Need: root / insmod access, Prequisite: 2.3.x linux kernels have P6 microcode upgrade device driver option. (module).
Description: Since at microcode level, subsytem interfaces may not have idiot-proofing, it may be possible to corrupt the P6 microcode dump leading to some kind of subsytem breakdown.
Today's NYT magazine has an article 'Patently Absurd' by well-known science writer James Gleick First page illustration has this fake patent 'Procedure for simultaneously walking and chewing gum':) hilarious. -ak reference: NYT magazine - (registration reqd.)
Honor of the first internet election -- that too a significant election -- election for head of state goes to...Costa Rica I think the year was 1997-98 I could find one link link1 -ak
Role of newspaper I believe newspapers have a different role relative to TV, internet. I read newspaper, I always have -- inspite of TV. In fact I found most local US newspapers (chicago tribune in my case) so pathetic that I had to switch to NY Times to satisfy the need for awareness of the world. Back home, we used to get 3 newspapers daily in 2 different languages. But in US only thing that stops me doing that is lack of 'good' newspapers. In a newspaper:
I don't care for the sensational.
I don't care for illinformed columnists (very common).
I don't care for latest news.
I expect a good newspaper to give me detailed, insightful coverage of events. I can get breaking news from CNN! (TV/online) But I do not ever get what i want there!.
Breadth of issues, some of them in depth. I guess I am an info-junkie. I also visit Nature Update (nature.com) for authentic laymen's introduction to new research. I scan Wired, salon, MIT-TR, National Geographic... I scan few newspapers online, through Yahoo! mostly. I go through many magazines online. Still, I need a newspaper. Has anyone tried to sip morning coffee (or tea) with news online ? You need a newspaper to give you that daily insightful coverage. Most people do not like reading long articles online (i don't). So you expect daily newspaper to do that. Some of my friends need newspaper for daily pot-ritual (i mean natural I/O not the drug).
On providing PDA downloads When I am commuting, I also save some articles from online media on my Palm Pilot, for later reading. Only naive readers need 'download your news in Palm format' option. Most experienced people will take plain text and create their own PRC, I do. How many people can read Greenspan's entire speech online, watch it on TV. Slashdot is good for discussing issues, but a coherent insightful coverage? not always possible.
-ak ps: I am a perennial Katz critic. I think Jon has learnt from./ feedback (esp last 2 pieces). keep it up. (learning i mean:) )
Why SuSE deserves it: + They came up with X servers for variety of cards -- back when X configuration for Linux/XFree86 was a pain {remember XF86Setup and xvidtune} they improved X configuration tools. { X servers, config tools: SaX, now iSaX }
+ 'YaST' does a good job of centralizing system admin. For most users -- though some of us may hate its SuSEconfig script that overwrites manual changes (unless told otherwise). It is much better than linuxconf in RH.
+ SuSE has a nice database of supported HW on their web page.
+ nice startup scripts with central configuration through/etc/rc.config {or in YaST for newbie}. 'rctab' is a great tool for editing/etc/rc.d/* scripts and changing the order of execution of the startup scripts.
+ Can't beat their price. { I am not considering {CheapBytes/FTP} users }
Some quirks that SuSE needs to correct: - GNOME RPMs were late for 6.1 version.
- GNOME RPMs are named differently preventing users from upgrading using non-SuSE rpms.
- SuSE keeps on changing files in a package from one version to next. This is not documented so is painful for people who wish to upgrade. {i.e. el cheapo ftp from suse guys} e.g. nkita and nkitb contain different tools in 6.1 and 6.2 some tools cross over from nkita to nkitb in new version!
- SuSE was late in upgrading to libc6. {6.1+}
- During 6.3 release -- Their mirrors contained incorrectly marked rpms e.g. ppp-2.3.10 contained ppp-2.3.8 ! They need better use of RPM naming and consistency of its contents.
Overall I liked SuSE more than RH. Besides it gives a good competition to front runner RH. That is always good.:)
A logical convincing case of Darwinian Evolution is made by Richard Dawkins in his books on (neo-)Darwinism. He makes quite a convincing logical case for probable evolution of complex structures (e.g. eyes) through small "random" changes. A must read for anyone who thinks they can brush-off randomness-to-complexity argument. -ak Reference: Dawkin's books for laymen {sometimes too 'lay' } Climbing Mount Improbable The Blind Watchmaker River out of Eden The Selfish Gene
I can also remember 'Sand on Mars' by Arthur C Clarke.
A request: Can anyone tell me which of Arthur C Clarke's book talks about immortals and the 'battle of shalmirane (or some such)? '. I am unable to recall that book and would love to read it again. {I hope this is a Clarke book}
I recall as a teenager going to a talk by Arthur C clarke in India; He already had a great reputation for forecasting future and his talk was quite enthralling!. Arthur C Clarke IMHO is much underrated probably because he no longer lives in US. Too bad, he is the best there is.
The absolute threshold used by reader to pick fine-picked posting will no longer be the same (ac's can also mod up). I currently browse at 2 but under your proposed scheme, i will need to keep on upgrading to a new level number say x, which may vary from article to article. So do i have to request/. to fit a bell curve to give me guidance to achieve my magic 'x' (equivalent to absolute 2) for each article ?
Moderation points issued can be simply be made proportional to # posts.
Something seriously wrong indeed. Seeing this note about the block corruption in CSC client, I checked my client. I noticed that the new client had core-dumped on my Linux machine this week, other programs are ok. -- implying some corruption of major kind.
Has anyone else encountered this behavior ?
My client version is v2.8003-448 client for Linux My system is SuSE 6.3 (i.e. libc6). I run 2.3.x kernels -- but they haven't crashed ever -- so methinks this has is a problem with the client binary.
1. Previously "computers" were women. They were teams of women doing computation in a co-ordinated fashion for army/navy. 2. Admiral Grace Hopper wrote the first COMPILER.
Interested people can lookup in library/online @ Annals of history of computing. ACM -ak
I remember reading somewhere that USPO was asked to not grant patents where only claim was 'idntification of gene' as what human genome project and celera are doing. Further... The US PO was directed to grant gene patents only for claim that describes use of a particular gene i.e. identifying its function and purpose.
I am fundamentally against either form of patents, but can someone confirm this... ?
Probably Latency is not as crucial as bandwidth requirement and Throughput here. RAMBUS is a clear winner on that front. (compared to other options). I'd be curious to see what benchmarks army used to decide RAMBUS/DDR . On same front, It'd be curious how the UIDE/66 vs. UW SCSI were compared. Here too bandwidth may point towards SCSI. - ak
Are there any security issues concerning use of GNOME or KDE due to their network centric nature ?
GNOME -- uses CORBA -- connects thru Net (not raw sockets )... You might want to use PGP with GNOME for strong auth for CORBA client/server ops. Is such a combo in place ? Anybody knows ?
KDE -- i don't know enough to comment.
-ak
Re:Interesting story...
on
Sex in Space
·
· Score: 1
def. official sex : A $16 billion contraption built by highly qualified engineers meant to be used by consenting adult astronauts (preferably of different sex but don't ask don't tell:) ) who sign disclaimer documents before entering the device. All performance statistics are recorded for future scientific analysis.
It is all for the good of man, science, universe, life, fish and everything.
First giant step for Astronaut XYZ, A giant leap for the human kind!
I'm sure Bill G cannot compile the NT kernel with gcc -ansi or any non-ms ANSI compiler.:-) Linux kernel compilation procedure is too simple. How many engineers does it take.... -ak
Will Crusoe have a companion 'Friday' or will it remain alone on that island of obscurity ?
Maybe OS-port for it can be named 'Friday':-)
-ak [ref: Robinson Crusoe who was shipwrecked...]
We MUST campaign(was Re:Linux version of upgrade?)
on
PalmOS 3.3 Released
·
· Score: 1
Call For a Campaign: Linux/bin for Palm Upgrade ------------------------------------------------
From the day I purchased Palm, I have used it with Linux ONLY. And I intend to do so...
We must campaign to get a upgrade.bin for Linux!
Let us *all* write nice,decent, short mails to support@ explaining that we intend to use and do use Palm with Linux. And hence we request an palm OS upgrade for Linux platform!
I have written such a mail. I am awaiting their reply. I implore all of you to do this.
May the slash-dot FORCE be with you.
- ak ps: this problem would not arise if palm os were open/free source. I am even more convinced now, of RMS's foresight.
kaataa_bindu.org {hindi another indian language} kaapo_bindu.org {gujarati (another indian language)} kaap_bindu.org {marathi (yet another indian language)}
[ translating the meaning slash == to cut as in 'slash and burn' ]
- ak ack: sanskrit dict from http://reality.sgi.com/cgi-bin/atul_asd/sanskrit/d ict/search.html
Slashdot Mirror
Need: root / insmod access,
Prequisite: 2.3.x linux kernels have P6 microcode upgrade device driver option. (module).
Description:
Since at microcode level, subsytem interfaces may not have idiot-proofing, it may be possible to
corrupt the P6 microcode dump leading to some kind of subsytem breakdown.
Any thoughts ?
-ak
Two boundry conditions of interest...
... Do you still retain :)
:)
#1 What happens if a patch replaces entire program ? Who owns the program ?
#2 What happens if a patch replaces one byte in the entire source tree ? Who owns the program ?
I hope, answers are ALWAYS -- original owner.
+ part ownership to patch writer.
If this is true:
#3 what if you add a patch. now someone's patch
removes all your additions
part-ownership ?
I hope answer is yes.
BTW,
#1 is an interesting way of donating your program's authorship
- abhay
try www.noamazon.com
It is a list of internet shops.
-ak
Today's NYT magazine has an article 'Patently Absurd' by well-known science writer James Gleick :)
First page illustration has this fake patent 'Procedure for simultaneously walking and chewing gum'
hilarious.
-ak
reference: NYT magazine - (registration reqd.)
Honor of the first internet election -- that too a significant election -- election for head of state goes to...Costa Rica I think the year was 1997-98 I could find one link link1 -ak
I believe newspapers have a different role relative to TV, internet. I read newspaper, I always have -- inspite of TV. In fact I found most local US newspapers (chicago tribune in my case) so pathetic that I had to switch to NY Times to satisfy the need for awareness of the world. Back home, we used to get 3 newspapers daily in 2 different languages. But in US only thing that stops me doing that is lack of 'good' newspapers.
In a newspaper:
- I don't care for the sensational.
- I don't care for illinformed columnists (very common).
- I don't care for latest news.
I expect a good newspaper to give me detailed, insightful coverage of events. I can get breaking news from CNN! (TV/online) But I do not ever get what i want there!.Breadth of issues, some of them in depth.
I guess I am an info-junkie.
I also visit Nature Update (nature.com) for authentic laymen's introduction to new research. I scan Wired, salon, MIT-TR, National Geographic... I scan few newspapers online, through Yahoo! mostly. I go through many magazines online.
Still, I need a newspaper. Has anyone tried to sip morning coffee (or tea) with news online ? You need a newspaper to give you that daily insightful coverage. Most people do not like reading long articles online (i don't). So you expect daily newspaper to do that.
Some of my friends need newspaper for daily pot-ritual (i mean natural I/O not the drug).
On providing PDA downloads
When I am commuting, I also save some articles from online media on my Palm Pilot, for later reading. Only naive readers need 'download your news in Palm format' option. Most experienced people will take plain text and create their own PRC, I do.
How many people can read Greenspan's entire speech online, watch it on TV. Slashdot is good for discussing issues, but a coherent insightful coverage? not always possible.
-ak
ps: I am a perennial Katz critic. I think Jon has learnt from
C|net has no data in that URL. A better URL is ... n 021500a.htm
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/c
-ak
Why SuSE deserves it:
/etc/rc.config {or in YaST for newbie}. 'rctab' is a great tool for editing /etc/rc.d/* scripts and changing the order of execution of
:)
+ They came up with X servers for variety of cards -- back when X configuration for Linux/XFree86 was a pain {remember XF86Setup and xvidtune} they improved X configuration tools.
{ X servers, config tools: SaX, now iSaX }
+ 'YaST' does a good job of centralizing system admin. For most users -- though some of us may hate its SuSEconfig script that overwrites manual changes (unless told otherwise). It is much better than linuxconf in RH.
+ SuSE has a nice database of supported HW on their web page.
+ nice startup scripts with central configuration through
the startup scripts.
+ Can't beat their price.
{ I am not considering {CheapBytes/FTP} users }
Some quirks that SuSE needs to correct:
- GNOME RPMs were late for 6.1 version.
- GNOME RPMs are named differently preventing users from upgrading using non-SuSE rpms.
- SuSE keeps on changing files in a package from
one version to next. This is not documented so is painful for people who wish to upgrade. {i.e. el cheapo ftp from suse guys}
e.g. nkita and nkitb contain different tools in
6.1 and 6.2 some tools cross over from nkita to nkitb in new version!
- SuSE was late in upgrading to libc6. {6.1+}
- During 6.3 release -- Their mirrors contained incorrectly marked rpms e.g. ppp-2.3.10 contained
ppp-2.3.8 ! They need better use of RPM naming and consistency of its contents.
Overall I liked SuSE more than RH. Besides it gives a good competition to front runner RH. That is always good.
- ak
A logical convincing case of Darwinian Evolution is made by Richard Dawkins in his books on (neo-)Darwinism. He makes quite a convincing logical case for probable evolution of complex structures (e.g. eyes) through small "random" changes.
A must read for anyone who thinks they can brush-off randomness-to-complexity argument.
-ak
Reference: Dawkin's books for laymen
{sometimes too 'lay' }
Climbing Mount Improbable
The Blind Watchmaker
River out of Eden
The Selfish Gene
I can also remember 'Sand on Mars' by Arthur C Clarke.
A request:
Can anyone tell me which of Arthur C Clarke's book talks about immortals and the 'battle of shalmirane (or some such)? '. I am unable to recall that book and would love to read it again.
{I hope this is a Clarke book}
I recall as a teenager going to a talk by Arthur C clarke in India; He already had a great reputation for forecasting future and his talk was quite enthralling!. Arthur C Clarke IMHO is much underrated probably because he no longer lives in US. Too bad, he is the best there is.
-ak
The absolute threshold used by reader to pick fine-picked posting will no longer be the same /. to fit a bell curve to give me
(ac's can also mod up). I currently browse at
2 but under your proposed scheme, i will need to keep on upgrading to a new level number say x, which may vary from article to article. So do i
have to request
guidance to achieve my magic 'x' (equivalent to absolute 2) for each article ?
Moderation points issued can be simply be made
proportional to # posts.
My machine is a K6-2 -- was your machine K6-II ?
since these could be specific problem with
computation-cores.
yes that client release was ok. The last 2 new clients (2000 releases?) are problematic.
I just downloaded current client:
x86/ELF/glibc2.1/MT v2.8005.453 released on 2000-01-09.
and this one also has a problem with SIG_SEGV core dumps.
The gnu libc being used is libc-2.1.2-31
-ak
Something seriously wrong indeed.
Seeing this note about the block corruption in CSC client, I checked my client.
I noticed that the new client had core-dumped on
my Linux machine this week, other programs are ok.
-- implying some corruption of major kind.
Has anyone else encountered this behavior ?
My client version is v2.8003-448 client for Linux
My system is SuSE 6.3 (i.e. libc6).
I run 2.3.x kernels -- but they haven't crashed ever --
so methinks this has is a problem with the
client binary.
yes, i have enabled csc and rc5 on client.
-ak
1. Previously "computers" were women. They were teams of women doing computation in a co-ordinated fashion for army/navy.
2. Admiral Grace Hopper wrote the first COMPILER.
Interested people can lookup in library/online @
Annals of history of computing. ACM
-ak
I remember reading somewhere that USPO was asked to not grant patents where only claim was 'idntification of gene' as
what human genome project and celera are doing.
Further...
The US PO was directed to grant gene patents only for claim that describes use of a particular gene i.e. identifying its function and purpose.
I am fundamentally against either form of patents,
but can someone confirm this... ?
-ak
Probably Latency is not as crucial as bandwidth requirement and Throughput here. RAMBUS is a clear winner on that front. (compared to other options). I'd be curious to see what benchmarks army used to decide RAMBUS/DDR . On same front, It'd be curious how the UIDE/66 vs. UW SCSI were compared. Here too bandwidth may point towards SCSI. - ak
FYI The Hubble Telescope uses intel chip. Last week upgraded by the crew to radiation hardened 486DX4/75 i think.
- ak
Are there any security issues concerning use of
GNOME or KDE due to their network centric nature ?
GNOME -- uses CORBA -- connects thru Net (not raw sockets )... You might want to use PGP with GNOME for strong auth for CORBA client/server ops. Is
such a combo in place ? Anybody knows ?
KDE -- i don't know enough to comment.
-ak
def. official sex : :) ) who sign disclaimer documents before entering the device. All performance statistics are recorded for future scientific analysis.
A $16 billion contraption built by highly qualified engineers meant to be used by consenting adult astronauts (preferably of different sex but don't ask don't tell
It is all for the good of man, science, universe, life, fish and everything.
First giant step for Astronaut XYZ,
A giant leap for the human kind!
-ak
I guess this takes us one step closer to 1984.
Even more irritating is the 'positive' tint, the article gives to this application.
I guess If we WANT 1984, that is exactly what
we will deservedly GET. simple.
- ak
I'm sure Bill G cannot compile the NT kernel with gcc -ansi or any non-ms ANSI compiler. :-) Linux kernel compilation procedure is too simple. How many engineers does it take.... -ak
Will Crusoe have a companion 'Friday' or will
it remain alone on that island of obscurity ?
Maybe OS-port for it can be named 'Friday'
-ak
[ref: Robinson Crusoe who was shipwrecked
Call For a Campaign: Linux/bin for Palm Upgrade-
-----------------------------------------------
From the day I purchased Palm, I have used it
with Linux ONLY. And I intend to do so...
We must campaign to get a upgrade.bin for Linux!
Let us *all* write nice,decent, short mails
to support@ explaining that we intend to use and do use Palm with Linux. And hence we request
an palm OS upgrade for Linux platform!
I have written such a mail. I am awaiting their
reply. I implore all of you to do this.
May the slash-dot FORCE be with you.
- ak
ps: this problem would not arise if palm os were
open/free source. I am even more convinced now,
of RMS's foresight.
kartayatu_bindu.org {sanskrit}
d ict/search.html
vyavachchhetsiiH_bindu.org {sanskrit}
saJNchhinna_bindu.org {sanskrit}
kaataa_bindu.org {hindi another indian language}
kaapo_bindu.org {gujarati (another indian language)}
kaap_bindu.org {marathi (yet another indian language)}
[ translating the meaning slash == to cut
as in 'slash and burn' ]
- ak
ack:
sanskrit dict from http://reality.sgi.com/cgi-bin/atul_asd/sanskrit/