Resolution 30357E - Illegal File Traders - Rider A: Condemnation of Israel for refusing to just fucking disappear like the Mayans - Rider B: Pay-raise and trips to Disneyland!
Hear hear! *That* is why the UN shouldn't govern the Internet.
I mean, seriously, the UN has enough things to run itself in circles about. Besides, the rest of the world can always take the Open Source approach... if you don't like the way it is now, fork off.
I think the biggest obstacle getting hybrid taxis on the road is the lack of taxi-sized cars with hybrid engines. I was in New York last year and their cabs have quite a few safety mods for the driver and passenger.
For instance, there's a wall between the driver and the passenger side of the cabin. That's going to be pretty tough to squeeze into any car smaller than a Crown Vic.
This is a problem specific to New York cabs. And loosening up the specs for taxis may not be the answer -- they were put there for a reason.
This won't be a problem in cities like Toronto and Vancouver, where the Prius can already be seen ferrying around people.
The only two large(r) sedans that have hybrid engines are the Prius and the Accord. If the big three were smart, they'd build a hybrid engine for small trucks with their Japanese partners to lower development costs (Ford/Mazda, Chrysler/Mitsubishi, GM/Toyota) and stick those suckers in the Crown Vic/500, Magnum/300 and the Impala/Regal.
It's ironic that some try to smear you as trolling by replying to a comment which wasn't even modded as a troll.
Besides, if you posted this insightful comment in the thread that was actually discussing the attack on London this morning:
- it would have been buried in the flood of comments (nearly at 2000 now, I think)
- it probably would have been marked as a troll by some jerks who thought it wasn't discussing the issue at hand either (when you were, BTW).
People are afraid to admit the double standard: Israel must shut up and take everything that's thrown, shot, propelled and blown up at her, while everyone else is allowed to defend themselves.
This is only making news because it's an offshore company for a Western financial institution. Maybe because companies are now supposed to tell their clients when their personal information has been compromised (which has *never* happened in house, right?).
Is it that the low-paid workers are more likely to steal, or, that these offshore companies just have less security, and a less-thorough recruitment process? Problem that domestic businesses deal with as well.
Enron and Parmalat have shown us that no matter where you are on the corporate ladder, there are rotten branches on the tree.
$300 - $400 to fix a burnt system is literally peanuts tho. If something's actually wrong and you have serious data on there, it can run you in the thousands.
I've seen $3000 (CAD) invoice for a data recovery job on a physically-broken laptop hard drive.
There are really two major things that should be standard -- even on Windows PCs:
1. separate partitions for the OS/applications and data.
2. A method of creating a CD image of a completly set up system (including all apps) -- that can be easily restored. I understand Dell and IBM have an embedded system similar to this.
I'm happy about a third season already being confirmed. However... Christmas special... what's up with that?
[TARDIS materializes on a cold Arctic plane.. The Doctor and Rose walk out shivering..]
Rose: Where are we, Doctor? Doctor: Oi! The North Pole, of course -- 25 c.e. We're here to witness the first time Jesus delivers gifts to children around the world. Rose: What the...?
Okay, so Lycoris isn't ranked high on DistroWatch, and it may not have a huge following (but enough of one to mod people down;)
However, something's brewing. Mandriva wouldn't have made the acquisition if nothing interesting was going on.
Whaever Lycoris has, it's obvious that Mandriva wants to throw more resources into it and integrate it into its own offerings. It'll be interesting to see what happens six months from now.
I agree with the comments about the blog being here to stay. However, where the blog is going is anybody's guess -- and what the mainstream media will do to keep on top of things is another can of worms.
I think the fictional story about the future of Google is pretty timely at this point.
The truth is, the major online news outlets may in fact head in that direction -- news aggregators bringing a particular slice of the blogosphere to your desktop.
However in the software world, the employees are not hamstrung by monetary concerns. Any Joe Programmer can pick up a cheap $200 bare bones PC and a copy of Linux and be programming the next great thing. He doesn't need management to do this.
Not quite. How easy do you think it is to drop everything and start completly from scratch or work freelance? That's not everybody's cup of tea.
A programmer that needs to support a family can't go without pay for two or three years before someone either invests in his product, or, he starts selling stuff (completed products, not organs).
And on that same point, the programmer is not the marketing specialist. It's very difficult to pull a great idea out of your ass, and miraculously turn it into a successful product overnight.
In 1995, when WordPerfect Office was escaping from their first abysmal attempt at a Windows version (I think it was 6.1 for Windows that was the first solid Windows version.. but it was downhill from there).
The clincher was the $30 CAD price tag for students and compatibility with the computer lab's machines. That's a reasonable price to pay. And it worked quite well. Microsoft Office for students ran at around $150+.
If OOo plays things right, it should be very easy to get into the academic institutions. Getting your foot into the door of IT and business schools is the key -- selling it to the future decision makers.
I think this is why Microsoft started giving away office in the late 1990's. It worked. By 1999, the tide was turning toward Microsoft, and Office '97 was appearing everywhere.
I've had some minor formatting issues between OpenOffice and Word formats, but nothing more significant than what you get between different version of Microsoft Office.
In fact, I used OpenOffice to fix a corrupt Word document created in Office2000 that consistently crashed in OfficeXP.
If I had the choice, I'd be using OpenOffice at work as well.
I'm eagerly awaiting OOo 2.0. It looks pretty solid and the database feature looks like it could give Access a run.
You should check out Radio Free Peterborough's setup (Use Google to find the URL, I don't want to see it slashdotted unnecessarily).
I don't know if they broadcast the station ID automagically every hour, however: - they do have a DIY Internet Radio Guide (for streaming) - Steve (who runs the show) might have a few good ideas).
I agree. Assuming Cuba is paying for Windows (possibly from Microsoft Canada?) out of necessity, it's better to support a company that isn't based in the U.S. -- for philisophical reasons.
However, that leads to the next big question -- which distro will Cuba use... or will they roll their own?
There are a few Spanish-language distros available to choose from that aren't owned by large American companies.
If they do choose to role their own, what copyright law exists to make sure that they don't fork it off and close the source themselves? If for economic reasons, they're only interested in free beer, this is a risk.
However, these new |337 modded overclocked mega-boxes with a zillion fans, accelerator cards, lighting, speaker systems, external super-spinning hard drives and 300-watt power supplies use a tad more fuel than that.
I'd guess that with a CRT monitor, you're looking at an annual cost of at least twice that for a standard-vanilla (non modded) desktop, and the mods go up from there.
I agree with the post about using laptop parts, and if I'm correct, that's what some manufacturers are starting to do. They're a bit more expensive, but far more energy efficient.
Those kind of decisions ultimately lead to disasters. Things are forgotten about, budgets disappear, people leave and the dirt accumulates.
In the end, you end of with a nasty mess of a task that nobody will want to approach for a cleanup. And when something goes wrong again, you're pooched.
Kinda like a gas-station bathroom.
Keeping your ducks in line may slow you down on occasion, however, it leaves you way ahead in the long run -- which is what counts.
I think you're confusing "cheap computers" with "cheap computer access."
TFA pointed out that the target users couldn't possibly afford to put any type of computer in their homes. Not even a $100 thin client, monitor, keyboard and mouse. Besides, buying a thin client won't suffice as a stand-alone home computer. You need a server to run it from. This isn't an entry-level desktop computer.
The 'thin client' system (see www.ltsp.org for a more detailed explanation) plugs one or two dozen of these thin clients into a fat server -- at a community centre, school or internet cafe. That's when the cost savings kick in. One $1500 server and twenty $100 clients are cheaper than purchasing twenty $300 desktop computers.
Thin clients are already being used in schools, libraries and community centres throughout North America. Most of them run Windows. It's the concept of a really, really cheap one running open source software that's making it accessible to third-world countries.
I've updated FireFox on my in-law's Window's box three times now. Each time, the 'upgrade' consisted of downloading the new install executable to the desktop and running it.
The new installation overwrites the old one, keeping your various settings (history, bookmarks, etc.) in tact.
It would be interesting to find out how many of those downloads were resulting from the upgrade prompt (red arrow). Hopefully, that's already been factored in.
Slashdot Mirror
Resolution 30357E - Illegal File Traders
- Rider A: Condemnation of Israel for refusing to just fucking disappear like the Mayans
- Rider B: Pay-raise and trips to Disneyland!
Hear hear! *That* is why the UN shouldn't govern the Internet.
I mean, seriously, the UN has enough things to run itself in circles about. Besides, the rest of the world can always take the Open Source approach... if you don't like the way it is now, fork off.
I think the biggest obstacle getting hybrid taxis on the road is the lack of taxi-sized cars with hybrid engines. I was in New York last year and their cabs have quite a few safety mods for the driver and passenger.
For instance, there's a wall between the driver and the passenger side of the cabin. That's going to be pretty tough to squeeze into any car smaller than a Crown Vic.
This is a problem specific to New York cabs. And loosening up the specs for taxis may not be the answer -- they were put there for a reason.
This won't be a problem in cities like Toronto and Vancouver, where the Prius can already be seen ferrying around people.
The only two large(r) sedans that have hybrid engines are the Prius and the Accord. If the big three were smart, they'd build a hybrid engine for small trucks with their Japanese partners to lower development costs (Ford/Mazda, Chrysler/Mitsubishi, GM/Toyota) and stick those suckers in the Crown Vic/500, Magnum/300 and the Impala/Regal.
It's ironic that some try to smear you as trolling by replying to a comment which wasn't even modded as a troll.
Besides, if you posted this insightful comment in the thread that was actually discussing the attack on London this morning:
- it would have been buried in the flood of comments (nearly at 2000 now, I think)
- it probably would have been marked as a troll by some jerks who thought it wasn't discussing the issue at hand either (when you were, BTW).
People are afraid to admit the double standard: Israel must shut up and take everything that's thrown, shot, propelled and blown up at her, while everyone else is allowed to defend themselves.
Rumour has it that Linus is going to dump Git and use Wikipedia to host the kernel code.
Who needs a moderator?
This is only making news because it's an offshore company for a Western financial institution. Maybe because companies are now supposed to tell their clients when their personal information has been compromised (which has *never* happened in house, right?).
Is it that the low-paid workers are more likely to steal, or, that these offshore companies just have less security, and a less-thorough recruitment process? Problem that domestic businesses deal with as well.
Enron and Parmalat have shown us that no matter where you are on the corporate ladder, there are rotten branches on the tree.
$300 - $400 to fix a burnt system is literally peanuts tho. If something's actually wrong and you have serious data on there, it can run you in the thousands.
I've seen $3000 (CAD) invoice for a data recovery job on a physically-broken laptop hard drive.
There are really two major things that should be standard -- even on Windows PCs:
1. separate partitions for the OS/applications and data.
2. A method of creating a CD image of a completly set up system (including all apps) -- that can be easily restored. I understand Dell and IBM have an embedded system similar to this.
I'm happy about a third season already being confirmed. However... Christmas special... what's up with that?
[TARDIS materializes on a cold Arctic plane.. The Doctor and Rose walk out shivering..]
Rose: Where are we, Doctor?
Doctor: Oi! The North Pole, of course -- 25 c.e. We're here to witness the first time Jesus delivers gifts to children around the world.
Rose: What the...?
Okay, so Lycoris isn't ranked high on DistroWatch, and it may not have a huge following (but enough of one to mod people down ;)
However, something's brewing. Mandriva wouldn't have made the acquisition if nothing interesting was going on.
Whaever Lycoris has, it's obvious that Mandriva wants to throw more resources into it and integrate it into its own offerings. It'll be interesting to see what happens six months from now.
I agree with the comments about the blog being here to stay. However, where the blog is going is anybody's guess -- and what the mainstream media will do to keep on top of things is another can of worms.
I think the fictional story about the future of Google is pretty timely at this point.
http://oak.psych.gatech.edu/~epic/
The truth is, the major online news outlets may in fact head in that direction -- news aggregators bringing a particular slice of the blogosphere to your desktop.
However in the software world, the employees are not hamstrung by monetary concerns. Any Joe Programmer can pick up a cheap $200 bare bones PC and a copy of Linux and be programming the next great thing. He doesn't need management to do this.
Not quite. How easy do you think it is to drop everything and start completly from scratch or work freelance? That's not everybody's cup of tea.
A programmer that needs to support a family can't go without pay for two or three years before someone either invests in his product, or, he starts selling stuff (completed products, not organs).
And on that same point, the programmer is not the marketing specialist. It's very difficult to pull a great idea out of your ass, and miraculously turn it into a successful product overnight.
I'd imagine the problem included:
- backwards compatibility with the older Office file formats
- the end of support for Windows NT (and possibly Office 97).
OOo allowed for a single office platform across all OSs, including Linux, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. That sure makes life easier.
What? You afraid of the unnamed lightbulb?
I agree.
In 1995, when WordPerfect Office was escaping from their first abysmal attempt at a Windows version (I think it was 6.1 for Windows that was the first solid Windows version.. but it was downhill from there).
The clincher was the $30 CAD price tag for students and compatibility with the computer lab's machines. That's a reasonable price to pay. And it worked quite well. Microsoft Office for students ran at around $150+.
If OOo plays things right, it should be very easy to get into the academic institutions. Getting your foot into the door of IT and business schools is the key -- selling it to the future decision makers.
I think this is why Microsoft started giving away office in the late 1990's. It worked. By 1999, the tide was turning toward Microsoft, and Office '97 was appearing everywhere.
I've had some minor formatting issues between OpenOffice and Word formats, but nothing more significant than what you get between different version of Microsoft Office.
In fact, I used OpenOffice to fix a corrupt Word document created in Office2000 that consistently crashed in OfficeXP.
If I had the choice, I'd be using OpenOffice at work as well.
I'm eagerly awaiting OOo 2.0. It looks pretty solid and the database feature looks like it could give Access a run.
You should check out Radio Free Peterborough's setup (Use Google to find the URL, I don't want to see it slashdotted unnecessarily).
I don't know if they broadcast the station ID automagically every hour, however:
- they do have a DIY Internet Radio Guide (for streaming)
- Steve (who runs the show) might have a few good ideas).
I agree. Assuming Cuba is paying for Windows (possibly from Microsoft Canada?) out of necessity, it's better to support a company that isn't based in the U.S. -- for philisophical reasons.
However, that leads to the next big question -- which distro will Cuba use... or will they roll their own?
There are a few Spanish-language distros available to choose from that aren't owned by large American companies.
If they do choose to role their own, what copyright law exists to make sure that they don't fork it off and close the source themselves? If for economic reasons, they're only interested in free beer, this is a risk.
Ol' Yeller's been put down. Choked on a paperclip or something...
Okay, maybe me.
However, these new |337 modded overclocked mega-boxes with a zillion fans, accelerator cards, lighting, speaker systems, external super-spinning hard drives and 300-watt power supplies use a tad more fuel than that.
I'd guess that with a CRT monitor, you're looking at an annual cost of at least twice that for a standard-vanilla (non modded) desktop, and the mods go up from there.
I agree with the post about using laptop parts, and if I'm correct, that's what some manufacturers are starting to do. They're a bit more expensive, but far more energy efficient.
Fix it first, clean the code second? Na, hah.
Those kind of decisions ultimately lead to disasters. Things are forgotten about, budgets disappear, people leave and the dirt accumulates.
In the end, you end of with a nasty mess of a task that nobody will want to approach for a cleanup. And when something goes wrong again, you're pooched.
Kinda like a gas-station bathroom.
Keeping your ducks in line may slow you down on occasion, however, it leaves you way ahead in the long run -- which is what counts.
I'm not too keen on touch-sensitive surfaces. I prefer the feeling of a key being pressed. I know there's more mechanics involved, but still.
How's electronic paper coming along? You can have your screen roll up.
I'm gettin' the Kaypro and Osborne out of the basement. They're obviously worth something again!
:
But seriously, we're really getting back to "portable computers" and "laptops" again, as opposed to "notebook computers."
I guess the easiest way to shrink these things down again is to
1. swap the LCD for a projection device that displays onto your glasses.
I imagine we're not quite there yet -- unless you want to look like "Lawnmower Man."
2. Without that pesky monitor in the way, your nearly full-sized keyboard can fold in half for storage.
Can't a reviewer simply mod the comment down? Most people have a threshold when they read comments. I'm fairly sure that anything 1 is buried for me.
Brand new info:
- Groklaw has the dirt on SCO
- The Register has a controversial opinion
Our next Slashdot story will be posted soon. Topic: lack of oxygen found to kill brain cells.
I think you're confusing "cheap computers" with "cheap computer access."
TFA pointed out that the target users couldn't possibly afford to put any type of computer in their homes. Not even a $100 thin client, monitor, keyboard and mouse. Besides, buying a thin client won't suffice as a stand-alone home computer. You need a server to run it from. This isn't an entry-level desktop computer.
The 'thin client' system (see www.ltsp.org for a more detailed explanation) plugs one or two dozen of these thin clients into a fat server -- at a community centre, school or internet cafe. That's when the cost savings kick in. One $1500 server and twenty $100 clients are cheaper than purchasing twenty $300 desktop computers.
Thin clients are already being used in schools, libraries and community centres throughout North America. Most of them run Windows. It's the concept of a really, really cheap one running open source software that's making it accessible to third-world countries.
I've updated FireFox on my in-law's Window's box three times now. Each time, the 'upgrade' consisted of downloading the new install executable to the desktop and running it.
The new installation overwrites the old one, keeping your various settings (history, bookmarks, etc.) in tact.
It would be interesting to find out how many of those downloads were resulting from the upgrade prompt (red arrow). Hopefully, that's already been factored in.