In my dealings with IBM, I received three refab drives in a row. The original drive, a 75GXP, died after a few months of usage. I RMA'd it and received a refab 75GXP as a replacement. This drive died within a month or so, and so I RMA'd it as well. Then, after more waiting I received another refab 75GXP from IBM which died within a week. Finally, after a bit of screaming, the fourth drive wasn't a 75GXP and is still working today. I'm still waiting for it to fail, though.
I still have 3Com Ethernet cards from way back (ISA), and I still have a TON of other random hardware (including other HDs).
One thing you have to consider is that your Ethernet cards have no moving parts. Your soundcards have no moving parts. Your video card has no moving parts. Your RAM has no moving parts. Your hard disks, however, move quite a lot. True it seems older hard drives seem to live longer, but you also have to take other factors into consideration such as capacity, speed, and overall quality.
Although I know very little about hard drives, it seems logical to assume that there is a direct correlation between storage capacity and drive capacity. For more space, you've got to have more platters and a higher storage density. This means you have more mechanics to deal with these finer details, which is just another place for something to go wrong.
It is rather easy to see why faster drive speeds would decrease the MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) of a hard drive. The mechanics are moving faster, and more work has to be done to keep then spinning properly. On top of this, you get the extra friction, wear, and tear that increased speeds cause. You may be able to walk at 1 mile an hour for a few hours, but you can't run at 25mph for nearly as long.
And finally, you have drive quality. It is my opinion that as time has passed, hard drive demand has increased as well. In fact, I"m sure somebody could prove this given the proper numbers, graphs, calculators, and secretary. I would imagine that drive manufacturers, in order to meet increased demands, have substituted quality for price. And thus, drives have become much cheaper at the expensve of high MTBF.
So what is my point in this comment? I'm merely pointing out that there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration before saying, "Hey! My other hardware lives much longer than these new crappy hard drives!" I'm sure if you were in the place of the manufacturers, you'd shorten the warranty if you could get away with it. I don't necessary enjoy having shorter warranties, but I see why it is necessary. After having three IBM hard drives die on me within a yaer, it became crystal clear to me that drive manufacturers were losinga pretty penny on RMAs.
Depending on the price of the GBA hardware and the cards, this will be a great way to start a ROM collection. All we need is for somebody to make an interface between the computer and the GBA hardware. This is much easier than previous methods for obtaining ROMs. Nintendo is kindly making it cheaper to emulate your favorite games on your home PC.
I know this is a troll, but I'll waste my time replying anyway.
Just because a driver doesn't fall under the BSD license does not mean it can't be part of FreeBSD. In fact, it doesn't even have to be part of the kernel. FreeBSD's kernel, like Linux, supports modules. The driver could be distributed separately as a module.
In fact, many parts of the FreeBSD system are composed of GPL'd software. For example, FreeBSD uses the gcc compiler, link, and so forth. RELENG_4 is also using GNU grep, groff, tar, gzip, awk, bc, cpio, diff, egrep, sort, and most likely more.
You'll find that FreeBSD users tend to be less picky about the license to something and won't complain too much when there isn't a BSD licensed version of something available. Although the BSD license is a nicety, it isn't necessarily a critical requirement. Compared to Debian GNU/Linux, we are extremely lax about licenses.
I hope this clears up some misconceptions about The FreeBSD Project and its users. I recognize the fact that I have stereotyped the FreeBSD community in this comment just as much as others have, but my goal was to turn the stereotypes in a positive direction hoping to guide this thread back on track.
I looked on my KDS LCD flatscreen monitor that I bought from ThinkGeek
What? So there are people that pay the extremely high prices that ThinkGeek slaps on their items that can be bought at hundreds of other places for much less?
And then the developers who have to maintain both Apple and Windows version of their product will just drop Apple support instead of redoing it for OS X.
CowboyNeal used to post stuff, and now he's back. This is possibly the best move Slashdot has ever made. Drop him from the stupid polls and let him show his overall coolness once again.
Actually, I'd use IPSec. When you use IPSec, even the destination port is part of the encrypted payload. They wouldn't be able to tell what kind of traffic it was, just where it was headed.
irc.linux.org is a nickname for irc.linpeople.org irc.linpeople.org is a nickname for irc.freenode.net irc.freenode.net has address 205.213.108.105 irc.freenode.net has address 212.84.209.27 irc.freenode.net has address 209.131.227.242 irc.freenode.net has address 134.102.206.163
might want to be aware of this little feature at their disposal. Here on SlashNET, we frown at such things. I, as the ircd maintainer, refuse to include such things in our ircd and have refused patches such as this in the past. Evil stuff.
3ware is defantly a nice product. Their support people are also easy to correspond with and will answer any questions you have. You can find 3Ware products at NewEgg. You can do hotswappable IDE with them too, using these.
There are Windows drivers, Linux drivers, and the FreeBSD kernel also has a driver (twe) for it too. You can also find the management software for FreeBSD, though not through 3ware.
It seems to me that a possible motive for AOL/TW to be doing this is to be boosting the message they gave earlier this week:
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - Television viewers could face paying for
channels they now receive free if digital video recorders kill
commercials, said Jamie Kellner, chairman of Turner Broadcasting
System.
I would imagine that they are pushing for digital recording without ads, and are going to use this new deployment as evidence that it can and should be done without ad skipping. I imagine they'll try to undercut the price of ReplayTV and TiVo as well, in order to steal the business and eliminate the commercial skipping abilities.
According to IMDB, the original cut "ran four hours and thirty minutes." If this is truely the case, I'd like to get my hands on all of that extra footage and see what else we missed. Sure would be nice if Tom Bombadil was in there somewhere.
Despite what was said by a so called SlashNET administrator, you are correct. All of MIT was eventually banned from the network (*@*.MIT.EDU). This was a result of the abusive behavior of sexual_asspussy. He/she/it was using multiple MIT hostnames (north-vietnamese-army.mit.edu, oliver.mit.edu, lisp.mit.edu, crackpipe.mit.edu,...) to evade bans placed due to harassment and abuse. As a result, all of MIT was banned.
While I understand your criticism of the action, I ask you what you would do differently. Because of MIT's apparent open hostnaming policy, idiots and trolls can abuse MIT's network to harass others. If a user can change both their username and their hostname, they are unbannable and therefore can't be prevented from being abusive. Banning MIT solved our problems.
As for teenager-run IRC networks, we do the best we can. When you have a limited amount of people trying to manage a forum with >500 people, there is only so much you can do. I apologize that we had to ban MIT, but I don't place the blame on us. It isn't our fault that MIT's network allows for easy abuse of the Internet. And believe it or not, not all of SlashNET is run by teenagers.
If this is the case, then why did Microsoft tell you ways of defeating it in their response to the "problem". Such as by using File -> Work Offline and resetting your cookies?
And Microsoft has said they are not selling your name, address, and the movie list that you have cached off their information server. The choice is easy. Don't use Windows Media Player. There are alternatives, such as WinDVD and PowerDVD. You don't like their approach to doing what they do, so avoid it. It is always amusing to me to see how many people come out in mass just to throw their two cents in on any Microsoft topic that pops up. Yes, some of their products are bad. Yes, they do have some problems to work out. No, bitching about it on Slashdot Comments won't fix it. Avoid the software of theirs you don't like or agree with. They do, however, make many decent things.
First of all, you should be getting the information straight from the source. Getting information from a third hand, such as a news site, inserts even more bias into the argument or issue. Secondly, why don't you have an anonymous Slashdot account? In case you didn't notice, the "real world" is not about being anonymous. Your SSN is proof of that. Also, Windows XP Automatic Updates can be easily disabled, just as can the automatic error reporting.
Yes, it also said the ID was resettable by the user by wiping their cookies. In other words, if you use a proxy like Junkbuster you can stop it. Or, you can reset it every damn day if you want. It is not permanent.
How would one (reliably) determine the listener's timezone? If you require registration and ask them what timezone they're in, they could easily lie. You can't determine timezone from hostnames (usually). Some countries have multiple timezones... Can't depend on JavaScript/ActiveX because the remote system's clock might be hosed. How?
...we decided that for non-related marketing purposes...
In their response, Microsoft says it is not using the information for marketing purposes. They also say they are in the process of updating the MPXP privacy statement to state that "No personally identifying information is ever transferred to Microsoft as a result of DVD playback, and any information that is transferred cannot be combined with any other sources of information to identify users."
If you really have a problem with Ids, why are you on the Internet? Your IP is an identifier, as is your hostname, etc. Microsoft is trying to implement DVD chapter navigation outisde of the DVD. Are you going to blame them for trying to add features to their products?
Although I agree with you that static IP could possibly be used for tracking, I would consider it too much of a longshot. How would Microsoft know if you were static or dynamic? They would have to have a unique ID that they could assign you at XP registration time and then send back when playing a DVD in WMP8. All the analysis I've seen of this so far show that this is in fact not happening.
So no, its a little more than just a mirror of a CDDB database. The traffic is bi-directional, and leaves a log trail.
CDDB is bidirectional also. Software generates a ID based on the CD and sends it to the CDDB server. CDDB server then sends back CD information. After that, in some instances a local cache is created so next time you insert the same CD the CDDB request is not needed. The same is true with Microsoft's DVD support in MPXP. It generates a ID based on the DVD, makes a request from WindowsMedia.Com, and then caches the result that is sent back. It is virtually the same thing.
Slashdot Mirror
In my dealings with IBM, I received three refab drives in a row. The original drive, a 75GXP, died after a few months of usage. I RMA'd it and received a refab 75GXP as a replacement. This drive died within a month or so, and so I RMA'd it as well. Then, after more waiting I received another refab 75GXP from IBM which died within a week. Finally, after a bit of screaming, the fourth drive wasn't a 75GXP and is still working today. I'm still waiting for it to fail, though.
One thing you have to consider is that your Ethernet cards have no moving parts. Your soundcards have no moving parts. Your video card has no moving parts. Your RAM has no moving parts. Your hard disks, however, move quite a lot. True it seems older hard drives seem to live longer, but you also have to take other factors into consideration such as capacity, speed, and overall quality.
Although I know very little about hard drives, it seems logical to assume that there is a direct correlation between storage capacity and drive capacity. For more space, you've got to have more platters and a higher storage density. This means you have more mechanics to deal with these finer details, which is just another place for something to go wrong.
It is rather easy to see why faster drive speeds would decrease the MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) of a hard drive. The mechanics are moving faster, and more work has to be done to keep then spinning properly. On top of this, you get the extra friction, wear, and tear that increased speeds cause. You may be able to walk at 1 mile an hour for a few hours, but you can't run at 25mph for nearly as long.
And finally, you have drive quality. It is my opinion that as time has passed, hard drive demand has increased as well. In fact, I"m sure somebody could prove this given the proper numbers, graphs, calculators, and secretary. I would imagine that drive manufacturers, in order to meet increased demands, have substituted quality for price. And thus, drives have become much cheaper at the expensve of high MTBF.
So what is my point in this comment? I'm merely pointing out that there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration before saying, "Hey! My other hardware lives much longer than these new crappy hard drives!" I'm sure if you were in the place of the manufacturers, you'd shorten the warranty if you could get away with it. I don't necessary enjoy having shorter warranties, but I see why it is necessary. After having three IBM hard drives die on me within a yaer, it became crystal clear to me that drive manufacturers were losinga pretty penny on RMAs.
Depending on the price of the GBA hardware and the cards, this will be a great way to start a ROM collection. All we need is for somebody to make an interface between the computer and the GBA hardware. This is much easier than previous methods for obtaining ROMs. Nintendo is kindly making it cheaper to emulate your favorite games on your home PC.
Just because a driver doesn't fall under the BSD license does not mean it can't be part of FreeBSD. In fact, it doesn't even have to be part of the kernel. FreeBSD's kernel, like Linux, supports modules. The driver could be distributed separately as a module.
In fact, many parts of the FreeBSD system are composed of GPL'd software. For example, FreeBSD uses the gcc compiler, link, and so forth. RELENG_4 is also using GNU grep, groff, tar, gzip, awk, bc, cpio, diff, egrep, sort, and most likely more.
You'll find that FreeBSD users tend to be less picky about the license to something and won't complain too much when there isn't a BSD licensed version of something available. Although the BSD license is a nicety, it isn't necessarily a critical requirement. Compared to Debian GNU/Linux, we are extremely lax about licenses.
I hope this clears up some misconceptions about The FreeBSD Project and its users. I recognize the fact that I have stereotyped the FreeBSD community in this comment just as much as others have, but my goal was to turn the stereotypes in a positive direction hoping to guide this thread back on track.
What? So there are people that pay the extremely high prices that ThinkGeek slaps on their items that can be bought at hundreds of other places for much less?
MS-DOS and Windows 95 are already unsupported by Microsoft.
And then the developers who have to maintain both Apple and Windows version of their product will just drop Apple support instead of redoing it for OS X.
CowboyNeal used to post stuff, and now he's back. This is possibly the best move Slashdot has ever made. Drop him from the stupid polls and let him show his overall coolness once again.
Actually, I'd use IPSec. When you use IPSec, even the destination port is part of the encrypted payload. They wouldn't be able to tell what kind of traffic it was, just where it was headed.
irc.linux.org is a nickname for irc.linpeople.org
irc.linpeople.org is a nickname for irc.freenode.net
irc.freenode.net has address 205.213.108.105
irc.freenode.net has address 212.84.209.27
irc.freenode.net has address 209.131.227.242
irc.freenode.net has address 134.102.206.163
They are the same place.
might want to be aware of this little feature at their disposal. Here on SlashNET, we frown at such things. I, as the ircd maintainer, refuse to include such things in our ircd and have refused patches such as this in the past. Evil stuff.
There are Windows drivers, Linux drivers, and the FreeBSD kernel also has a driver (twe) for it too. You can also find the management software for FreeBSD, though not through 3ware.
According to IMDB, the original cut "ran four hours and thirty minutes." If this is truely the case, I'd like to get my hands on all of that extra footage and see what else we missed. Sure would be nice if Tom Bombadil was in there somewhere.
I'm still waiting for the codec to be available and usable with MPlayer so I can use it on FreeBSD and other platforms. Is this doable with this?
While I understand your criticism of the action, I ask you what you would do differently. Because of MIT's apparent open hostnaming policy, idiots and trolls can abuse MIT's network to harass others. If a user can change both their username and their hostname, they are unbannable and therefore can't be prevented from being abusive. Banning MIT solved our problems.
As for teenager-run IRC networks, we do the best we can. When you have a limited amount of people trying to manage a forum with >500 people, there is only so much you can do. I apologize that we had to ban MIT, but I don't place the blame on us. It isn't our fault that MIT's network allows for easy abuse of the Internet. And believe it or not, not all of SlashNET is run by teenagers.
Need I say more?
If this is the case, then why did Microsoft tell you ways of defeating it in their response to the "problem". Such as by using File -> Work Offline and resetting your cookies?
And Microsoft has said they are not selling your name, address, and the movie list that you have cached off their information server. The choice is easy. Don't use Windows Media Player. There are alternatives, such as WinDVD and PowerDVD. You don't like their approach to doing what they do, so avoid it. It is always amusing to me to see how many people come out in mass just to throw their two cents in on any Microsoft topic that pops up. Yes, some of their products are bad. Yes, they do have some problems to work out. No, bitching about it on Slashdot Comments won't fix it. Avoid the software of theirs you don't like or agree with. They do, however, make many decent things.
First of all, you should be getting the information straight from the source. Getting information from a third hand, such as a news site, inserts even more bias into the argument or issue. Secondly, why don't you have an anonymous Slashdot account? In case you didn't notice, the "real world" is not about being anonymous. Your SSN is proof of that. Also, Windows XP Automatic Updates can be easily disabled, just as can the automatic error reporting.
Yes, it also said the ID was resettable by the user by wiping their cookies. In other words, if you use a proxy like Junkbuster you can stop it. Or, you can reset it every damn day if you want. It is not permanent.
How would one (reliably) determine the listener's timezone? If you require registration and ask them what timezone they're in, they could easily lie. You can't determine timezone from hostnames (usually). Some countries have multiple timezones... Can't depend on JavaScript/ActiveX because the remote system's clock might be hosed. How?
In their response, Microsoft says it is not using the information for marketing purposes. They also say they are in the process of updating the MPXP privacy statement to state that "No personally identifying information is ever transferred to Microsoft as a result of DVD playback, and any information that is transferred cannot be combined with any other sources of information to identify users."
If you really have a problem with Ids, why are you on the Internet? Your IP is an identifier, as is your hostname, etc. Microsoft is trying to implement DVD chapter navigation outisde of the DVD. Are you going to blame them for trying to add features to their products?
Although I agree with you that static IP could possibly be used for tracking, I would consider it too much of a longshot. How would Microsoft know if you were static or dynamic? They would have to have a unique ID that they could assign you at XP registration time and then send back when playing a DVD in WMP8. All the analysis I've seen of this so far show that this is in fact not happening.
CDDB is bidirectional also. Software generates a ID based on the CD and sends it to the CDDB server. CDDB server then sends back CD information. After that, in some instances a local cache is created so next time you insert the same CD the CDDB request is not needed. The same is true with Microsoft's DVD support in MPXP. It generates a ID based on the DVD, makes a request from WindowsMedia.Com, and then caches the result that is sent back. It is virtually the same thing.