Hey now - just because you were wrong doesn't mean you have to admit it in a public forum - keep that up and they will revoke your Slashdot ID!;)
But seriously - good for you to admit it. I hope you'll find the '06 release better than that abortion of a release they did before, and I'm glad I was able to help you find it.
Dropping all development support for it however was a bad idea.
What do you mean, "dropping all development support"? They just released a new software image, the maemo.org site is very active, the Nokia developers are regularly posting both to the Nokia forums as well as to the freedesktop forums for both basic X as well as Cairo and GTK.
If that is "dropping all development support" then I would certainly like to see what you consider active development.
And as for you assertion that
...the new OS version breaks more things than it fixed....
- again, I don't know quite what you mean. If you mean "many packages are not available for the new build" - then yes, but most of them have been ported. Or do you mean the second 2005 code drop - which was buggy, and was replaced by the 2006 image. Otherwise, I have the IT2006 build loaded, and it improved many things and I haven't really found anything that it "broke". Please give specifics.
Yes, the system can use a Bluetooth keyboard - in fact I have a very nice one I carry for when I need to do a lot of shell work.
The "keyboards" that don't implement the Bluetooth keyboard protocol, and rather implement some bastard non-standard fake serial protocol don't work as well, but then again, if the manufacturer of the keyboard cannot be bothered to actually read the Bluetooth standards and implement the correct profile, then who needs their product.
The 770 has a keyboard - you can either use the onscreen keypad with the stylus, use handwriting recognition with the stylus, or use a full-screen keypad with your thumbs.
Why would I *want* to have a fold-out keyboard (one more moving part to break) to access itty-bitty keys (more breakable things)?
And lastly - if you *want* a real keyboard, get a Bluetooth keyboard and you are all set.
I am not surprised they are this clueless - they also bounce spams to the nominal "From" address after accepting the message - so if a spammer forges a "From: joe@example.com", guess where they send the spam bounce message to?
I've repeatedly tried to contact them to tell them to stop that, but they continue. If they cannot clear up a simple problem like this when they are told about it, do you really expect them to correct a DESIGN FLAW like TFA quickly?
A 120VRMS system is 170 VP - that is, the PEAK voltage across the pairs is 170 volts. However, AC also REVERSES - so you also get a -170 V Peak. You use a bridge rectifier, and you get the difference of BOTH PEAKS, or about 340 volts - and this MOST DEFINITELY is what you will find on the main cap of a switching power supply. Don't believe me? Get out a voltmeter and measure it yourself.
Since you OBVIOUSLY have never designed a power supply in your life, why don't you visit Vicor and read up on how it is really done.
The assertion that DC requires larget cables is WRONG.
From the article:
The proof-of-concept program, set up at Sun Microsystems' Newark, Calif., facility, offered a side-by-side comparison of a traditional AC power system and a 380-volt DC distribution system, running on both Intel-based servers and Sun systems.
(emphasis mine)
A DC system also would mean having to bring in larger cables than now exist with AC power.
The power lost in the cables varies as the resistance of the cable and the current in the cable.
The power delivered to the equipment varies as the current in the cable and the voltage on the cable.
A 380 volt DC system can deliver as much power per unit current in the cables as a 380 volt AC system (assuming a near-unity power factor).
Ergo, the size of the cables for a 380VDC system will be the same as the size of cables for a 380VAC system.
So, if the comparison is against a 240VAC system, then a 380VDC system will have SMALLER cables, not larger. Only if the system being compared against is a 440VAC system will the cables be larger.
Also - a 380VRMS AC system will have a peak voltage of about 540 volts (two significant digits in, two significant digits out), and thus will require MORE insulation than a 380VDC system.
Also - the first things a switching power supply does is rectify the AC into DC and dump it into a capacitor (and usually do power factor correction): so a power supply designed to run from DC needs neither the power factor correction nor the big capacitor (a smaller cap will still be needed, but not one that can carry the system through the bulk of the AC cycle when the voltage is below peak). This makes the power supply simpler, and removes switching losses from the rectifier (granted, a modern synchronous rectifier based on IGBJTs will have a very low loss - but it still is a loss.)
Also - creating a backup for 380VDC is pretty easy - you use a battery bank floated at the 380VDC level. No need to "switch" from mains power to battery - you are ALWAYS running on battery, and the mains power is just charging the battery. This is how the phone company does it - the central office has a bank of batteries providing 48VDC, which is float charged from the mains. Lose mains power, and the system doesn't even blink.
(Yes, you need to have fusing to prevent those batteries from going nuclear if shorted, but that is a much simpler problem to solve than the issues of switching to backup power for an AC system.).
Yes, you have to design the equipment to run off the 380VDC - so you need different power supply front ends: most power supplies are split into 2 parts - the front end that takes mains power and makes about 300VDC on a cap, and the back end that makes the lower voltages from that - so the back end of the power supply does not need to be redesigned. Moreover, most power supplies use an off-the-shelf front end module, and any "magic" is in the back end - so this is NOT a major issue.
What is being done about the many needless cross-dependencies between packages?
To use a concrete example: I was having problems with an update (from Rawhide) due to a missing Perl module (not yet updated) causing Spamassassin to fail to update. Now, I don't *need* SA installed on my workstation - I do the filtering at the mail server, so I tried to remove SA - only to find that Evolution *REQUIRES* SA.
In my humble opinion, Evolution shouldn't require SA - it should *use* SA if SA is installed and otherwise get on with its life.
There are MANY dependencies like this in Fedora - packages that REQUIRE other packages only because the second package is needed to provide optional functionality in the first package.
I realize that some of this is due to the upstream package creator - some folks don't understand how to dlopen() a library at need rather than just linking to it, or don't understand that libfoo.a.(b+1) should be compatible with a program linked for libfoo.a.b (incompatibilities should drive a libfoo.(a+1).0).
Some of this, however, is due to the spec file created by Fedora.
So the question is, what is Fedora doing to fix this (e.g. trimming spec files, pushing for some form of "recommended" field in RPM, pressuring upstream developers to clean up dependencies, getting library developers to follow the version numbering scheme they are supposed to, etc.)?
Most of the domain/typo squatters I've run into have a very small (usually/24) netblock serving all the crap.
So, block it at your firewall.
For example, I block it at my personal firewall (NOT TO SLASHBOTS! I said "my personal firewall", as in "serving my house only" - so don't give me the rant about "OMFG! HOW DARE YOU FILTER OTHER PEEPLES STUFFS!") by using Squid to transparently proxy all HTTP traffic .
I would NOT suggest writing these companies - you are just going to get your address added to a spam list (or junk mail list, should you be so foolish as to write to them using the mail and give them your correct address).
Instead, I would contact the upstream providers and complain to them - not that I expect THAT to do much either.
Simpler and more effective by far to block them yourself - and that way, they will NEVER be able to make any money on you, ever again.
It would be *nice* were somebody to create a DNSBL that listed these blocks, so that sysadmins who wished to could use that block to filter as needed.
This specific instance sounds like the usual "Hey, nice TLD you have - are you using it? How'd you like to make some quick cash?", like the.tv domain.
Boy, reading comprehension must be optional in schools now-a-days.
Did you not read where I said, "Ultrasonic cautery is trivially identifiable by any medical examiner".
Now, since you've demonstrated that you have a problem actually READING WORDS let's see if I can help you understand how this applies.
Ahmadinejad dies on the plane. His people scream for a autopsy. The ME takes one look at his brain, and says "SHIT - somebody used an ultrasonic cautery on this man. This wasn't natural causes - THIS WAS MURDER."
Now, if you are going to say "duuuuuh - yeah, but, duuuh, they will silence the ME, duuuuh.", then I will point out that if they can silence the ME, then killing Ahmadinejad with a small amount of poison in his food, or with a quick needle stick of poison is FAR EASIER than putting shit in his seat, FAR EASIER to cover up, and equally "undetectable" as the ultrasonic cautery.
Now, stop and READ what I wrote. Then THINK IT THROUGH. I know it hurts - but the more you actually USE your brain for something other than keeping your skull from imploding, the less it will hurt.
Oh, and for the stupid among the moderators (obviously not YOU - YOU aren't stupid, it's some of those OTHER mods that are stupid) - I am being rather nasty to this cretin because that is the ONLY way this jackass will learn to actually READ what he is responding to. But go ahead - do what you think, or rather FEEL, is best - I've long ago given up on the moderation system as producing meaningful results.
As I said when this came up on Technocrata month and a half ago -
Yes, this makes such a good weapon for combat. I have to run up to you, slather you with ultrasonic conducting gel, ram a probe against your skin, find a major artery, and then hit it with ultrasound.
And you are going to be standing there, like a dummy, holding your rifle with a stupid, slack-jawed look on your face, and let me do it.
READ THE FUCKING ARTICLE. THIS DOES NOT WORK AT A DISTANCE.
Moreover, the results of ultrasonic cautery are TRIVIALLY identifiable by any medical examiner.
Get over your "The military is doing this - they must want to use it to KILL PEOPLE." - the military also wants to save the lives of its own people, jackass. Most of modern trauma medicine - you know, all the procedures, equipment, and drugs they will use to save your sorry ass when you wrap it around a tree because your cellphone was more important than driving was - were developed by, GUESS WHAT - THE MILITARY.
We hire a lot of math majors for digital signal processing algorithm design. Somebody like me does the low level stuff - getting the data from the hardware into the system. Then a math type does the actual design of the algorithms, and works with somebody like me to realize them.
Moreover, if you spend a bit of time getting a background in programming and EE, you can take over the bulk of the work, and then watch out - you are SERIOUSLY valuable to a company.
Hell, I wish I'd been able to spend one more semester as a full time undergrad - in order to get a BSEE you are within just a few credit hours of a BA Math - and vise versa. MOST of a BSEE is math - DiffEQ, Calc 1,2,3, LinEq. What isn't pure math is applied math - EM field theory, circuits, control systems, modulation theory - all just applied math courses.
My suggestion: Look for a company doing signal processing ( and you'd be surprised at where DSP shows up). Start working on a BSEE in the evenings - start out with control systems theory, modulation theory, and intro DSP. Learn C. If you can take 6 hours a semester you should be able to have a BSEE in just a couple of years.
A friend of mine called me at work (since he knew that to access MSNBC's videos requires Internet Explorer, Windows Media 9 or better, and Flash, and I have neither IE nor WMP at home) and told me about this.
I went to msnbc.com - and there it was, third on the list of videos on the main page.
I called this to the attention of two of my coworkers, and we viewed the video - total elapsed time, maybe twenty minutes.
Then I went to call it to the attention of a third coworker - and the video was no longer on the front page of MSNBC. OK, so maybe they've moved it off the front page, but it should still be on the Technology subsection, right?
Wrong.
Nor was it under Videos, nor anywhere else I could find it easily.
Perhaps this was just a normal rotation of a video. Perhaps not. But no matter what the real cause, there is the appearance that it was removed from the page because it was too embarrassing. Not good for Microsoft.
However, I will give MSNBC this - they didn't give Microsoft a free ride on this, they ribbed them pretty hard.
However, I knew that this would be appearing on other sources as a video that could be viewed outside of Windows. Actually, I am rather surprised that it took this long.
Now, as to the demonstration itself - it looks to me (a person who does signal processing and analysis for a living) like the presenter had the mike gain too high - every time he spoke he maxed out the bar graph on the display. *IF* he had the gain too high, and the audio was clipping significantly, that could make "mom" have enough of a pop to maybe sound like AUNT - especially if the software is using context to try to reduce the search-space for the words. Of course, that's why I would have a monitoring routine in the system, and if any of the samples are at 100% full scale, or if many of the samples are over 90% full scale, or the signal power is too high, I'd have my software adjust the mike gain down *and* flag an alert to the user. I'd also try to look for the mike element itself being overloaded.
Remember - help your sysadmin out: download all updates from Microsoft, especially things like Window Genuine Assurance, IE7, and any antivirus programs - some of which will show up when you browse certain web sites.
It will make your sysadmin's life much easier if he doesn't have to do these downloads for you - so don't bother asking them before you do the downloads; that just makes more work for them.
(For the stupid among the moderators - this post is sarcastic humor. Of course I don't mean YOU - I mean the OTHER moderators that are stupid.)
This raises a good question: what if the MST3K folk were to release their commentary as a file that, when combined with the correct DVD player, would place their overlayed silhouettes over the movie. BAM! All the advantages of MST3K, no copyright worries over the movie.
Imagine the fun the bots could have with some of the real stinkers that have been released too recently to be available to them: MST3K of Waterworld, or of, well, any Adam Sandler movie.
Ahh, yes - Yet Another Root Domain Name System, like AlterNic.
One that also does redirection in the case of an invalid domain name, thus breaking code (like mail servers) that rely upon being able to detect bogus domains.
One that requires users to change their DNS settings, with all the attendant breakage and difficulties for troubleshooting.
One that will ALSO load down the upstream DNS servers, since the users won't be using their ISP's name servers.
And I am sure their policy of blocking spammy sites' resolution will sit very well with the Slashdot Zeitgeist.
Yes, I am sure this will be a spectacular success, just like AlterNIC is.
I realize that is unthinkable these days, but ask yourself - do you REALLY need to be able to talk/text to your friends EVERY SECOND OF THE DAY? They are there at the school, more than likely - cannot you just see them face to face?
And if you need to call home to tell your parents you are going over to George's after school - there's this really cool thing, kind of like WiFi, where companies create these hot-spots for telephony, and they even PROVIDE THE EQUIPMENT FOR YOU! You walk up to this phone, and you can make a call! What will they think of next?
And if your folks need to leave a message for you - if it is important, they can call the school. If it is not important, they can leave it on the answering machine and you can call it to get your messages.
Last but not least - in many cities, if you need to make a call while you are out, you could get your NoCode Tech radio license and use the autopatch to make a call (or if your folks are hams you can even bypass this step). I'd love to see Officer Unfriendly and Principal Suspicious when you walk out with your Yaesu VX7 on your belt: "STOP: leave your phone." "I don't have a phone." "What's that?" "That's my amateur radio."
When they tell you to leave it anyway, you can remind them that operating the radio without a license is a violation of FCC regs - as in, a Federal issue. Even so, there is NOTHING they can do with it.
So in closing - ask yourself, do you really NEED your phone, or is it a case of WANTING your phone?
Do remember, ABC were the network who originally aired Max Headroom here in the US. Obviously, their execs were none too happy about having all their secret plans revealed.
Block fast-forward first, then on to blipverts and no off buttons!
Had large, tasty brains (at least, tasty if you are a Thrint - I don't know if any of the races of Known Space had tried them, though I wouldn't put it past the Kzinti).
Were totally immune to any forms of telepathic suggestion or probing.
Were genetically engineered by the Tnuctip to act as spies against the Thrint.
Consented to be hunted for money, as long as the hunters' tanks didn't give them too much of an advantage. Often, the hunters became the hunted - that was part of the deal.
Slashdot Mirror
Hey now - just because you were wrong doesn't mean you have to admit it in a public forum - keep that up and they will revoke your Slashdot ID! ;)
But seriously - good for you to admit it. I hope you'll find the '06 release better than that abortion of a release they did before, and I'm glad I was able to help you find it.
What do you mean, "dropping all development support"? They just released a new software image, the maemo.org site is very active, the Nokia developers are regularly posting both to the Nokia forums as well as to the freedesktop forums for both basic X as well as Cairo and GTK.
If that is "dropping all development support" then I would certainly like to see what you consider active development.
And as for you assertion that - again, I don't know quite what you mean. If you mean "many packages are not available for the new build" - then yes, but most of them have been ported. Or do you mean the second 2005 code drop - which was buggy, and was replaced by the 2006 image. Otherwise, I have the IT2006 build loaded, and it improved many things and I haven't really found anything that it "broke". Please give specifics.
Yes, the system can use a Bluetooth keyboard - in fact I have a very nice one I carry for when I need to do a lot of shell work.
The "keyboards" that don't implement the Bluetooth keyboard protocol, and rather implement some bastard non-standard fake serial protocol don't work as well, but then again, if the manufacturer of the keyboard cannot be bothered to actually read the Bluetooth standards and implement the correct profile, then who needs their product.
The 770 has a keyboard - you can either use the onscreen keypad with the stylus, use handwriting recognition with the stylus, or use a full-screen keypad with your thumbs.
Why would I *want* to have a fold-out keyboard (one more moving part to break) to access itty-bitty keys (more breakable things)?
And lastly - if you *want* a real keyboard, get a Bluetooth keyboard and you are all set.
And in the same vein, there's the RPG motivational posters that I submitted some days ago (and were rejected as not news for nerds).
Obviously, the perfect poster would combine elements of both Star Trek and Hitchhiker's Guide:
Wesley's picture, with the caption:
"... the one thing they really couldn't stand was a smartass"
I am not surprised they are this clueless - they also bounce spams to the nominal "From" address after accepting the message - so if a spammer forges a "From: joe@example.com", guess where they send the spam bounce message to?
I've repeatedly tried to contact them to tell them to stop that, but they continue. If they cannot clear up a simple problem like this when they are told about it, do you really expect them to correct a DESIGN FLAW like TFA quickly?
A 120VRMS system is 170 VP - that is, the PEAK voltage across the pairs is 170 volts. However, AC also REVERSES - so you also get a -170 V Peak. You use a bridge rectifier, and you get the difference of BOTH PEAKS, or about 340 volts - and this MOST DEFINITELY is what you will find on the main cap of a switching power supply. Don't believe me? Get out a voltmeter and measure it yourself.
Since you OBVIOUSLY have never designed a power supply in your life, why don't you visit Vicor and read up on how it is really done.
From the article:
(emphasis mine)
The power lost in the cables varies as the resistance of the cable and the current in the cable.
The power delivered to the equipment varies as the current in the cable and the voltage on the cable.
A 380 volt DC system can deliver as much power per unit current in the cables as a 380 volt AC system (assuming a near-unity power factor).
Ergo, the size of the cables for a 380VDC system will be the same as the size of cables for a 380VAC system.
So, if the comparison is against a 240VAC system, then a 380VDC system will have SMALLER cables, not larger. Only if the system being compared against is a 440VAC system will the cables be larger.
Also - a 380VRMS AC system will have a peak voltage of about 540 volts (two significant digits in, two significant digits out), and thus will require MORE insulation than a 380VDC system.
Also - the first things a switching power supply does is rectify the AC into DC and dump it into a capacitor (and usually do power factor correction): so a power supply designed to run from DC needs neither the power factor correction nor the big capacitor (a smaller cap will still be needed, but not one that can carry the system through the bulk of the AC cycle when the voltage is below peak). This makes the power supply simpler, and removes switching losses from the rectifier (granted, a modern synchronous rectifier based on IGBJTs will have a very low loss - but it still is a loss.)
Also - creating a backup for 380VDC is pretty easy - you use a battery bank floated at the 380VDC level. No need to "switch" from mains power to battery - you are ALWAYS running on battery, and the mains power is just charging the battery. This is how the phone company does it - the central office has a bank of batteries providing 48VDC, which is float charged from the mains. Lose mains power, and the system doesn't even blink.
(Yes, you need to have fusing to prevent those batteries from going nuclear if shorted, but that is a much simpler problem to solve than the issues of switching to backup power for an AC system.).
Yes, you have to design the equipment to run off the 380VDC - so you need different power supply front ends: most power supplies are split into 2 parts - the front end that takes mains power and makes about 300VDC on a cap, and the back end that makes the lower voltages from that - so the back end of the power supply does not need to be redesigned. Moreover, most power supplies use an off-the-shelf front end module, and any "magic" is in the back end - so this is NOT a major issue.
What is being done about the many needless cross-dependencies between packages?
To use a concrete example:
I was having problems with an update (from Rawhide) due to a missing Perl module (not yet updated) causing Spamassassin to fail to update. Now, I don't *need* SA installed on my workstation - I do the filtering at the mail server, so I tried to remove SA - only to find that Evolution *REQUIRES* SA.
In my humble opinion, Evolution shouldn't require SA - it should *use* SA if SA is installed and otherwise get on with its life.
There are MANY dependencies like this in Fedora - packages that REQUIRE other packages only because the second package is needed to provide optional functionality in the first package.
I realize that some of this is due to the upstream package creator - some folks don't understand how to dlopen() a library at need rather than just linking to it, or don't understand that libfoo.a.(b+1) should be compatible with a program linked for libfoo.a.b (incompatibilities should drive a libfoo.(a+1).0).
Some of this, however, is due to the spec file created by Fedora.
So the question is, what is Fedora doing to fix this (e.g. trimming spec files, pushing for some form of "recommended" field in RPM, pressuring upstream developers to clean up dependencies, getting library developers to follow the version numbering scheme they are supposed to, etc.)?
So, block it at your firewall.
For example, I block it at my personal firewall (NOT TO SLASHBOTS! I said "my personal firewall", as in "serving my house only" - so don't give me the rant about "OMFG! HOW DARE YOU FILTER OTHER PEEPLES STUFFS!") by using Squid to transparently proxy all HTTP traffic .
Use the following lines in Squid:You can also null-route those domains in your routing tables or block them with IPTables.
For reference, here's the WHOIS on those networks:I would NOT suggest writing these companies - you are just going to get your address added to a spam list (or junk mail list, should you be so foolish as to write to them using the mail and give them your correct address).
Instead, I would contact the upstream providers and complain to them - not that I expect THAT to do much either.
Simpler and more effective by far to block them yourself - and that way, they will NEVER be able to make any money on you, ever again.
It would be *nice* were somebody to create a DNSBL that listed these blocks, so that sysadmins who wished to could use that block to filter as needed.
This specific instance sounds like the usual "Hey, nice TLD you have - are you using it? How'd you like to make some quick cash?", like the
Boy, reading comprehension must be optional in schools now-a-days.
Did you not read where I said, "Ultrasonic cautery is trivially identifiable by any medical examiner".
Now, since you've demonstrated that you have a problem actually READING WORDS let's see if I can help you understand how this applies.
Ahmadinejad dies on the plane. His people scream for a autopsy. The ME takes one look at his brain, and says "SHIT - somebody used an ultrasonic cautery on this man. This wasn't natural causes - THIS WAS MURDER."
Now, if you are going to say "duuuuuh - yeah, but, duuuh, they will silence the ME, duuuuh.", then I will point out that if they can silence the ME, then killing Ahmadinejad with a small amount of poison in his food, or with a quick needle stick of poison is FAR EASIER than putting shit in his seat, FAR EASIER to cover up, and equally "undetectable" as the ultrasonic cautery.
Now, stop and READ what I wrote. Then THINK IT THROUGH. I know it hurts - but the more you actually USE your brain for something other than keeping your skull from imploding, the less it will hurt.
Oh, and for the stupid among the moderators (obviously not YOU - YOU aren't stupid, it's some of those OTHER mods that are stupid) - I am being rather nasty to this cretin because that is the ONLY way this jackass will learn to actually READ what he is responding to. But go ahead - do what you think, or rather FEEL, is best - I've long ago given up on the moderation system as producing meaningful results.
As I said when this came up on Technocrat a month and a half ago -
Yes, this makes such a good weapon for combat. I have to run up to you, slather you with ultrasonic conducting gel, ram a probe against your skin, find a major artery, and then hit it with ultrasound.
And you are going to be standing there, like a dummy, holding your rifle with a stupid, slack-jawed look on your face, and let me do it.
READ THE FUCKING ARTICLE. THIS DOES NOT WORK AT A DISTANCE.
Moreover, the results of ultrasonic cautery are TRIVIALLY identifiable by any medical examiner.
Get over your "The military is doing this - they must want to use it to KILL PEOPLE." - the military also wants to save the lives of its own people, jackass. Most of modern trauma medicine - you know, all the procedures, equipment, and drugs they will use to save your sorry ass when you wrap it around a tree because your cellphone was more important than driving was - were developed by, GUESS WHAT - THE MILITARY.
We hire a lot of math majors for digital signal processing algorithm design. Somebody like me does the low level stuff - getting the data from the hardware into the system. Then a math type does the actual design of the algorithms, and works with somebody like me to realize them.
Moreover, if you spend a bit of time getting a background in programming and EE, you can take over the bulk of the work, and then watch out - you are SERIOUSLY valuable to a company.
Hell, I wish I'd been able to spend one more semester as a full time undergrad - in order to get a BSEE you are within just a few credit hours of a BA Math - and vise versa. MOST of a BSEE is math - DiffEQ, Calc 1,2,3, LinEq. What isn't pure math is applied math - EM field theory, circuits, control systems, modulation theory - all just applied math courses.
My suggestion: Look for a company doing signal processing ( and you'd be surprised at where DSP shows up). Start working on a BSEE in the evenings - start out with control systems theory, modulation theory, and intro DSP. Learn C. If you can take 6 hours a semester you should be able to have a BSEE in just a couple of years.
A friend of mine called me at work (since he knew that to access MSNBC's videos requires Internet Explorer, Windows Media 9 or better, and Flash, and I have neither IE nor WMP at home) and told me about this.
I went to msnbc.com - and there it was, third on the list of videos on the main page.
I called this to the attention of two of my coworkers, and we viewed the video - total elapsed time, maybe twenty minutes.
Then I went to call it to the attention of a third coworker - and the video was no longer on the front page of MSNBC. OK, so maybe they've moved it off the front page, but it should still be on the Technology subsection, right?
Wrong.
Nor was it under Videos, nor anywhere else I could find it easily.
Perhaps this was just a normal rotation of a video. Perhaps not. But no matter what the real cause, there is the appearance that it was removed from the page because it was too embarrassing. Not good for Microsoft.
However, I will give MSNBC this - they didn't give Microsoft a free ride on this, they ribbed them pretty hard.
However, I knew that this would be appearing on other sources as a video that could be viewed outside of Windows. Actually, I am rather surprised that it took this long.
Now, as to the demonstration itself - it looks to me (a person who does signal processing and analysis for a living) like the presenter had the mike gain too high - every time he spoke he maxed out the bar graph on the display. *IF* he had the gain too high, and the audio was clipping significantly, that could make "mom" have enough of a pop to maybe sound like AUNT - especially if the software is using context to try to reduce the search-space for the words. Of course, that's why I would have a monitoring routine in the system, and if any of the samples are at 100% full scale, or if many of the samples are over 90% full scale, or the signal power is too high, I'd have my software adjust the mike gain down *and* flag an alert to the user. I'd also try to look for the mike element itself being overloaded.
Remember - help your sysadmin out: download all updates from Microsoft, especially things like Window Genuine Assurance, IE7, and any antivirus programs - some of which will show up when you browse certain web sites.
It will make your sysadmin's life much easier if he doesn't have to do these downloads for you - so don't bother asking them before you do the downloads; that just makes more work for them.
(For the stupid among the moderators - this post is sarcastic humor. Of course I don't mean YOU - I mean the OTHER moderators that are stupid.)
I know a guy who is on the no-fly list. It's a real bitch, because his job requires him to fly a lot.
So, he goes to the airport, checks his luggage, deals with the BS of being on the list, and flys to his job.
Whereupon he gets his luggage, puts on his uniform, gets his piece, puts on his ID, gets in his plane, and takes off.
He's a commercial airline pilot - authorized to carry a pistol in the cockpit, and to fly a plane full of people.
But he cannot board a flight as a passenger without a bunch of BS because his name is on the No Fly list.
This raises a good question: what if the MST3K folk were to release their commentary as a file that, when combined with the correct DVD player, would place their overlayed silhouettes over the movie. BAM! All the advantages of MST3K, no copyright worries over the movie.
Imagine the fun the bots could have with some of the real stinkers that have been released too recently to be available to them: MST3K of Waterworld, or of, well, any Adam Sandler movie.
So, we are going to get a bunch of surly, lazy, obnoxious robots from France.
But I thought Bender was Mexican?
So, will this be programmable via scripting languages?
Sort of a "TCL-me Elmo?"
Good idea: Shooting pool with the president.
Bad idea: Shooting at the president's pool.
Ahh, yes - Yet Another Root Domain Name System, like AlterNic.
One that also does redirection in the case of an invalid domain name, thus breaking code (like mail servers) that rely upon being able to detect bogus domains.
One that requires users to change their DNS settings, with all the attendant breakage and difficulties for troubleshooting.
One that will ALSO load down the upstream DNS servers, since the users won't be using their ISP's name servers.
And I am sure their policy of blocking spammy sites' resolution will sit very well with the Slashdot Zeitgeist.
Yes, I am sure this will be a spectacular success, just like AlterNIC is.
Simple thing to do: DON'T CARRY A PHONE.
I realize that is unthinkable these days, but ask yourself - do you REALLY need to be able to talk/text to your friends EVERY SECOND OF THE DAY? They are there at the school, more than likely - cannot you just see them face to face?
And if you need to call home to tell your parents you are going over to George's after school - there's this really cool thing, kind of like WiFi, where companies create these hot-spots for telephony, and they even PROVIDE THE EQUIPMENT FOR YOU! You walk up to this phone, and you can make a call! What will they think of next?
And if your folks need to leave a message for you - if it is important, they can call the school. If it is not important, they can leave it on the answering machine and you can call it to get your messages.
Last but not least - in many cities, if you need to make a call while you are out, you could get your NoCode Tech radio license and use the autopatch to make a call (or if your folks are hams you can even bypass this step). I'd love to see Officer Unfriendly and Principal Suspicious when you walk out with your Yaesu VX7 on your belt:
"STOP: leave your phone."
"I don't have a phone."
"What's that?"
"That's my amateur radio."
When they tell you to leave it anyway, you can remind them that operating the radio without a license is a violation of FCC regs - as in, a Federal issue. Even so, there is NOTHING they can do with it.
So in closing - ask yourself, do you really NEED your phone, or is it a case of WANTING your phone?
Do remember, ABC were the network who originally aired Max Headroom here in the US. Obviously, their execs were none too happy about having all their secret plans revealed.
Block fast-forward first, then on to blipverts and no off buttons!