Not really. That clause only takes effect if AOL starts providing videophone capabilities (like MS Netmeeting can). For the time being, they're free and clear, unless they're about to debut such video capabilities.
Myth #1: GSCube Machines are currently available.
Nope. Sorry. Not until the end of the year, if they're on schedule.
Myth #2: GSCubes are meant as development workstations.
Again, no. The first generation of commercially available GSCube machines are meant as dedicated render machines for SGI Servers. GSCubes aren't meant for the animators, but for the end products. Soon, they'll be staples in big render farms. A generation or two after that, they're slated for real-time fun that previously could only have been accomplished with an SGI Reality2.
My solution: filter out the ad providers, on the network level. While this doesn't remove the actual pop-up, it doesn't require me to load random free/shareware on my computer.
I simply filter out connections from the big ad companies. A simple ipf/ipfw/pf filter will do the trick.
Originally, ipf's license did explicity allow or forbid modification. Legally, the general concensus (IANAL) is that it forbade mods all along.
Darren Reed's big "change" was to bluntly say that you cannot distribute a modified version without permission. That's what caught Theo's eye.
Technically, there never was a version with a license that predates Darren's explicit ban on modifications. This means that the kind of forking that allowed OpenSSH to be developed so quickly is not possible here.
Actually, Bruce Tognazzini wrote an article about this same issue not too long ago on his popular AskTog site. This issue is not new to the TiVo, RePlay (which markets a TiVo-like product) just did similar things to all their customers.
The article really makes some excellent points regarding software downgrades and manufacturer responsibilities.
Not to nitpick, but I just wanted to point out that BeOS is not 100% POSIX compliant. It was never certified as such (then again, neither is Linux).
But BeOS has some POSIX porting issues that can seriously hamper porting projects. Now, from what I understand (note: I'm not a hardcore C programmer, because I can't do memory management to save my life) there are some issues with normal, POSIX happy code calling mmap() (I may be slightly incorrect on the name). That's why you don't really see as many great command line utils on BeOS as you should.
I do want to note, however, because of the way BeOS is designed, if you can get your normal, POSIX cl util over to BeOS, you can create a GUI wrapper for it, so you don't have to totally rewrite your app to make it pretty. Gotta love that.
Also, BeOS has hardware support issues, like any niche OS. My NIC, for example, isn't supported. Also, printing has always been an issue (may have been resolved somewhat w/ R5). But they do (obviously) have some good industry connections and such, seeing as how nVidia cards, OpenGL, and USB are fully supported.
Okay. I'll shut up now. ^_^
What about Local Windowing? D11, Anyone?
on
Low-Bandwidth X
·
· Score: 1
While this is ever-so-slightly off-topic, it's still extremely interesting.
Check out D11. It's a spec that calls for a major restructuring of X-Windows, but it works thusly: Speeds up local accesses to an X-Win server (running the X server and client on the same machine). The thought's been around a while, but this is some really good stuff.
This research was
supported by DARPA under Contracts #N66001-96-C-852, #MDA972-95-1-0013, and #DABT63-95-C-0073. Additional support was provided by the AT&T Foundation, and the Hewlett-Packard, Tandem Computer, and Intel Corporations.
Guess that either means that DARPA's gonna funnel more money into EROS, or that EROS wasn't up to some standard, and they're looking for a replacement.
I was unable to find any information on DataPlay's site regarding the 1-bit copy protection scheme, but if that's all they're using to protect that content, then I think Kingpin of the infamous L0pht industries (now @stake) might have something to say... Over two years ago, he created a simple tool to reset the 'beam bit' in a Palm app, effectively short-circuiting Palm's own protection scheme. If DataPlay's security is anything similar, then they're in for a real treat.
On another note, check this clip from DataPlay's Company FAQ:
DataPlay's visionary team brings the company over
1,000 years of cumulative experience in optical, electrical and mechanical engineering technologies, the Internet and content distribution.
One thousand years of management experience? Either everyone there has 'Manager' written into their titles (don't laugh, I've seen it done), or they're harnessing Charlemagne as their CEO.
Sorry if I was insufficiently clear. I don't give a whoozit about the X-box or any other game console. You're absolutely right, it is just a run-of-the-mill PC.
The only difference between the PC Gaming Platorm and the X-box platform is that the X-box is static - developers get to work on a finalized set of hardware, so the get to work on tweaking to perfection, instead of trying to make it compatible with many many different configs.
My point simply is, that Microsoft has not actually denied Dreamcast compatibility, just that the X-box would not include dreamcast hardware. With Sega's help, the effort would be trivial.
...Microsoft has flatly denied rumors that its Xbox console will house the all-in-one DC chip...
So what? All this means is that an X-box won't hold any hardware that wasn't announced. Who's to say that they won't suddenly announce some new features? Like DreamCast emulation. That would be yet another thing for Microsoft marketing to ooh and aah about.
..."the Xbox will only include the Intel CPU and two Nvidia chips to handle graphics and sound capabilities, and it will have three times the power of any game console available at launch."
They failed to deny Dreamcast compatibility, just Dreamcast hardware. It sounds like they're saying, "we're sticking to our original hardware, but because it's so much faster and better than any other game hardware, we will be able to do Dreamcast without breaking a sweat."
Right now, we are living in an age of unprecidented fortune. We live in a world of riches beyond compare, where life has extended to the point where humanity is free to express itself in so many forms (for better or worse).
No longer must people base their existance on the animals and vegetables they hunt and gather, but on the quality of life itself.
At least in some of the world.
I am not going to preach about the poverty of third world nations, nor of hunger in Ethiopia. I will not ask you to hug a tree, nor will I ask that you give up your beloved steak (though I have quite a few tofu dishes that I can recommend that won't leave you asking, "where's the chicken?").
I will, however, ask you to be selfish.
This world, this fragile little globe, hurtling through space, is finite. There is an absolute, albeit unknown amount of any given resource available to us.
As artists, engineers, entrepeneurs, and geeks of all flavors, we populate this wonderful world with our ideas, inventions, and constructs. The problems lie in our accountability. We create based on one of two impulses: apparent need (as determined either by the market or the requests of our peers), and our desires (money, recognition, chicks that dig linux, whatever).
Rarely do we stop to consider what we are doing on a global scale.
I consider IT to be the cornerstone of a new existance. A way for all people, regardless of all those self-imposed limiting factors like race, religion, nationality, and coolness, to communicate with each other.
One thing that must be considered, however, is the sustainability of all this. Just how much can we do by way of "progress" to actually create something that will last. What good is it to create a world-wide infrastructure, to empower people with the ability to publish to a world-wide web, to do anything, if it either ignores or worsens the sustainability of this planet.
Allow me to explain sustainability. To believe in, or to create anything which will aid in the continuing existance of human life on this planet.
If we ignore what we have as resources (which are, again, finite) then what matters what the future may hold?
If no one is left to view and appreciate our creations, what's the point?
We need to accept the general situation of this planet. There are too many mouths to feed properly under current conditions. Our planet is being ravaged by corporate interests that more often than not, are more interested in a quick buck than seeing their families and their employees' families make use of any of that wealth.
We can continue to make faster, better, l33t3r computers until we're blue in the face, or until we no longer have a supply of the heavy metals that compose them.
If we have no oxygen left, which the destruction of rain- and natural-growth-forests will inevitably lead to, then we have failed as a species.
This is the last thing I want, and I would give anything to stop this. My life, my very cool car, even my Xeon-based servers amount to nothing if my kids, and your kids, and your friends' kids, and their kids mean nothing if they aren't around to enjoy them.
As a planet, as a community, as a whatever, we need to band together to make sure that all our hard work is not thrown by the wayside, that it is not forgotten simply because we made sure that no one would be around to see it.
If we run out of resources, if we run out of enough Earth to allow humanity to continue, propogate properly, and see their children grow up, then what have we accomplished?
Several Million, B.C: great lizards known as "Dino-saurs" were rendered extinct by the impact of a meteorite off the Yucatan.
2000: Parachutist Cheryl Stearns achieves the first sub-orbital skydive, with mixed results. When she reached Mach 1.5, Cheryl vanished, never to be seen again.
2020: It has been determined that Cheryl Stearns, upon breaking mach 1.5, travelled through time, and smashed into the Yucatan. The resulting clouds and debris led to the extinction of all dinosaurs.
TOKYO, JP:Our new VAIO, capitalizing on the trends that Apple has set with regards to style in the consumer computing space. We have reviewed the market data, and have determined that America's consumers are sufficiently brand-obsessed that we can get away with our bold display of our 'VAIO' logo on our latest laptop. Along with popular brands Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, and copyleft.net, we will cram our brand down the throat of every man, woman, and child.
Disclaimer: I love macs, I love vaios (purple ones), and I own some aapl. so there.
Okay, I know you're not all kernel hackers and such reading this, and perhaps someone out there makes websites.
my question is: how do you enable the RDF sidebar menu to show itself in any of the Netscape 6 pr releases? I just created an RDF document for one of my sites, and it won't show. Neither will any other site's RDF data. I recall an older Mozilla milestone release that would show it, but the pr releases don't seem to, even though RDF is touted on Netscape's own press releases.
When the Mars candy company created the Milky Way and Three Musketeers bars, somehow along the way they messed up the packaging. The Milky Way bar was meant to be the bar with a creamy, non-nutty center that eventually became the Three Musketeers bar, and vice-versa. The Milky Way ended up with three main layers (Peanuts, Nougat, and Chocolate). Three layers, Three Musketeers, get it? Yes, I'm sure you do.
Yeah, a life would be in order, but I'm too busy munching down on the Milky Way and filtering the world's Tequila supply with my liver. Oh, well.
Wouldn't Apple run into problems with third-party vendors porting their apps to OSX, especially if they have no prior experience with Mac software? While Apple might be making OSX portible to intel computers, how portible would its applications be?
BeOS ran into a similar situation. When they migrated to a mostly-intel OS, they claimed that their apps are easily portable to and from the PowerPC versions of the same. Yet, the fact remains that a good majority of BeOS apps have never been ported to both platforms. Would an intel-based OSX run into the same problems, or does Jobs & Co. have the problem under control?
Going to 2.4 is all well and good (a wonderful accomplishment, don't get me wrong), but can we anticipate a stable 2.3, so some of us non-devel wusses out there in the world can get usb support on our machines? I'm frothing at the mouth at the thought of 2.4's full USB support, as well as all the networking goodies in store, but i'd like to see a stable 2.3 come out sometime soonish.
kinda creepy how we're moving into 2.4 when our latest stable kernel is 2.2.14.
okay, i'll admit, the basic premise of the boycott is somewhat understandable. they are suing over a software patent that should and will be a staple of ecommerce.
but amazon.com also helps many smaller linux and open source sites generate some revenue with their affiliate program. the program may not be the best in the world, but it gives a little back to these often-overlooked and underpaid contributers.
i have the same model phone (sch-3500) (i was one of the first to get it). the phone itself is a beauty, incredibly functional, the voice-activated dialing is a lifesaver.
but the wireless web is another matter.
the only things you can access on it are yahoo and a few other worthless things. no slashdot, no wired news, no userfriendly. what's the point?
you can still recieve email with it, with this messaging service (i don't remember the name).
[yoursprintpcsnumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com] give that address to a select few, and you're golden.
i got the w* web option for the rebate. at the moment, i can't find my reciept, which sucks. i'm calling sprintpcs to cancel my w* web as i hit 'post.'
Slashdot Mirror
Not really. That clause only takes effect if AOL starts providing videophone capabilities (like MS Netmeeting can). For the time being, they're free and clear, unless they're about to debut such video capabilities.
Myth #1: GSCube Machines are currently available.
Nope. Sorry. Not until the end of the year, if they're on schedule.
Myth #2: GSCubes are meant as development workstations.
Again, no. The first generation of commercially available GSCube machines are meant as dedicated render machines for SGI Servers. GSCubes aren't meant for the animators, but for the end products. Soon, they'll be staples in big render farms. A generation or two after that, they're slated for real-time fun that previously could only have been accomplished with an SGI Reality2.
My solution: filter out the ad providers, on the network level. While this doesn't remove the actual pop-up, it doesn't require me to load random free/shareware on my computer.
I simply filter out connections from the big ad companies. A simple ipf/ipfw/pf filter will do the trick.
adfarm.mediaplex.com
*.doubleclick.com
etc.
Red X's are at least a little more pleasant.
Originally, ipf's license did explicity allow or forbid modification. Legally, the general concensus (IANAL) is that it forbade mods all along.
Darren Reed's big "change" was to bluntly say that you cannot distribute a modified version without permission. That's what caught Theo's eye.
Technically, there never was a version with a license that predates Darren's explicit ban on modifications. This means that the kind of forking that allowed OpenSSH to be developed so quickly is not possible here.
Actually, Bruce Tognazzini wrote an article about this same issue not too long ago on his popular AskTog site. This issue is not new to the TiVo, RePlay (which markets a TiVo-like product) just did similar things to all their customers.
The article really makes some excellent points regarding software downgrades and manufacturer responsibilities.
Not to nitpick, but I just wanted to point out that BeOS is not 100% POSIX compliant. It was never certified as such (then again, neither is Linux).
But BeOS has some POSIX porting issues that can seriously hamper porting projects. Now, from what I understand (note: I'm not a hardcore C programmer, because I can't do memory management to save my life) there are some issues with normal, POSIX happy code calling mmap() (I may be slightly incorrect on the name). That's why you don't really see as many great command line utils on BeOS as you should.
I do want to note, however, because of the way BeOS is designed, if you can get your normal, POSIX cl util over to BeOS, you can create a GUI wrapper for it, so you don't have to totally rewrite your app to make it pretty. Gotta love that.
Also, BeOS has hardware support issues, like any niche OS. My NIC, for example, isn't supported. Also, printing has always been an issue (may have been resolved somewhat w/ R5). But they do (obviously) have some good industry connections and such, seeing as how nVidia cards, OpenGL, and USB are fully supported.
Okay. I'll shut up now. ^_^
While this is ever-so-slightly off-topic, it's still extremely interesting.
Check out D11. It's a spec that calls for a major restructuring of X-Windows, but it works thusly: Speeds up local accesses to an X-Win server (running the X server and client on the same machine). The thought's been around a while, but this is some really good stuff.
For those of you suggesting that EROS may be the way for DARPA to go, you may be on to something.
Note this statement on the EROS website:
Guess that either means that DARPA's gonna funnel more money into EROS, or that EROS wasn't up to some standard, and they're looking for a replacement.
On another note, check this clip from DataPlay's Company FAQ:
One thousand years of management experience? Either everyone there has 'Manager' written into their titles (don't laugh, I've seen it done), or they're harnessing Charlemagne as their CEO.Sorry if I was insufficiently clear. I don't give a whoozit about the X-box or any other game console. You're absolutely right, it is just a run-of-the-mill PC.
The only difference between the PC Gaming Platorm and the X-box platform is that the X-box is static - developers get to work on a finalized set of hardware, so the get to work on tweaking to perfection, instead of trying to make it compatible with many many different configs.
My point simply is, that Microsoft has not actually denied Dreamcast compatibility, just that the X-box would not include dreamcast hardware. With Sega's help, the effort would be trivial.
Right now, we are living in an age of unprecidented fortune. We live in a world of riches beyond compare, where life has extended to the point where humanity is free to express itself in so many forms (for better or worse).
No longer must people base their existance on the animals and vegetables they hunt and gather, but on the quality of life itself.
At least in some of the world.
I am not going to preach about the poverty of third world nations, nor of hunger in Ethiopia. I will not ask you to hug a tree, nor will I ask that you give up your beloved steak (though I have quite a few tofu dishes that I can recommend that won't leave you asking, "where's the chicken?").
I will, however, ask you to be selfish.
This world, this fragile little globe, hurtling through space, is finite. There is an absolute, albeit unknown amount of any given resource available to us.
As artists, engineers, entrepeneurs, and geeks of all flavors, we populate this wonderful world with our ideas, inventions, and constructs. The problems lie in our accountability. We create based on one of two impulses: apparent need (as determined either by the market or the requests of our peers), and our desires (money, recognition, chicks that dig linux, whatever).
Rarely do we stop to consider what we are doing on a global scale.
I consider IT to be the cornerstone of a new existance. A way for all people, regardless of all those self-imposed limiting factors like race, religion, nationality, and coolness, to communicate with each other.
One thing that must be considered, however, is the sustainability of all this. Just how much can we do by way of "progress" to actually create something that will last. What good is it to create a world-wide infrastructure, to empower people with the ability to publish to a world-wide web, to do anything, if it either ignores or worsens the sustainability of this planet.
Allow me to explain sustainability. To believe in, or to create anything which will aid in the continuing existance of human life on this planet.
If we ignore what we have as resources (which are, again, finite) then what matters what the future may hold?
If no one is left to view and appreciate our creations, what's the point?
We need to accept the general situation of this planet. There are too many mouths to feed properly under current conditions. Our planet is being ravaged by corporate interests that more often than not, are more interested in a quick buck than seeing their families and their employees' families make use of any of that wealth.
We can continue to make faster, better, l33t3r computers until we're blue in the face, or until we no longer have a supply of the heavy metals that compose them.
If we have no oxygen left, which the destruction of rain- and natural-growth-forests will inevitably lead to, then we have failed as a species.
This is the last thing I want, and I would give anything to stop this. My life, my very cool car, even my Xeon-based servers amount to nothing if my kids, and your kids, and your friends' kids, and their kids mean nothing if they aren't around to enjoy them.
As a planet, as a community, as a whatever, we need to band together to make sure that all our hard work is not thrown by the wayside, that it is not forgotten simply because we made sure that no one would be around to see it.
If we run out of resources, if we run out of enough Earth to allow humanity to continue, propogate properly, and see their children grow up, then what have we accomplished?
Then there will be no future to predict.
Several Million, B.C: great lizards known as "Dino-saurs" were rendered extinct by the impact of a meteorite off the Yucatan.
2000: Parachutist Cheryl Stearns achieves the first sub-orbital skydive, with mixed results. When she reached Mach 1.5, Cheryl vanished, never to be seen again.
2020: It has been determined that Cheryl Stearns, upon breaking mach 1.5, travelled through time, and smashed into the Yucatan. The resulting clouds and debris led to the extinction of all dinosaurs.
Nowhere in the article does it mention that this project was cleared by Sony.
Despite Connectix's legal wins regarding this matter, it's still on the books that reverse-engineering this stuff is illegal. Hmmm...
Look at that handle. It's an iBook in disguise.
I can see a brand new Sony press release now...
TOKYO, JP:Our new VAIO, capitalizing on the trends that Apple has set with regards to style in the consumer computing space. We have reviewed the market data, and have determined that America's consumers are sufficiently brand-obsessed that we can get away with our bold display of our 'VAIO' logo on our latest laptop. Along with popular brands Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, and copyleft.net, we will cram our brand down the throat of every man, woman, and child.
Disclaimer: I love macs, I love vaios (purple ones), and I own some aapl. so there.
Look at that handle. It's an iBook in disguise.
I can see a brand new Sony press release now...
TOKYO, JP:
Okay, I know you're not all kernel hackers and such reading this, and perhaps someone out there makes websites.
my question is: how do you enable the RDF sidebar menu to show itself in any of the Netscape 6 pr releases? I just created an RDF document for one of my sites, and it won't show. Neither will any other site's RDF data. I recall an older Mozilla milestone release that would show it, but the pr releases don't seem to, even though RDF is touted on Netscape's own press releases.
Is there something simple I'm missing?
Actually...
When the Mars candy company created the Milky Way and Three Musketeers bars, somehow along the way they messed up the packaging. The Milky Way bar was meant to be the bar with a creamy, non-nutty center that eventually became the Three Musketeers bar, and vice-versa. The Milky Way ended up with three main layers (Peanuts, Nougat, and Chocolate). Three layers, Three Musketeers, get it? Yes, I'm sure you do.
Yeah, a life would be in order, but I'm too busy munching down on the Milky Way and filtering the world's Tequila supply with my liver. Oh, well.
Wouldn't Apple run into problems with third-party vendors porting their apps to OSX, especially if they have no prior experience with Mac software? While Apple might be making OSX portible to intel computers, how portible would its applications be?
BeOS ran into a similar situation. When they migrated to a mostly-intel OS, they claimed that their apps are easily portable to and from the PowerPC versions of the same. Yet, the fact remains that a good majority of BeOS apps have never been ported to both platforms. Would an intel-based OSX run into the same problems, or does Jobs & Co. have the problem under control?
-ijx.
Is it too late to patent binary computing?
Everyone else seems to have one, and I want one too!
^_^
kinda creepy how we're moving into 2.4 when our latest stable kernel is 2.2.14.
-ijx.
are there any other similar services out there that provide roughly equivalent functionality to call Holland?
anybody?
okay, i'll admit, the basic premise of the boycott is somewhat understandable. they are suing over a software patent that should and will be a staple of ecommerce.
but amazon.com also helps many smaller linux and open source sites generate some revenue with their affiliate program. the program may not be the best in the world, but it gives a little back to these often-overlooked and underpaid contributers.
in this country, we are raised to fear and distrust the government.
it would seem they want to give us reason to do just that.
spooks are spooks forever. period.
i have the same model phone (sch-3500) (i was one of the first to get it). the phone itself is a beauty, incredibly functional, the voice-activated dialing is a lifesaver.
but the wireless web is another matter.
the only things you can access on it are yahoo and a few other worthless things. no slashdot, no wired news, no userfriendly. what's the point?
you can still recieve email with it, with this messaging service (i don't remember the name).
[yoursprintpcsnumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com]
give that address to a select few, and you're golden.
i got the w* web option for the rebate. at the moment, i can't find my reciept, which sucks. i'm calling sprintpcs to cancel my w* web as i hit 'post.'