Sorry about replying to my own post, but I needed to clarify that I mean this as a GOOD thing....it's good to know that almost 100% of the people in mainstream CS academia prefer UNIX/Linux to Windows.
Suprisingly, it's the business-world, in which most people don't use anything more than Microsoft Office which advocates Windows the most -- could it be that they just don't care or even know what OS is used?
On the other hand, CS textbooks
on
Why PHBs Fear Linux
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
almost always use UNIX/Linux (and UNIX moreso than Linux) while discussing OS, networking and other systems subjects.
Never have I once come across a mention of Microsoft (except maybe in the History section (Xenix)) any any of the classic books by Tanenbaum, Stevens, et al.
But the report said the most sensitive computer networks -- such as those operating banks, telephone networks or water pipelines -- "may require a greater level of security than the market will provide."
Looks like they'll stress that electric/water networks need *extra* security, and then sneak in computer networks, while everybody agrees on the issue.
Pretty weird if you ask me, but this is a comment I posted a few days back:
Overdependence on communications (Score:5, Insightful)
by GillBates0 (664202) on Monday March 29, @06:02PM (#8708742)
(http://slashdot.org/~GillBates0 | Last Journal: Thursday February 26, @02:35PM)
This event just goes to show how much we have come to depend on complex networks in the past few decades. I use networks in a very broad sense - networks of pipes to carry water/sewage, electrical grids, telephone networks and ofcourse the intarweb.
Earlier, in the absense of adequate infrastructure, people used to depend on local resources - the water table (borewells/rain) for water, small local power stations/generators for electricity, and ofcourse local businesses for banking, etc.
With the coming of the phone system and internet, we work from home, depend on phone services for emergency help, bank with businesses across the country/world, and depend on long distance communications for the most basic needs like water/electricity. True, these advances in technology offer a large number of benefits and conveniences, but overabundance on them can cause widespread problems due to a failure of a small part of the communication system.
A problem with the electricity grid causes 1/4th of the nation to shut down, people take phone services for granted in order to provide/receive emergency assistance, and there are no adequate backup measures in place. The internet is a pretty resilient beast, but the rest of the infrastructure (telephone, electricity, water pipes (very few apartments/houses have water storage) is pretty fault-intolerant and prone to massive-widespread failure (not necessarily to the problem with the system itself - in this case a fire). The 911 problem in NYC, this fire in the UK, and ofcourse underline the fact that we either need to have an adequately fault resistant infrastructure in place, or stop overdepending on it for critical services.
"The message is the same," Dixon says. "You cannot put someone's music on the Internet without permission. That's theft."...
Microsoft, Coca-Cola and British retailer HMV operate online European music services with limited selection and arcane usage rules.
*sigh* some people never learn...or they knowingly choose to use stronger language to frighten (or terrorize in today's overused parlance) the masses into submission.
And I don't want to fuckin' have to think twice every time I want to listen to the same music in my car, on my computer or on my living room. Is it that difficult to understand?
This event just goes to show how much we have come to depend on complex networks in the past few decades. I use networks in a very broad sense - networks of pipes to carry water/sewage, electrical grids, telephone networks and ofcourse the intarweb.
Earlier, in the absense of adequate infrastructure, people used to depend on local resources - the water table (borewells/rain) for water, small local power stations/generators for electricity, and ofcourse local businesses for banking, etc.
With the coming of the phone system and internet, we work from home, depend on phone services for emergency help, bank with businesses across the country/world, and depend on long distance communications for the most basic needs like water/electricity.
True, these advances in technology offer a large number of benefits and conveniences, but overabundance on them can cause widespread problems due to a failure of a small part of the communication system.
A problem with the electricity grid causes 1/4th of the nation to shut down, people take phone services for granted in order to provide/receive emergency assistance, and there are no adequate backup measures in place.
The internet is a pretty resilient beast, but the rest of the infrastructure (telephone, electricity, water pipes (very few apartments/houses have water storage) is pretty fault-intolerant and prone to massive-widespread failure (not necessarily to the problem with the system itself - in this case a fire). The 911 problem in NYC, this fire in the UK, and ofcourse underline the fact that we either need to have an adequately fault resistant infrastructure in place, or stop overdepending on it for critical services.
He doesn't say how, or who's going to pay for it, or who's going to build it
massmailing free AOL for Broadband CDs to every known address in the US.
AOL for broadband -
It's faster! It's smarter! It's included!
On dial-up surf the web upto 5x times faster than a standard dial-up connection with AOL TopSpeed(TM) technology all through your existing phone jack at no additional charge!
What is a Simputer?
Bridging the Great Digital Divide
The Simputer is a low cost portable alternative to PCs, by which the benefits of IT can reach the common man.
It has a special role in the third world because it ensures that illiteracy is no longer a barrier to handling a computer.
The key to bridging the digital divide is to have shared devices that permit truly simple and natural user interfaces based on sight, touch and audio.
The Simputer meets these demands through a browser for the Information Markup Language (IML). IML has been created to provide a uniform experience to users and to allow rapid development of solutions on any platform.
and discussed it's implications on the physics of Time Travel on another board today.
The "Evicting Einstein" title of the article is misleading. IMHO, the Theory of Relativity cannot be proven incorrect...it can only be proven *incomplete*. Far too much evidence/data exists to prove the interaction of light and gravity and space-time as predicted by the GTR.
Even if the Quantum theory is proven correct, the Theory of Relativity will live on as an effect of the quantum theory - since it explains the effects of Quantum behavior on the macro-level...something that Quantum physics is not very good at. Just like the General Theory of Relativity proved that Newtonian physics was not incorrect, just incomplete, the Quantum theory will prove to be a superset of the GTR.
Originally (before publication, that is), this book was advertised at $24.95. The actual cover price is $19.95, though, and No Starch have dropped the price again. At the new price of $14.95, it becomes much more attractive and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in designing and building their own Lego train locomotives and carriages.
Ofcourse, they should also be able to afford the Lego sets. I love Lego, and had 2 sets when I was a kid...they used to keep me engaged for days at a stretch.
Sometimes, I feel like going out and buying a set or two, but they're too expensive for my liking. For any decent sized model train set (stations, wagons, etc) , you could end up paying around $200.00.
Take a look at the prices on their Train set page. Any decent sized kit is $150+
In general, I wouldn't mind paying around $100.00 for a *general* set of bricks....but these specialized kits are *too* restrictive, and after building the model, you usually have to buy a different set to build anything else.
Gnomdor has fallen to the dark forces of Redmond. The Dark Lord grows in power and sends forth his armies to conquer Linux_land.
Look for the .NET Passport Sign In button
on
Passport to Nowhere
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
From the.NET Passport page linked to in the blurb, people are supposed to look out for the "button" and when they see it on their site, they can login with their.NET account.
What's to prevent me from copying their pretty gif and collecting people's logins/passwords?
When using your Linux and MDragonBall based Linea LX PDA at the campgrounds, always practice safety. Surround your PDA with rocks to keep the fire from spreading. Be sure when
you're done with your PDA to put it out with a bucket of water and make sure it has stopped smoking before you leave the area.
Remember what Smokey the Bear says. Only you can prevent your Linux based PDA from starting a forest fire.
I posted a link to gnu.org in one of last week's stories...but it was down - for atleast 2-3 days.
A reply to my comment explained that it was because gnu.org is down because the MIT CSAIL (Comp Sci and AI Lab), was moving to The Stata Center.
Apparently, lots of machines (including gnu.org and debian mirrors) were being moved, which caused a significant outage.
Pretty ironic about RMS moving to William H Gates building:(
Slashdot Mirror
Suprisingly, it's the business-world, in which most people don't use anything more than Microsoft Office which advocates Windows the most -- could it be that they just don't care or even know what OS is used?
Never have I once come across a mention of Microsoft (except maybe in the History section (Xenix)) any any of the classic books by Tanenbaum, Stevens, et al.
which is two cheeked
some people never learn
I merely pointed out that we have become overdependent on distant resources due to widespread networking. That's it.
Please RTFC before replying to it. Thank you.
Looks like they'll stress that electric/water networks need *extra* security, and then sneak in computer networks, while everybody agrees on the issue.
Pretty weird if you ask me, but this is a comment I posted a few days back:
Overdependence on communications (Score:5, Insightful)
by GillBates0 (664202) on Monday March 29, @06:02PM (#8708742) (http://slashdot.org/~GillBates0 | Last Journal: Thursday February 26, @02:35PM)
This event just goes to show how much we have come to depend on complex networks in the past few decades. I use networks in a very broad sense - networks of pipes to carry water/sewage, electrical grids, telephone networks and ofcourse the intarweb.
Earlier, in the absense of adequate infrastructure, people used to depend on local resources - the water table (borewells/rain) for water, small local power stations/generators for electricity, and ofcourse local businesses for banking, etc.
With the coming of the phone system and internet, we work from home, depend on phone services for emergency help, bank with businesses across the country/world, and depend on long distance communications for the most basic needs like water/electricity. True, these advances in technology offer a large number of benefits and conveniences, but overabundance on them can cause widespread problems due to a failure of a small part of the communication system.
A problem with the electricity grid causes 1/4th of the nation to shut down, people take phone services for granted in order to provide/receive emergency assistance, and there are no adequate backup measures in place. The internet is a pretty resilient beast, but the rest of the infrastructure (telephone, electricity, water pipes (very few apartments/houses have water storage) is pretty fault-intolerant and prone to massive-widespread failure (not necessarily to the problem with the system itself - in this case a fire). The 911 problem in NYC, this fire in the UK, and ofcourse underline the fact that we either need to have an adequately fault resistant infrastructure in place, or stop overdepending on it for critical services.
I'm waiting for my T-shirt with goatse on the front and back. I hope they come out with it before Christmas. I hope you're listing thinkgeek people!
coming dad! (@) *shudder*
*sigh* some people never learn...or they knowingly choose to use stronger language to frighten (or terrorize in today's overused parlance) the masses into submission.
And I don't want to fuckin' have to think twice every time I want to listen to the same music in my car, on my computer or on my living room. Is it that difficult to understand?
Earlier, in the absense of adequate infrastructure, people used to depend on local resources - the water table (borewells/rain) for water, small local power stations/generators for electricity, and ofcourse local businesses for banking, etc.
With the coming of the phone system and internet, we work from home, depend on phone services for emergency help, bank with businesses across the country/world, and depend on long distance communications for the most basic needs like water/electricity.
True, these advances in technology offer a large number of benefits and conveniences, but overabundance on them can cause widespread problems due to a failure of a small part of the communication system.
A problem with the electricity grid causes 1/4th of the nation to shut down, people take phone services for granted in order to provide/receive emergency assistance, and there are no adequate backup measures in place.
The internet is a pretty resilient beast, but the rest of the infrastructure (telephone, electricity, water pipes (very few apartments/houses have water storage) is pretty fault-intolerant and prone to massive-widespread failure (not necessarily to the problem with the system itself - in this case a fire). The 911 problem in NYC, this fire in the UK, and ofcourse underline the fact that we either need to have an adequately fault resistant infrastructure in place, or stop overdepending on it for critical services.
massmailing free AOL for Broadband CDs to every known address in the US.
AOL for broadband - It's faster! It's smarter! It's included!
On dial-up surf the web upto 5x times faster than a standard dial-up connection with AOL TopSpeed(TM) technology all through your existing phone jack at no additional charge!
That could work.
weird!
From the Google cache:
What is a Simputer?
Bridging the Great Digital Divide
The Simputer is a low cost portable alternative to PCs, by which the benefits of IT can reach the common man.
It has a special role in the third world because it ensures that illiteracy is no longer a barrier to handling a computer.
The key to bridging the digital divide is to have shared devices that permit truly simple and natural user interfaces based on sight, touch and audio.
The Simputer meets these demands through a browser for the Information Markup Language (IML). IML has been created to provide a uniform experience to users and to allow rapid development of solutions on any platform.
The "Evicting Einstein" title of the article is misleading. IMHO, the Theory of Relativity cannot be proven incorrect...it can only be proven *incomplete*. Far too much evidence/data exists to prove the interaction of light and gravity and space-time as predicted by the GTR.
Even if the Quantum theory is proven correct, the Theory of Relativity will live on as an effect of the quantum theory - since it explains the effects of Quantum behavior on the macro-level...something that Quantum physics is not very good at. Just like the General Theory of Relativity proved that Newtonian physics was not incorrect, just incomplete, the Quantum theory will prove to be a superset of the GTR.
Ofcourse, they should also be able to afford the Lego sets. I love Lego, and had 2 sets when I was a kid...they used to keep me engaged for days at a stretch.
Sometimes, I feel like going out and buying a set or two, but they're too expensive for my liking. For any decent sized model train set (stations, wagons, etc) , you could end up paying around $200.00.
Take a look at the prices on their Train set page. Any decent sized kit is $150+
In general, I wouldn't mind paying around $100.00 for a *general* set of bricks....but these specialized kits are *too* restrictive, and after building the model, you usually have to buy a different set to build anything else.
Gnomdor has fallen to the dark forces of Redmond. The Dark Lord grows in power and sends forth his armies to conquer Linux_land.
What's to prevent me from copying their pretty gif and collecting people's logins/passwords?
in Microsoft's (hard|soft)ware.
hope that's the right reaction to this story
As this simple calculation shows:
Distance to the moon: 385,000kms = 240,625 miles
Distance to Mars: 78,300,000km = 48,937,500 miles
Total distance to be travelled: 49178125 miles * 2 (to and fro)= 98,356,250 miles
Assuming the average miles per gallon (my car does about 30 mpg on highways) of 25mpg:
Total number of gallons required = 39,34,250 gallons
Assuming the average price per gallon (regular, unleaded) in the US at $1.75 per gallon:
Grand Total = $6,884,937.50 or about Six million US dollars.
Clearly, nowhere near the $1 trillion mark. Bill Gates could afford this with his pocket change.
Remember what Smokey the Bear says. Only you can prevent your Linux based PDA from starting a forest fire.
though it was a pretty obscure attempt at it. Maybe a [sarcasm][/sarcasm] would've helped.
Apparently, lots of machines (including gnu.org and debian mirrors) were being moved, which caused a significant outage.
Pretty ironic about RMS moving to William H Gates building :(
or "Mawg"...whatever.
It seems their music catalog is going to consist largely of "blues" and "death metal" music.