Decentralized Bittorrent? Wake me up when they have secured Bittorrent and then I'll listen.
My ISP, Mediacom, scans my network packets to determine if I'm grabbing a torrent of questionable nature. If they see it, they'll send me a nasty email. Hence, I'm on the edonkey networks now because BT is clearly not an option at the moment. I'm sure they'll scan those packets, too, at some point.
Unsecured BT is fast, sure, but if your ISP is snooping...well. And illegal or questionable content aside, it'd be handy for distributing other files to people in a more secure manner.
Or is this out there and I'm just missing something?
Background: I am a rabid LOTR fan, have been since I first read the trilogy when I was 11. I went to the midnight showings of each of the three movies and own the EEs of each of the first two.
I've only seen ROTK once. In the theatre, at midnight.
I'm not entirely sure why, really, because I loved it. I *shivered* as the movie started from the sheer excitement of it all. The world disappeared as I watched, fully captivated by PJ's amazing artistry.
But, I think I'm waiting. I think I'm waiting for those pieces that will really complete the movie the way PJ really intended it to be and yet was hampered by the movie industry. Character development? Hell yes! Give me more of it. I want to see more of what makes each of them tick. Eowyn's character -- only touched upon, with so much depth left to explore. I want to see those little nuances that only the avid fans of the book will catch. I want to see the vision as it was intended.
I don't agree with everything PJ has done to the story itself, but I give him his leeway given what he had to try to accomplish. But if I'm going to bother seeing it, I want to see it the way he wanted me to.
Right now, I'm planning an all-day marathon to watch all three EEs in a row with my ex-roommate. I think I shall shiver again.
The phrase "everyone likes sex" can be reinterpreted to the workplace in a similar form, "everyone likes desk space". When you have lots, it's great. When you don't have lots, it's still better than nothing.
But while that's the case, having desk space isn't nearly as valuable to me as not having my eyes flayed by an LCD scratching them for 9 hours a day, thus, I stick with CRTs. I value my space -- but not that much. I value my eyes more.
I was hoping that the industry wouldn't give up on the tube and figure out a way to get the best of both worlds, and hopefully this is it. I assume we're not losing other things, such as dot pitch and refresh rate, with this invention, so it should be a win-win situation.
I dunno. I assume there are people out there using an LCD panel for long hours of staring and don't feel the same effects. That being said, I know people who don't think monitors running at 60Hz flicker (esp. when coupled with floro lights). I suppose it's all in the eye of the beholder (yuk,yuk).
My hosting business, Binhost Technologies, uses Asterisk behind its IAX/SIP Origination and Termination and wholesale VOIP operations. It works well -- the price is right and the features are many. Most phones work if they speak SIP, IAX, or H.323 and the system comes configured from the start in a pretty usable state.
A few things we've found out: The scripting system is a bit of a learning curve. Also, the configurations are one of those Jenga configs -- breathe too hard and it falls down. You have to be really, really careful when messing with the configs because one place can easily mess up another thing. But once you get a good, working config, it just works.
Processor usage is reasonable, too. A P-266 would do well for a couple of lines and maybe up to 10. After that you'll want a bit more horse.
Man...either you have different visual needs than I or that Dell FP is really nice. (I suspect the former.) I haven't met a FP that beats a CRT yet.
I, too, currently run a Samsung 955DF and love it. They tried to upgrade it to a FP earlier in the year and I told them exactly where they could stick it; I've seen the displays on the secretaries and other people in the office that use them because they "give back my desktop space", and they're awful. I have to spend 9 - 10 hours a day staring at the screen, I don't need something that scours my eyeballs.
This move by Sybase is an interesting one but pretty much follows along with their corporate strategy, as far as I can see.
Disclaimer: We're a Sybase shop, programming in PowerBuilder and deploying on Sybase ASA (Adaptive Server Anywhere, the 'lite' version of their DB engine) but we're small, only a few hundred systems a year.
Sybase is making a move (and has been, for quite some time) to the mobile market. They want their databases and utilities running on every mobile device out there. CEO John Chen has stated this is their mission for a long time, even while everyone kinda nodded and said, "Sure, John, whatever." Small things keep happening in this area to promote their move. They keep improving their development platform (PowerBuilder) but have cut some features and released the PFC (PowerBuilder Foundation Classes) as an open source project. Now the database is released to the public. The runtime version of ASA has been available for a long time for a $99 one-time fee (a deal, if you ask me) and many tools are cheap or free.
I think this is just another move to get out into the space. If their quest is to conquer the mobile market, they're not concerned about Joe Blow using their DB to power an internal time-tracking application, they want the name recognition so when you decide to go mobile, they'll be there to wag their tails happily.
Good luck, Sybase. Nice products, but it'll be a struggle.
When will we see some innovation instead of eye candy? Why does something have to be invented on OSX or Windows instead of pioneered on linux?
Because for the most part, that is not, and will probably never be, the way Linux development has worked. UNIX, yes, but Linux, traditionally not.
Now, before you put gasoline underwear on me and get ready to strike a match, hear me out. For the most part, Linux has been an environment where the best ideas from surrounding computing environments have been taken, sythesized, sifted, reviewed, and eventually had the creme-de-la-creme added to the mix. It's like making chocolate chip cookies but you've reviewed every chocolate chip and grain of flour prior to inclusion.
Now, this being said, has nothing been invented on Linux, is it all a facsimile? Of course not -- lots of apps exist in Linux that are unique. However, think about how music is composed nowadays. Most music written is a combination of theory, heritage, culture, and style. There's nothing really groundbreaking about it; no one is out making music from the sound of tomatoes rotting. However, the music is still new -- it's just another rendering of the general mish-mash.
Hence is Linux and Linux development. It doesn't always have to follow a pioneering stance; indeed, it rarely has. Nor is there a need to start now. I think in a lot of ways, the community does better if it takes the best of the already-field-tested and manipulates that into a successful product. Let the others take the heat and trials of something new and potentially groundbreaking (MS Bob, anyone?) and let us reap the goods.
Likely not. I think corporations have too much caution built into them now (paranoia?) to go into a bubble situation again. I only think that it'll get *better*; not necessarily the same.
That being said, bubbles have happened before and will likely happen again (roaring 20's, mid 80's, late 90's), but they're rare...I won't hold my breath.
A pessimistic viewpoint, for sure, but not entirely without merit. I can appreciate your comments for what they are. At the same time, while I do believe that we are in a downturn as a country, I don't think that the timeline is a quick one; I think it will be quite a few years before we see major changes in the structure of the U.S. I could be completely wrong, of course. I'm not about to rush out quite yet for the duct tape.
That being said, I'm not so attached to this country that I won't split given good reason. My wife is Australian, we've been there before and it was a great country. I wouldn't be opposed to moving there and living there given the chance. I'm not sure conditions are significantly better, economic-wise, but they're surely better regarding certain forms of privacy and legal issues.
I base my predictions on the economy based on history, which shows that markets have an up-and-down cyclical nature. Although the market is never the same on the micro level, at a macro view it's generally the same idea.
And I acknowledged that in my above post -- I said that things would likely be quite different with the great push towards outsourcing; it'll significantly change the job market and the way the economy works. There's likely to be other factors as well -- new technology, legal precedents, world happenings, etc. Though these are macro-level events to some degree, the overall view is still that the economy will improve or degrade or stagnate (a rare occurrence).
Perhaps it's a bit of optimism but I feel that my prediction that the economy will recover is well-based on previous trends in the history of econ in general. Most financial advisors will advise to stick out investments in hard times because the market will recover -- it always does -- and I don't think this is an exception. Will it be the same? Of course not. But in a lot of ways it'll be similar because history works like that.
The old axiom back when I was in college (96-00) was, "If you don't change jobs in the tech field at least once every 3-4 years, you won't move up." The idea behind it was that after 3-4 years on a particular job, your skills should have increased to the point that the technology sector deemed you 'worthy' of a higher-paid, higher-responsibility job.
Of course, this got blown out of the water in the Burst Bubble(tm). Techies like myself have hung onto a job (if we have one) if it's stable and provides because there aren't any other options open sufficient enough to make a logical move. I've seen a few jobs that look more interesting than mine but the pay rates still aren't in the neighborhood of what I would like to have to make a move (pay or benefits, for that matter).
So, the economy comes back. Businesses level off and then start expanding again, hopefully this time at a bit more controlled level. Jobs will start opening up and depending on the saturation of the market, wages will go up for techs. The offshoring of tech will only continue to a particular point; it'll become part of the factor that will control wages and job availability, so it's less likely to bounce back quickly. But the time will come when jobs will open up that are at a pay level, benefit level, and stability that sensible techs who have been sitting tight will feel OK to make a move.
And they will. I just don't know as though you're going to see a large rush of this happening, as most of us are gunshy and are unlikely to follow in mad chaos on the latest trend again. (I said most...there'll always be the few oddities.)
You learn 20% in the classroom, 80% outside of the classroom - College isn't all about the classes; they are important, don't get me wrong. No one pays $20K/year to hang out. But I learned the most outside of class in the form of social interaction, mental and psychological reform, and changing and honing of my beliefs and feelings. Understand that concept and you'll make a productive 4 years.
Party like it's on sale for $19.99 - You'll never get to do it again, and even into your twenties you'll start to slow down and start saying things like, "I used to be able to do that" in reference to long nights of drinking and partying where 3pm was breakfasttime the next day. I'm not saying you need to get so wasted every weekend that you can't see straight; have a few of those, but at least go out, have a beer, and socialize as much as possible.
Appreciate the opportunities - Picture this: it's a Thursday afternoon. The weather has just gone sunny and warm, the kind that makes you feel like everything's great. You have class at 2:30. A friend says, "Too bad we have class, we should go have a beer by the river and enjoy the weather." What are you going to do? SKIP THE CLASS! Don't do it every day, but in cases like this, you'll gain more from that skip than you would have had in class. This situation hit me during senior year; all my roommates were in the same class with me. We actually sat down, wrote and email to the prof, and apologized, saying that the day was too nice to spend inside, we hoped he understood. Then we left and went out by the river, had some beers, and shot the shit. A great, happy day. When we came home, we found an email from the prof, saying, "I don't blame you."
Women are fascinating creatures -- meet some - This is obviously for the guys, but girls, feel free to reverse the idea. Women are really fascinating creatures, and I'm not talking about just sex. Their unique perspective on life and ideas and views are great stimuli for the mind; find the interesting ones and hang out with them. Cultivate great friendships with women of all walks -- even if they never turn out to be a date or a lay, there's nothing like walking across campus and being able to yell out, "Hey, Erin!" and having that cute blonde wave back at you enthusiastically, stop and talk to you. How's that for an ego boost?
That being said, I would agree with the "get laid" sentiment to some extent. At least, there's a lot of women both interesting and just plain attractive that I wished I had gotten up the guts to approach and ask them for a night of passion or at least some friendly exchanges of pleasure. So give it a shot, you'll be glad you did.
Your friends are your rock - Make friends. Lots of them. Of all types of people, backgrounds, and interests. Don't limit yourself to geeks or any other group. Knowing people of all walks gives you the power of connections, of knowing who to contact when you need something. Need a great, raucaus party to go to? Are you going to contact a geek? No! Contact that football player you made friends with in the caf line. Need an 'in' on the setup of wiring in the buildings? Call up the weird guy that studies blueprints you saw last week! I could give a million examples, but have friends. Call them randomly. Take them out for beers at 11pm. Go over and give them 'stress breaks'. Anything.
Respect your sleep - I don't mean don't stay out late or anything -- that's fine. But respect sleep for what it is: a chance to refresh. Something that makes you think clearer. If you schedule your classes in the early mornings and you're a night owl, you WILL SUFFER. I don't care how "dedicated" you are -- when push comes to shove, and it will, you'll be screwed. Know yourself, admit your weaknesses, and get over them. Watch your schedules so you can get naps and sleep appropriately.
And to add on to #1 of the parent, knowing and talking with your professors is very handy for more than just grades and homework. They are great sources of information on the college internal affairs and can oftentimes be great resources for things other students don't have access to. For instance, becoming good friends with one of my profs enabled me to get a computer-related job when I was in a crappy, manual-labor student employment. I was able to use several profs as great references for employment because when they were called, they never said, "Who???"
There are some pricks out there and there are some great, insightful, inspiring people. Try to find those and rub elbows as much as possible, you'll be forever grateful.
Gee...hasn't anyone else noticed what else we get with LOAF? Longer shit on emails!
Unless the application (which it might, I haven't checked) filters the LOAF signature, we'll have a nice influx of three-word emails with 25 lines of crap at the end of each, plus headers, plus the 50-line signature that I flamed you about last week, plus your cutsey signoff, plus the last 14 messages you've quoted in the discussion thread because you were too fucking lazy to edit them off, plus a poorly-rendered ASCII-art picture of Britney Spears showing her hot grits, plus...
Well. You get the picture. I can't wait until I can be on mailing lists that have 95 LOAF signatures at the end of each email because they were running Outlook and it couldn't filter them out.
Any way to stick those babies in a header? At least they can be hidden, then. The bandwidth is just a victim anyway.
Oh, and forgive me for being a selfish asshole, but the other reason I'd like to see more women in CS is because I'd like to finally be able to talk shop with my loved one...
And also because I'd like the ability to get a female mentality on technical issues. I knew only about 3 or 4 CS women in college and they were quite good at what they did, but there weren't enough of them. Men can be boorish and unresponsive sometimes when it comes to creative quirks; the women in the class were often the ones to have a completely different perspective on some issue we were dealing with.
I prefer a male attitude when it comes to working tech, usually. (I'm being general, put your flamethrower away.) That attitude is usually pretty silent, clicking away at the board until something's done. Women tend to be more into social interaction, talk out problems while thinking about them, etc. Nothing wrong with that -- I just prefer to have thinking time on my own. But when you hit a mental roadblock and need that different track of thought, a woman's mind is often good for jogging one's thought patterns into something new and potentially useful.
So, would an infinite number of workaholic monkeys in a room generate Shakespeare that much faster?
"Ford!" he said, "there's an infinite number of monkeys outside who want to talk to us about this script for Hamlet they've worked out." -- Arthur, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
I posted a query on a MS newsgroup and got a response from an MVP that indicated that it was a rights issue, that I didn't have rights to modify some section of my registry.
<rant>
Who in fuck at Microsoft thought it was a good idea to have such a screwed-up permissions scheme? I ask you, honestly, WHY don't I have full permissions to do ANYTHING to ANYTHING I want when I'm Administrator? Every time I get an "Access denied" error, I'm this close to going spare and hacking something to bits.
</rant>
I've found the easiest way is to select the C: drive, right-click, Properties, Security, and give everyone every permission, apply to all, propogate to children. Voila! Instant access.
Another myth I've seen that has been touted goes something like this: "If it's open source, then there's no legal problems as it is open and everyone can see what is there. If there's a legal issue, someone will catch it before it causes problems."
Ah, no. Unfortunately, that's not the case (wish it was). The SCO case proves this, that even if it is open source, there still might be legal problems that no one has cared to deal with yet or bring up. Companies don't review each and every thing that comes out, but if they make enough ripples they will look into it. Take Unisys and GIF for an example there.
One of the largest things that I've run into is the issue of indemnification; essentially, the ability of a company to point a finger at someone if the software breaks and say, "It's not our fault, THEIR software broke. THEY'RE responsible." Open source almost never has indemnification -- no one gives a statement saying, "Yeah, if our software is found to contain things that were stolen or if it breaks, we'll take care of it." Very few are willing to accept the responsibility of damages if something blows up.
For this reason, the company I work for will not allow OSS usage in any project that we resell. We've been advised this by lawyers who do not want to get us into a situation where there isn't someone else to point fingers at if something goes down because of the tool we used. Whereas our closed-source tools that we use we make sure we have legal policies with them, warranties, and indemnifications (which they are willing to give because they're being paid for their software) to cover our legal ass.
I'm sure there's ways to mitigate these risks, but for a lot of companies I'm guessing they're not willing to take the leap until more precedent has been set in the courts for OSS and its legal profile.
Thank heavens for this, maybe more people will be spared the hell I had to go through with that bastard of a company.
I had AT&T when I moved to my first apartment out of college. I had had them for college long-distance and thought it was ok, not knowing better. After a year of struggling whenever I wanted to switch plans or adjust information on my bill, and constantly getting phone calls from them for different services, I decided when I moved to my current house, AT&T would be taken out with the garbage.
So, I cancelled 2 weeks before I left the apartment (with a long and arduous phone call with a really nasty, nasty woman) and signed up with Sprint (who were and continue to be just as friendly and helpful as heck). For 4 months after I moved and my long distance had switched, I still got bills from AT&T...mostly just the minimum, but it started building up. I got nasty letters telling me about collection, lawyers, etc. So I sent back a nasty letter, detailing that I had cancelled, if they'd check their damned records, and there was no way in hell I would pay anything.
An apologetic letter arrived that stated that they'd be glad to terminate my account and my balance would be erased. Well, good.
6 months later, I receive a bill from AT&T. $0.00 owed. I throw it in the trash. Six months from that, the same thing...zero dollars owed, thanks for being a great customer. More head scratching followed, paper wafts towards circular file.
I haven't lived at the apartment for 4 years now -- the phone number changed when I moved to my new house and it hasn't been reused for anyone. About every 6 months I still receive a bill from them for $0 that I look at, giggle, and then throw in the trash, amused at the sheer stupidity of it all.
So, what you're actually complaining about is the GPL restricts your freedom to use other people's hard work to save you time and money, add a little bit of your own code, and then sell the result, keeping the source to yourself and giving nothing back to the people on whose shoulders you stood.
If I had to say what annoyed me the most, probably, is two things:
The inability for most GPLed products to also obtain a non-GPLed product. There is some EXCELLENT code out there that has been GPLed, but I can't use it. Why not? My business will NOT allow the use of any code that cannot be hidden and kept secret from the people we sell our products to. So, whilst I gaze fondly at some really nifty products, I can't touch them. Very frustrating.
Most GPLed/OSS code doesn't have decent indemnification. This goes beyond the scope of this discussion, but the fact that our lawyers won't let us use OSS software due to that lack is also annoying.
Otherwise, I see the GPL as a choice...develop under it, accept what you must do to your code, or develop without it and do what you like. I just wish there were more options given on some really great products out there (and some do, mind you, like MySQL...but not enough.)
Here's how I see it: Novell, having locked up the LAN market years ago, has since retired to the poolside patio. Only recently has it put down its Cosmo, set down its martini, glanced over its shades, and noticed that the sun has gone down. Now it's jumping into the Linux pool (where Microsoft has peed in the shallow end), realized that it has forgotten how to swim, can't tread water, and its water wings are still back in the cupboard.
Good on ya, Novell, for attempting to jump into the middle of things, but you need to focus first on revamping your marketing and business strategy departments; otherwise, you would not have lost so much ground in the server room. Realize your excellent assests but don't rely on them; understand your business but don't count on it; acknowledge your competitors but don't give them slack. Take those things to court on this Linux deal and you might have a shot. Good luck.
This is huge in my business where the CEO is gunshy from a lawsuit 7 years ago. (yeah, I know...therapy) We recently turned down a completely free, open-source component for a relatively expensive one that did less for what? Indemnification. Our legal aid couldn't guarantee us that we wouldn't get sued.
It's a problem. Businesses that use 3rd party products need those products to perform WITHOUT giving them the added legal expense. I think your ROI really drops when it includes a few suits. Small businesses, in specific, aren't about to take that chance. That being said, they're less likely to be targeted, but often the chance isn't worth it.
They want someone to point a finger at if something goes wrong...the software breaks, it destroys data, or they get sued for infringement in order to recoup lost money. With open-source, you have no one to point at. (usually)
Slashdot Mirror
Decentralized Bittorrent? Wake me up when they have secured Bittorrent and then I'll listen.
My ISP, Mediacom, scans my network packets to determine if I'm grabbing a torrent of questionable nature. If they see it, they'll send me a nasty email. Hence, I'm on the edonkey networks now because BT is clearly not an option at the moment. I'm sure they'll scan those packets, too, at some point.
Unsecured BT is fast, sure, but if your ISP is snooping...well. And illegal or questionable content aside, it'd be handy for distributing other files to people in a more secure manner.
Or is this out there and I'm just missing something?
Background: I am a rabid LOTR fan, have been since I first read the trilogy when I was 11. I went to the midnight showings of each of the three movies and own the EEs of each of the first two.
I've only seen ROTK once. In the theatre, at midnight.
I'm not entirely sure why, really, because I loved it. I *shivered* as the movie started from the sheer excitement of it all. The world disappeared as I watched, fully captivated by PJ's amazing artistry.
But, I think I'm waiting. I think I'm waiting for those pieces that will really complete the movie the way PJ really intended it to be and yet was hampered by the movie industry. Character development? Hell yes! Give me more of it. I want to see more of what makes each of them tick. Eowyn's character -- only touched upon, with so much depth left to explore. I want to see those little nuances that only the avid fans of the book will catch. I want to see the vision as it was intended.
I don't agree with everything PJ has done to the story itself, but I give him his leeway given what he had to try to accomplish. But if I'm going to bother seeing it, I want to see it the way he wanted me to.
Right now, I'm planning an all-day marathon to watch all three EEs in a row with my ex-roommate. I think I shall shiver again.
The phrase "everyone likes sex" can be reinterpreted to the workplace in a similar form, "everyone likes desk space". When you have lots, it's great. When you don't have lots, it's still better than nothing.
But while that's the case, having desk space isn't nearly as valuable to me as not having my eyes flayed by an LCD scratching them for 9 hours a day, thus, I stick with CRTs. I value my space -- but not that much. I value my eyes more.
I was hoping that the industry wouldn't give up on the tube and figure out a way to get the best of both worlds, and hopefully this is it. I assume we're not losing other things, such as dot pitch and refresh rate, with this invention, so it should be a win-win situation.
I dunno. I assume there are people out there using an LCD panel for long hours of staring and don't feel the same effects. That being said, I know people who don't think monitors running at 60Hz flicker (esp. when coupled with floro lights). I suppose it's all in the eye of the beholder (yuk,yuk).
Unkink the CAT5, Jerry! We've got a backup!
My hosting business, Binhost Technologies, uses Asterisk behind its IAX/SIP Origination and Termination and wholesale VOIP operations. It works well -- the price is right and the features are many. Most phones work if they speak SIP, IAX, or H.323 and the system comes configured from the start in a pretty usable state.
A few things we've found out: The scripting system is a bit of a learning curve. Also, the configurations are one of those Jenga configs -- breathe too hard and it falls down. You have to be really, really careful when messing with the configs because one place can easily mess up another thing. But once you get a good, working config, it just works.
Processor usage is reasonable, too. A P-266 would do well for a couple of lines and maybe up to 10. After that you'll want a bit more horse.
</plug>
Man...either you have different visual needs than I or that Dell FP is really nice. (I suspect the former.) I haven't met a FP that beats a CRT yet.
I, too, currently run a Samsung 955DF and love it. They tried to upgrade it to a FP earlier in the year and I told them exactly where they could stick it; I've seen the displays on the secretaries and other people in the office that use them because they "give back my desktop space", and they're awful. I have to spend 9 - 10 hours a day staring at the screen, I don't need something that scours my eyeballs.
...I always have 8 LCD panels just laying around. Right next to that stack of spare 120GB SATA HDs.
This move by Sybase is an interesting one but pretty much follows along with their corporate strategy, as far as I can see.
Disclaimer: We're a Sybase shop, programming in PowerBuilder and deploying on Sybase ASA (Adaptive Server Anywhere, the 'lite' version of their DB engine) but we're small, only a few hundred systems a year.
Sybase is making a move (and has been, for quite some time) to the mobile market. They want their databases and utilities running on every mobile device out there. CEO John Chen has stated this is their mission for a long time, even while everyone kinda nodded and said, "Sure, John, whatever." Small things keep happening in this area to promote their move. They keep improving their development platform (PowerBuilder) but have cut some features and released the PFC (PowerBuilder Foundation Classes) as an open source project. Now the database is released to the public. The runtime version of ASA has been available for a long time for a $99 one-time fee (a deal, if you ask me) and many tools are cheap or free.
I think this is just another move to get out into the space. If their quest is to conquer the mobile market, they're not concerned about Joe Blow using their DB to power an internal time-tracking application, they want the name recognition so when you decide to go mobile, they'll be there to wag their tails happily.
Good luck, Sybase. Nice products, but it'll be a struggle.
When will we see some innovation instead of eye candy? Why does something have to be invented on OSX or Windows instead of pioneered on linux?
Because for the most part, that is not, and will probably never be, the way Linux development has worked. UNIX, yes, but Linux, traditionally not.
Now, before you put gasoline underwear on me and get ready to strike a match, hear me out. For the most part, Linux has been an environment where the best ideas from surrounding computing environments have been taken, sythesized, sifted, reviewed, and eventually had the creme-de-la-creme added to the mix. It's like making chocolate chip cookies but you've reviewed every chocolate chip and grain of flour prior to inclusion.
Now, this being said, has nothing been invented on Linux, is it all a facsimile? Of course not -- lots of apps exist in Linux that are unique. However, think about how music is composed nowadays. Most music written is a combination of theory, heritage, culture, and style. There's nothing really groundbreaking about it; no one is out making music from the sound of tomatoes rotting. However, the music is still new -- it's just another rendering of the general mish-mash.
Hence is Linux and Linux development. It doesn't always have to follow a pioneering stance; indeed, it rarely has. Nor is there a need to start now. I think in a lot of ways, the community does better if it takes the best of the already-field-tested and manipulates that into a successful product. Let the others take the heat and trials of something new and potentially groundbreaking (MS Bob, anyone?) and let us reap the goods.
Likely not. I think corporations have too much caution built into them now (paranoia?) to go into a bubble situation again. I only think that it'll get *better*; not necessarily the same.
That being said, bubbles have happened before and will likely happen again (roaring 20's, mid 80's, late 90's), but they're rare...I won't hold my breath.
A pessimistic viewpoint, for sure, but not entirely without merit. I can appreciate your comments for what they are. At the same time, while I do believe that we are in a downturn as a country, I don't think that the timeline is a quick one; I think it will be quite a few years before we see major changes in the structure of the U.S. I could be completely wrong, of course. I'm not about to rush out quite yet for the duct tape.
That being said, I'm not so attached to this country that I won't split given good reason. My wife is Australian, we've been there before and it was a great country. I wouldn't be opposed to moving there and living there given the chance. I'm not sure conditions are significantly better, economic-wise, but they're surely better regarding certain forms of privacy and legal issues.
I base my predictions on the economy based on history, which shows that markets have an up-and-down cyclical nature. Although the market is never the same on the micro level, at a macro view it's generally the same idea.
And I acknowledged that in my above post -- I said that things would likely be quite different with the great push towards outsourcing; it'll significantly change the job market and the way the economy works. There's likely to be other factors as well -- new technology, legal precedents, world happenings, etc. Though these are macro-level events to some degree, the overall view is still that the economy will improve or degrade or stagnate (a rare occurrence).
Perhaps it's a bit of optimism but I feel that my prediction that the economy will recover is well-based on previous trends in the history of econ in general. Most financial advisors will advise to stick out investments in hard times because the market will recover -- it always does -- and I don't think this is an exception. Will it be the same? Of course not. But in a lot of ways it'll be similar because history works like that.
The old axiom back when I was in college (96-00) was, "If you don't change jobs in the tech field at least once every 3-4 years, you won't move up." The idea behind it was that after 3-4 years on a particular job, your skills should have increased to the point that the technology sector deemed you 'worthy' of a higher-paid, higher-responsibility job.
Of course, this got blown out of the water in the Burst Bubble(tm). Techies like myself have hung onto a job (if we have one) if it's stable and provides because there aren't any other options open sufficient enough to make a logical move. I've seen a few jobs that look more interesting than mine but the pay rates still aren't in the neighborhood of what I would like to have to make a move (pay or benefits, for that matter).
So, the economy comes back. Businesses level off and then start expanding again, hopefully this time at a bit more controlled level. Jobs will start opening up and depending on the saturation of the market, wages will go up for techs. The offshoring of tech will only continue to a particular point; it'll become part of the factor that will control wages and job availability, so it's less likely to bounce back quickly. But the time will come when jobs will open up that are at a pay level, benefit level, and stability that sensible techs who have been sitting tight will feel OK to make a move.
And they will. I just don't know as though you're going to see a large rush of this happening, as most of us are gunshy and are unlikely to follow in mad chaos on the latest trend again. (I said most...there'll always be the few oddities.)
You learn 20% in the classroom, 80% outside of the classroom - College isn't all about the classes; they are important, don't get me wrong. No one pays $20K/year to hang out. But I learned the most outside of class in the form of social interaction, mental and psychological reform, and changing and honing of my beliefs and feelings. Understand that concept and you'll make a productive 4 years.
Party like it's on sale for $19.99 - You'll never get to do it again, and even into your twenties you'll start to slow down and start saying things like, "I used to be able to do that" in reference to long nights of drinking and partying where 3pm was breakfasttime the next day. I'm not saying you need to get so wasted every weekend that you can't see straight; have a few of those, but at least go out, have a beer, and socialize as much as possible.
Appreciate the opportunities - Picture this: it's a Thursday afternoon. The weather has just gone sunny and warm, the kind that makes you feel like everything's great. You have class at 2:30. A friend says, "Too bad we have class, we should go have a beer by the river and enjoy the weather." What are you going to do? SKIP THE CLASS! Don't do it every day, but in cases like this, you'll gain more from that skip than you would have had in class. This situation hit me during senior year; all my roommates were in the same class with me. We actually sat down, wrote and email to the prof, and apologized, saying that the day was too nice to spend inside, we hoped he understood. Then we left and went out by the river, had some beers, and shot the shit. A great, happy day. When we came home, we found an email from the prof, saying, "I don't blame you."
Women are fascinating creatures -- meet some - This is obviously for the guys, but girls, feel free to reverse the idea. Women are really fascinating creatures, and I'm not talking about just sex. Their unique perspective on life and ideas and views are great stimuli for the mind; find the interesting ones and hang out with them. Cultivate great friendships with women of all walks -- even if they never turn out to be a date or a lay, there's nothing like walking across campus and being able to yell out, "Hey, Erin!" and having that cute blonde wave back at you enthusiastically, stop and talk to you. How's that for an ego boost?
That being said, I would agree with the "get laid" sentiment to some extent. At least, there's a lot of women both interesting and just plain attractive that I wished I had gotten up the guts to approach and ask them for a night of passion or at least some friendly exchanges of pleasure. So give it a shot, you'll be glad you did.
Your friends are your rock - Make friends. Lots of them. Of all types of people, backgrounds, and interests. Don't limit yourself to geeks or any other group. Knowing people of all walks gives you the power of connections, of knowing who to contact when you need something. Need a great, raucaus party to go to? Are you going to contact a geek? No! Contact that football player you made friends with in the caf line. Need an 'in' on the setup of wiring in the buildings? Call up the weird guy that studies blueprints you saw last week! I could give a million examples, but have friends. Call them randomly. Take them out for beers at 11pm. Go over and give them 'stress breaks'. Anything.
Respect your sleep - I don't mean don't stay out late or anything -- that's fine. But respect sleep for what it is: a chance to refresh. Something that makes you think clearer. If you schedule your classes in the early mornings and you're a night owl, you WILL SUFFER. I don't care how "dedicated" you are -- when push comes to shove, and it will, you'll be screwed. Know yourself, admit your weaknesses, and get over them. Watch your schedules so you can get naps and sleep appropriately.
Take Naps - Piggybacking on the above, take naps.
And to add on to #1 of the parent, knowing and talking with your professors is very handy for more than just grades and homework. They are great sources of information on the college internal affairs and can oftentimes be great resources for things other students don't have access to. For instance, becoming good friends with one of my profs enabled me to get a computer-related job when I was in a crappy, manual-labor student employment. I was able to use several profs as great references for employment because when they were called, they never said, "Who???"
There are some pricks out there and there are some great, insightful, inspiring people. Try to find those and rub elbows as much as possible, you'll be forever grateful.
So that's where Longhorn has been! Golly...developing a project that huge over a network with that much latency must really suck.
Gee...hasn't anyone else noticed what else we get with LOAF? Longer shit on emails!
Unless the application (which it might, I haven't checked) filters the LOAF signature, we'll have a nice influx of three-word emails with 25 lines of crap at the end of each, plus headers, plus the 50-line signature that I flamed you about last week, plus your cutsey signoff, plus the last 14 messages you've quoted in the discussion thread because you were too fucking lazy to edit them off, plus a poorly-rendered ASCII-art picture of Britney Spears showing her hot grits, plus...
Well. You get the picture. I can't wait until I can be on mailing lists that have 95 LOAF signatures at the end of each email because they were running Outlook and it couldn't filter them out.
Any way to stick those babies in a header? At least they can be hidden, then. The bandwidth is just a victim anyway.
Oh, and forgive me for being a selfish asshole, but the other reason I'd like to see more women in CS is because I'd like to finally be able to talk shop with my loved one...
And also because I'd like the ability to get a female mentality on technical issues. I knew only about 3 or 4 CS women in college and they were quite good at what they did, but there weren't enough of them. Men can be boorish and unresponsive sometimes when it comes to creative quirks; the women in the class were often the ones to have a completely different perspective on some issue we were dealing with.
I prefer a male attitude when it comes to working tech, usually. (I'm being general, put your flamethrower away.) That attitude is usually pretty silent, clicking away at the board until something's done. Women tend to be more into social interaction, talk out problems while thinking about them, etc. Nothing wrong with that -- I just prefer to have thinking time on my own. But when you hit a mental roadblock and need that different track of thought, a woman's mind is often good for jogging one's thought patterns into something new and potentially useful.
So, would an infinite number of workaholic monkeys in a room generate Shakespeare that much faster?
"Ford!" he said, "there's an infinite number of monkeys outside who want to talk to us about this script for Hamlet they've worked out." -- Arthur, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
I posted a query on a MS newsgroup and got a response from an MVP that indicated that it was a rights issue, that I didn't have rights to modify some section of my registry.
<rant>
Who in fuck at Microsoft thought it was a good idea to have such a screwed-up permissions scheme? I ask you, honestly, WHY don't I have full permissions to do ANYTHING to ANYTHING I want when I'm Administrator? Every time I get an "Access denied" error, I'm this close to going spare and hacking something to bits.
</rant>
I've found the easiest way is to select the C: drive, right-click, Properties, Security, and give everyone every permission, apply to all, propogate to children. Voila! Instant access.
Another myth I've seen that has been touted goes something like this: "If it's open source, then there's no legal problems as it is open and everyone can see what is there. If there's a legal issue, someone will catch it before it causes problems."
Ah, no. Unfortunately, that's not the case (wish it was). The SCO case proves this, that even if it is open source, there still might be legal problems that no one has cared to deal with yet or bring up. Companies don't review each and every thing that comes out, but if they make enough ripples they will look into it. Take Unisys and GIF for an example there.
One of the largest things that I've run into is the issue of indemnification; essentially, the ability of a company to point a finger at someone if the software breaks and say, "It's not our fault, THEIR software broke. THEY'RE responsible." Open source almost never has indemnification -- no one gives a statement saying, "Yeah, if our software is found to contain things that were stolen or if it breaks, we'll take care of it." Very few are willing to accept the responsibility of damages if something blows up.
For this reason, the company I work for will not allow OSS usage in any project that we resell. We've been advised this by lawyers who do not want to get us into a situation where there isn't someone else to point fingers at if something goes down because of the tool we used. Whereas our closed-source tools that we use we make sure we have legal policies with them, warranties, and indemnifications (which they are willing to give because they're being paid for their software) to cover our legal ass.
I'm sure there's ways to mitigate these risks, but for a lot of companies I'm guessing they're not willing to take the leap until more precedent has been set in the courts for OSS and its legal profile.
Thank heavens for this, maybe more people will be spared the hell I had to go through with that bastard of a company.
I had AT&T when I moved to my first apartment out of college. I had had them for college long-distance and thought it was ok, not knowing better. After a year of struggling whenever I wanted to switch plans or adjust information on my bill, and constantly getting phone calls from them for different services, I decided when I moved to my current house, AT&T would be taken out with the garbage.
So, I cancelled 2 weeks before I left the apartment (with a long and arduous phone call with a really nasty, nasty woman) and signed up with Sprint (who were and continue to be just as friendly and helpful as heck). For 4 months after I moved and my long distance had switched, I still got bills from AT&T...mostly just the minimum, but it started building up. I got nasty letters telling me about collection, lawyers, etc. So I sent back a nasty letter, detailing that I had cancelled, if they'd check their damned records, and there was no way in hell I would pay anything.
An apologetic letter arrived that stated that they'd be glad to terminate my account and my balance would be erased. Well, good.
6 months later, I receive a bill from AT&T. $0.00 owed. I throw it in the trash. Six months from that, the same thing...zero dollars owed, thanks for being a great customer. More head scratching followed, paper wafts towards circular file.
I haven't lived at the apartment for 4 years now -- the phone number changed when I moved to my new house and it hasn't been reused for anyone. About every 6 months I still receive a bill from them for $0 that I look at, giggle, and then throw in the trash, amused at the sheer stupidity of it all.
If I had to say what annoyed me the most, probably, is two things:
- The inability for most GPLed products to also obtain a non-GPLed product. There is some EXCELLENT code out there that has been GPLed, but I can't use it. Why not? My business will NOT allow the use of any code that cannot be hidden and kept secret from the people we sell our products to. So, whilst I gaze fondly at some really nifty products, I can't touch them. Very frustrating.
- Most GPLed/OSS code doesn't have decent indemnification. This goes beyond the scope of this discussion, but the fact that our lawyers won't let us use OSS software due to that lack is also annoying.
Otherwise, I see the GPL as a choice...develop under it, accept what you must do to your code, or develop without it and do what you like. I just wish there were more options given on some really great products out there (and some do, mind you, like MySQL...but not enough.)Here's how I see it: Novell, having locked up the LAN market years ago, has since retired to the poolside patio. Only recently has it put down its Cosmo, set down its martini, glanced over its shades, and noticed that the sun has gone down. Now it's jumping into the Linux pool (where Microsoft has peed in the shallow end), realized that it has forgotten how to swim, can't tread water, and its water wings are still back in the cupboard.
Good on ya, Novell, for attempting to jump into the middle of things, but you need to focus first on revamping your marketing and business strategy departments; otherwise, you would not have lost so much ground in the server room. Realize your excellent assests but don't rely on them; understand your business but don't count on it; acknowledge your competitors but don't give them slack. Take those things to court on this Linux deal and you might have a shot. Good luck.
This is huge in my business where the CEO is gunshy from a lawsuit 7 years ago. (yeah, I know...therapy) We recently turned down a completely free, open-source component for a relatively expensive one that did less for what? Indemnification. Our legal aid couldn't guarantee us that we wouldn't get sued.
It's a problem. Businesses that use 3rd party products need those products to perform WITHOUT giving them the added legal expense. I think your ROI really drops when it includes a few suits. Small businesses, in specific, aren't about to take that chance. That being said, they're less likely to be targeted, but often the chance isn't worth it.
They want someone to point a finger at if something goes wrong...the software breaks, it destroys data, or they get sued for infringement in order to recoup lost money. With open-source, you have no one to point at. (usually)