Because it's existing software, so there doesn't have to be any redevelopment?
Not the biggest issue in a developing country, but... because you need to use a certain piece of existing software, and you can't/don't want to rewrite it with full compatibility? (A bigger issue for closed source software with closed file formats, but... we're talking about Windows software here, so that's a likely situation.)
Doubtful that any made it into Win2k, unless it was running in an x86 emulator.
Win2k was beta-tested on Alpha (which had software x86 emulation on NT4) and Itanium (which had hardware x86 emulation in the Itanium 1,) both of which were non-x86.
WinXP 64-bit was available for Itanium 1, and WinXP 64-bit 2003 was available for Itanium 1 and I believe has support for Itanium 2 (which has software x86 emulation.) Win Server 2003 has support for Itanium 1 and 2.
Win Server 2008 (so same NT kernel as Vista) has suppoort for Itanium 1 and 2 as well.
And Windows 2000 was beta tested on Alpha and Itanium, and XP, Server 2003, and Server 2008 were released on Itanium.
Also, technically, x86-64 is a different architecture from IA-32, although not very much so, and XP and Vista have been released on it, and 7 is in beta on it.
If USB goes away... start collecting USB-equipped dumb terminals, as ethernet isn't going anywhere any time soon. Use them to VNC into your main computer, and just use it for the keyboard.
While I'm not a fan of their actions, they have every right to.
Let me put it this way. You're hosting an open block party in your house. Anyone's invited.
Then, there's a guy in the crowd yelling that you impregnated his wife. (Absurd, especially on this site, but bear with me.) And a bunch of other guys are yelling that, too.
You're going to kick them out, right? Whether it's true or not?
I only have one x86 box left with a floppy drive, but there are two situations where floppies are still useful.
1. Where an admin has disabled the ability for users to add hardware, there's no CD burner (or burning is disabled,) but there is a floppy drive. 2. Installing RAID drivers on XP or Server 2003.
(BIOS updates and such can usually be done with a bootable flash drive, so...)
Well, the Apple/// did have overheating problems, but it also had some artificial limitations imposed.
It actually had additional hardware installed to keep Apple II software (it was backwards compatible) from accessing more than 48k RAM, or the newer graphics modes, or more than 40 columns. Yeah.
(The reason for this was, they were trying to kill the Apple II. The problem was, the Apple II had a huge software base, and some of this software base had been developed to take advantage of third-party add-ons to add more RAM or 80 column modes - for that matter, there was a *FIRST*-party 16k RAM addon to take a 48k system to 64k. And, even though all those features were built into the/// hardware, they were disabled from the Apple II emulation mode, because Apple really didn't want people trying to use those features for Apple II software.)
"I think," said Ford in a tone of voice which Arthur by now recognized as one which presaged something utterly unintelligible, "that there's an SEP over there."
He pointed. Curiously enough, the direction he pointed in was not the one in which he was looking. Arthur looked in the one direction, which was towards the sight-screens, and in the other which was at the field of play. He nodded, he shrugged. He shrugged again.
"A what?" he said.
"An SEP."
"An S...?"
"... EP."
"And what's that?"
"Somebody Else's Problem."
"Ah, good," said Arthur and relaxed. He had no idea what all that was about, but at least it seemed to be over. It wasn't....
"An SEP," [Ford] said, "is something that we can't see, or don't see, or our brain doesn't let us see, because we think that it's somebody else's problem. That's what SEP means. Somebody Else's Problem. The brain just edits it out, it's like a blind spot. If you look at it directly you won't see it unless you know precisely what it is. Your only hope is to catch it by surprise out of the corner of your eye."
The second strangest thing about the ship was watching the Somebody Else's Problem field at work. They could now clearly see the ship for what it was simply because they knew it was there. It was quite apparent, however, that nobody else could. This wasn't because it was actually invisible or anything hyper-impossible like that. The technology involved in making anything invisible is so infinitely complex that nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand million, nine hundred and ninety-nine million, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine times out of a billion it is much simpler and more effective just to take the thing away and do without it. The ultra-famous sciento-magician Effrafax of Wug once bet his life that, given a year, he could render the great megamountain Magramal entirely invisible.
Having spent most of the year jiggling around with immense LuxO-Valves and Refracto-Nullifiers and Spectrum-Bypass-O-Matics, he realized, with nine hours to go, that he wasn't going to make it.
So, he and his friends, and his friends' friends, and his friends' friends' friends, and his friends' friends' friends' friends, and some rather less good friends of theirs who happened to own a major stellar trucking company, put in what now is widely recognized as being the hardest night's work in history, and, sure enough, on the following day, Magramal was no longer visible. Effrafax lost his bet -- and therefore his life -- simply because some pedantic adjudicating official noticed (a) that when walking around the area that Magramal ought to be he didn't trip over or break his nose on anything, and (B) a suspicious-looking extra moon.
The Somebody Else's Problem field is much simpler and more effective, and what's more can be run for over a hundred years on a single torch battery. This is because it relies on people's natural disposition not to see anything they don't want to, weren't expecting, or can't explain. If Effrafax had painted the mountain pink and erected a cheap and simple Somebody Else's Problem field on it, then people would have walked past the mountain, round it, even over it, and simply never have noticed that the thing was there.
Well, technically, that CPU was the ARM all along...
(I've done a fair amount of research on the things, and I'm trying to get a RiscPC - which runs either an ARM6, ARM7, or StrongARM - but originally was going to try to get one of the original models. Kinda tricky here in the US, as Acorn never officially sold any ARM-based machines (or any machines other than the BBC Micro B) here. They apparently were planning on selling the A3000 in Canada, but I don't think that happened.)
But I'm guessing consumers here looked at the spec sheets, saw the Commodore was cheaper and had more stuff, and had a MUCH, MUCH larger user base here, and went for it.:)
The Apple/// wasn't that common here, thanks to major design flaws on the first version, causing it to completely flop, and nobody bought the///+ after the fiasco with the near-100% failure rate of the first shipments of the original///.
Also, the BBC Micro was sold here... but was a complete and total flop, as it was, as I've heard it, quite expensive, and had half the RAM of the (much cheaper) Commodore 64 or the Apple//e. And, there wasn't a BBC computer literacy project here in the US, so... no incentive to buy THAT EXACT MODEL.
Lucasfilm isn't suing people who reveal that Emperor Palpatine is the big bad in the Jedi religion, and the various churches aren't suing people who reveal that Satan is the big bad in the various Judeo-Christian religions. (In the latter case, they actually PROMOTE revealing that fact for free.)
The Co$ is suing people who reveal that Xenu is the big bad in Scientology, and requires hundreds of thousands of dollars to get to the point in the "religion" that you find that out.
That is why it's such a troll - if something like that is named after Scientology's big bad...
I was actually thinking of something that happened several centuries before Waco, and by "unclaimed landmass," I meant land that wasn't claimed by any nation. (Granted, that would be disputed by the natives that were there before these protesters escaped to that land, but...)
And, to be fair, the heavily armed part didn't really happen until AFTER they escaped to that landmass.
And, that landmass wasn't even completely unclaimed.
The "group of friends" I'm referring to is the bunch of religious nuts that were persecuted by the government and church of the country that they came from, and the landmass? The US colonies.
OK, then introduce the term as Media Access Control address, or even refrain from ever using the TLA.
I would explain it like something like this:
"In addition, the only information that can be logged is the Media Access Control address, an address that each computer network card is assigned. However, the Media Access Control address can very easily be forged, with no proof of such forgery ever taking place, making such logs useless for tracking down a criminal, or possibly even incriminating an innocent person."
I'm actually arguing for the contracts being presented at the point of sale, that you're purchasing a license to the content contained within the physical object.;)
If I go into a store and buy a copy of Vista, right now, I don't sign an agreement for it - the only agreement I sign is that I'll pay the credit card company for it (well, that's an oversimplification of how it actually works with a debit card, but that is the agreement I'm signing.) I buy a physical object, which it is my right to do what I wish with.
(Bear with me here, my real wish would be to place it into the microwave, but...)
So, I wish to open the box, and in that box is a piece of plastic that reflects in a very certain way when hit in certain spots with a laser. Cool. I wonder if my computer, which has a device that can store and read data with a laser, on pieces of metal impregnated plastic of the same diameter and thickness, can read off of this one.
Awesome, it can!
Keep in mind, I've inserted a physical object that I OWN into my computer, I've never signed a contract regarding my use of it.
Unfortunately, you'll never get manufacturers to ditch support for Windows like that, it quite simply has critical mass, and... Linux isn't ready for the mainstream yet.
In the case of audio, as long as digital connections aren't mandated, fine. Once they are, you'll need to open up the speaker, and solder into the lines where the speaker gets the ultimate analog signal.
In the case of video, no. HDCP specifically encrypts the signal to keep you from intercepting it. You'll have to open up the monitor, disconnect the LCD panel from its controller, and simulate the panel itself with your box - which means, your box will be specific to one specific model of monitor, and even then, possibly only one revision of that monitor - and, once your box is released, that monitor might lose its HDCP key, meaning that everyone with that monitor would have to buy a new one, because they all got their keys revoked.
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Because it's existing software, so there doesn't have to be any redevelopment?
Not the biggest issue in a developing country, but... because you need to use a certain piece of existing software, and you can't/don't want to rewrite it with full compatibility? (A bigger issue for closed source software with closed file formats, but... we're talking about Windows software here, so that's a likely situation.)
Doubtful that any made it into Win2k, unless it was running in an x86 emulator.
Win2k was beta-tested on Alpha (which had software x86 emulation on NT4) and Itanium (which had hardware x86 emulation in the Itanium 1,) both of which were non-x86.
WinXP 64-bit was available for Itanium 1, and WinXP 64-bit 2003 was available for Itanium 1 and I believe has support for Itanium 2 (which has software x86 emulation.) Win Server 2003 has support for Itanium 1 and 2.
Win Server 2008 (so same NT kernel as Vista) has suppoort for Itanium 1 and 2 as well.
I think it could be portable to ARM.
And Windows 2000 was beta tested on Alpha and Itanium, and XP, Server 2003, and Server 2008 were released on Itanium.
Also, technically, x86-64 is a different architecture from IA-32, although not very much so, and XP and Vista have been released on it, and 7 is in beta on it.
If USB goes away... start collecting USB-equipped dumb terminals, as ethernet isn't going anywhere any time soon. Use them to VNC into your main computer, and just use it for the keyboard.
While I'm not a fan of their actions, they have every right to.
Let me put it this way. You're hosting an open block party in your house. Anyone's invited.
Then, there's a guy in the crowd yelling that you impregnated his wife. (Absurd, especially on this site, but bear with me.) And a bunch of other guys are yelling that, too.
You're going to kick them out, right? Whether it's true or not?
That's what Symantec's doing.
You mean to say... /b/ is actually Symantec's personal army?
I only have one x86 box left with a floppy drive, but there are two situations where floppies are still useful.
1. Where an admin has disabled the ability for users to add hardware, there's no CD burner (or burning is disabled,) but there is a floppy drive.
2. Installing RAID drivers on XP or Server 2003.
(BIOS updates and such can usually be done with a bootable flash drive, so...)
Well, the Apple /// did have overheating problems, but it also had some artificial limitations imposed.
It actually had additional hardware installed to keep Apple II software (it was backwards compatible) from accessing more than 48k RAM, or the newer graphics modes, or more than 40 columns. Yeah.
(The reason for this was, they were trying to kill the Apple II. The problem was, the Apple II had a huge software base, and some of this software base had been developed to take advantage of third-party add-ons to add more RAM or 80 column modes - for that matter, there was a *FIRST*-party 16k RAM addon to take a 48k system to 64k. And, even though all those features were built into the /// hardware, they were disabled from the Apple II emulation mode, because Apple really didn't want people trying to use those features for Apple II software.)
Of course you can.
Well, technically, that CPU was the ARM all along...
(I've done a fair amount of research on the things, and I'm trying to get a RiscPC - which runs either an ARM6, ARM7, or StrongARM - but originally was going to try to get one of the original models. Kinda tricky here in the US, as Acorn never officially sold any ARM-based machines (or any machines other than the BBC Micro B) here. They apparently were planning on selling the A3000 in Canada, but I don't think that happened.)
But I'm guessing consumers here looked at the spec sheets, saw the Commodore was cheaper and had more stuff, and had a MUCH, MUCH larger user base here, and went for it. :)
The Apple /// wasn't that common here, thanks to major design flaws on the first version, causing it to completely flop, and nobody bought the ///+ after the fiasco with the near-100% failure rate of the first shipments of the original ///.
Also, the BBC Micro was sold here... but was a complete and total flop, as it was, as I've heard it, quite expensive, and had half the RAM of the (much cheaper) Commodore 64 or the Apple //e. And, there wasn't a BBC computer literacy project here in the US, so... no incentive to buy THAT EXACT MODEL.
Actually, that's nowhere near a complete list.
It's actually an even bigger troll than that.
Lucasfilm isn't suing people who reveal that Emperor Palpatine is the big bad in the Jedi religion, and the various churches aren't suing people who reveal that Satan is the big bad in the various Judeo-Christian religions. (In the latter case, they actually PROMOTE revealing that fact for free.)
The Co$ is suing people who reveal that Xenu is the big bad in Scientology, and requires hundreds of thousands of dollars to get to the point in the "religion" that you find that out.
That is why it's such a troll - if something like that is named after Scientology's big bad...
The other reply mentions an install CD, but you could actually do an ISO9660 partition on a USB Mass Storage device, IIRC.
I believe that's how U3 works.
I was actually thinking of something that happened several centuries before Waco, and by "unclaimed landmass," I meant land that wasn't claimed by any nation. (Granted, that would be disputed by the natives that were there before these protesters escaped to that land, but...)
And, to be fair, the heavily armed part didn't really happen until AFTER they escaped to that landmass.
And, that landmass wasn't even completely unclaimed.
The "group of friends" I'm referring to is the bunch of religious nuts that were persecuted by the government and church of the country that they came from, and the landmass? The US colonies.
Third option is blatantly and publicly break the laws on purpose, and be armed. Preferably with a bunch of friends doing the same thing.
Works better if you have an unclaimed landmass that you can escape to, though.
OK, then introduce the term as Media Access Control address, or even refrain from ever using the TLA.
I would explain it like something like this:
"In addition, the only information that can be logged is the Media Access Control address, an address that each computer network card is assigned. However, the Media Access Control address can very easily be forged, with no proof of such forgery ever taking place, making such logs useless for tracking down a criminal, or possibly even incriminating an innocent person."
Metanotability, don't you love it? :P
Unfortunately, I don't see a "Spam" option in the moderation choices...
I'm actually arguing for the contracts being presented at the point of sale, that you're purchasing a license to the content contained within the physical object. ;)
If I go into a store and buy a copy of Vista, right now, I don't sign an agreement for it - the only agreement I sign is that I'll pay the credit card company for it (well, that's an oversimplification of how it actually works with a debit card, but that is the agreement I'm signing.) I buy a physical object, which it is my right to do what I wish with.
(Bear with me here, my real wish would be to place it into the microwave, but...)
So, I wish to open the box, and in that box is a piece of plastic that reflects in a very certain way when hit in certain spots with a laser. Cool. I wonder if my computer, which has a device that can store and read data with a laser, on pieces of metal impregnated plastic of the same diameter and thickness, can read off of this one.
Awesome, it can!
Keep in mind, I've inserted a physical object that I OWN into my computer, I've never signed a contract regarding my use of it.
Unfortunately, you'll never get manufacturers to ditch support for Windows like that, it quite simply has critical mass, and... Linux isn't ready for the mainstream yet.
In the case of audio, as long as digital connections aren't mandated, fine. Once they are, you'll need to open up the speaker, and solder into the lines where the speaker gets the ultimate analog signal.
In the case of video, no. HDCP specifically encrypts the signal to keep you from intercepting it. You'll have to open up the monitor, disconnect the LCD panel from its controller, and simulate the panel itself with your box - which means, your box will be specific to one specific model of monitor, and even then, possibly only one revision of that monitor - and, once your box is released, that monitor might lose its HDCP key, meaning that everyone with that monitor would have to buy a new one, because they all got their keys revoked.