User: yagu

the answers:

On: Municipal Wi-Fi Networks In Trouble

Is municipal Wi-Fi just a bad idea, has it been poorly implemented, or is the technology just not there to support such an endeavor?"

• no
• yes
• no

so, what this article is saying is...

On: Modern Medicine Might Have Saved Lincoln

So, what this article is saying is, "Today's technology better than technology 150 years ago..."

And, as pointed out in the article, the weapon used then was relatively impotent. Would it not be safe to consider that if the assassination were committed today the assassin likely would have also used updated technology (i.e., something more, ahem, potent)?

by definition

On: Why Doesn't Microsoft Have A Cult Religion?

Part of the definition of "cult" is (from Wikipedia): ..., term designating a cohesive group of people..., devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be outside the mainstream . In that context it would seem self-fulfilling Microsoft not have a cult... like it or not (I don't), Microsoft is mainstream.

As for the question,

But does anyone really worship the Gods of Redmond?,

I don't recall anyone ever worshipping the GoR. Heck I even worked there, and it was about being smart, it was about being competitive, but I don't ever remember it about being about customers. Microsoft's idea about good products has typically been:

• really geekily cool (pretty much most Microsoft employees)
• really makes lots of money (most Microsoft Management)
• was made by someone else and can be purchased (Microsoft Management)
• corrupts mainstream standards (Gates and/or Ballmer)

These attributes are hostile for creating cult followings, there is hardly anything there -- just a juggernaut of an industry bully.

this happened to me too!

On: Tech Magazine Loses June Issue, No Backup

That's what I said when Byte went out of business and instead of refunding my subscription they sent me "Business 2.0". Multiple letters latter, they stopped sending the piece of crap magizine, but I never got my refund. It was only like $10, but it was mine.

OMG, this happened to me too! Instead of Business 2.0, they switched me to PC Magazine, one of the biggest and most annoying MS shills. Not only had I lost a cherished subscription, but it had been replaced with the very antithesis of what I had subscribed to. And!, I had a three year paid subscription.... I tried unsuccessfully to get a refund, and eventually just resorted to tossing the new PC Magazine issue when it arrived. What a ripoff!

when I was a young boy

On: RIAA Claims Ownership of All Artist Royalties For Internet Radio

When I was young, my Dad told me the RIAA was good because they took care to ensure our music was reproduced with as high fidelity as possible. For example, the RIAA worked with the recording industry to establish techniques and standards for "storing" bass on vinyl by attenuating it, but incorporating offsetting amplification to restore the bass to its correct presence allowing for more music on a single vinyl disk. Thus the RIAA was there to ensure or help ensure the best possible music experience.

Oh how things seemed to have changed. I don't know if my Dad was correct (I didn't do the research), but regardless, the RIAA certainly seems to be the antithesis to the "old" RIAA. Today the RIAA sounds more and more like organized crime, except that to date, for some reason, every thing they do seems to be deemed legal.

So, it seems the RIAA has become evil. It's probably time people tried to fulfill their musical quests elsewhere as much as it may be possible. If you still need and want to listen to Janet Jackson, so be it, but:

Someone on slashdot turned me onto this before, I feel it important others check it out... I've signed up and have been a member of emusic for a while now, and now have over 300 non-drm'ed mp3s and love it. And, I don't have to worry about the RIAA, at least I don't think I do. After reading their staked "claims" in the article, I'm not so sure. Regardless, should it actually be so, check emusic out.

patched already

On: Critical Security Hole in Linux Wi-Fi

So here is a Linux driver problem, a patch is available, though not widely dispersed. The news here is that even in a largely neglected (though it shouldn't be) slice of the Open Source technology, specifically the deadly difficult wi-fi landscape, bugs are found and fixed right away (at least that's the gist of part of the article).

I'm more afraid of the neglected patches MSFT deems behind closed doors as not important enough to reveal to the public. How many zero-day exploits is MSFT discussing behind those closed doors right now, and what are they deciding about the fate of security to my machines?

I know I'm spinning here, but I don't find it much of a stretch to interpret this as good PR for the Linux world -- they find problems, they fix them.

(It doesn't seem to fix the other problem... I'm so sad and tired of trying to get laptops running linux reliably with wi-fi, I barely even bother messing with it anymore... If I want wireless linux on a laptop, I'm doing via Vmware's bridge. It shouldn't be like this.)

so, let's fight this with illegal tactics?

On: Internet Blackout Threat for Music Thieves in AU

Maybe this is okay and/or legal in AU. Is this legal in the US? What about due process? What about overdue process?

Anecdotally, as an aside, I had on my mind about three artists (new artists, e.g., Paolo Nutini), and hence, three cds I set out to find and purchase. Circuit City, no dice (didn't really plan on buying there what with their recent employee abuse program) -- they had about 1/4 the number of racked cds than last time I'd looked there. Best Buy, sorry. And the local CD store, nope! No selection, nothing. I don't know which came first the chicken or the egg, I don't even know which is which, but my thirst for new music is about the same as before -- but recently I'm finding I can't buy cds as before.

I'm not buying the "pirates decrease sales" spiel. My cause and effect for buying fewer cds is strictly the continued unavailability of cds on display. It used to be a smörgåsbord, now the stores look like the cutout bins of years past. This (the RIAA, and others) is an industry that rather than weather a business model storm and changing business dynamics to adapt continues to insist on taking their ball home with them (hey, it isn't even their ball!) so we can't play. And somehow, they still want to demand we pay them. Please, please, please!, just let them become irrelevant quickly so we can get on with our music!

a more appropriate question:

On: Can Web Apps Ever Truly Replace Desktop Apps?

A more appropriate question might be, "What is the extent to which Web apps will be effective, and accepted?".

Many desktop applications are of that ilk solely from the era of their birth. There isn't always a compelling reason an application needs to run on a desktop, and Web offers another and slightly different alternative. And as for some of Web apps shortcomings pointed out by the author, they're mostly nits, things that will be solved soon, or already solved.

I for one find Google applications (spreadsheet, word processor) perfectly good replacements for my more modest needs day to day. They come close, at this very immature stage in their life cycles, to being able to completely replace my need for desktop instantiations. I would guess the average lay-person would fall more neatly into this demographic -- the average computer user could save lots of dollars by getting comfortable with the scaled back versions of stuff they paid big money for but never tapped the deep and myriad powers from.

There probably always will be a place and reason for desktop applications: data security, data privacy, contracts, speed, availability, etc., but Web offers another approach and an increasingly viable approach to replacing applications we all once thought of as "desktop".

As a developer, it's changed my way of thinking when it comes to creating and designing new products. It isn't a hard transition, and it offers some interesting new ways to make magic for my clients (mashups, etc.).

The article describes "lack of sync" options with Google apps. Yawn. I've written my own for now, I agree it's a bit of a nuisance. Does anybody think for a moment these gaps aren't going to be filled soon?

interesting, amd maybe not surprising

On: The Myth of the Superhacker

I live in a world where daily I hear people describing their monitor as their computer, and their computer as their "hard drive", or some other such mangled interpretation. That's actually very okay, it's not their job to have to know, and good for them for having some mental map.

What I find not surprising about the article's conclusions is even in the computer professional world I've met many "whizzes" not much more intelligent about what computers are and how they work. Hence, much of the alarm over internet terrorism and superhackers potential to bring the IT world to its collective knees spawns from barely literate computer "geeks". At the same time I find it a little disturbing. And it seems the higher up the ladder one goes, the less competence there seems to be regarding making intelligent conclusions about the IT landscape (hmmmm, Peter Principle?).

I don't completely get it.

On: First AACS Blu-Ray/HD-DVD Key Revoked

I don't completely understand what's going on here. And that's exactly my point. I don't want to understand. Does this breach disable any user's player until they update their hardware? Will some disks play and others not? (I'm kind of making this up, but I'm role-playing what most consumers are experiencing based on my limited anecdotal observations).

I don't want to know the ins and outs of the security of the media. I want it to work like the old CD players. I insert a disk, I watch a movie. Simple. Easy. Done.

I think above and beyond the hurdle of introducing a new format, ahem, two new formats, for DVDs this kind of hiccup could be fatal to the rollout. People are annoyed enough with little things (cables plugged in wrong way, audio/video receivers improperly configured, etc.), when it comes to having to update firmware to be able to play stuff they've paid for, they're going to be mad. And maybe some, maybe many are going to rethink their upgrade plans and find regular DVD okay enough. And maybe people who have been considering HD DVD will stay away in droves. Fingers crossed.

no thanks to MS

On: Microsoft Set to Unlock EMI Songs, Too

It probably goes without saying, but this isn't some initiative on MS' part. It's riding Jobs' coattails, crying "me too!, me too!", as if MS is some kind of crusader for consumers' rights around music and DRM.

Interesting how MS plays this as "opening up" things for the consumer. We'll see. I wonder how much progress MS has really made unencumbering consumers' music.

• have they opened up the wireless sharing at all (ahem, "squirting")
• have the at least allowed for non-drm music to be shared indefinitely?

I don't hold my breath waiting for MS to do anything for me. I cringe they are jumping on this as a potential PR windfall for them and their Zune. Fortunately, the Zune was pretty much issued DOA, and this doesn't make a whit of difference.

you have to press them

On: HP Dishonors Warranty If You Load Linux

Shazbot, not early enough in the thread to help... sigh.

I had a similar experience. I configured my HP laptop to dual boot, absolutely loved the machine. But the opening and closing eventually loosened the video display connector so badly, you had to hold the display at just the right angle to get it to come on and/or stay on. I called HP support, and through painful session lasting more than an hour someone pretending to be able to speak English (this was one of the reasons the call lasted so long -- repeatedly had to ask for instructions until I could understand), I had to jump through all of their hoops which included, but was not limited to:

• reboot
• reboot again, but this time leave off for 30 seconds
• reboot by powering off
• uninstall driver and reboot to re-detect display and re-install drivers

Of course I'd long since tried everything the support tech offered, but he would not let me go to the next level until I'd completed his script. Somehow during the course of the call I'd let slip I had the machine up as dual-boot, and that's when the whole dialog and relationship went South.

When he heard it was a dual-boot machine he said the machine would not be covered under warranty, as that may have been the cause of the problem. I pleaded my case, he wouldn't budge. I asked for his manager, he put me on hold ostensibly to do that, but I got disconnected.

I re-called the help center, got someone who spoke only slightly better English, and who, surprise!, had the notes from my previous call. There was no going back on my dual boot debacle. He too declined any warranty support, and he too somehow lost my connection when "going for his manager".

Fuck it. I went to the HP on-line site, found contact info for the corporate offices, called that number (don't remember which one), and got someone in Texas (she said so). I described my problem, and why I thought it was a hardware problem and was unrelated to the dual boot setup. She immediately agreed with me, and said they would cover the repair if it turned out to be hardware.

She cautioned that when it arrived for warranty work at the labs it was common for them to completely format the hard drive when doing diagnostics and advised that if I wanted to be sure of my machines integrity to remove the hard drive and ship it sans disk drive. She agreed if the hardware problem was as we guessed, it would be repaired under warranty, no questions asked.

I sent it, they fixed it, done! It was a headache, and the extra kind treatment and effort from the last tech elicited a thank you call from me to her manager for exceptional cool under pressure (I was pretty hot by then).

For me, the problem was less with HP's willingness to support and more with the outsourced, pseudo-english speaking work force ostensibly to provide me with support. It doesn't work -- they don't get it, and it has really hurt HP's reputation with me... I've since purchased and owned 7 more computers, and not one of them has been an HP. Their loss.

simply unacceptable

On: Death Threats In the Blogosphere

Head First Java and Head First EJB are two of the first HF books I'd read. Kathy Sierra is one of the co-authors of these, books in what I consider an amazing series both in its approach and its enlightenment of what can be tediously dry material. Anyone who contributes to the technical community with that credibility is a superstar. Unfortunately superstars end up in the less sane miscreants' crosshairs.

The blogs and comments posted threatening Kathy are unacceptable, and look to be very illegal. It's a pity there are those who are disturbed enough to post such garbage. Normally I shrug off the garbage I see, but I think Kathy is making rational choices, albeit drastic ones.

I hate that by Kathy's own words, she isn't the same person, she'll never be the same person. It's a crime this happens to the good guys.

For those in the slashdot community with any knowledge of who might be making these posts, it is incumbent upon you to bring forward that information. For those in the slashdot community with some sniffing/hacking skills (mine are rusty), have at it deducing who the asswipes are, find them, and report them.

I hope Kathy sees and realizes enough support from the community and can regain some semblance of self.

(Aside: I don't think the internet has become the war zone the article describes. I do think the internet has made it much easier and maybe too easy for the disturbed to wreak personal havoc on the unfortunate targets. There may be a case to be made here against anonymous non-traceable postings, but for the most part the internet community seems (so far) to be self-policing. Hopefully that holds true for Kathy, and they find the posters, and prosecute.)

Re:20 million - 2

On: MS Says Vista Selling At Twice XP's Pace

One remimaged to XP (SP2) because office user said Vista (Pro) was slower than crap. The other was regulated to the lab for dual-boot Redhat/SuSE client testing.

Shoulda relegated the one to the lab for dual-boot.

wow

On: Novell Assents To "Windows Is Cheaper Than Linux"

I'm surprised Microsoft and Novell waited this long for their first anecdotal PR coup. I'm not surprised it's happened. It certainly has tainted even more my opinion of Novell, long the staunch enemy of Microsoft because of hardball MS tactics against them. It seems desperate or stupid.

remember the good old days

On: Tricked-Out Cars Trickling Down

From the article:

..., The flash memory-based system, controlled through voice commands and buttons on the steering wheel, is based on a Microsoft Corp. operating system for cars.

Sheeesh, I remember the good old days when the joke began with: "If Microsoft made cars..."

if it breeds discontent, so be it.

On: Paying for Better Math and Science Teachers

This proposed system to get better math and science educators and educations sounds like a meritocracy approach, which may be a foreign concept to some in the heavily union-controlled teacher community. It would seem that something as important as the education of our children the most important goal would be to fund and organize the most effective educational system possible.

While I don't know the intricacies of the teachers' unions, I've had enough discussions with my sister, a teacher, to suspect the best interests of the children are rarely in play in decsions around who should teach and how much those who teach should be paid. If this is really true, it is probably the wrong approach.

A central tenet of the school pay system appears to be their main stumbling block: FTA:

Like all Kentucky public school districts, Beechwood has a set pay scale for teachers based on experience. There is no differential pay for teaching tougher or less-desirable courses.

There's a certain insanity to the notion that different demand-disciplines (in the market workplace) should not help guide salary distribution in the teaching systems. High-demand, high-pay disciplines should drive high-pay teaching positions. If an English teacher's 50% cut to a Physics teacher's pay bothers the English teacher, he (she) need only get the necessary background to qualify to teach physics. It seems like a simple equation... it's kind of (not exactly) how it works in the job market.

I'm all for a meritocracy for teachers, and not just in the math and sciences. Unfortunately, from past observations, as long as government runs educational systems, and unions govern teacher selection, the "finest education" for the children is likely the last result we'll see.

Want to place odds on whether Kentucky pulls off getting these bills passed? And, if passed, want to double down on the teachers' unions' resistance? That said, good luck to Kentucky... I hope they pull it off.

MS would owe at least the key

On: Vista Activation Cracked by Brute Force

From the article summary:

To make matters worse, Microsoft will have to decide if it is worth it to allow people to take back legit keys that have been hijacked, or tell customers to go away, we have your money already, read your license agreement and get bent, we owe you nothing.'

I don't see how this is possible, or credible speculation even for a company a evil as MS is perceived on slashdot. I'm no MS fanboy, but I've had reasonable "service" from MS on issues of keys to activate my machines under some unusual circumstances.

This may get sticky for MS, but for goodness sake we've got to find better bashing material on MS (and I believe there be plenty) if we want to maintain any street cred. There's no WAY MS won't be giving license keys to legitimate purchasers of XP (especially considering the vast majority are pre-activated shelf-delivered versions).

(Aside: pure speculation on my part, but one of the most glaring weaknesses of this "claim" may be the notion of brute force, and that that is even a possible approach. Most validation handshakes require a reasonable length of time between attempts to circumvent brute force attacks... if it takes one second between attempts for billions of combinations, you're going to eventually be activating an obsolete OS. Further, after 3 or 4 incorrect attempts, any validation scheme worth its salt will quiesce for some longer inconvenient time... requiring a "cooling off" period before one can make further attempts. This story falls under the heading of "I heard someone say they knew someone whose sister's brother has figured out a Vista activation hack..." Sigh.)

confusing conclusion to article

On: EMI — Ditching DRM is Going To Cost You

I'm all for drm-free music and recently, other than non copy-protected cds, added to my source of music downloadable drm-free mp3s from eMusic. I have been extremely happy with the selection, quality, and price for the eMusic tracks.

And, guess what? Not a single violation of sharing, file swapping with any of my eMusic tracks. At $.30/track I feel anyone who likes a track I play for them can supply their own three dimes. It's a great price, and for me it works.

Not so for me with DRM... aside from the onerous assumption I'm the criminal I don't like the hoops jumped through to get an itunes track into an mp3 I can play anywhere. It isn't convenient, it isn't fun, and it isn't worth my time, especially considering what I'm paying for it. Bite me, DRM.

And, from the article, I'm a little confused by the last paragraph and implied (or outright) conclusion (emphasis mine):

Some readers have indicated to us that they'd happily pay more for DRM-free downloadable music from an online retailer, yet it is unclear as to why DRM-free music should cost more. To return to a point made famous by Steve Jobs, the overwhelming majority of CDs sold today already come without DRM on the discs. Furthermore, pirated copies of music are readily available online. As a result, it's not very clear to us why online music that is sold without DRM would need to cost more, but given the razor-thin margins in that market, a "no DRM tax" is quite likely to be passed on directly to consumers.

I'm not sure where I've seen any evidence the music industry is running on razor-thin margins. This sounds like pure BS, and only hurts their credibility every time they try to state their "case"... So far, I'm not convinced.

it hasn't been restricted yet

On: Where Are All of the HDTV Tuners?

Over the air (OTA) HD isn't restricted yet, but I developed an industry paranoia over the last ten years and don't trust that OTA will:

1. continue to be available, and
2. continue to be unrestricted

One may find themselves with an external OTA tuner and on the outside looking in as to what's available for viewing.

It's probably one of the reasons you don't see many rabbit ear and external tuners available at the electronics stores. And if there is any groundswell to "free" access to HDTV by consumers indicated in trends towards antennas and external tuners I'm guessing the industry will take note, and tighten the thumbscrews on how you can access OTA (e.g., some convoluted cable requirement, or antenna to TV DRM).

As much as I hate cable, satellite (actually I hate satellite a little less than cable), etc., I think going the OTA route could be something you kick yourself for later. Hold your nose, bite your lip, and sign up for cable or satellite (I've had good luck and service from Dish...)

what about my data?

On: Microsoft Testing "Pay-As-You-Go" Software

What about my data? If I agree to a "pay as you go" software model, will you allow me to create documents, data, etc., in an open format guaranteeing me free access at anytime I decide not to continue the subscription?

Will you guarantee data and documents I create can be looked at and used in other applications? What if my friends aren't subscribers?

Will you offer different levels of subscription, e.g., allow me to opt in for subscription at a lower rate for reduced features?

From the article:

In the early days of personal computer software, the concept of renting software was met with public outrage, as users worried that they would no longer be able to own their software. However, in the age of the Internet, cellular phones, and multiplayer online games, the concept of paying monthly fees for software has become less abhorrent. Microsoft's Software Assurance program, where users pay a yearly fee in order to always get the most up-to-date version of Microsoft products, could be considered a software rental program.

I don't happen to agree with the articles inference that "paying monthly fees..., has become less abhorrent." I find it still mostly abhorrent, but rampant. The fact that it is everywhere indicates control of the market more than it indicates consumer-oriented services. When a population of users unshackled from monopoly-offered "pricing packages" and schemes freely endorse a paradigm, fine. Until then, I'm not convinced pay-as-you-go is desirable, or even makes sense.

I've not talked with many people who are happy with pay-as-you-go. This seems mostly because pay-as-you-go is usually more synonymous with "commit-to-a-locked-in-contract" for time frames longer than the current technology obsolesence cycles. That's not fair, and as the phone companies edge ever closer to becoming one company again (a la AT&T circa 1983), it's likely to not even be legal.

Microsoft stands to gain huge financials in the same way if they can pull it off, but better still for them they, much as the phone companies do, will have a better customer lock-in. Hopefully, the market will choose not to pay-as-they-go.

IT title does not an expert make

On: IT Departments Fear Growing Expertise of Users

I've met uncountable numbers of idiots when it comes to understanding technology. Guess what... many of them were peers in IT. In retrospect, it makes sense. I'd anticipated my move from college to a "real" job as a release from the world of idiots in the CS curricula. Finally, I'd get a chance to work shoulder to shoulder with people who knew.

Not so much.

I'd never considered where the rest of my university peers had to go -- into the same work force I entered -- duh.

In the non-IT universe I discovered many were also clueless around technology, as I'd expected. What I hadn't expected was there were many non-IT people who got it, who understood technology, and worked with it adeptly. Many "got it" more than my peers. Some of the most profound ideas and innovation I've seen in IT have come from nontraditional non-IT people.

I agree (without reading the entire article) with the summary and gist of the article -- IT does itself no favors ruling by fiat and instead should collaborate with users.

This doesn't dismiss bad things happening and messes created by users left behind for IT to clean up. People who mess up should help clean up, but my experience has been many IT people are equally inept and likely to make messes.

A degree and title in IT and CS means only that one has a degree in IT and CS, nothing more. It doesn't mean they're anointed and it doesn't mean they know more about technology than users.

not sure I get the controversy

On: Don't Believe What You See at the Movies

Isn't a director's responsibility to convey exactly what he (she) wants to say? Isn't movie-making mostly about suspending belief? Isn't this all make believe (not including documentaries, etc.)?

It seems to me (and IANAD) directors have the ulimate creative say so in movie creation. I find the manipulation in magazines offensive, because ostensibly a picture of a model represents reasonable facsimiles of that model, often in some context of cause and effect of some beauty products. Distortions and manipulations there are dishonest, and brush up against fraud.

But movies are supposed to be about make believe. Heck, most movies these days are rife with computer graphics and openly so. What is the nuance and difference with doctoring an actors performance?

Most actors are what (famous, popular) they are because they were at the right place at the right time. Directors have a tougher case to prove... they are ultimately responsible for the entire package and the effects, emotions, stories, etc., their movies bring. Their palette is more complex. I don't begrudge them their creative license.

Actors who think otherwise, as stated in the article, can stipulate contractually their work be preserved, but there are few actors who warrant that honor. (I have to laugh that Tom Cruise would stipulate that "manipulation" to make him look better is okay, but else it's not... especially ironic from coming from a Scientologist who interprets a world of "datagrams".)

Do I feel deceived Jennifer C.'s tears were fake? Hmmmmm.... had she "acted" them, what would have made them any more real?

even for hard things, less seems more

On: Army of Davids Beats Pentagon Procurement

I once learned (or was taught) at a consortium if you (as a corporation) couldn't build a new major application/suite of applications in six months, you shouldn't do it. I think the message wasn't that if the task was more than six months it was too hard... the message (in my interpretation) was you should find a better way to get to your endpoint, i.e., in a business setting you had to be more "agile" (sorry).

I think this is even more true for this example. Bigger organizations (and they don't seem to get more bigger than the government, eh?) beget less ability to:

• decide what you need
• design it
• create it
• deliver it

When lives are at stake it is even more/most glaring. It would be nice to see the government (whoever that is) take a lesson from this. However, different pieces of the government maintain a stranglehold grip on their turf and are generally loathe to loosen that grip.

Less is more, but it's hard to convince the more to let the less get 'er done.

government might want to step back

On: New York To Ban iPods While Crossing Street?

The government might want to step back up onto the curb on this one. This is legislation and government oversight gone amok.

There probably already are ordinances anyway that cover contributory actions by pedestrians in accidents... even if they happen in a crosswalk.

Regardless, I think the best course would be to absolve motorists of 100% contributory negligence in accidents with pedestrians who are otherwise electronic-gadget engaged while crossing a street or intersection. It is otherwise unnecessary to proscribe pedestrians from using electronic gadgets (and, hey, why just electronic?... what about the dolts who are reading the paper, a magazine, etc. while walking into an intersection?)

There may even be an argument for letting Darwin and evolution taking its course for those who would be so caught up in their ipod, razr, etc. they blindly step into oncoming traffic. Besides, those are the ones who would continue to use and abuse regardless of the ordinances on the books. Does it really make sense to allocate time and energy of law enforcement officials to monitor people and their gadgets? Not so much.