So how soon before some undergraduate reconfigures the diffraction compensators to generate a tachyon pulse to create time machine? Should only take a few minutes to complete such a reconfiguration.
Isn't the underlying network more of an issue for streaming data/video than the OS of the host system receiving it? Right now today I have a DVR system that handles up to four (4) data steams at once incoming and can serve out several data streams for viewing at the same time. Of course the incoming data streams are over analog cable. The output streams are all digital. All this using existing OSes and hardware.
If you go to a pure digital environment the bandwidth between the end points is the critical factor. To stream large amounts of data over the existing networks will require upgrades not only to the pipes but the routing equipment. It may be that the routing equipment will require changes in their basic operating systems but it does not appear that changes in the target hosts operating systems are really required.
This article appears to be attempting to push the idea that a new OS, encumbered with DRM options, is needed. The reality is that it is not needed. It is a desire of some content providers but is not something the consumer will want. So where in the article did they push Vista? If they did not do so in this article I suspect it will be in the next one.
So when will they setup the Ipod to transmit a real time picture of what is infront of the wearer? Would need to lash the ipod to the users fore head like one of those fore head lamps.
The users of this stuff will get beaten up so bad.
/. editor reports searching for duplicate story before posting article. The reports are sketchy but many at the scene report large amounts of alcohol may have been involved as well as a badly timed joke to make Zonk think it was April 1st instead of January 1st. Reports have also come in showing that/. editors have been using an etch-a-sketch to run duplicate searches. This may answer once and for all why so many duplicate stories get posted!
In other news speculation continues that/. editors are nothing more than a 1000 monkey's beating on computer keyboards accounting for the large number of duplicate stories being posted.
Don't you think you think it'd be easier to figure out how to not fuck up this planet (or at least how to deal with its changes) than how to survive on another planet?
We'll figure out how to deal with the changes here. But we should still get a few eggs in other baskets. No telling when a major astroid or comet will hit the Earth or when the next pandemic will wipe out most of the population (can you say bird flu?).
And you are making the assumption that it is we that are causing global warming or that we can actually do anything about it. The best we are going to be able to do is adapt to the new environment. This will mean either relocating large portions of the population currently in coastal areas or creating massive dike systems. Probably a combination of both systems will be used.
But let's keep everything in one basket. It is easier to deal with that way.:(
Of course global warming is happening. The big problem is people thinking that people are the primary cause. Since the poles of Mars are melting as well it appears that there might be something on a much larger scale causing global warming like say, the Sun. Either that or the few rovers we sent to Mars are enough to cause global warming on Mars.
The reality is that the climate changes over time, it has in the past and will in the future. We have been lucky the past 500 years or so. Now things are starting to warm up. Sometime in the future it will cool down too and there will be people screaming about global cooling.
What people need to start working on is getting self sustaining colonies off this planet. Until that happens we as a species will be vulnerable to the global climate shifts and global catastrophes.
But nobody reads this or understands or really cares. They would much rather spend their time trying to get SUVs banned and other ineffectual measures passed as law. Until then, if you live in hurricane country get prepared. If you are on the coast have plans to evacuate. If you are inland have supplies for a couple of weeks, generator, gas, tarps, water, food, etc. Be ready to survive for serveral weeks on your own. Don't count on help any time soon.
IMHO it is most likely just survival of a resistant weed. Personally I am a little more concerned about the wide spread use of anti-bacterial cleaners in homes and hospitals. Use of such products will eventually create a resistant strain of bacteria which can not be killed using any thing currently available. This has already been reported on some strains of bacteria in hospitals where the antibiotic of last resort is not even working in some cases. The more this stuff is used the quicker such strains will arise.
In this case a weed that is resistant to herbicides is a good example of this in action. The more herbicides that are spread around the more likely a survivor and eventually a strain that is resistant will develop. Given enough time it will happen. And the more such products are used the quicker it will happen.
It is just a matter of time before we are back in the time before antibiotics were discovered and people died of common infections.
To say nothing of the irate trucker that you are sitting in front of at the light while you are trying to get to that next level. If this becomes wide spread expect to see a story about someone getting shot because they backed up traffic at a stop light playing a game.
Drivers are needed as I indicated. But some of these basic apps are needed so people can get work done. Without such applications segments of the work force don't have an option of using linux. Things are improving. But getting a few more of these applications out would remove most of the objections to moving to linux. Or even solaris.
There are several killer apps still needed to make Linux a main stream system for the average user.
1. visio replacement (dia is not quite there yet)
2. Income tax software (non-web based turbotax)
3. group calendar system
4. DVD/video editing packages
5. better wireless driver support
2. Cell phone batteries will need longer life as people listen to music and watch video on them.
Which will result in cell phones the size they were back in the 80's, satchels weighing about 8 pounds.
This will also result in a record number of car wrecks as more people are found watching their cell phones while driving which leads to several states banning the use of cell phones in cars.
There will be a large number of complaints by cell phone users that even with 200 channels available there is nothing worth watching.
There will also be a project started to port mythtv to these new video capable cell phones.
The industry is in flux. Microsoft is on a downward spiral and are in the process of trying to reinvent themselves. Most of the tactics they are using now are stall tactics to put off the complete collapse. Look for more special divdends as they try to pull money out of the company for the stock holders. And look for additional FUD from them as they try to launch Vista, which by the way won't have any where near the uptake that they want. There are real options out there that allow companies to replace Windows on desktops and servers. There are still a few apps that require a better option but most of the more common ones are available now under linux.
Over the next few years there is going to be continuing changes in the IT world. Hopefully the changes won't be due to patent law but due to standars being used to provide interoperbility. Sadly I expect patent law to win out and be the new tool used to lock in customers.
How about Sun Microsystems? I believe I read they sold more Opteron systems than anyone else. And those system can run Solaris, Linux, or Windows. You get to choose which operating system you want.
If power and heat are issues in your data center you need to check out some of the new systems Sun Microsystems is putting out. They drasticly reduce power needed as well as heat generated which translates into significant savings for A/C costs.
Check them out. There are a number of good options, and you can use Solaris, Linux, or even windos depending on the system you choose.
Excellent point about being able to sell off old DVDs to offset costs. I'm in the mode now of reducing my cable bill costs. So I dumped the premium channels, they seemed to run the same old movies over and over again, rarely did they have anything new on that I wanted to watch. The extra cost each month was not worth it. I suspect I would find it the same with a Netflix account after the first couple of months.
BTW: I just called Brighthouse and they gave me a year long promotion that covers standard digital cable and the cable access for under $40 a month. Really surprised me. I just had to call them up and ask. Last year I saved about $15 a month with the promotion they put me on. When that ran out this year I called them up and got a really good promotion. Saves me about $50 a month!
The MPAA had define a new business model. Let's call it the "Lawsuit funded model". Find a bunch of lawyers that are not good enough to make it in a real law firm an use them to file law suits against the little guys that can not afford to defend themselves. Settle out of court for a reduced amount, so the little guys feel they can survive, and use the money from those settlements to file more law suits. Kind of a self funded pyramid scheme. The more law suits you file the more settlements you get until finally PROFIT!
They need to face the fact that things change. I don't know the numbers of people going to theaters to see movies, but I would not be surprised to learn that it is decreasing. And piracy is not the major contributing factor. Higher prices on tickets, poor selection of quality movies, even higher prices on refreshments, and inconsiderate people in the theaters (cell phones, lasers, talking, etc.) make it much more relaxing to watch movies at home. The quality of DVDs (to say nothing of those that have HD TVs) make watching movies at home much nicer than putting up with the afformentioned problems in theaters.
But the movie industry does not want to fix the real problems. They are going after a boogey man that does not really exist instead.
As a matter of fact they are starting to make DVDs less fun by putting those "DON'T STEAL THIS DVD" message at the start of the DVD. I already bought the damn thing. Let it go! If they get any more annoying I may have to find another entertainment medium. Actually thinking about it this may be the reason many people start downloading pirated versions of movies. hmmmmmmmmm.
True the cost of buying the DVD is higher. However I now have a copy I can watch anytime I want and I don't have to worry about late charges. Not that late charges are an issue with Netflix. And there are some months when there are no movies released that I want to watch so I have no costs at those times. I have found that mythtv allows me to catch many movies on regular channels that I normally would not be able to watch.
And buying the DVD is generally cheaper than going to a movie theater if you get a coke and popcorn.
Slashdot Mirror
And we know this too.
:)
The trick is figuring out how to make use of the information to take adavantage of those that don't know it.
So how soon before some undergraduate reconfigures the diffraction compensators to generate a tachyon pulse to create time machine? Should only take a few minutes to complete such a reconfiguration.
Isn't the underlying network more of an issue for streaming data/video than the OS of the host system receiving it? Right now today I have a DVR system that handles up to four (4) data steams at once incoming and can serve out several data streams for viewing at the same time. Of course the incoming data streams are over analog cable. The output streams are all digital. All this using existing OSes and hardware.
If you go to a pure digital environment the bandwidth between the end points is the critical factor. To stream large amounts of data over the existing networks will require upgrades not only to the pipes but the routing equipment. It may be that the routing equipment will require changes in their basic operating systems but it does not appear that changes in the target hosts operating systems are really required.
This article appears to be attempting to push the idea that a new OS, encumbered with DRM options, is needed. The reality is that it is not needed. It is a desire of some content providers but is not something the consumer will want. So where in the article did they push Vista? If they did not do so in this article I suspect it will be in the next one.
Why is 15TB of storage news?
Once they dupe the story 7 times they will be able to handle 200TB.
Give it time. When they dupe it later this week or next week it will be news then. It just has to have time to ripen, or rot as the case maybe.
The irony of posting the fiftieth "It's a dupe! Proves the editors aren't reading" post just seems completely lost on some people...
You mean the editors can read?
So when will they setup the Ipod to transmit a real time picture of what is infront of the wearer? Would need to lash the ipod to the users fore head like one of those fore head lamps.
The users of this stuff will get beaten up so bad.
It's not like the editors would notice the difference. :)
/.? :D
And since when did writing skill have anything to do with
/. editor reports searching for duplicate story before posting article. The reports are sketchy but many at the scene report large amounts of alcohol may have been involved as well as a badly timed joke to make Zonk think it was April 1st instead of January 1st. Reports have also come in showing that /. editors have been using an etch-a-sketch to run duplicate searches. This may answer once and for all why so many duplicate stories get posted!
/. editors are nothing more than a 1000 monkey's beating on computer keyboards accounting for the large number of duplicate stories being posted.
In other news speculation continues that
Don't you think you think it'd be easier to figure out how to not fuck up this planet (or at least how to deal with its changes) than how to survive on another planet?
:(
We'll figure out how to deal with the changes here. But we should still get a few eggs in other baskets. No telling when a major astroid or comet will hit the Earth or when the next pandemic will wipe out most of the population (can you say bird flu?).
And you are making the assumption that it is we that are causing global warming or that we can actually do anything about it. The best we are going to be able to do is adapt to the new environment. This will mean either relocating large portions of the population currently in coastal areas or creating massive dike systems. Probably a combination of both systems will be used.
But let's keep everything in one basket. It is easier to deal with that way.
legalizing murder would probably cause more problems that it would solve
But we should allow "he needed killin" as a defense. There are some situations where an individual just needs to be removed from the gene pool.
Of course global warming is happening. The big problem is people thinking that people are the primary cause. Since the poles of Mars are melting as well it appears that there might be something on a much larger scale causing global warming like say, the Sun. Either that or the few rovers we sent to Mars are enough to cause global warming on Mars.
The reality is that the climate changes over time, it has in the past and will in the future. We have been lucky the past 500 years or so. Now things are starting to warm up. Sometime in the future it will cool down too and there will be people screaming about global cooling.
What people need to start working on is getting self sustaining colonies off this planet. Until that happens we as a species will be vulnerable to the global climate shifts and global catastrophes.
But nobody reads this or understands or really cares. They would much rather spend their time trying to get SUVs banned and other ineffectual measures passed as law. Until then, if you live in hurricane country get prepared. If you are on the coast have plans to evacuate. If you are inland have supplies for a couple of weeks, generator, gas, tarps, water, food, etc. Be ready to survive for serveral weeks on your own. Don't count on help any time soon.
IMHO it is most likely just survival of a resistant weed. Personally I am a little more concerned about the wide spread use of anti-bacterial cleaners in homes and hospitals. Use of such products will eventually create a resistant strain of bacteria which can not be killed using any thing currently available. This has already been reported on some strains of bacteria in hospitals where the antibiotic of last resort is not even working in some cases. The more this stuff is used the quicker such strains will arise.
In this case a weed that is resistant to herbicides is a good example of this in action. The more herbicides that are spread around the more likely a survivor and eventually a strain that is resistant will develop. Given enough time it will happen. And the more such products are used the quicker it will happen.
It is just a matter of time before we are back in the time before antibiotics were discovered and people died of common infections.
With all the "marks" on my permanent record already, where did you find space for yet another one?
:D
I laugh at your marks on the permanent record!
They have no meaning to me! ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
students have a mark against their permanent record,
OH NO! Not a mark on my permanent record! How will I ever find a job!
The permanent record belongs in the myth category.
To say nothing of the irate trucker that you are sitting in front of at the light while you are trying to get to that next level. If this becomes wide spread expect to see a story about someone getting shot because they backed up traffic at a stop light playing a game.
I forgot another one:
Project management software
Drivers are needed as I indicated. But some of these basic apps are needed so people can get work done. Without such applications segments of the work force don't have an option of using linux. Things are improving. But getting a few more of these applications out would remove most of the objections to moving to linux. Or even solaris.
There are several killer apps still needed to make Linux a main stream system for the average user.
1. visio replacement (dia is not quite there yet) 2. Income tax software (non-web based turbotax) 3. group calendar system 4. DVD/video editing packages 5. better wireless driver support
2. Cell phone batteries will need longer life as people listen to music and watch video on them.
Which will result in cell phones the size they were back in the 80's, satchels weighing about 8 pounds.
This will also result in a record number of car wrecks as more people are found watching their cell phones while driving which leads to several states banning the use of cell phones in cars.
There will be a large number of complaints by cell phone users that even with 200 channels available there is nothing worth watching.
There will also be a project started to port mythtv to these new video capable cell phones.
The industry is in flux. Microsoft is on a downward spiral and are in the process of trying to reinvent themselves. Most of the tactics they are using now are stall tactics to put off the complete collapse. Look for more special divdends as they try to pull money out of the company for the stock holders. And look for additional FUD from them as they try to launch Vista, which by the way won't have any where near the uptake that they want. There are real options out there that allow companies to replace Windows on desktops and servers. There are still a few apps that require a better option but most of the more common ones are available now under linux.
Over the next few years there is going to be continuing changes in the IT world. Hopefully the changes won't be due to patent law but due to standars being used to provide interoperbility. Sadly I expect patent law to win out and be the new tool used to lock in customers.
How about Sun Microsystems? I believe I read they sold more Opteron systems than anyone else. And those system can run Solaris, Linux, or Windows. You get to choose which operating system you want.
If power and heat are issues in your data center you need to check out some of the new systems Sun Microsystems is putting out. They drasticly reduce power needed as well as heat generated which translates into significant savings for A/C costs.
Check them out. There are a number of good options, and you can use Solaris, Linux, or even windos depending on the system you choose.
Excellent point about being able to sell off old DVDs to offset costs. I'm in the mode now of reducing my cable bill costs. So I dumped the premium channels, they seemed to run the same old movies over and over again, rarely did they have anything new on that I wanted to watch. The extra cost each month was not worth it. I suspect I would find it the same with a Netflix account after the first couple of months.
BTW: I just called Brighthouse and they gave me a year long promotion that covers standard digital cable and the cable access for under $40 a month. Really surprised me. I just had to call them up and ask. Last year I saved about $15 a month with the promotion they put me on. When that ran out this year I called them up and got a really good promotion. Saves me about $50 a month!
The MPAA had define a new business model. Let's call it the "Lawsuit funded model". Find a bunch of lawyers that are not good enough to make it in a real law firm an use them to file law suits against the little guys that can not afford to defend themselves. Settle out of court for a reduced amount, so the little guys feel they can survive, and use the money from those settlements to file more law suits. Kind of a self funded pyramid scheme. The more law suits you file the more settlements you get until finally PROFIT!
They need to face the fact that things change. I don't know the numbers of people going to theaters to see movies, but I would not be surprised to learn that it is decreasing. And piracy is not the major contributing factor. Higher prices on tickets, poor selection of quality movies, even higher prices on refreshments, and inconsiderate people in the theaters (cell phones, lasers, talking, etc.) make it much more relaxing to watch movies at home. The quality of DVDs (to say nothing of those that have HD TVs) make watching movies at home much nicer than putting up with the afformentioned problems in theaters.
But the movie industry does not want to fix the real problems. They are going after a boogey man that does not really exist instead.
As a matter of fact they are starting to make DVDs less fun by putting those "DON'T STEAL THIS DVD" message at the start of the DVD. I already bought the damn thing. Let it go! If they get any more annoying I may have to find another entertainment medium. Actually thinking about it this may be the reason many people start downloading pirated versions of movies. hmmmmmmmmm.
True the cost of buying the DVD is higher. However I now have a copy I can watch anytime I want and I don't have to worry about late charges. Not that late charges are an issue with Netflix. And there are some months when there are no movies released that I want to watch so I have no costs at those times. I have found that mythtv allows me to catch many movies on regular channels that I normally would not be able to watch.
And buying the DVD is generally cheaper than going to a movie theater if you get a coke and popcorn.