I would rate this not only one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, but simply one of the best pieces of cinema you can see. And yes, the French vocal track, even if you don't like subtitles, is far superior. It is haunting, it is stunning, and it defies all expectations, and rewards every watching.
On a personal note, it was a great way to start my annual christmas sci-fi / action christmas extravaganza!
While it's true there are a variety of techniques that can increase security, I've found simply moving to a new high-numbered port eliminates all random login attempts. Yes, security through obscurity is all it's cracked up to be, but for now, I've eliminated the problem with a pretty quick fix.
As someone who's watched this generation growing up (I'm 43), and who's friends all have kids, and who has been partnered with someone for several years with kids, I can say the fault lies with how we parent today (we meaning the American middle class). I'm definitely way over on the left and liberal, but am stunned that parents universally no longer punish their children *at all* (can't scar the kids now, can we?). Nor do schools (wouldn't want a lawsuit). No no no - you have to *encourage* them to behave appropriately. Which amounts in effect to beating them with the proverbial Carrot.
It's really a major shift in our culture, and kids now expect to be rewarded for merely appropriate behavior, and have no idea what responsibility even means. I realize I start to sound like a cranky old man, but I don't think this is an age issue - I mean, up until the modern generation, punishment (often physical) was how parents kept kids in line, but we've shifted to a different paradigm, and well, now we have the problems this post is talking about.
The really interesting question is what will happen over the next 30 years, as this same Gen-MEMEME group actually has to suffer through real life, and becomes the leaders and bosses of tomorrow, and whether they'll be psychologically equipped to handle it.
I suppose it's a perfect irony - we trash the planet, then guarantee the generation left to inherit it can't possibly cope.
True dat. But then, the explosions happen inside a large block of steel designed to confine them (and protect me). So, if we put the whole spaceship inside a VERY large block of steel that was designed to confine its explosions (vs merely *directing* them at a high percentage of c away from me), and then put spacewheels on it, I could safely drive my space car to work on Mars in only 19 days.
If you read the proposal, you'll note that the proposed method of working in space seems to be that the rocket engine actually fires in two directions - first, it fires a very high energy plasma beam AT THE SPACESHIP, which, in the vacuum of space, turns the whole assembly into a Gigavolt capacitor. THEN the spaceship fires a GV proton beam back at the rocket. This proton beam then ignites a classic fission explosion (using Deuterium-Tritium), but "very small", and this DT explosion ignites a second, much more explosive Deuterium-only fusion explosion AWAY FROM THE SPACECRAFT. Repeat one million times per second, or as needed.
What could possibly go wrong?
If that's not exciting enough, the whole plasma/proton beam doesn't work on earth, so, hey, we use a disposable argon laser, which can generate a lot of power, but (sadly), is really inefficient. But wait, we can fix that! All you have to do is set off a small hexogene explosion around your rod of solid argon, and the laser will suddenly work at 80% efficiency. Oh, repeat that every microsecond or so.
Honestly though, if you can get past the insane energies involved, he's come up with a rather brilliant way to use readily available fuel (Deuterium, as opposed to Deuterium Tritium, which is hard to come by), and using a whole chain of events, make the process really efficient (i.e. you need a lot less mass to make all this work). And, since your main burn is fusion (which consumes the fission by-products), not a lot of radiation to speak of (oh, well, there are some pesky neutrons, but who doesn't like neutrons?)
Having *just* installed Hardy Heron, I also note that upon first booting the machine and logging in, an icon shows up next to the "updates available" icon that looks like a little graphics card, and when you click on it, it points out that you have *not* installed the proprietary nvidia driver, but by golly, click here and we'll do it right now! Which I did. Which helped performance. So while it may not be done by default, it's something any user would notice immediately (any user of Ubuntu).
Maybe a new install of Etch + Gnome would exhibit the same behavior, but really, if the OS *tells you* up front that you're missing an important (albeit proprietary) driver specific to your hardware, the likelihood of that driver then being installed is bound to go way up.
I will also say, it's gratifying to have the *option* to install a proprietary driver clearly presented, with a commentary about what "proprietary driver" actually means, and why / why not I should install this driver. Some will choose to use the nvidia driver, and some will not, but educating the end user about what their options are and what they mean is really a great feature in Ubuntu, and I think nicely bridges the gap between "must be free" and "just do it for me".
They note that the effect on NEAR 13mm / sec, while the effect on Pioneer is 8x10-8 cm/sec^2. If they had more measurements, they could presumably determine if the effect is "distributed" with proximity to the sun. That is, using your basic F=Gm1m2/r^2, and noting that NEAR is 1au from the sun, and pioneer is 70 au from the sun, you'd expect a ~70^2 decrease in the order of magnitude of the effect on Pioneer vs. NEAR, IF it were gravity (specifically, if the measure of force of gravity is wrong). Which is about the decrease in order of magnitude of the velocity difference. So maybe it *is* gravity.
Wait, let me get another beer...
First, if they're using randomness to generate attacks, it's obviously impossible to predict. Yes, yes, small patterns may emerge, but it seems like a ridiculous idea to try and predict what a randomly connected network of people will try and do. Rather, assess *your* patterns - that's what they're doing anyway - and find your own vulnerabilities. In fact, we should be using predictive software to determine what we'll do, and then do something... random. Our best bet is simply to be unpredictable, not to predict them.
Moreover, our efforts towards prevention should be around large scale disaster response. We can assume bad things will happen sometimes, but it's the gigantic, unexpected thing, the Black Swan that's the real danger. Being mobile and responsive, preparing for the worst, we'll do a much better job of fending off attacks.
The article says the deals for cash. Most of the dot-com sales, although for higher numbers, were for 10% cash, and the rest in stock that often turned out to be worthless. This is worth a lot more real money right now for the sellers. Also, these are the guys that founded spyonit.com, which sold to 24/7 back in the day.
For my part, I decided to keep my IT skills, but use them differently. I've been working in the not-for-profit sector for some time, and as the name implies, there's not much money in it (relative to what some for-profits might pay). However, there are three factors that make it worth it for me.
1) The first is that I'm working on software that helps organizations whose cause I believe in. I don't want to get all preachy, but it's worth considering whether your issue is with your job per se, or just what it is you actually get to accomplish.
2) Working particularly for smaller organizations, my work tends to be about "the big picture", which is more interesting (at least for me). By that I mean, if you're working for a major institution, chances are you share your work with dozens, or hundreds, nay thousands of other workers, can can be the proverbial "cog in the machine." Working for a smaller company, you get the chance to be involved in all levels of a project. Moreover, by being a project lead, you can shape what the application is, what kinds of technology get to be considered. While your guidelines may be fixed and firm in a financial institution, doing pro bono or discounted work usually means you have more latitude to try new things.
3) For my part, I do NFP work at a discount. Partly, this is to help them, of course, but it has a fringe benefit. By giving them a deal, I have greater power to decide when, how, and on what I will work. They're happy to get my skillset, and I'm happy to work in my own way.
So, a major thread in all this is getting to do what you want to do, not doing what you're told to do. Having more creative input and control might be what you're really after. But it's worth considering whether what you're working on matters to you, and whether choosing something else that definitely does might be a legitimate solution to your problem. Think of it as a sort of paid retirement - your own boss, your own hours, bad pay, but being paid to do what you want, when you want.
Given that the wireless card is built-in, and there are those of us who own core 2 duo laptops that aren't macintosh (but have the same hardward inside), one wonders if this upgrade is possible for us linux types? Anyone know the answer offhand?
First, I salute your effort, damn the naysayers and flamebaiters. I've taught various begginging computer classes, and there is definitely a lack in terms of a good book that teaches people what they minimally ought to know if they're going to use a computer.
I suggest you cover four primary topics:
- The physical computer, how it's put together, and *how to take care of it* ( even if this latter includes only "ground yourself," "blow out the dust!" and "check your connections".
- What a computer does - the physical components, the OS, the applications, and the network.
- How to use a computer. This is simply a "what can it do", how to find an application, find data, and where to store your information. It should *definitely* include a chapter on data preservation (i.e., store your data in a place where you can find it, and back it up on a separate media).
- maintenance and care. this should reiterate how assess a problem (hardware, os, application, or data), steps to fix, cleaning, and backing up data. realistic figures for migrating to a new machine, and a chap. on data formats and portability would be useful.
OK, now I can already hear the flame wars starting, and I know the above *seems* like a lot. But many people are mystified by what's going on behind the screen, and I think some basics, no matter how "wrong" they may seem to the keeps (analogies only go so far) would help a lot of users. If all they learn is "back up your data," that's a major victory. How many of us have spent time trying to help people solve problems that could have been skirted entirely if they had a backup copy?
I'd suggest you consider two primary guiding factors in organization: 1) Think about it as a text book. Pick your level (is this grade school, high school, college? I think grade school, but you should identify some target audience). Also, it helps to realize that there might be attendant home work, study aides, etc, which could be on the internet, or in a classroom. 2) Ask yourself, what do I wish people knew before they bothered to call me?
1) I've been involved in many a project, and two dot-coms, and I'd recommend that you really think in terms of two projects. As mentioned above, what you want in the end wont be where you start. Take that as a given, and get a team you feel reasonably comfortable with to develop a basic working model, or prototype. I believe that if you state your goals up front (it must do x, y and z), and it does that it when you're done with round one, then it doesn't really matter whether the work done was "good" or "best practice". Unlike housing, you can build a model, use it, learn from it, then trash it entirely when you build phase two. The only key factor is making sure the data is portable, and thus getting a good db design from the get-go.
2) You could consider hiring a project manager, using your "recruiting" energy to find someone who will then be responsible for the project, and finding the people to accomplish it. In other words, outsource the whole problem - not to coders, but to someone with the skills to put a working team together for 6 months. Once you get to phase 2, *then* use your model to secure funding, and hire an in-house team.
$.02
neil
although I use computers for fun, there primary place in my life is as a tool. In other words, they earn me money. When I could be working faster but for my computer, it's time to upgrade.
The other important time to upgrade is at the end of a hardware lifecycle. When they stop making processors for your socket, or when the "regular" ram goes the way of the dinosaur, buy up the best there is and at least squeeze another year of life out of your computer.
From the report, section 2.3, paragraph two (bold is mine):
"However, new ultrahighintensity lasers became available in the 1990s that have achieved extreme physical conditions in the lab that are comparable to the extreme astrophysical conditions expected to be found in stellar cores and on black hole event horizons (Perry, 1996; Mourou et al., 1998; Perry, 2000). The power intensity of these lasers has reached the point to where they actually probe QED vacuum physics and general relativistic physics, and they have even modified the vacuum itself. The lasers were originally called petaWatt lasers (operating range of 10^14 - 10^18 Watts/cm2 at femtosecond pulses), but they have now reached power intensity levels in the 10^25 - 10^30 Watts/cm2 range. The lasers were made possible by a novel breakthrough called chirped pulse amplification whereby the initial low energy/low power intensity laser beam is stretched, amplified and then compressed without experiencing any beam distortions or amplifier damage. This laser system was initially designed as a large-optics beam-line power booster for the NOVA laser fusion experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. But researchers found a way to shrink the optics down to tabletop scale, and one can now own and operate a tabletop ultrahighintensity laser for $500,000."
Tabletop-sized optics that produce the sun's core temperature!! I want one. Make that two. First of course, I'll produce a quantum singularity to power my warp drive. Then, I'll use the other one to power my transporter! Are there any used spaceships on ebay right now?
I can think of at least six good reasons that we *should be going into space.
1) Expansion. It's true that we could seek to limit the population here, but it is far from clear that we will, or that such an effort will succeed. Having someplace else to grow is a good plan B.
2) Expiration. One day, the earth will not be habitable, whether by our hand, unforseen causes, or old age. Yes, that could be 5 billion years from now, but if General Relativity is right (and even M-theory supports GR), it could take a really long time to get someplace else. Plan ahead! Better to be ready and waiting than stuck with our pants down.
3) Defense. A planet-killing celestial object is not only possible but probable in a cosmic time scale. True, there are unmanned solutions, but continuing to push the technology envolope helps insure we could defend against such a thing; having people on spaceships helps insure they're reliable.
4) Life. The best way to find something is to go looking.
5) Planetism. We're already living on a big spaceship, we just don't think of it that way. Weather it's a hollow asteroid, a 12 mile diameter steel cylinder, or a big ball of rock, we've got to live in space - getting around in it seems only logical.
6) Growth. How but pushing ourselves will we ever grow and learn?
And I don't think pioneering / adventure is a bad reason either, but I do think the above reasons constitute something of a mandate.
Suse 9.1 Personal - a review
on
Suse 9.1 Reviews?
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· Score: 3, Informative
BACKGROUND
A little perspective: I was Apple from the ][ up to a PowerMac. Then I was Windows up until 98. I've been using linux, primarily Redhat, for over 5 years. I have a server running Redhat 9.0, and a desktop that's been running Redhat 7 -> 9.0. I switched to linux for three reasons: 1) it's significantly cheaper to build a machine and install linux (in terms of $, but not time); 2) although I've foobarred the OS more than once, it literally has crashed about 10 times in 5 years, and I've *never* lost my data; and 3) open source development is a fundamentally more sound way of development *for some things*, including the operating system, so I support it by using it.
My choice, money no object, would probably be a G5 tower. Mac has done great things towards making the computer easy to use as a tool right out of the box. But for the reasons above, my considerations were limited to linux. Since Redhat stopped it's support, I decided to consider my options before jumping directly to Fedora. To give away the punch line, I chose Suse 9.1 as my new Desktop. Read on for more details.
DESKTOP, NOT A SERVER
I want a server that I can configure by hand, that has a minimum of software (No X), with uptime that averages around 45 days. Redhat's done a nice job of providing that. Combined with Bastille and a few other things, I've been very happy.
But I use my Desktop computer on a day-to-day basis, and above all else, I just want it to work. I don't want it to crash, and I don't want to lose data, and I'm happy to upgrade regularly for my own benefit, but I don't want it to be difficult or slow me down. I'd like the installation of new software to be be relatively easy (though I don't mind compiling that wondrous open source software when need be).
First, I looked at what several new distros provided. Now, you can upgrade any system all day long, but out of the box (or off the disc), Suse has the newest kernel, the newest KDE, the newest Gimp, the newest mozilla. By "newest," I mean relative to the other distros I checked out, and thus closest to what I could download the source for if I were the gentoo sort.
INSTALLATION RESULTS
Redhat 9.1 (for comparison), the installer crashed repeatedly when I attemped anything other than a stock install. And, they've ceased support.
Fedora is running much older package versions than are available on the web (the 2.4 kernel? helllllloooooo). I decided against it just based on this. Also, I was particularly interested in switching to an "over the counter," distro. My logic is this: If they're spending the money to box it and put it in stores, they're also spending the money (presumably) to make it relatively easy to use.
After ultimately finding the correct command line voodoo to get Knoppix to boot on my machine (already a bad taste in my mouth), I got it installed (once I found the command line instructions for how to do that - grrrr), the installation itself was painless - a giant copy, and then a reboot. At which point, my screen resolutions were wrong, my screen driver was wrong, I was utterly unable to convince the OS that my wireless card existed, let alone get it configured, and -oh- -my- -god- - WHAT is up with that start menu? Don't tell Eric Raymond about Knoppix, or his recent review of CUPS will seem but a pale and pleasant discourse.
Mandrake is a close second to Suse, but it's still running older versions than Suse makes available. Further, I know Mandrake is back from the brink, but it still concerns me that support could evaporate, and I wanted a distro that was likely to last a while. I suspect Novell will work to see that happen with Suse for some time to come.
Suse 9.1 Personal installed pretty easily. The installation appeared to be a Curses interface, which didn't seem very pretty, but it worked. Having had a framebuffer problem during initial boot, it may be that there's a nicer installation inter
I run my own mail server, and I've had tremendous problems with spam, all originating from, you guessed it, AOL. Maybe they should clean up their own act?
Just wanted to point out that the 2nd of the listed papers on this IBM link, "TCPA Misinformation Rebuttal" is an excellent explanation of the differences between TCPA, Palladium, and DRM. It also helps explain fact vs. fiction in much of the misinformation circulating about what TCPA can and cannot do. An excellent read!
And I love it. At times it's hard. But it's been worth it for me - I've turned down several lucrative offers, because for me, the most valuable thing I have is my time -- as my own boss, my time is largely my own to manage. When I work, I work hard, but I take 1-3 months off a year to pursue personal projects or travel. More than anything, it requires faith in yourself in dedication; everything else is gravy.
My personal rule, which can be applied to licensing, hardware, business accounts, etc, is this: when what you're presently doing / using becomes an impediment to making money, upgrade, but not until.
For instance - if you don't already have work / contracts, keep right on using that 366Mhz machine with the 15" monitor. Yes, it's slow, and non-productive, but you don't have any work yet. When you get a major contract, and you're actually spending time on the machine and not on the job, and there's enough profit to afford new tools, then buy the tools.
The same holds for things like a business license and a business account. You have to pay for these things, and business services always cost more, sometimes 5x or 10x as much! You may well have free personal checking, but business checking could cost you $10-$25 a month, all for having a formal name on your check. Meanwhile, though it makes accounting easier to have two accounts, it doesn't change your tax liability at all. Yes, there may be penalities (I've received a ticket for not having a business license). But, by the time you get hit with such a penalty, you've probably saved a good bit of money and time not dealing with such issues.
In other words, don't spend the money and especially the time because you think you ought to, but becaue you have to. This runs counter to a lot of advice above, but I've found that trying to be an "official" business as a sole proprietor isn't worth the hassle. Be advised that when and if you get employees, everything changes - so, get a business license then.
Finally, I do recommend providing some separation between your personal life and your business life - a separate addresss and phone at a minimum. I've used a PO box for years, and never had a problem. And I have a separate phone; if you can't afford that, get an 800 # - you can initially point it at your home phone, then subsequently at a business line if you get one, with no interruption in service, but easily allowing you to point your business calls elsewhere. In the same vein, voice mail with a box for work and home will help separate work from pleasure.
Slashdot Mirror
I would rate this not only one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, but simply one of the best pieces of cinema you can see. And yes, the French vocal track, even if you don't like subtitles, is far superior. It is haunting, it is stunning, and it defies all expectations, and rewards every watching. On a personal note, it was a great way to start my annual christmas sci-fi / action christmas extravaganza!
http://berkeley.intel-research.net/arahimi/helmet/
~Bottom line: tin foil hats amplify microwave radiation, not block it.
Just so you know.
While it's true there are a variety of techniques that can increase security, I've found simply moving to a new high-numbered port eliminates all random login attempts. Yes, security through obscurity is all it's cracked up to be, but for now, I've eliminated the problem with a pretty quick fix.
As someone who's watched this generation growing up (I'm 43), and who's friends all have kids, and who has been partnered with someone for several years with kids, I can say the fault lies with how we parent today (we meaning the American middle class). I'm definitely way over on the left and liberal, but am stunned that parents universally no longer punish their children *at all* (can't scar the kids now, can we?). Nor do schools (wouldn't want a lawsuit). No no no - you have to *encourage* them to behave appropriately. Which amounts in effect to beating them with the proverbial Carrot.
It's really a major shift in our culture, and kids now expect to be rewarded for merely appropriate behavior, and have no idea what responsibility even means. I realize I start to sound like a cranky old man, but I don't think this is an age issue - I mean, up until the modern generation, punishment (often physical) was how parents kept kids in line, but we've shifted to a different paradigm, and well, now we have the problems this post is talking about.
The really interesting question is what will happen over the next 30 years, as this same Gen-MEMEME group actually has to suffer through real life, and becomes the leaders and bosses of tomorrow, and whether they'll be psychologically equipped to handle it.
I suppose it's a perfect irony - we trash the planet, then guarantee the generation left to inherit it can't possibly cope.
Stop the world, I want to get off.
$.02
True dat. But then, the explosions happen inside a large block of steel designed to confine them (and protect me). So, if we put the whole spaceship inside a VERY large block of steel that was designed to confine its explosions (vs merely *directing* them at a high percentage of c away from me), and then put spacewheels on it, I could safely drive my space car to work on Mars in only 19 days.
But now I'm just being sassy.
If you read the proposal, you'll note that the proposed method of working in space seems to be that the rocket engine actually fires in two directions - first, it fires a very high energy plasma beam AT THE SPACESHIP, which, in the vacuum of space, turns the whole assembly into a Gigavolt capacitor. THEN the spaceship fires a GV proton beam back at the rocket. This proton beam then ignites a classic fission explosion (using Deuterium-Tritium), but "very small", and this DT explosion ignites a second, much more explosive Deuterium-only fusion explosion AWAY FROM THE SPACECRAFT. Repeat one million times per second, or as needed.
What could possibly go wrong?
If that's not exciting enough, the whole plasma/proton beam doesn't work on earth, so, hey, we use a disposable argon laser, which can generate a lot of power, but (sadly), is really inefficient. But wait, we can fix that! All you have to do is set off a small hexogene explosion around your rod of solid argon, and the laser will suddenly work at 80% efficiency. Oh, repeat that every microsecond or so.
Honestly though, if you can get past the insane energies involved, he's come up with a rather brilliant way to use readily available fuel (Deuterium, as opposed to Deuterium Tritium, which is hard to come by), and using a whole chain of events, make the process really efficient (i.e. you need a lot less mass to make all this work). And, since your main burn is fusion (which consumes the fission by-products), not a lot of radiation to speak of (oh, well, there are some pesky neutrons, but who doesn't like neutrons?)
Having *just* installed Hardy Heron, I also note that upon first booting the machine and logging in, an icon shows up next to the "updates available" icon that looks like a little graphics card, and when you click on it, it points out that you have *not* installed the proprietary nvidia driver, but by golly, click here and we'll do it right now! Which I did. Which helped performance. So while it may not be done by default, it's something any user would notice immediately (any user of Ubuntu).
Maybe a new install of Etch + Gnome would exhibit the same behavior, but really, if the OS *tells you* up front that you're missing an important (albeit proprietary) driver specific to your hardware, the likelihood of that driver then being installed is bound to go way up.
I will also say, it's gratifying to have the *option* to install a proprietary driver clearly presented, with a commentary about what "proprietary driver" actually means, and why / why not I should install this driver. Some will choose to use the nvidia driver, and some will not, but educating the end user about what their options are and what they mean is really a great feature in Ubuntu, and I think nicely bridges the gap between "must be free" and "just do it for me".
$.02
Neil
They note that the effect on NEAR 13mm / sec, while the effect on Pioneer is 8x10-8 cm/sec^2. If they had more measurements, they could presumably determine if the effect is "distributed" with proximity to the sun. That is, using your basic F=Gm1m2/r^2, and noting that NEAR is 1au from the sun, and pioneer is 70 au from the sun, you'd expect a ~70^2 decrease in the order of magnitude of the effect on Pioneer vs. NEAR, IF it were gravity (specifically, if the measure of force of gravity is wrong). Which is about the decrease in order of magnitude of the velocity difference. So maybe it *is* gravity. Wait, let me get another beer...
First, if they're using randomness to generate attacks, it's obviously impossible to predict. Yes, yes, small patterns may emerge, but it seems like a ridiculous idea to try and predict what a randomly connected network of people will try and do. Rather, assess *your* patterns - that's what they're doing anyway - and find your own vulnerabilities. In fact, we should be using predictive software to determine what we'll do, and then do something... random. Our best bet is simply to be unpredictable, not to predict them.
Moreover, our efforts towards prevention should be around large scale disaster response. We can assume bad things will happen sometimes, but it's the gigantic, unexpected thing, the Black Swan that's the real danger. Being mobile and responsive, preparing for the worst, we'll do a much better job of fending off attacks.
$.02
The article says the deals for cash. Most of the dot-com sales, although for higher numbers, were for 10% cash, and the rest in stock that often turned out to be worthless. This is worth a lot more real money right now for the sellers. Also, these are the guys that founded spyonit.com, which sold to 24/7 back in the day.
For my part, I decided to keep my IT skills, but use them differently. I've been working in the not-for-profit sector for some time, and as the name implies, there's not much money in it (relative to what some for-profits might pay). However, there are three factors that make it worth it for me.
1) The first is that I'm working on software that helps organizations whose cause I believe in. I don't want to get all preachy, but it's worth considering whether your issue is with your job per se, or just what it is you actually get to accomplish.
2) Working particularly for smaller organizations, my work tends to be about "the big picture", which is more interesting (at least for me). By that I mean, if you're working for a major institution, chances are you share your work with dozens, or hundreds, nay thousands of other workers, can can be the proverbial "cog in the machine." Working for a smaller company, you get the chance to be involved in all levels of a project. Moreover, by being a project lead, you can shape what the application is, what kinds of technology get to be considered. While your guidelines may be fixed and firm in a financial institution, doing pro bono or discounted work usually means you have more latitude to try new things.
3) For my part, I do NFP work at a discount. Partly, this is to help them, of course, but it has a fringe benefit. By giving them a deal, I have greater power to decide when, how, and on what I will work. They're happy to get my skillset, and I'm happy to work in my own way.
So, a major thread in all this is getting to do what you want to do, not doing what you're told to do. Having more creative input and control might be what you're really after. But it's worth considering whether what you're working on matters to you, and whether choosing something else that definitely does might be a legitimate solution to your problem. Think of it as a sort of paid retirement - your own boss, your own hours, bad pay, but being paid to do what you want, when you want.
$.02
Neil Verplank
Given that the wireless card is built-in, and there are those of us who own core 2 duo laptops that aren't macintosh (but have the same hardward inside), one wonders if this upgrade is possible for us linux types? Anyone know the answer offhand?
Size of a quarter, wireless! http://www.spycameras.com/cm-1201.htm
I suggest you cover four primary topics:
- The physical computer, how it's put together, and *how to take care of it* ( even if this latter includes only "ground yourself," "blow out the dust!" and "check your connections".
- What a computer does - the physical components, the OS, the applications, and the network.
- How to use a computer. This is simply a "what can it do", how to find an application, find data, and where to store your information. It should *definitely* include a chapter on data preservation (i.e., store your data in a place where you can find it, and back it up on a separate media).
- maintenance and care. this should reiterate how assess a problem (hardware, os, application, or data), steps to fix, cleaning, and backing up data. realistic figures for migrating to a new machine, and a chap. on data formats and portability would be useful.
OK, now I can already hear the flame wars starting, and I know the above *seems* like a lot. But many people are mystified by what's going on behind the screen, and I think some basics, no matter how "wrong" they may seem to the keeps (analogies only go so far) would help a lot of users. If all they learn is "back up your data," that's a major victory. How many of us have spent time trying to help people solve problems that could have been skirted entirely if they had a backup copy?
I'd suggest you consider two primary guiding factors in organization: 1) Think about it as a text book. Pick your level (is this grade school, high school, college? I think grade school, but you should identify some target audience). Also, it helps to realize that there might be attendant home work, study aides, etc, which could be on the internet, or in a classroom. 2) Ask yourself, what do I wish people knew before they bothered to call me?
$.02
neil
1) I've been involved in many a project, and two dot-coms, and I'd recommend that you really think in terms of two projects. As mentioned above, what you want in the end wont be where you start. Take that as a given, and get a team you feel reasonably comfortable with to develop a basic working model, or prototype. I believe that if you state your goals up front (it must do x, y and z), and it does that it when you're done with round one, then it doesn't really matter whether the work done was "good" or "best practice". Unlike housing, you can build a model, use it, learn from it, then trash it entirely when you build phase two. The only key factor is making sure the data is portable, and thus getting a good db design from the get-go. 2) You could consider hiring a project manager, using your "recruiting" energy to find someone who will then be responsible for the project, and finding the people to accomplish it. In other words, outsource the whole problem - not to coders, but to someone with the skills to put a working team together for 6 months. Once you get to phase 2, *then* use your model to secure funding, and hire an in-house team. $.02 neil
The other important time to upgrade is at the end of a hardware lifecycle. When they stop making processors for your socket, or when the "regular" ram goes the way of the dinosaur, buy up the best there is and at least squeeze another year of life out of your computer.
"However, new ultrahighintensity lasers became available in the 1990s that have achieved extreme physical conditions in the lab that are comparable to the extreme astrophysical conditions expected to be found in stellar cores and on black hole event horizons (Perry, 1996; Mourou et al., 1998; Perry, 2000). The power intensity of these lasers has reached the point to where they actually probe QED vacuum physics and general relativistic physics, and they have even modified the vacuum itself. The lasers were originally called petaWatt lasers (operating range of 10^14 - 10^18 Watts/cm2 at femtosecond pulses), but they have now reached power intensity levels in the 10^25 - 10^30 Watts/cm2 range. The lasers were made possible by a novel breakthrough called chirped pulse amplification whereby the initial low energy/low power intensity laser beam is stretched, amplified and then compressed without experiencing any beam distortions or amplifier damage. This laser system was initially designed as a large-optics beam-line power booster for the NOVA laser fusion experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. But researchers found a way to shrink the optics down to tabletop scale, and one can now own and operate a tabletop ultrahighintensity laser for $500,000."
Tabletop-sized optics that produce the sun's core temperature!! I want one. Make that two. First of course, I'll produce a quantum singularity to power my warp drive. Then, I'll use the other one to power my transporter! Are there any used spaceships on ebay right now?
1) Expansion. It's true that we could seek to limit the population here, but it is far from clear that we will, or that such an effort will succeed. Having someplace else to grow is a good plan B.
2) Expiration. One day, the earth will not be habitable, whether by our hand, unforseen causes, or old age. Yes, that could be 5 billion years from now, but if General Relativity is right (and even M-theory supports GR), it could take a really long time to get someplace else. Plan ahead! Better to be ready and waiting than stuck with our pants down.
3) Defense. A planet-killing celestial object is not only possible but probable in a cosmic time scale. True, there are unmanned solutions, but continuing to push the technology envolope helps insure we could defend against such a thing; having people on spaceships helps insure they're reliable.
4) Life. The best way to find something is to go looking.
5) Planetism. We're already living on a big spaceship, we just don't think of it that way. Weather it's a hollow asteroid, a 12 mile diameter steel cylinder, or a big ball of rock, we've got to live in space - getting around in it seems only logical.
6) Growth. How but pushing ourselves will we ever grow and learn? And I don't think pioneering / adventure is a bad reason either, but I do think the above reasons constitute something of a mandate.
BACKGROUND
A little perspective: I was Apple from the ][ up to a PowerMac. Then I was Windows up until 98. I've been using linux, primarily Redhat, for over 5 years. I have a server running Redhat 9.0, and a desktop that's been running Redhat 7 -> 9.0. I switched to linux for three reasons: 1) it's significantly cheaper to build a machine and install linux (in terms of $, but not time); 2) although I've foobarred the OS more than once, it literally has crashed about 10 times in 5 years, and I've *never* lost my data; and 3) open source development is a fundamentally more sound way of development *for some things*, including the operating system, so I support it by using it.
My choice, money no object, would probably be a G5 tower. Mac has done great things towards making the computer easy to use as a tool right out of the box. But for the reasons above, my considerations were limited to linux. Since Redhat stopped it's support, I decided to consider my options before jumping directly to Fedora. To give away the punch line, I chose Suse 9.1 as my new Desktop. Read on for more details.
DESKTOP, NOT A SERVER
I want a server that I can configure by hand, that has a minimum of software (No X), with uptime that averages around 45 days. Redhat's done a nice job of providing that. Combined with Bastille and a few other things, I've been very happy.
But I use my Desktop computer on a day-to-day basis, and above all else, I just want it to work. I don't want it to crash, and I don't want to lose data, and I'm happy to upgrade regularly for my own benefit, but I don't want it to be difficult or slow me down. I'd like the installation of new software to be be relatively easy (though I don't mind compiling that wondrous open source software when need be).
First, I looked at what several new distros provided. Now, you can upgrade any system all day long, but out of the box (or off the disc), Suse has the newest kernel, the newest KDE, the newest Gimp, the newest mozilla. By "newest," I mean relative to the other distros I checked out, and thus closest to what I could download the source for if I were the gentoo sort.
INSTALLATION RESULTS
Redhat 9.1 (for comparison), the installer crashed repeatedly when I attemped anything other than a stock install. And, they've ceased support.
Fedora is running much older package versions than are available on the web (the 2.4 kernel? helllllloooooo). I decided against it just based on this. Also, I was particularly interested in switching to an "over the counter," distro. My logic is this: If they're spending the money to box it and put it in stores, they're also spending the money (presumably) to make it relatively easy to use.
After ultimately finding the correct command line voodoo to get Knoppix to boot on my machine (already a bad taste in my mouth), I got it installed (once I found the command line instructions for how to do that - grrrr), the installation itself was painless - a giant copy, and then a reboot. At which point, my screen resolutions were wrong, my screen driver was wrong, I was utterly unable to convince the OS that my wireless card existed, let alone get it configured, and -oh- -my- -god- - WHAT is up with that start menu? Don't tell Eric Raymond about Knoppix, or his recent review of CUPS will seem but a pale and pleasant discourse.
Mandrake is a close second to Suse, but it's still running older versions than Suse makes available. Further, I know Mandrake is back from the brink, but it still concerns me that support could evaporate, and I wanted a distro that was likely to last a while. I suspect Novell will work to see that happen with Suse for some time to come.
Suse 9.1 Personal installed pretty easily. The installation appeared to be a Curses interface, which didn't seem very pretty, but it worked. Having had a framebuffer problem during initial boot, it may be that there's a nicer installation inter
I run my own mail server, and I've had tremendous problems with spam, all originating from, you guessed it, AOL. Maybe they should clean up their own act?
http://www.research.ibm.com/gsal/tcpa/
My personal rule, which can be applied to licensing, hardware, business accounts, etc, is this: when what you're presently doing / using becomes an impediment to making money, upgrade, but not until.
For instance - if you don't already have work / contracts, keep right on using that 366Mhz machine with the 15" monitor. Yes, it's slow, and non-productive, but you don't have any work yet. When you get a major contract, and you're actually spending time on the machine and not on the job, and there's enough profit to afford new tools, then buy the tools.
The same holds for things like a business license and a business account. You have to pay for these things, and business services always cost more, sometimes 5x or 10x as much! You may well have free personal checking, but business checking could cost you $10-$25 a month, all for having a formal name on your check. Meanwhile, though it makes accounting easier to have two accounts, it doesn't change your tax liability at all. Yes, there may be penalities (I've received a ticket for not having a business license). But, by the time you get hit with such a penalty, you've probably saved a good bit of money and time not dealing with such issues.
In other words, don't spend the money and especially the time because you think you ought to, but becaue you have to. This runs counter to a lot of advice above, but I've found that trying to be an "official" business as a sole proprietor isn't worth the hassle. Be advised that when and if you get employees, everything changes - so, get a business license then.
Finally, I do recommend providing some separation between your personal life and your business life - a separate addresss and phone at a minimum. I've used a PO box for years, and never had a problem. And I have a separate phone; if you can't afford that, get an 800 # - you can initially point it at your home phone, then subsequently at a business line if you get one, with no interruption in service, but easily allowing you to point your business calls elsewhere. In the same vein, voice mail with a box for work and home will help separate work from pleasure.
$.02
cheers,
neilv