the other hand, included everything needed to become a well rounded computer and network technologist. A "Jack-of-all-Trades" - who could not only build a basic system, but could build new tools (hardware/software) - also understanding the issues surrounding the architecture of the machines and network - and could integrate various systems when needed. (Quite a few of these went on to become network architects, system development gurus and the like)
Interestingly, the very folks least capable of making decisions regarding information technology and networks are the very same folks who seemed to have gravitated to those positions (I think the gurus were too busy actually getting interesting work done).
...there is no need for the Linux-ers to bash the MS-ers and vice versa...
I don't see bashing as much as people challenging each other's preconceived notions. Sometimes (many times) the only way to get new insight is to shake up the status quo.
Taken in that light it is not a bad thing at all - and what makes this a teeming blatherfest at times - yet gems come out of that from time to time. I don't think we would have the gems without the blather.
Does it need to be Tempest certified? I can't believe Dell makes Tempest gear.
I guess it depends on how secret the secrets on it will be:
Secret Top Secret Top Secret SCI...
Someone on post should be designated as the classified document security manager (probably the guy that inspects your safes and removes and destroys outdated classified information periodically) - I advise asking him to point you to the appropriate regulations. If anyone should know - he should know.
I would go by the reg before I take any advice from this crowd.
My CS program required both a computer architecture as well as a logic design class - which got your feet wet in hardware - if you were on the programming side of the house. We also did assembly language programming which required knowledge of the hardware.
The CS program also had a hardware path that included hardcore EE requirements.
I think it all depends upon the school you go to and their concept of what computer science is.
This was in the 80's/90's - so it might have changed by now - and it is important to note that the PHD in charge of the CS department got his degree at MIT - and there were several professors who also were MIT grads - which probably colored their approach.
Ideally a developer needs to understand how his project interacts with the following:
1. Computers (various brands and their capabilities - or do we build our own, do we build from parts?) 2. Networks and the various protocols (layers, properties, hardware and various products provided for high bandwidth communication by telecom) 3. Storage (both database types and physical devices - sql, ldap, raid, NAS etc.) 4. System Administration/Operations (how does the project fit into current operations - interactions? Who will administer the machines and what will be the limits of their responsibilities; do they need training?)
This is all in addition to the normal skills surrounding the software and software development process itself (the users, their training needs, and their expectations regarding the functionality and evolution of the software over time, change management/control, tools, software design choices (algorithms, datastructures, client/server vs. stand alone).
In no way is this exhaustive. Schools are not going to provide all of this capability - even though they should.
I've got a solution that will solve your problem: take all the 20 dollar bills taped to your computer, and mail them to me (I need a half height rack for my servers).
I took the very first computer science class at my highschool in 1981.
Back then we actually learned programming languages (basic and fortran) and got a good start on the basics of program development (flow charts were de rigueur).
In my class of approximately 350 there were about 15 of us who took that course - and of that 15 I would guess there are only about 5 of us who made computers their life's work.
I talked my parents into getting me a personal computer for Christmas that year (it was a TI 99A) - and I continued my personal development/exploration after class. In college I saved my pennies and got a laptop (I was also working at the time, and living off of grants, loans, and credit cards) - this was around 1987 - so I was one of the only people using a laptop in the school. I've had a computer in one form or another ever since.
My daughter just graduated from highschool this summer. She never went to a school that provided computers; nevertheless we did make sure she had a desktop system of her own at home. She used it to build her own website, and taught herself XHTML and CSS without any prompting from us.
Interestingly they do not teach programming in the school system here. My daughter took some computer classes - which were basically how to use Microsoft products (Excel, Word) and how to use the web to find resources. She took a computer hardware class that was a combination electronics and system admin type class: they learned how to put together and take apart computers from parts, and how to load an operating system (both Windows and Linux). Their final project was putting together a simple electronic device (they had to solder the parts on a circuit board and have it function - we had a whole class devoted to electronics (electronics shop) which I took when I was in school).
I guess my concern is that 'computer' class doesn't teach the same things it once did - in many ways it is dumbed down. Putting computers in the hands of the students is not going to help them if we are not teaching them more computer science than how to use Microsoft Word. Coupled with the emphasis put on teaching to the TAS test (No Child Left Behind - or as I like to call it, No Child Allowed To Excel - law) our children have less options than we had, which most parents don't have the wherewithal to address at home.
So the problem runs deeper than merely the limitations of the computers provided - there must be appropriate curriculum to help children who have a computer science aptitude find their calling. This is troubling when you consider the drop in computer science graduates at universities coupled with the outsourcing of computer development jobs outside of the United States. The real important question becomes, are we shooting ourselves in the technological foot by dumbing down our primary school curriculum in this area?
You may need windows to play games designed to run on Windows though.
Not necessarily. The vast majority of game binaries can be run under WINE in the Linux OS on an x86 architecture machine (presumably what you would be running Windows on). WINE essentially provides the plumbing to allow a DOS/Windows binary to load into RAM and run under Linux. WINE is a recursive acronym that stands for Wine Is Not an Emulator - hence why you must run it on an x86 architecture machine (Intel/AMD).
I propose we set up a 3rd camp called Baz Camp for those who don't cut the mustard with the Bar Camp cognoscenti.
Here is the agenda for the first meeting:
1. Keynote Speech: Why Foo and Bar Camps are a Bunch of Ninnys : Tom O'Rielly
2. Publication in the Crossfire: People mistake me for Tim O'Reilly and How I Profit From their Mistake : Tom O'Rielly
4. Bar Camp Luminaries: Why are we Bozos? or What does it mean if we are rejected from Bar Camp? or Hey - What Happened to Event Number 3? : Bill Gates
5. Recursive Development Studio: Definition of the Bar Camp Bozo Filter - Getting to the Quux of the Matter : CowboyNeal
6. Closing Statements: Why the Three of us Matter - even though they think we're Bozos : Tom O'Rielly
HHOS and Grape Koolaid(tm) will be served at the end of the event.:P
Additionally, from an accounting standpoint, those 4 year old machines were probably already depreciated to $0 anyway (think about what the value of your 4 year old car is/will be...). IANAA*, but my understanding is office equipment depreciates after only 4 years of service (don't quote me on that).
From the county's perspective they are doing the taxpayers a favor rather than trashing the whole lot - which also might explain why the planning was minimal at best. As someone else mentioned - there were probably ways that the riot could have been avoided.
In 1981 I got my first computer - a TI 99a; I was taking a 'computer science' class in Highschool - they might have called it computer programming - can't recall atm. Anyway I learned Basic and Fortran from that course - and learned to do some basic sprite programming. (insert 4 years of military service) Near the end of my military service I bought my own Amiga 800XL - I was bent on getting back into computers - and also the Sublogic Flight Simulator worked on that box (I always wanted to be a pilot). A few years passed... (more military service in another branch concurrently with the next paragraph).
I can't recall how I found out about local BBSs - might have been through a publication at the college I was attending. I owned a laptop computer at the time (a Toshiba - I used it to take notes in class - as well as run MS Flight Simulator 4.0 - my major at the time was Aviation Technology) - and shortly acquired a 2500 baud modem. Initially the modem was used to download aviation weather reports (before the internet came along there was a dialup service you could use to get the latest aviation standard weather reports on any airport/area) - at least that is the reason I gave my wife about why I needed the modem. Shortly after I started using the modem I wanted to find new uses for it; and I didn't have the cash to fork out to a commercial service - like AOL - so naturally I gravitated toward the free BBS world.
Once I figured out how to download an offline reader and other software, then I poked around the Fidonet discussions - and figured out how to make a tagline file and get that working. At some point I found and downloaded the master list of BBSs in my area (I still have a few of these old lists from the BBS heyday). I picked several that I found interesting and frequented them (this way when my time was up on one, I'd jump onto another - all local calls).
Then I changed my major, and started taking computer science courses at the university - which was directly connected to the internet. Each class had its own registered usenet topic, and each student had our own email account - so I learned pine and elm - and quickly learned how to use other resources (gopher, ftp, telnet, et al). The university had a bank of modems so more and more I found myself logging into the university instead of the BBSs - for one thing I could go just about anywhere and find whatever I was interested in and partake in thousands of discussions - all in one pop, without time limits. With the advent of local internet service provided by the phone company, I opted for that so I could pull down HTTP (Mosaic browser was out - and shortly after that Netscape) - which I could not pull down via the university's connections.
In 1997 or so I got DSL and never looked back. Interestingly, I was hired in my current job by the sysop of one of the BBSs I frequented 'way back when' - without knowing it until years later. (small world)
So - I guess I could say I got my start in BBSs (although I had been using computers and modems before discovering them).
That being said, all of the documents I produce are saved as.rtf format. This way my coworkers can use MS Word to view it and manipulate the layout - while I get peace of mind that I will be able to recall the document regardless of what machine and software I am running 10 years from now.
My real desire is to get them to start using XML as the standard format (not the proprietary MS XML spec either), and to automate revision control and publication of the documents on the web.
Decisions about tools, lifecycle models, and thin vs. thick client are all best thought of in terms of the needs of the project and questions used to identify those basic needs:
1. How much can I expect to control the deployment environment? Not much - then I probably want to do my heavy crunching on the server (example is a banking application), otherwise I can get away with offloading a good chunk of processing (example is a video game). This can be anything from http browsers specifications, CPU speeds/throughput, expected memory limitations, peripheral devices differences (AGP vs PCI video adapters and specific types of adapters etc.), to other communications and security standards etc... (an endless list of things to consider - that you need to whittle down to something manageable based on your experience building applications)
2. How efficient must the code be? If I expect to be doing teraflops worth of processing - maybe I better write it in C and assembly code for the bottlenecks - maybe this needs to run on a high-end server. Otherwise, maybe I can use Python - maybe it will run fine on an old 386 with 32 mb ram.
3. What is my due date for the project? This will constrain the amount of complexity allowed and will impact the choice of tools and network and lifecycle models. To paraphrase a common observance, "Have it fast, have it good, have it cheap - pick any two"
In a perfect world we would be able to ask these questions and be on our way. Of course politics and business practices play a big role in limiting what we can do and how we can do it.
In my mind there is no one right way to do every project - and I recognize what works for me might not work for someone else.
I can not think of one instance when the increase in bandwidth of various communications technologies lead to the end of the need for more increases in bandwidth.
Technological innovations to increase bandwidth are always followed by other technological innovations to use that bandwidth.
As a result periods of plenty will quickly be followed by periods of scarcity - and thus the FCC will need to intervene on behalf of the public.
Option 1: Run OSX on a high-end Motorola based RISC machine with all the hardware bells and whistles seamlessly integrated with all Apple products.
Option 2: Run OSX on a whitebox without all the tight integration for less. You'll get OSX - but it might not be able to do everything as easily (integrate with non-standard peripheral devices etc.) Of course, OSX will certainly be more integrated than current alternatives that require Unix system administration skills (Linux, FreeBSD etc.)
The traditional market for Apple hardware will continue unabated because these are the folks who don't want to hassle with integration - they want to buy a toaster that does everything they need and connects to all the other high-end toasterettes - and Apple is the only manufacturer that satisfies that need.
Finally, while Apple might not make a lot of money on the whitebox option, they will put a very large dent in Microsoft's market share - people who would then be more likely to upgrade to a 'genuine' Apple.
Either way - it is win-win for Apple and Steve Jobs.
Slashdot Mirror
That is why I wear rubber boots, electrician's gloves, and a rubber apron whenever I work on PCs. I also keep one hand in my pocket at all times...
Using this technique I've never blown any electrical gear or become part of the electrical circuit. Of course, my mean time to repair sux...
Pick up the slack? How can you pick up the slack on something that was all slack to begin with?
Does that not make it seem that Office "is" a standard?
.NET is just another iteration of this practice. Luckily for me Linux and the gamut of free and open source software came along - giving me a choice I didn't have before.
They key word missing here is open. The MS Office Word document format is not open - it is very difficult to impliment (you have to reverse engineer it) in external software. Their new XML format - while more easy to parse (being a plain text format) is stymied by a patent on the format! 'Standards' that are not open are not standards an outside developer can easily adopt.
Furthermore, throughout the MS Word lifecycle their so-called 'standards' have changed on a consistent basis. The effect of this has been to force users to upgrade. What motivation could a company have for not maintaining backwards compatibility with their previous 'standards'? They will say they wanted to bring new features to end users; nonetheless that can be accomplished without breaking previous standards - their actions only serving to lock-in users, and keep the competition out.
I honestly think we're better off trying to find a way to get Microsoft to give developers the information they need to develop software based on the Microsoft standard.
Developers have tried working with Microsoft for many years, but the steep cost of entry, the barriers to complete understanding, constantly changing APIs and standards, and the direct competition of Microsoft with those same developers - make it difficult for proprietary developers and nearly impossible for hobbyists and other FOSS developers working on a shoestring to use Microsoft standards. After I delved into that world for several years - I quickly realized they were trying to sell me snake oil using smoke and mirrors.
I suggest that you PROMOTE discussion forums, chat rooms, etc, as a way to teach typing skills, free thought, and creative writing.
/. 'content').
Typing skills, perhaps. Free thought (whatever that is), maybe. Creative writing - never.
Good writing (creative or otherwise) is a process that is far removed from the quick, off the cuff ramblings that pass for content on discussion boards and messaging systems. While it may provide some useful information, these venues do not lead to better writers or better writing (as evidenced by the
If you are really worried about it - write your own license based on the GPL version you like - and strike all the verbiage you don't.
For instance, you could call it "MyPL" (My Public License) - and drive on.
Only you are responsible for the consequences of your actions - you can choose to license *your* software any way you think is appropriate, regardless of whether RMS likes it or not.
I don't see what the big deal is.
I saw one report from the Sheriff of Jefferson Parish - who said he has closed off all the roads into the parish from New Orleans - and has armed and deputized 100 more deputies to hold it. He said if anyone tries to break through the road block will be shot.
On the other hand, the Mayor of New Orleans told the people sheltering under the bridge leading to that parish - to go ahead and walk out accross the bridge to the West side of the Mississippi River into that same area to seek help. This is a disaster waiting to happen.
People need to let go of the fear, and work together with their neighbors to restore order - instead of lumping everyone together in one category - 'us' versus 'them'.
Hindsite is 20/20 - but the worse mistake the government down there made was telling everyone to go to the Superdome. Instead, the Mayor's office in consultation with FEMA should have looked at a contour map of the city, determined where the 'dry' parts would be - and set up shelters in those areas. This would have diffused the situation - and allowed resources to be brought to bare more readily.
As it is, a difficult situation is made worse by poor planning, overwhelming the limited resources available.
The military needs to go in there and organize all the folks waiting at the dome into bus-sized 'sticks' - get them seperated, and assign one soldier per stick to be the liaison - who will stick with them through the whole process until they are on the buses to their new location. That person will be responsible for their group - for feeding, medical care, and other special needs. Assuming each bus holds 50 people, you will need 600 solders just to do that duty; this doesn't include medics, system support teams to provide food, water and other supplies. I would say at a minimum a full battalion (800+ soldiers) to manage the whole process.
If I was a FEMA rep or one of the military commanders I would have been thinking about this - because that location is now the flashpoint for much of the lawlessness being seen in the city now. The report that FEMA didn't know about the throngs at the Superdome may seem specious at first glance - but understand this, they were probably under the assumption that of the '20,000' originally reported at the Superdome immediately after the hurricane, 11,000+ are already at the Astrodome in Houston, and many more on buses enroute - 'Problem Solved'. The breakdown came when the New Orleans government put out the word for refugees to 'come to the Superdome' - Big Mistake! as I mentioned above. Knowing the conditions at the Superdome, the government should have told the populace to go anywhere *but* the Superdome. Now, the population of the Superdome has swelled to 30,000 by some estimates - no wonder things deteriorated and people are dieing.
Marshal law has been declared in the city, the military commanders need to gain control of the situation with an iron fist - sooner rather than later.
OSDL should be wary. The question needs to be asked, why is Microsoft approaching OSDL to partner on this now - when they were bashing Linux and FOSS in general as "communistic"?
Given Microsoft's track record the phrase "embrace, extend, destroy" comes to mind.
I read another article regarding this syndrome, and it mentioned that someone with Aspberger's while they may have a large vocabulary, they do not understand completely what they are communicating (more like parroting what they have heard or read).
That right there provides a key element for diagnosis (I'm just a geek, apparently).
I have to wonder about a great deal of you folks though...
When I went to the university you had two options:
1.) CS degree (both hardware and software branches of this possible)
2.) MIS degree
The MIS degree was light on science/math and focused on information technology (probably equivalent to what you would get from ITT Tech). A "Specialist" - who could build a basic system using existing tools. (I think quite a few of these folks went on to become CIOs)
The CS degree, on the other hand, included everything needed to become a well rounded computer and network technologist. A "Jack-of-all-Trades" - who could not only build a basic system, but could build new tools (hardware/software) - also understanding the issues surrounding the architecture of the machines and network - and could integrate various systems when needed. (Quite a few of these went on to become network architects, system development gurus and the like)
Interestingly, the very folks least capable of making decisions regarding information technology and networks are the very same folks who seemed to have gravitated to those positions (I think the gurus were too busy actually getting interesting work done).
...there is no need for the Linux-ers to bash the MS-ers and vice versa...
I don't see bashing as much as people challenging each other's preconceived notions. Sometimes (many times) the only way to get new insight is to shake up the status quo.
Taken in that light it is not a bad thing at all - and what makes this a teeming blatherfest at times - yet gems come out of that from time to time. I don't think we would have the gems without the blather.
Does it need to be Tempest certified? I can't believe Dell makes Tempest gear.
...
I guess it depends on how secret the secrets on it will be:
Secret
Top Secret
Top Secret SCI
Someone on post should be designated as the classified document security manager (probably the guy that inspects your safes and removes and destroys outdated classified information periodically) - I advise asking him to point you to the appropriate regulations. If anyone should know - he should know.
I would go by the reg before I take any advice from this crowd.
My CS program required both a computer architecture as well as a logic design class - which got your feet wet in hardware - if you were on the programming side of the house. We also did assembly language programming which required knowledge of the hardware.
The CS program also had a hardware path that included hardcore EE requirements.
I think it all depends upon the school you go to and their concept of what computer science is.
This was in the 80's/90's - so it might have changed by now - and it is important to note that the PHD in charge of the CS department got his degree at MIT - and there were several professors who also were MIT grads - which probably colored their approach.
Ideally a developer needs to understand how his project interacts with the following:
1. Computers (various brands and their capabilities - or do we build our own, do we build from parts?)
2. Networks and the various protocols (layers, properties, hardware and various products provided for high bandwidth communication by telecom)
3. Storage (both database types and physical devices - sql, ldap, raid, NAS etc.)
4. System Administration/Operations (how does the project fit into current operations - interactions? Who will administer the machines and what will be the limits of their responsibilities; do they need training?)
This is all in addition to the normal skills surrounding the software and software development process itself (the users, their training needs, and their expectations regarding the functionality and evolution of the software over time, change management/control, tools, software design choices (algorithms, datastructures, client/server vs. stand alone).
In no way is this exhaustive. Schools are not going to provide all of this capability - even though they should.
I've got a solution that will solve your problem: take all the 20 dollar bills taped to your computer, and mail them to me (I need a half height rack for my servers).
I took the very first computer science class at my highschool in 1981.
Back then we actually learned programming languages (basic and fortran) and got a good start on the basics of program development (flow charts were de rigueur).
In my class of approximately 350 there were about 15 of us who took that course - and of that 15 I would guess there are only about 5 of us who made computers their life's work.
I talked my parents into getting me a personal computer for Christmas that year (it was a TI 99A) - and I continued my personal development/exploration after class. In college I saved my pennies and got a laptop (I was also working at the time, and living off of grants, loans, and credit cards) - this was around 1987 - so I was one of the only people using a laptop in the school. I've had a computer in one form or another ever since.
My daughter just graduated from highschool this summer. She never went to a school that provided computers; nevertheless we did make sure she had a desktop system of her own at home. She used it to build her own website, and taught herself XHTML and CSS without any prompting from us.
Interestingly they do not teach programming in the school system here. My daughter took some computer classes - which were basically how to use Microsoft products (Excel, Word) and how to use the web to find resources. She took a computer hardware class that was a combination electronics and system admin type class: they learned how to put together and take apart computers from parts, and how to load an operating system (both Windows and Linux). Their final project was putting together a simple electronic device (they had to solder the parts on a circuit board and have it function - we had a whole class devoted to electronics (electronics shop) which I took when I was in school).
I guess my concern is that 'computer' class doesn't teach the same things it once did - in many ways it is dumbed down. Putting computers in the hands of the students is not going to help them if we are not teaching them more computer science than how to use Microsoft Word. Coupled with the emphasis put on teaching to the TAS test (No Child Left Behind - or as I like to call it, No Child Allowed To Excel - law) our children have less options than we had, which most parents don't have the wherewithal to address at home.
So the problem runs deeper than merely the limitations of the computers provided - there must be appropriate curriculum to help children who have a computer science aptitude find their calling. This is troubling when you consider the drop in computer science graduates at universities coupled with the outsourcing of computer development jobs outside of the United States. The real important question becomes, are we shooting ourselves in the technological foot by dumbing down our primary school curriculum in this area?
You could build and maintain your own distro - then you control upgrading it so you don't run into these problems.
At least with Linux you have options. When using Windows you are stuck with whatever Redmond thinks you should have.
...until these games are ported to Linux or Xbox or PS2 there just won't be a better medium to play them on.
Hence, "necessary evil"
Wrong. I know for a fact WOW plays on Linux with WINE (among a galaxy of other games). You, sir, are misinformed.
It is an unnecessary evil you are settling for.
You may need windows to play games designed to run on Windows though.
Not necessarily. The vast majority of game binaries can be run under WINE in the Linux OS on an x86 architecture machine (presumably what you would be running Windows on). WINE essentially provides the plumbing to allow a DOS/Windows binary to load into RAM and run under Linux. WINE is a recursive acronym that stands for Wine Is Not an Emulator - hence why you must run it on an x86 architecture machine (Intel/AMD).
There is an open source tool called Password Gorilla that can help you keep track of your passwords...
I propose we set up a 3rd camp called Baz Camp for those who don't cut the mustard with the Bar Camp cognoscenti.
:P
Here is the agenda for the first meeting:
1. Keynote Speech: Why Foo and Bar Camps are a Bunch of Ninnys : Tom O'Rielly
2. Publication in the Crossfire: People mistake me for Tim O'Reilly and How I Profit From their Mistake : Tom O'Rielly
4. Bar Camp Luminaries: Why are we Bozos? or What does it mean if we are rejected from Bar Camp? or Hey - What Happened to Event Number 3? : Bill Gates
5. Recursive Development Studio: Definition of the Bar Camp Bozo Filter - Getting to the Quux of the Matter : CowboyNeal
6. Closing Statements: Why the Three of us Matter - even though they think we're Bozos : Tom O'Rielly
HHOS and Grape Koolaid(tm) will be served at the end of the event.
Additionally, from an accounting standpoint, those 4 year old machines were probably already depreciated to $0 anyway (think about what the value of your 4 year old car is/will be...). IANAA*, but my understanding is office equipment depreciates after only 4 years of service (don't quote me on that).
From the county's perspective they are doing the taxpayers a favor rather than trashing the whole lot - which also might explain why the planning was minimal at best. As someone else mentioned - there were probably ways that the riot could have been avoided.
*I am not an accountant.
In 1981 I got my first computer - a TI 99a; I was taking a 'computer science' class in Highschool - they might have called it computer programming - can't recall atm. Anyway I learned Basic and Fortran from that course - and learned to do some basic sprite programming. (insert 4 years of military service) Near the end of my military service I bought my own Amiga 800XL - I was bent on getting back into computers - and also the Sublogic Flight Simulator worked on that box (I always wanted to be a pilot). A few years passed... (more military service in another branch concurrently with the next paragraph).
I can't recall how I found out about local BBSs - might have been through a publication at the college I was attending. I owned a laptop computer at the time (a Toshiba - I used it to take notes in class - as well as run MS Flight Simulator 4.0 - my major at the time was Aviation Technology) - and shortly acquired a 2500 baud modem. Initially the modem was used to download aviation weather reports (before the internet came along there was a dialup service you could use to get the latest aviation standard weather reports on any airport/area) - at least that is the reason I gave my wife about why I needed the modem. Shortly after I started using the modem I wanted to find new uses for it; and I didn't have the cash to fork out to a commercial service - like AOL - so naturally I gravitated toward the free BBS world.
Once I figured out how to download an offline reader and other software, then I poked around the Fidonet discussions - and figured out how to make a tagline file and get that working. At some point I found and downloaded the master list of BBSs in my area (I still have a few of these old lists from the BBS heyday). I picked several that I found interesting and frequented them (this way when my time was up on one, I'd jump onto another - all local calls).
Then I changed my major, and started taking computer science courses at the university - which was directly connected to the internet. Each class had its own registered usenet topic, and each student had our own email account - so I learned pine and elm - and quickly learned how to use other resources (gopher, ftp, telnet, et al). The university had a bank of modems so more and more I found myself logging into the university instead of the BBSs - for one thing I could go just about anywhere and find whatever I was interested in and partake in thousands of discussions - all in one pop, without time limits. With the advent of local internet service provided by the phone company, I opted for that so I could pull down HTTP (Mosaic browser was out - and shortly after that Netscape) - which I could not pull down via the university's connections.
In 1997 or so I got DSL and never looked back. Interestingly, I was hired in my current job by the sysop of one of the BBSs I frequented 'way back when' - without knowing it until years later. (small world)
So - I guess I could say I got my start in BBSs (although I had been using computers and modems before discovering them).
My corporate machine has Microsoft Office.
.rtf format. This way my coworkers can use MS Word to view it and manipulate the layout - while I get peace of mind that I will be able to recall the document regardless of what machine and software I am running 10 years from now.
That being said, all of the documents I produce are saved as
My real desire is to get them to start using XML as the standard format (not the proprietary MS XML spec either), and to automate revision control and publication of the documents on the web.
Rome wasn't built in a day...
Decisions about tools, lifecycle models, and thin vs. thick client are all best thought of in terms of the needs of the project and questions used to identify those basic needs:
1. How much can I expect to control the deployment environment? Not much - then I probably want to do my heavy crunching on the server (example is a banking application), otherwise I can get away with offloading a good chunk of processing (example is a video game). This can be anything from http browsers specifications, CPU speeds/throughput, expected memory limitations, peripheral devices differences (AGP vs PCI video adapters and specific types of adapters etc.), to other communications and security standards etc... (an endless list of things to consider - that you need to whittle down to something manageable based on your experience building applications)
2. How efficient must the code be? If I expect to be doing teraflops worth of processing - maybe I better write it in C and assembly code for the bottlenecks - maybe this needs to run on a high-end server. Otherwise, maybe I can use Python - maybe it will run fine on an old 386 with 32 mb ram.
3. What is my due date for the project? This will constrain the amount of complexity allowed and will impact the choice of tools and network and lifecycle models. To paraphrase a common observance, "Have it fast, have it good, have it cheap - pick any two"
In a perfect world we would be able to ask these questions and be on our way. Of course politics and business practices play a big role in limiting what we can do and how we can do it.
In my mind there is no one right way to do every project - and I recognize what works for me might not work for someone else.
I can not think of one instance when the increase in bandwidth of various communications technologies lead to the end of the need for more increases in bandwidth.
Technological innovations to increase bandwidth are always followed by other technological innovations to use that bandwidth.
As a result periods of plenty will quickly be followed by periods of scarcity - and thus the FCC will need to intervene on behalf of the public.
Apple can differentiate the two product lines:
Option 1: Run OSX on a high-end Motorola based RISC machine with all the hardware bells and whistles seamlessly integrated with all Apple products.
Option 2: Run OSX on a whitebox without all the tight integration for less. You'll get OSX - but it might not be able to do everything as easily (integrate with non-standard peripheral devices etc.) Of course, OSX will certainly be more integrated than current alternatives that require Unix system administration skills (Linux, FreeBSD etc.)
The traditional market for Apple hardware will continue unabated because these are the folks who don't want to hassle with integration - they want to buy a toaster that does everything they need and connects to all the other high-end toasterettes - and Apple is the only manufacturer that satisfies that need.
Finally, while Apple might not make a lot of money on the whitebox option, they will put a very large dent in Microsoft's market share - people who would then be more likely to upgrade to a 'genuine' Apple.
Either way - it is win-win for Apple and Steve Jobs.