because they bring out so many people who bitterly complain and make excuses and want to challenge Fritz to a game of poker or something because it would give the human the advantage.
This is far from the end of our species, chill out. Even if we are worse at chess than the computers, it doesn't make the experience of being human meaningless. It doesn't mean we will be welcoming our new robot overlords any time soon.
Anyway, would it really be so bad, if AIs started getting better than humans at a lot of things? I think that in the end, we could take our greatest joy as a species in knowing that we created something better than ourselves.
Of course, that is an issue so seperated from computer chess, that many of you are probably complaining to yourselves.
That's how I feel when I read the excuse making and naysaying.
Geez, why did I know I would see this here? I just got my SLIMP3 two weeks ago. I can't speak for the Squeezebox, but if it's anything like the SliMP3, go for it. I love the thing.
I like most everything about the device. It's easy to setup and control, sounds and looks great, and is actively supported by its developers and fans. There is an extensive FAQ and a popular support mailing list.
There are, however, a few things I would like to have seen, that the Squeezebox fixes. First, the SliMP3 is wired only. You can hook it up to a wireless bridge to make it "virtually wireless" but that's not an out-of-the-box solution. With many competitors releasing wireless solutions, SlimDevices caught on and developed their own. The SlimP3 also does not have an optical audio output. An optical connection would make the sound quality even better, however, most users would not notice a difference.
The display is a little small, and hard to read from across the room. However, most competing products display via a TV, meaning you'd have to be near a TV to select the music you want. The SLIMP3 doesn't require a TV and looks at home in your home theater system.
I thought it was definitely worth the $239 price, but now I wished I'd waited two weeks and got the Squeezebox for $299:( Oh well.
The system in this article is voluntary, and that's great. So long as it's only volutary, I'm all for this.
One potential problem becomes what's "voluntary" soon becomes mandatory. We might as well learn from history. Two specific examples from US history:
(1) The Social Security Number was ~never~ supposed to be used as any kind of central identification number. Now, no one knows who I am without it. I would gladly dump my social security "promises of benefits" to not have a social security number.
(2) To get a driver's license in the state I moved to, I had to give a thumbprint. I've never had fingerprints taken before in my life.
Are we safer as a result? All I know is that now my identity can be more easily tracked by central governmental organizations and those with sufficent access privileges, despite my wishes.
Technology is a tool, not a solution. Just like a hammer, it can be used for much good, but it's easy for those in power to convert it into something pretty sinister. If it's all the same, I'll keep my ATM card. It's a lot easier to change my bank account number than my fingerprint or eyeball.
Sun Microsystems Inc. has scored a deal with a Chinese technology consortium to distribute its Java Desktop System to citizens of China, the company said Monday.
The China Standard Software Company (CSSC) has selected Sun as its preferred technology partner to help provide a nationwide standard desktop software system to China's 1.3 billion citizens, according to Sun.
100% of 1.3 BILLION PEOPLE. That's some hella marketshare right there. Ballmer must be scratching his big hairless monkey-head.
Seriously, I was planning to troll this topic or something, but...I've got nothing. It's just too lame. I mean, it's like trying to make fun of a clown by mocking his big floppy shoes or tiny car, stuffed with other clowns. It simply falls flat.
Really. I got nothing. Sorry. Make up your own jokes.
We use this software at my dental school, and I really, really don't like the school's policies on it. For now, you have the option of either using the software or still taking a book test. Thanks, I'll use the pencil and paper method. However, they're changing that in the future. The problem is the school gives you no leeway if you have a computer problem.
Their policy is:
Students choosing to type their exams must provide their own computers and may do so only if they have downloaded the software to their computer at least 24 hours prior to the beginning of the dental school's exam period, have tested the software and have a computer in working order. Links to the software will not be available for download at exam time. At the end of the exam, and within the time limits stated on the exam, students must choose the "Submit Electronically" function on the software and then promptly return to the examination room in order to return their examination questions and the exam envelope with a notation on both the exam and the envelope that the exam was taken and submitted electronically. Students who experience technological problems during the examination period should consider the amount of time remaining before continuing (or restarting) the exam in blue books. No additional time is provided for students experiencing technological problems. However, after the examination ends the IT Department will offer good faith assistance retrieving exam files from the student's computer. Given the exam software's ability to confirm time and submission in an encrypted fashion, the Office of Registration & Enrollment will accept an IT-certified copy of the file retrieved from the student's computer as a timely submission(if indeed it was submitted timely according to the electronic notation), if there is no evidence of tampering on the student's machine or file.
So, if their software is buggy or something...that's it, too bad, game over, you're screwed. If it's all the same, I'd rather use a pencil and piece of paper. I've never heard of a blue screen of death on a #2 pencil.
Check your school's policies on what happens when the software screws up. This may just be the standard form the company sends to every college to give to their students, or it may different for your school.
I've watched this show several times and I can't wait to see the one about the penny dropped off the skyscraper. I sent them an email, though, and asked them to answer these if they ever get around to it:
Do you get wetter running or walking in the rain?
Just how dangerous is it to answer the call of nature on the electrified third rail of a train track?
Is cola really able to remove bloodstains and clean rust?
First, I think it's great that the JBoss Group is doing this, because we're going to need this kind of support from Big Business in order for open source software to succeed at the Enterprise level, or even at the Voyager level. Too often I've heard complaints from PHBs, PBSs, and PBJs that Apache, with or without mod_python and mod_perl support simply wasn't scalable in the Enterprise environment, or wasn't trustworthy without lawsuit indemnification.
Considering this, however, I'm not sure this is the way to handle the problem. Shouldn't JBoss, instead of seeking to ward off the lawsuits over the rather insulting and tasteless use of the name (and name recognition!) of these proud people, instead simply change the name? Yes, I know that many Native American groups have decried the use of the Apache name for a simple open-source software project, and have threatened to make their demands much, much more vocal, and much, much more litigious since the appearance of Apache Geronimo (adding insult to injury, for sure!). The Native Americans have suffered enough at the hands of the white man. The White Man took their land, stole their women, and raped their horses for centuries. Now, they seek to commercialize even their name, thereby robbing this proud people of the last vestige of their heritage.
Consider this, fellow hackers. How often here on Slashdot do we writhe in anger and gnash our teeth at media outlets who confuse us with "crackers?" I for one hate being mistaken for an inbred redneck. Consider how these fine Native Americans feel, with only the memory of their lost greatness, along with the white devil's firewater and casino loot, to console them? Not good, I tell you, not good. It's time for us to take a stand with our loin-cloth clad brother, the Native American, and tell JBoss, "No more, indian-givers. Take your small-pox infected web server and depart, before we red-skinned savages scalp you, and sell your hides at county fairs and craft shows. This week: Tony Bennett. Two drink minimum."
I can't say I'm not shocked. I've always thought that if Linux was ever going to break into the mainstream, it's got to find its way onto OEM PCs produced by a major manufacturer who offers actual support for the operating system! This could be the one event that finally makes it happen.
Now the bad news, though. If this actually goes through, two things are going to happen: first, Gateway is going to be flooded with calls from people who bought a Gateway PC, got it home, turned it on...and saw something other than that familiar multicolored Windows logo. They're going to see some green (or perhaps spotted) lizard, instead, and think that either a) gateway ripped them off, or b) their computer's been attacked by hackers with a reptile fetish. Then, they're going to be marching right back to Gateway Country in their Jettas and their Escalades, demanding a refund. Second, once they find out there are no refunds, only cold bitter truth and a rain that stings like mellow-yellow on a paper cut, they're going to be stuck with Linux. And, I'm sad to say, Linux and Grandma don't mix.
Seriously, I think Linux is absolutely fantastic for geeks like us, who like to do things the hard way. You know, the kind of people who bother to download hundreds of megabytes of porn of the internet, instead of just paying a hooker like everybody else. However, John Q. Everyman just doesn't think that way, and if you don't think our way, you're likely to hate Linux. How well do you think grandma is going to react to the tech support guy telling her that all she needs to do to get her RAID 5 array up and running is to recompile her kernel? Look, I really don't think Grandma is going to want to go through all that kind of trouble, as she's got a delicious apple pie in the oven, and the ladies from the Daughters of the Confederacy are coming over for bridge later, and she just has to tell them about how her grandbaby, Julie Arhoolian, finally made it big in Australian pop music, even though she can't approve of the lyrics and the skin-tight leather bodice that lifts and separates, thank you very much.
See, it's stuff like that that makes Linux unique. It's kind of like the signs at the amusement park that say "You must be this tall to ride this ride." That's Linux. If you're not willing to go through the nightmarish hell that is a Linux install, and then recompile your kernel three times just so you can watch some DivX porno, then you should be out pickin' daisies and skippin' rocks with Jim B. Everywho instead of toiling in your parent's basement, desperately trying to get that winmodem to work under the newest Linux kernel.
The only way we're going to save Linux is to get it off Grandma's computer. There needs to be a big splash warning on the front page of every Linux distro site: "If you can't name the entire original cast of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," then please click here. And no, we're not counting the 'New Dax' because that was really gay the way they offed her after Worf finally finds true love."
"By running the current version of the Solaris OS on the AMD Opteron processor platform, we are experiencing substantial improvements in kernel performance for Solaris over other x86-based systems, " said John Fowler, chief technology officer, software, Sun Microsystems. "With the Solaris OS running on the AMD Opteron processor, our customers and partners can take advantage of unique features such as containers delivering virtualization and high levels of security. Solaris has led the industry in proven military grade security built-in to the OS, and with Trusted Solaris OS, offering unmatched levels of privacy, second only to the Windows.NET security framework. Finally, the highly advanced Opteron processor with, it's built in ability to remove IP-infringing packets at the network layer will soon make copyright infringement lawsuits a thing of the past."
I think it's great that Sun is finally breaking into the commodity hardware business, while still optimizing their syndicated dynamic solutions marketbase through enhanced Solaris offerings. While this may be true, they have a long way to go to true cross-media functionalities, as the AMD processor is currently unable to support XDML enhanced DSS encryption, which is required in order to implement enterprise-level mindshare paradigms. As AMD states in their press release,
Sun's intent to collaborate with AMD to accelerate the holistic global portal platform development, to optimize and fully web-alize the dynamic performance of mission-critical e-services and increase enterprise adoption for Solaris and the Sun Java open-synergy relationship system on the AMD Opteron processor
Sure, this all sounds good on paper, but how do they possibly intend to complete this task without relying on a steady influx of new-media, leading-edge partnerships that can emphasize one-on-one integrated infomediaries? For my money, it's just not possible.
Don't get me wrong. I wish them all the best. But still, good luck, Sun and AMD...you're going to need it.
First, I'll preface my comments by stating that I think the Hubble Space Telescope has been a fantastic boon to science. It has allowed us to peer farther out in space, and farther back in time, than we ever thought possible. This has helped increase not only scientific awareness among the public, but also helped push for greater funding for space-related enterprises in Congress. After all, there's nothing like a picture of a quasar, burning brightly as it streaks around the sun, to hypnotize a mentally deficient Senator into loosening the purse strings.
That said, I think the government has been spending far too much money on the telescope over the past few years. Sure, at first it was cheap and easy, and the "oooh's" and "aaahhh's" of delighted schoolchildren certainly help drown out the cacophony of "this costs HOW much?!" cries from whistle-blowing dog washers. So, perhaps, then it's time to make this enterprise profitable! I've been hearing a lot about space tourism, and I think this could be just the ticket to turn this failing boondoggle around.
How much do you think Lance Bass, Kenny Blankenship, or Julie Ahoolian would pay to travel to space to look through the telescope with their own eyes? I'd imagine quit a bit! Then, they could even turn the telescope around, and use it to peer back at our own home, Mother Earth. I bet you could see your house from up there! The only thing that worries me is that they may use it as a sun-focusing death ray to burn up enormous swaths of our fair countryside. However, that is a small price to pay to keep the Hubble up and flying, and to please celebrities.
The funds from this, of course, will pay to maintain the telescope. Also, keep in mind now that China dominates the skies, maintenance on the telescope could be outsourced to cheap Chinese immigrant labor. This seems like a win-win-win for all concerned, and I encourage you all to write your congress-people, and tell them, with one clear voice, "Keep our Space Microscope Accessible to Celebrities with Chinese Coolie Labor!"
The article points to the sluggish economy as a hindrance to this sort of deployment in Utah, as well as other municipalities, but I think it may actually help the project.
When you look at the vendors, their pricing has just dropped because they are hungry. So, you can get incredible pricing for the equipment, the electronics, the fiber, all the things you need. Because the economy's down, interest rates are down, so that's going to help financing.
And because they don't just have a free flow of cash in the telecom world, there are companies that are very interested because they don't have the capital riding on somebody else's network. You take that all together and the timing actually is pretty darn good.
As far as municipal involvement in this, the genie is out of the bottle in my opinion. Municipalities across the country are either going to do the retail or the wholesale, but they're going to do something. And they're not satisfied to just sit and wait when an incumbent or some private sector company decides that they're big enough and it's worth their while to come in to build the networks.
While it is good that these people have jobs and can continue to work on Mozilla I think it is a little early to claim that industrial support is well under way. It is certainly very positive that some companies are willing to put their money where their mouth is but I think a lot will depend on the return of this current investment. If nvu doesn't materialize or if other key mozilla components do not deliver on their promises (e.g. calendar is so far mostly vapor ware in terms of interoperability), I think mozilla adoption by industry will not become much better.
Certainly there are some great opportunities: - There is an enormous trend in the public sector (especially outside the US) to adopt open source. Mozilla is part of this trend for non MS platforms. - Internet explorer does not seem to have evolved in the past few years and is unlikely to do so in the coming few years: market share can be gained. - Apple seems to be moving away from MS products, this will stimulate adoption of alternative browsers by both users and developers. Alternative heere does not necessarily mean Mozilla but other than IE.
Let's be clear here : only a company like AOL could do what it did...
Mozilla and Gecko are the most promising cross-platform development framework. The constant increase of Linux in big companies and governmental organizations (at least here in Europe) opens a set of excellent opportunities for Mozilla. If Mozilla is gold, XUL is platinum. I bet that the number of Web Services applications built on the top of Gecko using a XUL front-end (like the Amazon browser) will increase a lot in 2004. When AOL saw XUL back in november 2000, they decided that the technology was not mature. And they never changed their mind, even if XUL evolved a lot. As we say in French, only imbeciles never change of opinion. Hey, have you seen Minimo ?
I have no doubt that Mozilla will succeed, even if I was a little bit worried about Gecko's core evolution. I think that's where the Mozilla Foundation can make the difference, since they hired people able to make the core keep moving while the largest number of "external" contributors focus on the application layer. IMHO, that's a good strategy.
So I also have no doubt that we are in front of a quickly emerging market, and that companies working with/on Mozilla will have to hire in 2004, that more and more Mozilla contributors will be payed for their time, that the Mozilla Foundation will get from those companies the financial support it needs.
Great! I'm very pleased to see the deployment of a new technology like VOIP, because I can certainly see how it will increase access to telephone service in metropolitan areas, while decreasing costs for the consumer. At the same time, the increased deployment of high-speed interconnects may help break the old 56K bottleneck that's throttling the Internet.
While I'm always glad to hear about the deployment of new technologies like VOIP I do worry because it's coming at the hands of YAHC (Yet Another Huge Corporation). I certainly applaud Qwest, but what will this do the mom-and-pop telecoms in the area? How are they supposed to compete against this behemoth? I hope that before switching to this fancy new service, people stop to think about the effect this may have on the hard-working, middle class telecom owners who live in their neighborhoods, and whose children play with yours.
Sorry if that sounded like a rant...I'm a small business myself. My company is the second-largest soy sauce vending machine manufacturer in the U.S., but recently we've been dwarfed by the likes of Wal-Mart, IBM, and Kikkoman. Don't worry about me, though...worry for our way of life. Sadly, it seems the mom-and-pop telecom and the mom-and-pop soy vending industry may be a thing of the past, just like the agribusinessman and the zebra.
Look, it's not my fault you're so completely disconnected from "modern" Australian society that you don't know who your own leading "cultural" figures are.
"Society's backwaters" may not be the sweetest-sounding description of Australia, but sometimes it's necessary to face facts that are sad but true. 34% of Austalia's children go hungry every night, and fully half show below-average performance on standardized test. Australia simply isn't the utopia the likes of Crocodile Dundee would have us believe.
There's more than one NORML. Haven't you ever heard of the National Online Recording and Music League? I'm really not sure you're qualified to participate in this discussion. Perhaps you should do your homework, first, before you go criticising people who obviously know a lot more about the subject than you do.
"I'm sad that Machinima isn't as popular as I thought it would be by today... the one thing that worries me is that Machinima will be seen as a hobby and not taken seriously, and that very much annoys me." She also mentions: "We may open-source an academic version of [in-house movie tool] Machinimation in the very near future."
I agree with the author of this article. I've really enjoyed a lot of the video game animation I've seen from hobbiests and students. I'm a big fan of the Star Wars Kid and Homestar Runner. It's too bad that more people aren't aware of the students and hobbyists who make these highly entertaining shorts available to us, between classes and during time off from their real jobs. Perhaps with the release of the anemic version of their tool, more students and hobbyists will be able to create short works placed on obscure websites for our enjoyment. Who knows, maybe one day they will rival the likes of SpikeTV and The Outdoor Life network for our entertainment dollar.
First, I deplore the actions of the music industry with regard to their heavy-handed dealings with purveyors of online music like mp3s4free.com. It is time for the RIAA, Sony, BMI, ASCAP, DRUF, AUXPC and NORML to get it through their thick heads that it's not working anymore! Consumers are simply not interested in shelling out their hard-earned dollars for the latest pop tripe like Britney Spears or Julie Arhoolian (big in Australia, where the ISP hosted mp3s4free.com). They need to be stopped now, or this won't end in society's backwaters like Australia; next we'll see lawsuits against Napster 2 and iTunes.
I fully understand that the recording industry has the right to stop the theft of their music. We all agree that stealing is wrong. Regardless, if their music is so bad, and the prices fixed for this terrible music is so high, then theft is a reasonable alternative. You wouldn't condemn a man for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving family, would you? Then please, before you throw the first bird, look inside and ask if you've ever stolen a CD? That's what I thought. e tu, brute.
Finally, I can't say that I'm too sorry to see 'mp3s4free.com' go, because the proprietary mp3 format is just as bad as DRMed WMA garbage. I can't stand the lossy, scratchy hissing garbage I find in these Mp3s off 'mp3s4free.com' and the like. Until og vorbus (OVS) is accepted as the universal music standard, I may have to go on a hunger strike.
I keep seeing stories on slashdot about foreign countries either moving away from MS towards open-source, or being coerced/bribed by MS to stay in their camp. So, what do you think stories like this mean for the U.S. economy?
On the one hand, it's great for Brazil, and the the Brazilian IT market. In general, it takes more highly trained (and more expensive) IT workers to manage a Linux infrastructure. However, that's money they could be sending into the U.S. in terms of software licenses, which would then trickle down to the rest of us.
Don't get me wrong...I love Linux, and I use it for many home-grown applications. However, in this time of economic uncertainty, I'd rather see money flowing into the U.S., even if it winds up with MS.
I find this to be an interesting turn of events. At my university, they have site licenses for all of Microsoft's software, so you can get Windows XP for precisely $0 dollars. Now, my classmates will have the opportunity to purchase RedHat or SuSE for a mere $25!
Oh, what a world, when Windows is cheaper for students than Linux.
I read Slashdot every day. There seems to be an e-voting story about once a week, and it's always cast in an "e-voting is evil/impossible/flawed/broken/corrupt" light. I was wondering...is there any argument FOR e-voting, from a pro-technology, pro-democracy standpoint?
Does anybody out there support e-voting, and, if so, why?
Personally, I've never had good luck with Debian. I know lots of people love it, and bully for them, but I have never been able to get a Debian system up and running to my satisfaction. I believed this was a personal failure until I succeeded two times with Gentoo, which is to Debian as Alaska is to Montana, in terms of frontier cred. Anyway, I agree that things that are dumb about the Debian installer could be improved, but I'm still a little worried that an installer my mama could run isn't right around the corner...
As everyone knows, Debian is maintained by an organization of volunteers. When people working on the distribution support users, it takes away from the time that they could be spending to improve the distribution. Therefore, it makes sense for them to not make Debian open for anybody to install. If someone can't make it through an installer that requires some attention and knowledge on the part of the user, then they should probably be using a commercial distribution that offers support for money or whatever. That's one of the things I like best about Gentoo's root shell installer. It immediately gets rid of people that are intimidated by that sort of thing, and prevents them from sucking up tons of attention on mailing lists or forums. The difficulty of the installer should be like those little signs in front of rides at amusement parks: "You must be this tall to ride."
The target audience of Debian doesn't need a graphical installer, so there's really no reason to put one in. If you want the easy graphical installer, perhaps you should ask yourself why you chose Debian in the first place. Besides, with distributions like Debian and Gentoo, using the installer is more likely than not a one time thing, because you can upgrade the version of your operating system without bothering with the installer. I'm all for installer improvements that save time for the core users of a distribution, but revising the installer to open the distribution to a new class of users should not be entered into lightly
Question 7: I have both a Mac and a PC. Will my iPod work on both? Answer: No, not at the same time. iPod is configured for either Mac or PC. You can use the iPod Software Updater utility to restore iPod to work with a Mac or a PC (depending on which version of the utility you use). See technical document 60983, "iPod: How to Restore" for more information.
Note: Using the iPod for Mac on a PC, or using the iPod for Windows on a Mac, is not supported by Apple.
Question 8: Can I use an iPod formatted for Mac on a PC, or an iPod formatted for Windows on a Mac? Answer: It is not possible to use an iPod formatted for Mac with Windows. This is because Windows does not support the HFS Plus file system and therefore will not see the drive.
You can convert an iPod formatted for Windows into an iPod for Mac by using the iPod for Mac Software Updater on the Apple website. Note that once it is reformatted, it will only work with Macs. You need Mac OS 9.2 or Mac OS X 10.1 or later to reformat an iPod for Windows into an iPod for Mac.
Note: Using the iPod for Mac on a PC, or using the iPod for Windows on a Mac, is not supported by Apple.
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because they bring out so many people who bitterly complain and make excuses and want to challenge Fritz to a game of poker or something because it would give the human the advantage.
This is far from the end of our species, chill out. Even if we are worse at chess than the computers, it doesn't make the experience of being human meaningless. It doesn't mean we will be welcoming our new robot overlords any time soon.
Anyway, would it really be so bad, if AIs started getting better than humans at a lot of things? I think that in the end, we could take our greatest joy as a species in knowing that we created something better than ourselves.
Of course, that is an issue so seperated from computer chess, that many of you are probably complaining to yourselves.
That's how I feel when I read the excuse making and naysaying.
Geez, why did I know I would see this here? I just got my SLIMP3 two weeks ago. I can't speak for the Squeezebox, but if it's anything like the SliMP3, go for it. I love the thing.
:( Oh well.
I like most everything about the device. It's easy to setup and control, sounds and looks great, and is actively supported by its developers and fans. There is an extensive FAQ and a popular support mailing list.
There are, however, a few things I would like to have seen, that the Squeezebox fixes. First, the SliMP3 is wired only. You can hook it up to a wireless bridge to make it "virtually wireless" but that's not an out-of-the-box solution. With many competitors releasing wireless solutions, SlimDevices caught on and developed their own. The SlimP3 also does not have an optical audio output. An optical connection would make the sound quality even better, however, most users would not notice a difference.
The display is a little small, and hard to read from across the room. However, most competing products display via a TV, meaning you'd have to be near a TV to select the music you want. The SLIMP3 doesn't require a TV and looks at home in your home theater system.
I thought it was definitely worth the $239 price, but now I wished I'd waited two weeks and got the Squeezebox for $299
Many people are more worried that Pepsi knows they bought a coke at Seven Eleven.
"What?! Another 27 coupons for $0.25 off a 32oz Pepsi at the QuikEmart? Damn you Pepsi Corporation!!! Damn you to hell!!"
The system in this article is voluntary, and that's great. So long as it's only volutary, I'm all for this.
One potential problem becomes what's "voluntary" soon becomes mandatory. We might as well learn from history. Two specific examples from US history:
(1) The Social Security Number was ~never~ supposed to be used as any kind of central identification number. Now, no one knows who I am without it. I would gladly dump my social security "promises of benefits" to not have a social security number.
(2) To get a driver's license in the state I moved to, I had to give a thumbprint. I've never had fingerprints taken before in my life.
Are we safer as a result? All I know is that now my identity can be more easily tracked by central governmental organizations and those with sufficent access privileges, despite my wishes.
Technology is a tool, not a solution. Just like a hammer, it can be used for much good, but it's easy for those in power to convert it into something pretty sinister. If it's all the same, I'll keep my ATM card. It's a lot easier to change my bank account number than my fingerprint or eyeball.
From the article:
100% of 1.3 BILLION PEOPLE. That's some hella marketshare right there. Ballmer must be scratching his big hairless monkey-head.
Seriously, I was planning to troll this topic or something, but...I've got nothing. It's just too lame. I mean, it's like trying to make fun of a clown by mocking his big floppy shoes or tiny car, stuffed with other clowns. It simply falls flat.
Really. I got nothing. Sorry. Make up your own jokes.
Their policy is:
So, if their software is buggy or something...that's it, too bad, game over, you're screwed. If it's all the same, I'd rather use a pencil and piece of paper. I've never heard of a blue screen of death on a #2 pencil.
Check your school's policies on what happens when the software screws up. This may just be the standard form the company sends to every college to give to their students, or it may different for your school.
First, I think it's great that the JBoss Group is doing this, because we're going to need this kind of support from Big Business in order for open source software to succeed at the Enterprise level, or even at the Voyager level. Too often I've heard complaints from PHBs, PBSs, and PBJs that Apache, with or without mod_python and mod_perl support simply wasn't scalable in the Enterprise environment, or wasn't trustworthy without lawsuit indemnification.
Considering this, however, I'm not sure this is the way to handle the problem. Shouldn't JBoss, instead of seeking to ward off the lawsuits over the rather insulting and tasteless use of the name (and name recognition!) of these proud people, instead simply change the name? Yes, I know that many Native American groups have decried the use of the Apache name for a simple open-source software project, and have threatened to make their demands much, much more vocal, and much, much more litigious since the appearance of Apache Geronimo (adding insult to injury, for sure!). The Native Americans have suffered enough at the hands of the white man. The White Man took their land, stole their women, and raped their horses for centuries. Now, they seek to commercialize even their name, thereby robbing this proud people of the last vestige of their heritage.
Consider this, fellow hackers. How often here on Slashdot do we writhe in anger and gnash our teeth at media outlets who confuse us with "crackers?" I for one hate being mistaken for an inbred redneck. Consider how these fine Native Americans feel, with only the memory of their lost greatness, along with the white devil's firewater and casino loot, to console them? Not good, I tell you, not good. It's time for us to take a stand with our loin-cloth clad brother, the Native American, and tell JBoss, "No more, indian-givers. Take your small-pox infected web server and depart, before we red-skinned savages scalp you, and sell your hides at county fairs and craft shows. This week: Tony Bennett. Two drink minimum."
I can't say I'm not shocked. I've always thought that if Linux was ever going to break into the mainstream, it's got to find its way onto OEM PCs produced by a major manufacturer who offers actual support for the operating system! This could be the one event that finally makes it happen.
Now the bad news, though. If this actually goes through, two things are going to happen: first, Gateway is going to be flooded with calls from people who bought a Gateway PC, got it home, turned it on...and saw something other than that familiar multicolored Windows logo. They're going to see some green (or perhaps spotted) lizard, instead, and think that either a) gateway ripped them off, or b) their computer's been attacked by hackers with a reptile fetish. Then, they're going to be marching right back to Gateway Country in their Jettas and their Escalades, demanding a refund. Second, once they find out there are no refunds, only cold bitter truth and a rain that stings like mellow-yellow on a paper cut, they're going to be stuck with Linux. And, I'm sad to say, Linux and Grandma don't mix.
Seriously, I think Linux is absolutely fantastic for geeks like us, who like to do things the hard way. You know, the kind of people who bother to download hundreds of megabytes of porn of the internet, instead of just paying a hooker like everybody else. However, John Q. Everyman just doesn't think that way, and if you don't think our way, you're likely to hate Linux. How well do you think grandma is going to react to the tech support guy telling her that all she needs to do to get her RAID 5 array up and running is to recompile her kernel? Look, I really don't think Grandma is going to want to go through all that kind of trouble, as she's got a delicious apple pie in the oven, and the ladies from the Daughters of the Confederacy are coming over for bridge later, and she just has to tell them about how her grandbaby, Julie Arhoolian, finally made it big in Australian pop music, even though she can't approve of the lyrics and the skin-tight leather bodice that lifts and separates, thank you very much.
See, it's stuff like that that makes Linux unique. It's kind of like the signs at the amusement park that say "You must be this tall to ride this ride." That's Linux. If you're not willing to go through the nightmarish hell that is a Linux install, and then recompile your kernel three times just so you can watch some DivX porno, then you should be out pickin' daisies and skippin' rocks with Jim B. Everywho instead of toiling in your parent's basement, desperately trying to get that winmodem to work under the newest Linux kernel.
The only way we're going to save Linux is to get it off Grandma's computer. There needs to be a big splash warning on the front page of every Linux distro site: "If you can't name the entire original cast of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," then please click here. And no, we're not counting the 'New Dax' because that was really gay the way they offed her after Worf finally finds true love."
I think it's great that Sun is finally breaking into the commodity hardware business, while still optimizing their syndicated dynamic solutions marketbase through enhanced Solaris offerings. While this may be true, they have a long way to go to true cross-media functionalities, as the AMD processor is currently unable to support XDML enhanced DSS encryption, which is required in order to implement enterprise-level mindshare paradigms. As AMD states in their press release,
Sure, this all sounds good on paper, but how do they possibly intend to complete this task without relying on a steady influx of new-media, leading-edge partnerships that can emphasize one-on-one integrated infomediaries? For my money, it's just not possible.
Don't get me wrong. I wish them all the best. But still, good luck, Sun and AMD...you're going to need it.
First, I'll preface my comments by stating that I think the Hubble Space Telescope has been a fantastic boon to science. It has allowed us to peer farther out in space, and farther back in time, than we ever thought possible. This has helped increase not only scientific awareness among the public, but also helped push for greater funding for space-related enterprises in Congress. After all, there's nothing like a picture of a quasar, burning brightly as it streaks around the sun, to hypnotize a mentally deficient Senator into loosening the purse strings.
That said, I think the government has been spending far too much money on the telescope over the past few years. Sure, at first it was cheap and easy, and the "oooh's" and "aaahhh's" of delighted schoolchildren certainly help drown out the cacophony of "this costs HOW much?!" cries from whistle-blowing dog washers. So, perhaps, then it's time to make this enterprise profitable! I've been hearing a lot about space tourism, and I think this could be just the ticket to turn this failing boondoggle around.
How much do you think Lance Bass, Kenny Blankenship, or Julie Ahoolian would pay to travel to space to look through the telescope with their own eyes? I'd imagine quit a bit! Then, they could even turn the telescope around, and use it to peer back at our own home, Mother Earth. I bet you could see your house from up there! The only thing that worries me is that they may use it as a sun-focusing death ray to burn up enormous swaths of our fair countryside. However, that is a small price to pay to keep the Hubble up and flying, and to please celebrities.
The funds from this, of course, will pay to maintain the telescope. Also, keep in mind now that China dominates the skies, maintenance on the telescope could be outsourced to cheap Chinese immigrant labor. This seems like a win-win-win for all concerned, and I encourage you all to write your congress-people, and tell them, with one clear voice, "Keep our Space Microscope Accessible to Celebrities with Chinese Coolie Labor!"
The article points to the sluggish economy as a hindrance to this sort of deployment in Utah, as well as other municipalities, but I think it may actually help the project.
When you look at the vendors, their pricing has just dropped because they are hungry. So, you can get incredible pricing for the equipment, the electronics, the fiber, all the things you need. Because the economy's down, interest rates are down, so that's going to help financing.
And because they don't just have a free flow of cash in the telecom world, there are companies that are very interested because they don't have the capital riding on somebody else's network. You take that all together and the timing actually is pretty darn good.
As far as municipal involvement in this, the genie is out of the bottle in my opinion. Municipalities across the country are either going to do the retail or the wholesale, but they're going to do something. And they're not satisfied to just sit and wait when an incumbent or some private sector company decides that they're big enough and it's worth their while to come in to build the networks.
While it is good that these people have jobs and can continue to work on Mozilla I think it is a little early to claim that industrial support is well under way. It is certainly very positive that some companies are willing to put their money where their mouth is but I think a lot will depend on the return of this current investment. If nvu doesn't materialize or if other key mozilla components do not deliver on their promises (e.g. calendar is so far mostly vapor ware in terms of interoperability), I think mozilla adoption by industry will not become much better.
Certainly there are some great opportunities: - There is an enormous trend in the public sector (especially outside the US) to adopt open source. Mozilla is part of this trend for non MS platforms. - Internet explorer does not seem to have evolved in the past few years and is unlikely to do so in the coming few years: market share can be gained. - Apple seems to be moving away from MS products, this will stimulate adoption of alternative browsers by both users and developers. Alternative heere does not necessarily mean Mozilla but other than IE.
Let's be clear here : only a company like AOL could do what it did...
Mozilla and Gecko are the most promising cross-platform development framework. The constant increase of Linux in big companies and governmental organizations (at least here in Europe) opens a set of excellent opportunities for Mozilla. If Mozilla is gold, XUL is platinum. I bet that the number of Web Services applications built on the top of Gecko using a XUL front-end (like the Amazon browser) will increase a lot in 2004. When AOL saw XUL back in november 2000, they decided that the technology was not mature. And they never changed their mind, even if XUL evolved a lot. As we say in French, only imbeciles never change of opinion. Hey, have you seen Minimo ?
I have no doubt that Mozilla will succeed, even if I was a little bit worried about Gecko's core evolution. I think that's where the Mozilla Foundation can make the difference, since they hired people able to make the core keep moving while the largest number of "external" contributors focus on the application layer. IMHO, that's a good strategy.
So I also have no doubt that we are in front of a quickly emerging market, and that companies working with/on Mozilla will have to hire in 2004, that more and more Mozilla contributors will be payed for their time, that the Mozilla Foundation will get from those companies the financial support it needs.
Long life Mozilla!
Great! I'm very pleased to see the deployment of a new technology like VOIP, because I can certainly see how it will increase access to telephone service in metropolitan areas, while decreasing costs for the consumer. At the same time, the increased deployment of high-speed interconnects may help break the old 56K bottleneck that's throttling the Internet.
While I'm always glad to hear about the deployment of new technologies like VOIP I do worry because it's coming at the hands of YAHC (Yet Another Huge Corporation). I certainly applaud Qwest, but what will this do the mom-and-pop telecoms in the area? How are they supposed to compete against this behemoth? I hope that before switching to this fancy new service, people stop to think about the effect this may have on the hard-working, middle class telecom owners who live in their neighborhoods, and whose children play with yours.
Sorry if that sounded like a rant...I'm a small business myself. My company is the second-largest soy sauce vending machine manufacturer in the U.S., but recently we've been dwarfed by the likes of Wal-Mart, IBM, and Kikkoman. Don't worry about me, though...worry for our way of life. Sadly, it seems the mom-and-pop telecom and the mom-and-pop soy vending industry may be a thing of the past, just like the agribusinessman and the zebra.
Look, it's not my fault you're so completely disconnected from "modern" Australian society that you don't know who your own leading "cultural" figures are.
"Society's backwaters" may not be the sweetest-sounding description of Australia, but sometimes it's necessary to face facts that are sad but true. 34% of Austalia's children go hungry every night, and fully half show below-average performance on standardized test. Australia simply isn't the utopia the likes of Crocodile Dundee would have us believe.
There's more than one NORML. Haven't you ever heard of the National Online Recording and Music League? I'm really not sure you're qualified to participate in this discussion. Perhaps you should do your homework, first, before you go criticising people who obviously know a lot more about the subject than you do.
I agree with the author of this article. I've really enjoyed a lot of the video game animation I've seen from hobbiests and students. I'm a big fan of the Star Wars Kid and Homestar Runner. It's too bad that more people aren't aware of the students and hobbyists who make these highly entertaining shorts available to us, between classes and during time off from their real jobs. Perhaps with the release of the anemic version of their tool, more students and hobbyists will be able to create short works placed on obscure websites for our enjoyment. Who knows, maybe one day they will rival the likes of SpikeTV and The Outdoor Life network for our entertainment dollar.
First, I deplore the actions of the music industry with regard to their heavy-handed dealings with purveyors of online music like mp3s4free.com. It is time for the RIAA, Sony, BMI, ASCAP, DRUF, AUXPC and NORML to get it through their thick heads that it's not working anymore! Consumers are simply not interested in shelling out their hard-earned dollars for the latest pop tripe like Britney Spears or Julie Arhoolian (big in Australia, where the ISP hosted mp3s4free.com). They need to be stopped now, or this won't end in society's backwaters like Australia; next we'll see lawsuits against Napster 2 and iTunes.
I fully understand that the recording industry has the right to stop the theft of their music. We all agree that stealing is wrong. Regardless, if their music is so bad, and the prices fixed for this terrible music is so high, then theft is a reasonable alternative. You wouldn't condemn a man for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving family, would you? Then please, before you throw the first bird, look inside and ask if you've ever stolen a CD? That's what I thought. e tu, brute.
Finally, I can't say that I'm too sorry to see 'mp3s4free.com' go, because the proprietary mp3 format is just as bad as DRMed WMA garbage. I can't stand the lossy, scratchy hissing garbage I find in these Mp3s off 'mp3s4free.com' and the like. Until og vorbus (OVS) is accepted as the universal music standard, I may have to go on a hunger strike.
I keep seeing stories on slashdot about foreign countries either moving away from MS towards open-source, or being coerced/bribed by MS to stay in their camp. So, what do you think stories like this mean for the U.S. economy?
On the one hand, it's great for Brazil, and the the Brazilian IT market. In general, it takes more highly trained (and more expensive) IT workers to manage a Linux infrastructure. However, that's money they could be sending into the U.S. in terms of software licenses, which would then trickle down to the rest of us.
Don't get me wrong...I love Linux, and I use it for many home-grown applications. However, in this time of economic uncertainty, I'd rather see money flowing into the U.S., even if it winds up with MS.
I find this to be an interesting turn of events. At my university, they have site licenses for all of Microsoft's software, so you can get Windows XP for precisely $0 dollars. Now, my classmates will have the opportunity to purchase RedHat or SuSE for a mere $25!
Oh, what a world, when Windows is cheaper for students than Linux.
I read Slashdot every day. There seems to be an e-voting story about once a week, and it's always cast in an "e-voting is evil/impossible/flawed/broken/corrupt" light. I was wondering...is there any argument FOR e-voting, from a pro-technology, pro-democracy standpoint?
Does anybody out there support e-voting, and, if so, why?
Personally, I've never had good luck with Debian. I know lots of people love it, and bully for them, but I have never been able to get a Debian system up and running to my satisfaction. I believed this was a personal failure until I succeeded two times with Gentoo, which is to Debian as Alaska is to Montana, in terms of frontier cred. Anyway, I agree that things that are dumb about the Debian installer could be improved, but I'm still a little worried that an installer my mama could run isn't right around the corner...
As everyone knows, Debian is maintained by an organization of volunteers. When people working on the distribution support users, it takes away from the time that they could be spending to improve the distribution. Therefore, it makes sense for them to not make Debian open for anybody to install. If someone can't make it through an installer that requires some attention and knowledge on the part of the user, then they should probably be using a commercial distribution that offers support for money or whatever. That's one of the things I like best about Gentoo's root shell installer. It immediately gets rid of people that are intimidated by that sort of thing, and prevents them from sucking up tons of attention on mailing lists or forums. The difficulty of the installer should be like those little signs in front of rides at amusement parks: "You must be this tall to ride."
The target audience of Debian doesn't need a graphical installer, so there's really no reason to put one in. If you want the easy graphical installer, perhaps you should ask yourself why you chose Debian in the first place. Besides, with distributions like Debian and Gentoo, using the installer is more likely than not a one time thing, because you can upgrade the version of your operating system without bothering with the installer. I'm all for installer improvements that save time for the core users of a distribution, but revising the installer to open the distribution to a new class of users should not be entered into lightly
Question 7: I have both a Mac and a PC. Will my iPod work on both?
Answer: No, not at the same time. iPod is configured for either Mac or PC. You can use the iPod Software Updater utility to restore iPod to work with a Mac or a PC (depending on which version of the utility you use). See technical document 60983, "iPod: How to Restore" for more information.
Note: Using the iPod for Mac on a PC, or using the iPod for Windows on a Mac, is not supported by Apple.
Question 8: Can I use an iPod formatted for Mac on a PC, or an iPod formatted for Windows on a Mac?
Answer: It is not possible to use an iPod formatted for Mac with Windows. This is because Windows does not support the HFS Plus file system and therefore will not see the drive.
You can convert an iPod formatted for Windows into an iPod for Mac by using the iPod for Mac Software Updater on the Apple website. Note that once it is reformatted, it will only work with Macs. You need Mac OS 9.2 or Mac OS X 10.1 or later to reformat an iPod for Windows into an iPod for Mac.
Note: Using the iPod for Mac on a PC, or using the iPod for Windows on a Mac, is not supported by Apple.
check out the Bluespoon if your phone supports Bluetooth. Glorious.