The only way to solve this is to attach a cost to personal data.
I can see it now. A customer walks into the local UPS Store with a small package.
Clerk: Good afternoon sir. How may I help you?
Customer: I have this important package that needs to be sent out today.
Clerk: Ok sir. Would you like the package to be sent ground, express, or overnight?
Customer: Overnight please.
Clerk: Are the contents of the package worth more than $100.
Customer: No. Just a few tapes worth about $25 each containing personal information from 3.9 million of our valued customers.
Clerk: Sir, the contents of that package seem to worth more than $100. I am going to need a value declared for the contents of the package..
Customer: Well it's hard to say. I don't know. Perhaps a few hundred dollars.
Clerk: Sir, that figure still seems low. Why don't you take a moment and think about the real value of the page. In the mean time, could I see an ID with return address information.
Customer: Sure. Here you are.
(Customer thinks for awhile.)
Clerk: Are you ready sir?
Customer: Yes I am.
Clerk: What is the value of this package?
Customer: After some intensive thinking, I have come up with the figure of one hundred billion dollars!!! Moo-ha-ha Moo-ha-ha Mo-ha-ha......
Clerk: Thank you Mr. Evil.
Customer: That's Dr. Evil. I didn't spend six years at evil medical school to be called Mr.. thank you.
Remeber...everything is GPL'd...so buying out Redhat would at most just give MS some time (against Redhat ONLY)....there ARE other LINUX distros out there....like Mandrake...SuSE.....MEPIS...debian......
Do you realize how many kernel developers work at Red Hat? Red Hat also releases tons of code each year. If Microsoft bought Red Hat, they could slow further development.
Do I think Microsoft will buy Red Hat. Hell no. If Microsoft wanted, they could create their own distro. Nothing prevents them from doing just that except for the marketing dept.
My question is just why the fuck does a computer program have to be used to learn math in highschool?
Welcome to public schools. The programs themselves suck but if we want state funding we have to use them.
I must say the programs for Grades 1-5 are fairly good but the high school programs are childish at best.
I would bet that kids who grew up using Linux would have more general skills, and a clue about problem-solving (frequently by seeking help from one another) then they would under MS. Quite simply, using Linux induces an undercurrent of learning about computers in general, for example, by getting to grips with how to read man pages, and make proper use of search engines. This would not translate into immediate familiarity with MS, this is true, but the more general problem-solving skill would be of immense value in life.
Ok, I don't know how many times I have to say this but will say it again. If I could run Linux on our systems I would. Guess what, I CAN'T
Our labs must run WINDOWS only programs REQUIRED by the state. If I was working in a private school I would have no problem making the switch. I did just that at a private school before it closed due to low enrollment. Since I work for public schools, we have to jump through hoops to get funding. It's a sad truth but that is what I have to work with.
I have considered dual booting a few systems and probally will for our AP Comp Science students. Due to our department being understaffed, this is not possible for all of our systems.
My father doesn't like OSX because he thinks it is complicated. He does not understand the concept of the dock. I've tried to explain to him that it is a place to put shortcuts, or for him aliases. Probally the biggest reason he is scared is because he doesn't want to learn. I know he could use it but he is content with his performa.
If I had a few thousand workstation seats, some reason for wanting to stay in Windows, and were negotiating with an MS sales rep, I'd simply have a box of Red Hat Enterprise and of SUSE sitting on my desk where it couldn't be missed and let the sales rep bring up discounts.
Afraid to upset MS? What have they got against saving money? Sounds like some people in education need to get their asses fired.
I can tell you have never worked in a K-12 environment. The objective of education is suppose to get people ready for life. Guess what, the vast majority of kids are going to work in an environment where Windows is used. Linux has it's place and it is not on the desktop, yet.
I am the computer tech. for a K-12 school district. I and I alone must support 14 different buildings with a total of over 5,000 computers. Desktop management is extremely important for me. I currently use Zenworks to manage the desktops. There is nothing in the Linux world that compares with the options available for Windows management. Believe me, I have tested SuSE with Zenworks and it is not as refined as the Windows implementation.
Management is important but application support is the most important factor in choosing a desktop OS. Our computer labs in every school run educational applications that are available FOR WINDOWS ONLY. One suite of programs for math is required by the state. Our administrators also must run programs available for Windows only. These include special ed IEP (Individual Education Program) programs, financial and asset tracking programs required by the state, and grade and attendance databases that only have Windows frontends. The database itself I have running on a Trustix Linux server, which brings me to my next point.
Our district is in the process of migrating from Netware 6 and 6.5 to SuSE Open Enteprise Server. From my personal experience of using Linux for eight years at home I can say it is not ready for desktop use in an educational environment. I wish the application support was available but it is not.
You mentioned that schools may be afraid to upset Microsoft. As a matter of fact we are. Our district along with countless others receive large grants, last year a total of $200,000, from Microsoft. This year they threatened to take away this years money since we are moving to Open Enteprise Server. I asked our sales rep. they made threats this year and not in the past. We have been using Netware since 3x. He said he wasn't sure. I bluffed and said we were also considering migrating our desktop systems to Linux. He replied back with an apology, $225,000, and two new computer labs.
I understand what Microsoft is doing. They are not making any money off of our district. What they are doing is molding future consumers. Am I ok with this? Yes I am. Any company in their position would do and has done the same thing. Apple became popular with schools because when you bought two computers you got a third free. We still have a few IIe's in service. Apple had a good thing going but they screwed up. Once the average user is comfortable with an interface, they do not want to change. Microsoft has change the interface to Windows very little in the past 10 years. They change it just enough for people to consider the upgrade but not enough to scare the same people off. I felt this way a few years ago when I upgraded my iMac from OS 9.1 to OSX 10.2. I use a variety of window managers in Linux so I am able to adapt and explore. I am glad Apple has not changed the OSX interface drastically. Perhaps they will be able to recapture a greater market share.
My father, who was a Macintosh zealot, was scared off by OSX. He is now a Windows XP user and continues to use his Performa with OS 8.1.
I think at this point I am writing for myself so I will finish up.
The IT education environment is like none other. Right now Windows has the upper hand due mainly in part to application support; not stability, security, or cost. I hope more vendors will release educational software for Linux. Until then, we are stuck with Windows unless Wine makes more progress.
I am done. If you have read to this point, thank you.
I've found that newegg does not censor negative comments regarding products. They do however censor inappropriate comments. If the comment has nothing to do with the product, service, ect. it is deleted.
As an example, this comment would be deleted:
Did any of you see the game yesterday? I can't believe the Vikings won.
This comment would be acceptable:
Yesterday I watched the Vikings game on this TV tuner card. The software was easy to install and the package got here fast.
This comment would also be acceptable from my experience:
After recording the game yesterday on this TV tuner card, I noticed the quality was not very good. The remote also does not work from my couch which is only seven feet from the sensor. I am considering returning this product and getting a different card.
Newegg's policy regarding censorship is the best I have experienced. You will find negative posts about a product like, "I received the hard drive a week ago and it died today."
I do not work for newegg but am a satisfied customer. I use the product reviews to gain some insight on how a product works, ect. Sure I know that some posts were censored but I am fine with that. I don't want to go through a millon first posts, racists comments, ect. before finding a review with some information I can consider before buying a product.
My hat is off to newegg and I wish I was working there.
How is encryption going to keep a tape from melting?
I should have mentioned that the tape was damaged but each of us keep weekly tape backups. His set was damaged but my set was in my safe deposit box.
I wasn't conserned if the tape had been damaged. Before he found the tape I hoped that the tape was damaged wherever it may have been. I was conserned about someone else getting their hands on my data.
I use rsync which does incremental syncs. Right now I'm only using about 40 GB out of the 100. My friend is using less at only 25 GB. Every other day I transfer/receive approx. 100 MB of data. My monthly bandwidth for send/receive comes out to be around 1.5-2 GB. I'm on a standard cable connection.
I live in Wisconsin and a friend of mine lives in Nevada. He has a broadband connection and so do I. My home server has 2x200 GB hard drives mirrored. His server also has 2x200 GB hard drives mirrored. I can use half the space for my data on both servers and he can use the other half. Every other day at 3am, my server rsyncs over ssh to his. The same occurs every other day when his rsyncs with my server.
We do a full tape backup every week on Saturday and incremental backups every day. I take the full backups to my safe deposit box at the bank.
I guess what I am saying is that if any of your friends or family have a broadband connection, ask if you can use it for backup. Offer them storage space for backup or money to house a Linux box you can use as offsite backup.
If your data is extremely important, make sure you encrypt it. One time my friend thought he dropped a tape in a parking lot. I was conserned for weeks until he found the tape under the seat of his car. I learned my lesson and now encrypt everything that is important to me.
Perhaps they should send a letter to every customer with basic information on how to keep a Windows box virus and spyware free. Along with the letter, they could send a CD with Firefox, spyware removal tools, and AVG Antivirus on it with installation instructions.
Slashdot Mirror
The only way to solve this is to attach a cost to personal data.
I can see it now. A customer walks into the local UPS Store with a small package.
Clerk: Good afternoon sir. How may I help you?
Customer: I have this important package that needs to be sent out today.
Clerk: Ok sir. Would you like the package to be sent ground, express, or overnight?
Customer: Overnight please.
Clerk: Are the contents of the package worth more than $100.
Customer: No. Just a few tapes worth about $25 each containing personal information from 3.9 million of our valued customers.
Clerk: Sir, the contents of that package seem to worth more than $100. I am going to need a value declared for the contents of the package..
Customer: Well it's hard to say. I don't know. Perhaps a few hundred dollars.
Clerk: Sir, that figure still seems low. Why don't you take a moment and think about the real value of the page. In the mean time, could I see an ID with return address information.
Customer: Sure. Here you are.
(Customer thinks for awhile.)
Clerk: Are you ready sir?
Customer: Yes I am.
Clerk: What is the value of this package?
Customer: After some intensive thinking, I have come up with the figure of one hundred billion dollars!!! Moo-ha-ha Moo-ha-ha Mo-ha-ha......
Clerk: Thank you Mr. Evil.
Customer: That's Dr. Evil. I didn't spend six years at evil medical school to be called Mr.. thank you.
Me: I just realized how bored I an,
Then she could put it in a bowl of Wendy's chili and sue them for...One Hundred Billion Dollars...moo-ha-ha
The sad thing about that is that the new gold is so fantastically radioactive.
So what you are saying is that I should give my ex-girlfriend a ring made out of this gold.
I don't see anything sad about that.
I hope ads do appear in space. We can then use them as target practice. ICBM target practice, that is.
Remeber...everything is GPL'd...so buying out Redhat would at most just give MS some time (against Redhat ONLY)....there ARE other LINUX distros out there....like Mandrake...SuSE.....MEPIS...debian......
Do you realize how many kernel developers work at Red Hat? Red Hat also releases tons of code each year. If Microsoft bought Red Hat, they could slow further development.
Do I think Microsoft will buy Red Hat. Hell no. If Microsoft wanted, they could create their own distro. Nothing prevents them from doing just that except for the marketing dept.
My question is just why the fuck does a computer program have to be used to learn math in highschool? Welcome to public schools. The programs themselves suck but if we want state funding we have to use them. I must say the programs for Grades 1-5 are fairly good but the high school programs are childish at best.
I would bet that kids who grew up using Linux would have more general skills, and a clue about problem-solving (frequently by seeking help from one another) then they would under MS. Quite simply, using Linux induces an undercurrent of learning about computers in general, for example, by getting to grips with how to read man pages, and make proper use of search engines. This would not translate into immediate familiarity with MS, this is true, but the more general problem-solving skill would be of immense value in life. Ok, I don't know how many times I have to say this but will say it again. If I could run Linux on our systems I would. Guess what, I CAN'T Our labs must run WINDOWS only programs REQUIRED by the state. If I was working in a private school I would have no problem making the switch. I did just that at a private school before it closed due to low enrollment. Since I work for public schools, we have to jump through hoops to get funding. It's a sad truth but that is what I have to work with. I have considered dual booting a few systems and probally will for our AP Comp Science students. Due to our department being understaffed, this is not possible for all of our systems.
My father doesn't like OSX because he thinks it is complicated. He does not understand the concept of the dock. I've tried to explain to him that it is a place to put shortcuts, or for him aliases. Probally the biggest reason he is scared is because he doesn't want to learn. I know he could use it but he is content with his performa.
If I had a few thousand workstation seats, some reason for wanting to stay in Windows, and were negotiating with an MS sales rep, I'd simply have a box of Red Hat Enterprise and of SUSE sitting on my desk where it couldn't be missed and let the sales rep bring up discounts.
Afraid to upset MS? What have they got against saving money? Sounds like some people in education need to get their asses fired.
I can tell you have never worked in a K-12 environment. The objective of education is suppose to get people ready for life. Guess what, the vast majority of kids are going to work in an environment where Windows is used. Linux has it's place and it is not on the desktop, yet.
I am the computer tech. for a K-12 school district. I and I alone must support 14 different buildings with a total of over 5,000 computers. Desktop management is extremely important for me. I currently use Zenworks to manage the desktops. There is nothing in the Linux world that compares with the options available for Windows management. Believe me, I have tested SuSE with Zenworks and it is not as refined as the Windows implementation.
Management is important but application support is the most important factor in choosing a desktop OS. Our computer labs in every school run educational applications that are available FOR WINDOWS ONLY. One suite of programs for math is required by the state. Our administrators also must run programs available for Windows only. These include special ed IEP (Individual Education Program) programs, financial and asset tracking programs required by the state, and grade and attendance databases that only have Windows frontends. The database itself I have running on a Trustix Linux server, which brings me to my next point.
Our district is in the process of migrating from Netware 6 and 6.5 to SuSE Open Enteprise Server. From my personal experience of using Linux for eight years at home I can say it is not ready for desktop use in an educational environment. I wish the application support was available but it is not.
You mentioned that schools may be afraid to upset Microsoft. As a matter of fact we are. Our district along with countless others receive large grants, last year a total of $200,000, from Microsoft. This year they threatened to take away this years money since we are moving to Open Enteprise Server. I asked our sales rep. they made threats this year and not in the past. We have been using Netware since 3x. He said he wasn't sure. I bluffed and said we were also considering migrating our desktop systems to Linux. He replied back with an apology, $225,000, and two new computer labs.
I understand what Microsoft is doing. They are not making any money off of our district. What they are doing is molding future consumers. Am I ok with this? Yes I am. Any company in their position would do and has done the same thing. Apple became popular with schools because when you bought two computers you got a third free. We still have a few IIe's in service. Apple had a good thing going but they screwed up. Once the average user is comfortable with an interface, they do not want to change. Microsoft has change the interface to Windows very little in the past 10 years. They change it just enough for people to consider the upgrade but not enough to scare the same people off. I felt this way a few years ago when I upgraded my iMac from OS 9.1 to OSX 10.2. I use a variety of window managers in Linux so I am able to adapt and explore. I am glad Apple has not changed the OSX interface drastically. Perhaps they will be able to recapture a greater market share.
My father, who was a Macintosh zealot, was scared off by OSX. He is now a Windows XP user and continues to use his Performa with OS 8.1.
I think at this point I am writing for myself so I will finish up.
The IT education environment is like none other. Right now Windows has the upper hand due mainly in part to application support; not stability, security, or cost. I hope more vendors will release educational software for Linux. Until then, we are stuck with Windows unless Wine makes more progress.
I am done. If you have read to this point, thank you.
"...just load a free, non-crippled OS (mentioning no names!).
I hope you meant a pirate copy of XP Home or Pro. Although you did say non-crippled.
waiting for two minutes for the site to load is two minutes I will never get back.
The "pictures" look like a legal pad. How is this news? Oh, since this is Apple it must be important.
Let me know when Apple releases a functional tablet. Until then, I'll stick with the legal pad.
I've found that newegg does not censor negative comments regarding products. They do however censor inappropriate comments. If the comment has nothing to do with the product, service, ect. it is deleted.
As an example, this comment would be deleted:
Did any of you see the game yesterday? I can't believe the Vikings won.
This comment would be acceptable:
Yesterday I watched the Vikings game on this TV tuner card. The software was easy to install and the package got here fast.
This comment would also be acceptable from my experience:
After recording the game yesterday on this TV tuner card, I noticed the quality was not very good. The remote also does not work from my couch which is only seven feet from the sensor. I am considering returning this product and getting a different card.
Newegg's policy regarding censorship is the best I have experienced. You will find negative posts about a product like, "I received the hard drive a week ago and it died today."
I do not work for newegg but am a satisfied customer. I use the product reviews to gain some insight on how a product works, ect. Sure I know that some posts were censored but I am fine with that. I don't want to go through a millon first posts, racists comments, ect. before finding a review with some information I can consider before buying a product.
My hat is off to newegg and I wish I was working there.
When asked what he would do if someone donated a million dollars, Branden Robinson promptly responded, "two chicks at the same time man!"
Fuckin A
You can configure a Windows box to be an rsync server using cygwin however in my experience it is not very reliable. More detail can be found here
How is encryption going to keep a tape from melting? I should have mentioned that the tape was damaged but each of us keep weekly tape backups. His set was damaged but my set was in my safe deposit box. I wasn't conserned if the tape had been damaged. Before he found the tape I hoped that the tape was damaged wherever it may have been. I was conserned about someone else getting their hands on my data.
I use rsync which does incremental syncs. Right now I'm only using about 40 GB out of the 100. My friend is using less at only 25 GB. Every other day I transfer/receive approx. 100 MB of data. My monthly bandwidth for send/receive comes out to be around 1.5-2 GB. I'm on a standard cable connection.
Look on the bright side. Iraq isn't the worst place to land. At least there are soldiers there unlike North Korea and Iran. At least not yet.
Given Opera's business model, shouldn't he have tied this stunt to sales rather than downloads?
If he does go through with this stunt, the media will report on it.
Although not commercial, here is what I do.
I live in Wisconsin and a friend of mine lives in Nevada. He has a broadband connection and so do I. My home server has 2x200 GB hard drives mirrored. His server also has 2x200 GB hard drives mirrored. I can use half the space for my data on both servers and he can use the other half. Every other day at 3am, my server rsyncs over ssh to his. The same occurs every other day when his rsyncs with my server.
We do a full tape backup every week on Saturday and incremental backups every day. I take the full backups to my safe deposit box at the bank.
I guess what I am saying is that if any of your friends or family have a broadband connection, ask if you can use it for backup. Offer them storage space for backup or money to house a Linux box you can use as offsite backup.
If your data is extremely important, make sure you encrypt it. One time my friend thought he dropped a tape in a parking lot. I was conserned for weeks until he found the tape under the seat of his car. I learned my lesson and now encrypt everything that is important to me.
Just a thought...
Perhaps they should send a letter to every customer with basic information on how to keep a Windows box virus and spyware free. Along with the letter, they could send a CD with Firefox, spyware removal tools, and AVG Antivirus on it with installation instructions.
Just a thought...
They talk about different types of spam -- spam with emails, spam on IMs, spamlinks on web pages and image based spam.
k fjas)
Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam; spam bacon sausage and spam; spam egg spam spam bacon and spam; spam sausage spam spam bacon spam tomato and spam;
(punches self in face face hits keyboardadsfjlk;sjdafkldsajflsdak;fjsad;lfkjas;ld
Tell me where I can get WMP for the Mac, please.
You asked, here it is. Enjoy.
The purposeful dupes weren't funny last year, either.. :(
Who said this was on purpose?
"...when is Microsoft going to pay for all the downtime their crap causes?"
Does my job count? I don't work for Microsoft but must support Windows as well as OSX.
All I can say is that if Windows was as stable as OSX, I may not have a job.
If no-one responded to junk e-mail and didn't buy products sold in this way, then spam would be as extinct as the dinosaurs.
There's always going to be that one jackass who responds to spam.
Even if a spammer's bandwidth costs are more than income, they can use the millions of friendly bots to do their bidding.