I bought a JVC reciever about six months ago ('cause the ex spilled a coke in the old one) and it happened to have a USB "input" (USB-B connector) on the front.
I didn't think much of it when I bought it, figured it'd be a windows only thing anyway. One day my system was off, for a hardware upgrade IIRC, and I plugged in the reciever on a whim.
RH9's kudzu picked it up and set it up as/dev/dsp1. Now I have mplayer set up to use that device for audio output, and everything else uses/dev/dsp (lame built in sound on my MB connected to lame speakers built into my display).
It all works out really well, and the sound through the reciever is great.
The one downside to consider ist that you can only play audio CDs through a USB sound device by using CDDA, which is less than ideal. Uses a lot of CPU and IDE bandwidth and still skips from time to time. (For me, anyway.)
The reason SUN has nothing to fear is that theyalready license UNIX from SCO (because they sell a UNIX called Solaris).
They, presumably, have a blanket license. I imagine they could sell "UNIX services for DOS(tm)" or "SUNUX" or the "I can't belive that it's UNIX! GNU/Linux distribution.
Another way to look at it would be that if you buy Linux from SCO, HP, IBM, or SUN it is UNIX. If you get it any where else, it is UNIX-like.
The reason SUN has nothing to fear is that they already license UNIX from SCO (for Solaris).
In a significant way the lawsuit is about SCO perceiving that IBM is "transferring IP" from UNIX to Linux as a precursor to abandoning AIX (and the associated UNIX licensing).
Do you frequently steal cars to have them serviced?
I'm talking about peoples own computers, or computers that they have a professional responsibilitiy for.
I sounds like you are describing a Ferrari. I'm guessing that someone who paid more for their car than I did for my first house has a clue as to what they spent all that money on.
In a way they spent extra to not have the make and model in little chrome letters on the trunk.
I'm not sure if you are joking, so I'll assume you aren't.
So-and-so. Like such and such. Like "Hello, this is Dr. Stick-up-the-ass. Now that you are duly impressed with my massive cranium, you can continue your little peon duties of un-fucking the computer that I fucked up."
As a side note I once had one of these calls, where the guy goes out of his way to introduce himself as Dr. Soandso. He proceeds to complain that his PC locks up whenever he kicks it.
I suggested that kicking a delicate piece of equipment might not be such a hot idea. He became somewhat indignant. I offered to help him reseat some components. He replied that he couldn't just then, because he was leaving the country.
1. If he is so fucking smart, why would he call tech support five minutes before he has to leave to catch an international flight?
2. What does it matter to me that he is leaving the country? He couldn't say he didn't have time just then? That he had to go? He couldn't exhibit a modicum of modesty? No, "I can't right now, I'm leaving the country." Dick.
The point was anyone who feels the need to express there level of education when calling tech support is 1. probably a dick and 2. probably not going to listen, then blame you when things don't work out. 'Cause he's so fucking smart.
Please note that I have nothing against higher ed. In fact I plan to go back to school in the Spring. I don't much care for pompous assholes though.
No, I'm talking about a normal NT install. From OEM or retail CDs. If you boot of the CD (or the three boot disks) and just let it run it will report no disks found if it doesn't have a built in driver for your disk controller (like a newer adaptec or a RAID controller).
Not Dell specific at all.
You have to press F6 when it says somthing like "NT is detecting your hardware configuraion." There's no prompt or anything. (There is in win2k.)
Why it they didn't have it just say something like "Power Edge Expandable Raid Controller (PERC) appers to be a disk controller. Do you have a driver disk?" (Getting the name from the PCI id.) I'll never know. No. It says "No disks atached to system" or some such. Bastards.
I worked tech support for a couple of years and you are way off base.
First, let me say there are a lot of lousy techs out there. No excuse.
But given that the tech is on his game, let me address some of the things you've said.
How many drivers know what OS runs their engine control computer?
The opening script was "Thank you for calling Dell, my name is Peter, may I have your service tag number please."
This was undersandably confusing. If they didn't know the tag I'd say "It is a five character alpha-numeric code on a white, bar-coded sticker on the back of the computer." I'd often get a 12 digit code from the back of the monitor. Counting is a grade-school skill. If you don't know the difference between 5 and 12 you don't need a computer, you need special ed. Of course it was usually the guy who introduced himself as "Dr. Soandso." So the problem was HE WASN'T LISTENING. Furthermore, a monitor and a computer are two different things. I'd say this is like being confused by tricky technical terms like "hood" and "trunk." I can just see some guy calling GM and responding to questions about the engine (which has been established as being under the "hood" with frustration from the owner: "There's no engine in here, just a tire!"
Once we established the service tag number I would confirm by saying "Okay, that's a XX" (Dimension XPS R450 or something). I would get seriously bent out of shape when the reply was "I don't know." Okay, it is written on the front of the computer. It is on the invoice. It is the thing they bought. It is NOT like knowing about he OS in a car, it is like knowing the model of the car. It's right there on the trunk lid. You bought the thing for Christ's sake.
In terms of the OS itself, it is printed right on the screen every time you hit the start button. For the love of god, help me to help you.
My bigger point, however, is about:
everyone looks like an idiot when they require the services of a domain expert
I had NO problem with customers who didn't know squat about their computers. I had a very nice call with a lady whose initial problem was that she wasn't sure which way the floppy went in the drive. Once I told her "Metal rectangle first, metal circle down." she was good. As it happens she got a POST memory error during the call. I talked her through re-seating a DIMM. It resolved the problem. Of course, she didn't know what the hell a DIMM was, but we were both patient and she LISTENED.
She was certainly ignorant, but she was no idiot.
OTOH, I was forever getting calls from guys (as often as not MCSEs) who were trying to re-install NT 4. (I worked in the server group at this point.) It said no disks were found on the system, so they wanted replacements. I would patiently explain that NT said there were no disks if it didn't have a native driver, that this was normal. I'd explain that help re-installing the OS is normally billable after the first 30 days, but since they were concerned about their hardware, and Dell is such a nice company, and I'm personally such a nice guy, I'd help them get the reinstall going.
"No, I want a tech out here with (as often as not 4) new disks."
"As I said, this message is expected on a functioning system. Since nothing out of the ordinary is happening I can't send hardware. But even if I did it wouldn't help. Let me help you make a driver disk, and I'll walk you through up to the partitioning portion of the install."
"No, I need new disks."
This is where the stress came into the job.
I don't think neurosurgeons have to put up with:
"Sir, you have a small tumor in your frontal lobe, we'll have to remove it."
"No, I want you to place a titanium stent in my medulla oblongata. Just do it, damn it. I read a book once and the customer is always right!"
I don't think that you have illustrated any failures in the analogy.
In fact I think you have shown just how apt it is. Try this:
Buggies are usefull; sure they might be a bit slower but in the event of failure of other methods of transportation they can, literally, be a life saver for many thousands. Buggies are also a great educational resource , want to learn about horses?
I don't have anything against radio or HAMs. My Dad and Great Uncle are HAMs. I was a commo guy in the Army. In Joint Endeavor ("Bosnia") our land based comms were less than ideal. Our shortwaves were, literally, lifesavers. I'm certainly not prejudiced against the technology.
The fact is, however, that broadband Internet access in urban areas is more valuable than HAM radio by any rational criterion other than historical value.
There are certainly arguments for HAM in rural areas, but thanks to the trusty inverse square law of electromagnetic radiation and the fact that rural areas, by definition, have a lot of open space they are not relevant to the discussion.
they either have the choice of fixing it or being forceable shut down
What does this mean? In the courts? By the CRTC? As I understand it Canadians are ill equipped to mount a revolution . ..
Slashdot Mirror
You nailed it.
It looks like they might have a few valid points, but they have chosen to drown them out with obviously politically motivated drivel.
It's a shame, really. Another great idea sacrificed to unbridled emotionalism.
-Peter
Forbidden
/article/215_0_1_0_C/ on this server.
You don't have permission to access
Looks like you skimped on the reading.
-Peter
Don't let the keyboard layout fool you, you aren't typing on a Selectric. That is an enter key, not a carriage return.
The advent of Gigahertz computing has allowed for automatic, window proportional word wrap in real time.
So please, please, quit fighting the fucking system.
-Peter
Yes, the whole dot-com thing was a fiasco. I don't think any currencies were actually compeltely wiped out. Get over it.
I have no idea what this has to do with sponges or fiber optics.
-Peter
I think was too busy trying not to get greased by the politicians to create copyright.
-Peter
MR. BROWN
Yeah, but Mr. Brown? That's too
close to Mr. Shit.
And what is the significance of 0xd6 (214)?
(Please look at "this man['s]" email address and watch Reservoir Dogs before any moderation.)
(And, yes, I understand that his name is really Marcus Brown.)
-Peter
He doesn't sound nearly as weird as the people who bought his used underwear and socks.
-Peter
Do they teach English at Hertfordshire?
-Peter
I bought a JVC reciever about six months ago ('cause the ex spilled a coke in the old one) and it happened to have a USB "input" (USB-B connector) on the front.
/dev/dsp1. Now I have mplayer set up to use that device for audio output, and everything else uses /dev/dsp (lame built in sound on my MB connected to lame speakers built into my display).
I didn't think much of it when I bought it, figured it'd be a windows only thing anyway. One day my system was off, for a hardware upgrade IIRC, and I plugged in the reciever on a whim.
RH9's kudzu picked it up and set it up as
It all works out really well, and the sound through the reciever is great.
The one downside to consider ist that you can only play audio CDs through a USB sound device by using CDDA, which is less than ideal. Uses a lot of CPU and IDE bandwidth and still skips from time to time. (For me, anyway.)
Good luck!
-Peter
To trojan lots of popular packages at the source?
Is just under 1/3% based on 2000 census data
Based on your current practices I calculate that you are more likely to be eaten by a grue than to have your ID stolen.
-Peter
Let's try this with different emphasis:
The reason SUN has nothing to fear is that they already license UNIX from SCO (because they sell a UNIX called Solaris).
They, presumably, have a blanket license. I imagine they could sell "UNIX services for DOS(tm)" or "SUNUX" or the "I can't belive that it's UNIX! GNU/Linux distribution.
Another way to look at it would be that if you buy Linux from SCO, HP, IBM, or SUN it is UNIX. If you get it any where else, it is UNIX-like.
Microsoft was the company.
The reason SUN has nothing to fear is that they already license UNIX from SCO (for Solaris).
In a significant way the lawsuit is about SCO perceiving that IBM is "transferring IP" from UNIX to Linux as a precursor to abandoning AIX (and the associated UNIX licensing).
-Peter
Do you frequently steal cars to have them serviced?
I'm talking about peoples own computers, or computers that they have a professional responsibilitiy for.
I sounds like you are describing a Ferrari. I'm guessing that someone who paid more for their car than I did for my first house has a clue as to what they spent all that money on.
In a way they spent extra to not have the make and model in little chrome letters on the trunk.
-Peter
I'm not sure if you are joking, so I'll assume you aren't.
So-and-so. Like such and such. Like "Hello, this is Dr. Stick-up-the-ass. Now that you are duly impressed with my massive cranium, you can continue your little peon duties of un-fucking the computer that I fucked up."
As a side note I once had one of these calls, where the guy goes out of his way to introduce himself as Dr. Soandso. He proceeds to complain that his PC locks up whenever he kicks it.
I suggested that kicking a delicate piece of equipment might not be such a hot idea. He became somewhat indignant. I offered to help him reseat some components. He replied that he couldn't just then, because he was leaving the country.
1. If he is so fucking smart, why would he call tech support five minutes before he has to leave to catch an international flight?
2. What does it matter to me that he is leaving the country? He couldn't say he didn't have time just then? That he had to go? He couldn't exhibit a modicum of modesty? No, "I can't right now, I'm leaving the country." Dick.
The point was anyone who feels the need to express there level of education when calling tech support is 1. probably a dick and 2. probably not going to listen, then blame you when things don't work out. 'Cause he's so fucking smart.
Please note that I have nothing against higher ed. In fact I plan to go back to school in the Spring. I don't much care for pompous assholes though.
-Peter
Hey, thanks for having a sense of humor. It is a funny word. Consider making some effort to get over yourself.
-Peter
I'm pretty sure someone pulled that word out of his snide arse.
-Peter
Seriously, how much fucking training is involved in knowing what model of car you drive?
Either you're a self-absorbed ass or you aren't.
-Peter
No, I'm talking about a normal NT install. From OEM or retail CDs. If you boot of the CD (or the three boot disks) and just let it run it will report no disks found if it doesn't have a built in driver for your disk controller (like a newer adaptec or a RAID controller).
Not Dell specific at all.
You have to press F6 when it says somthing like "NT is detecting your hardware configuraion." There's no prompt or anything. (There is in win2k.)
Why it they didn't have it just say something like "Power Edge Expandable Raid Controller (PERC) appers to be a disk controller. Do you have a driver disk?" (Getting the name from the PCI id.) I'll never know. No. It says "No disks atached to system" or some such. Bastards.
-Peter
Yes, but did you take pictures, make a self-congratulatory web page, then submit it to slashdot?
It's all in the marketing.
-Peter
I worked tech support for a couple of years and you are way off base.
First, let me say there are a lot of lousy techs out there. No excuse.
But given that the tech is on his game, let me address some of the things you've said.
The opening script was "Thank you for calling Dell, my name is Peter, may I have your service tag number please."
This was undersandably confusing. If they didn't know the tag I'd say "It is a five character alpha-numeric code on a white, bar-coded sticker on the back of the computer." I'd often get a 12 digit code from the back of the monitor. Counting is a grade-school skill. If you don't know the difference between 5 and 12 you don't need a computer, you need special ed. Of course it was usually the guy who introduced himself as "Dr. Soandso." So the problem was HE WASN'T LISTENING. Furthermore, a monitor and a computer are two different things. I'd say this is like being confused by tricky technical terms like "hood" and "trunk." I can just see some guy calling GM and responding to questions about the engine (which has been established as being under the "hood" with frustration from the owner: "There's no engine in here, just a tire!"
Once we established the service tag number I would confirm by saying "Okay, that's a XX" (Dimension XPS R450 or something). I would get seriously bent out of shape when the reply was "I don't know." Okay, it is written on the front of the computer. It is on the invoice. It is the thing they bought. It is NOT like knowing about he OS in a car, it is like knowing the model of the car. It's right there on the trunk lid. You bought the thing for Christ's sake.
In terms of the OS itself, it is printed right on the screen every time you hit the start button. For the love of god, help me to help you.
My bigger point, however, is about:
I had NO problem with customers who didn't know squat about their computers. I had a very nice call with a lady whose initial problem was that she wasn't sure which way the floppy went in the drive. Once I told her "Metal rectangle first, metal circle down." she was good. As it happens she got a POST memory error during the call. I talked her through re-seating a DIMM. It resolved the problem. Of course, she didn't know what the hell a DIMM was, but we were both patient and she LISTENED.
She was certainly ignorant, but she was no idiot.
OTOH, I was forever getting calls from guys (as often as not MCSEs) who were trying to re-install NT 4. (I worked in the server group at this point.) It said no disks were found on the system, so they wanted replacements. I would patiently explain that NT said there were no disks if it didn't have a native driver, that this was normal. I'd explain that help re-installing the OS is normally billable after the first 30 days, but since they were concerned about their hardware, and Dell is such a nice company, and I'm personally such a nice guy, I'd help them get the reinstall going.
"No, I want a tech out here with (as often as not 4) new disks."
"As I said, this message is expected on a functioning system. Since nothing out of the ordinary is happening I can't send hardware. But even if I did it wouldn't help. Let me help you make a driver disk, and I'll walk you through up to the partitioning portion of the install."
"No, I need new disks."
This is where the stress came into the job.
I don't think neurosurgeons have to put up with:
"Sir, you have a small tumor in your frontal lobe, we'll have to remove it."
"No, I want you to place a titanium stent in my medulla oblongata. Just do it, damn it. I read a book once and the customer is always right!"
-Peter
In fact I think you have shown just how apt it is. Try this:
Buggies are usefull; sure they might be a bit slower but in the event of failure of other methods of transportation they can, literally, be a life saver for many thousands. Buggies are also a great educational resource , want to learn about horses?
I don't have anything against radio or HAMs. My Dad and Great Uncle are HAMs. I was a commo guy in the Army. In Joint Endeavor ("Bosnia") our land based comms were less than ideal. Our shortwaves were, literally, lifesavers. I'm certainly not prejudiced against the technology.
The fact is, however, that broadband Internet access in urban areas is more valuable than HAM radio by any rational criterion other than historical value.
There are certainly arguments for HAM in rural areas, but thanks to the trusty inverse square law of electromagnetic radiation and the fact that rural areas, by definition, have a lot of open space they are not relevant to the discussion.
What does this mean? In the courts? By the CRTC? As I understand it Canadians are ill equipped to mount a revolution . .
-Peter
Cars interfere with horse drawn buggies on the road. Technology marches on.
-Peter
I'll bite.
Maybe when people tried to bid on it, it went something like:
"I wan't to bid on some TOS stuff. Oh, what's this uniform over heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!"
Never heard from again.
-Peter