Will this generation of Apple computers, like the first, keep affluent computer users happy, more powerful and even more ignorant?
Umm, I definately get the impression that Katz was referring to the second generation of Apple computers... My first computer was a top of the line Apple ][+.
From the article: Fitzgerald points to recent benchmark tests by the research firm Mindcraft Inc., which found Windows NT performs a variety of tasks faster than Linux. And he says Linux is notoriously complex and hard to use, making it a poor choice for any but the most sophisticated users. And Microsoft's Edwards says that Linux lacks many advanced capabilities, such as the ability to run on computers with multiple processor chips.
That paragraph is a beauty. It contains a reference to the Mindcraft benchmarks and is completely wrong about the SMP support. But the sentence in the middle is the one that I think Microsoft will be using the most.
Ph34r not! Anyone who has been watching the development of Linux for any length of time has seen great changes in the user interface over the past year. Windows is far from perfect even after having the same interface for 4 years. Win2k doesn't look like it's going to be much different. I will be extremely suprised of the open source community doesn't surpass Windows in this area in the next year.
At work I use NT 4.0 and Visual Studio Enterprise for web programming. At home it's Linux, Perl, PHP and a text editor. The incredible thing is how much more I can accomplish in Linux. This is where my strange mind made the connection with violent Saturday morning cartoons;) (I'll explain.)
If you haven't had the opportunity to try Linux, and are wondering why people are so infatuated with it, I think I may be able to help. Remember how Wiley Coyote used to keep buying crap from ACME--despite the fact that nothing ever worked right... It was ridiculous. Well, Windows 98 is a cartoon operating system and when I use it I feel like Wiley Coyote. I haven't really picked out a decent analogy for NT yet. Anyone?
I don't really think a standard code of ethics is going to do us a lot of good. It's too hard for everyone to agree. So, here is some help for individuals who want to develop their own code:
Step 1: Like anything else you need to decide what your ultimate goal is. What is the legacy that you want to leave behind? (if you care about such things.) Do you just want to take what you can? Do you want to give back as much as you take? Do you want to go the extra mile and give more than you took?
Step 2: With your goal in mind from Step 1, make some decisions about what you feel is right and wrong. Don't let other peoples' morality lock you into a box when you make these decisions. Don't let anyone else shove their code of ethics down your throat!
Step 3: Stick by your code. Even a code of ethics needs to be "patched" occasionally, but if you don't make an effort to stick by it then it's probably a useless exercise in the first place.
Yes, these steps allow for people to say "I'm going to be an asshole and rip off everyone stupid enough to fall for my scams." But I don't think any code of ethics is going to stop a doctor, lawyer, plumber, programmer, basketweaver from doing what they want to do. On the other hand I think codes of ethics are important if you care about what effect you have on anyone elses' lives.
Extra credit Step 4: If you have the balls, then set an example. Don't worry about how lame people may think you are. If you've done a good job developing your code then negative opinions won't make you insecure, and you may even be able to learn from them. I truly admire the people that have gone through with this step.
I hate my apartment. Yeah, it's in a nice neighborhood and all, but it sucks that:
a) The leasing company owns it, I just pay to use it.
b) The leasing company has a key which they use to enter my apartment with or without my consent.
c) They take their sweet time about fixing stuff.
If someone were giving away free land with housing on it I'd move in a nanosecond because:
a) I would not have to continually pay the leasing company rent despite shoddy maintenance.
b) No one else gets a key unless I give it to them. I still can't stop a determined government agency from barging in, but at least they can't just waltz in because the leasing agency doesn't mind handing over my key.
c) I'll deal with mowing the lawn myself especially if the house is well built and helpful neighbors take care of fixes/improvements in a timely manner--free of charge no less!
I'm not exactly hopeful that I'll find such a situation, at least not in RL.
JP said: Email is spooled on networked machines anyway, not sent directly from workstation to workstation. He fails to realize that all email has the same potential risk, and the first line-of-defense has much to do w/ quality of server software, and network security. These things can be fixed to a large extent.
Actually, the first line of defense should be part of the e-mail *client*, not the server. It's the last paragraph of this article that indirectly points this out--the paragraph that says "Free, easy to use, public domain cryptographic tools are a necessity."
Crypto is your only real privacy protection. It's ridiculous that it's not readily available for everyone--it's not as if the technology isn't there. No, this won't stop DOS attacks and such, but it will guard your e-mail from prying eyes.
By the way, you may actually have better privacy on Hotmail than on your ISP. I've talked to former ISP employees that admit to printing out their users' "juicy" e-mails and passing them around the office each morning for fun. Besides that, cool software like Ethereal makes e-mail passing through your network segment on it's way to the server quite easy to read if it's unencrypted.
If you expect anyone other than yourself to protect the privacy of your e-mail, then you are kidding yourself.
Re:Why it's sooo hard for this stuff to happen....
on
911 Calls Linux
·
· Score: 1
vyesue said: one could make an argument that the responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of the individual or group of individuals who chose to use the software package.
This could be a negative thing if you are the person responsible for purchasing your OS's. Not that it's right...but really there are a lot of things I've seen that affect IT purchasing decisions that are not technology related. Such as:
The Blame Factor: When your mission critical NT machines crash you can point the finger at MS right away...Everyone knows that NT crashes. "No one ever got fired for buying [Microsoft]"
The Wine and Dine Factor: Why pick up free software when you can get vendors to buy you dinner and drinks for buying stuff through them? It's not your money you're spending anyway...but you reap the benefits. Kickbacks may be illegal but I've seen vendors send VP's and their families on vacation to the Olympics and the Superbowl "just to say thanks for buying our product."
The Hip Factor: Actually, this is one thing that Linux has going for it in the category of wrong reasons to buy stuff. People like to buy cool stuff and brag to their peers about it. Even the big guys.
I'm sure I've left some things out, but those are the things that immediately come to mind.
From the essay: "In my opinion if you can't write good code you can't appreciate good code."
Do you really believe this? Haven't you never read someone else's code and learned something from it? Or is it that you did, but didn't appreciate it?
Art or not? Only the person looking at it can answer that question. Those who see the beauty are enriched and those who can't see it deny it's even there, possibly even rant about the people who do see it in extreme circumstances...
The best I've found for 24k is l3enc. Unfortunately you need to pay for a serial number to make it record for longer than 30 secs. They changed the name from l3enc to mp3encode btw. Someone else mentioned that others may be better at different bitrates.
Bladeenc is faster from what i've read (I didn't benchmark, just compared sound quality.) l3enc has a high quality mode which is too slow for live encoding at 24kbps on my K6-420mhz (400 overclocked) and a regular mode which works nicely for speech (I haven't tried the regular mode for music.)
I used to read Suck, but forgot about them for some reason. For that reason I'm glad they got some "air" time on Slashdot, now I have them bookmarked again (I'm sure I could remember the URL, but I might forget their existence otherwise.)
I don't think they quite understand where Linux is coming from though (or maybe they just left it out for the sake of humor.) I've watched the development of Linux for ~6 years now and one thing that stands out about it (and other similar open source projects) is that it's growth is organic. It's development has about as much to do with money as a tree's.
Redhat may come and go. Maybe Debian will fall too. Who knows? The development of Linux will continue despite what happens to the people and organizations involved now. Maybe it will evolve into something else if necessary.
It's more about mother nature than human nature, and you can't stop mother nature that easily.
The whole idea behind G27 Radio is that creators of open source software are artists much like musicians. A lot of them get overlooked because they don't fit the commercial model (both musicians and OSS coders) We hope to give some exposure to both. I'm glad to see that other people see the art in source code too.
numb
P.S. We're looking for volunteers so please e-mail us if you are interested in being broadcast:)
OK, I'll tell you right off the bat that this my theory--based on something I heard somewhere I don't remember a couple years back...
Obviously it's impossible to track every time someone sends e-mail. I do however remember hearing something about the USPS planning to continue making money on some kind of certified document delivery.
If the US government determined all e-mail agreements to be not legally binding in any way unless it passed through the USPS, they will certainly have a method to continue making income without actually having to do much other than collect the money.
Slashdot Mirror
Will this generation of Apple computers, like the first, keep affluent computer users happy, more powerful and even more ignorant?
Umm, I definately get the impression that Katz was referring to the second generation of Apple computers... My first computer was a top of the line Apple ][+.
numb -- former sysop of Hard Rock Cafe ][ BBS/AE
From the article:
;) (I'll explain.)
Fitzgerald points to recent benchmark tests by the research firm Mindcraft Inc., which found Windows NT performs a variety of tasks faster than Linux. And he says Linux is notoriously complex and hard to use, making it a poor choice for any but the most sophisticated users. And Microsoft's Edwards says that Linux lacks many advanced capabilities, such as the ability to run on computers with multiple processor chips.
That paragraph is a beauty. It contains a reference to the Mindcraft benchmarks and is completely wrong about the SMP support. But the sentence in the middle is the one that I think Microsoft will be using the most.
Ph34r not! Anyone who has been watching the development of Linux for any length of time has seen great changes in the user interface over the past year. Windows is far from perfect even after having the same interface for 4 years. Win2k doesn't look like it's going to be much different. I will be extremely suprised of the open source community doesn't surpass Windows in this area in the next year.
At work I use NT 4.0 and Visual Studio Enterprise for web programming. At home it's Linux, Perl, PHP and a text editor. The incredible thing is how much more I can accomplish in Linux. This is where my strange mind made the connection with violent Saturday morning cartoons
If you haven't had the opportunity to try Linux, and are wondering why people are so infatuated with it, I think I may be able to help. Remember how Wiley Coyote used to keep buying crap from ACME--despite the fact that nothing ever worked right... It was ridiculous. Well, Windows 98 is a cartoon operating system and when I use it I feel like Wiley Coyote. I haven't really picked out a decent analogy for NT yet. Anyone?
numb
hmm, it sounds to me like they're saying "Yes, the keys exist, but No, M$ isn't going to give it to the NSA."
Does Microsoft have a choice if the NSA requires them to give up a key?
Something still stinks...
numb
I don't really think a standard code of ethics is going to do us a lot of good. It's too hard for everyone to agree. So, here is some help for individuals who want to develop their own code:
Step 1: Like anything else you need to decide what your ultimate goal is. What is the legacy that you want to leave behind? (if you care about such things.) Do you just want to take what you can? Do you want to give back as much as you take? Do you want to go the extra mile and give more than you took?
Step 2: With your goal in mind from Step 1, make some decisions about what you feel is right and wrong. Don't let other peoples' morality lock you into a box when you make these decisions. Don't let anyone else shove their code of ethics down your throat!
Step 3: Stick by your code. Even a code of ethics needs to be "patched" occasionally, but if you don't make an effort to stick by it then it's probably a useless exercise in the first place.
Yes, these steps allow for people to say "I'm going to be an asshole and rip off everyone stupid enough to fall for my scams." But I don't think any code of ethics is going to stop a doctor, lawyer, plumber, programmer, basketweaver from doing what they want to do. On the other hand I think codes of ethics are important if you care about what effect you have on anyone elses' lives.
Extra credit Step 4: If you have the balls, then set an example. Don't worry about how lame people may think you are. If you've done a good job developing your code then negative opinions won't make you insecure, and you may even be able to learn from them. I truly admire the people that have gone through with this step.
numb
I hate my apartment. Yeah, it's in a nice neighborhood and all, but it sucks that:
a) The leasing company owns it, I just pay to use it.
b) The leasing company has a key which they use to enter my apartment with or without my consent.
c) They take their sweet time about fixing stuff.
If someone were giving away free land with housing on it I'd move in a nanosecond because:
a) I would not have to continually pay the leasing company rent despite shoddy maintenance.
b) No one else gets a key unless I give it to them. I still can't stop a determined government agency from barging in, but at least they can't just waltz in because the leasing agency doesn't mind handing over my key.
c) I'll deal with mowing the lawn myself especially if the house is well built and helpful neighbors take care of fixes/improvements in a timely manner--free of charge no less!
I'm not exactly hopeful that I'll find such a situation, at least not in RL.
numb
Email is spooled on networked machines anyway, not sent directly from workstation to workstation. He fails to realize that all email has the same potential risk, and the first line-of-defense has much to do w/ quality of server software, and network security. These things can be fixed to a large extent.
Actually, the first line of defense should be part of the e-mail *client*, not the server. It's the last paragraph of this article that indirectly points this out--the paragraph that says "Free, easy to use, public domain cryptographic tools are a necessity."
Crypto is your only real privacy protection. It's ridiculous that it's not readily available for everyone--it's not as if the technology isn't there. No, this won't stop DOS attacks and such, but it will guard your e-mail from prying eyes.
By the way, you may actually have better privacy on Hotmail than on your ISP. I've talked to former ISP employees that admit to printing out their users' "juicy" e-mails and passing them around the office each morning for fun. Besides that, cool software like Ethereal makes e-mail passing through your network segment on it's way to the server quite easy to read if it's unencrypted.
If you expect anyone other than yourself to protect the privacy of your e-mail, then you are kidding yourself.
numb@g27.org
vyesue said:
one could make an argument that the responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of the individual or group of individuals who chose to use the software package.
This could be a negative thing if you are the person responsible for purchasing your OS's. Not that it's right...but really there are a lot of things I've seen that affect IT purchasing decisions that are not technology related. Such as:
The Blame Factor: When your mission critical NT machines crash you can point the finger at MS right away...Everyone knows that NT crashes. "No one ever got fired for buying [Microsoft]"
The Wine and Dine Factor: Why pick up free software when you can get vendors to buy you dinner and drinks for buying stuff through them? It's not your money you're spending anyway...but you reap the benefits. Kickbacks may be illegal but I've seen vendors send VP's and their families on vacation to the Olympics and the Superbowl "just to say thanks for buying our product."
The Hip Factor: Actually, this is one thing that Linux has going for it in the category of wrong reasons to buy stuff. People like to buy cool stuff and brag to their peers about it. Even the big guys.
I'm sure I've left some things out, but those are the things that immediately come to mind.
numb
From the essay: "In my opinion if you can't write good code you can't appreciate good code."
Do you really believe this? Haven't you never read someone else's code and learned something from it? Or is it that you did, but didn't appreciate it?
Art or not? Only the person looking at it can answer that question. Those who see the beauty are enriched and those who can't see it deny it's even there, possibly even rant about the people who do see it in extreme circumstances...
numb
The universe is a quantum computer that does exactly that...I still can't believe the answer is only 42...
numb
The best I've found for 24k is l3enc. Unfortunately you need to pay for a serial number to make it record for longer than 30 secs. They changed the name from l3enc to mp3encode btw. Someone else mentioned that others may be better at different bitrates.
Bladeenc is faster from what i've read (I didn't benchmark, just compared sound quality.) l3enc has a high quality mode which is too slow for live encoding at 24kbps on my K6-420mhz (400 overclocked) and a regular mode which works nicely for speech (I haven't tried the regular mode for music.)
--numb
I used to read Suck, but forgot about them for some reason. For that reason I'm glad they got some "air" time on Slashdot, now I have them bookmarked again (I'm sure I could remember the URL, but I might forget their existence otherwise.)
I don't think they quite understand where Linux is coming from though (or maybe they just left it out for the sake of humor.) I've watched the development of Linux for ~6 years now and one thing that stands out about it (and other similar open source projects) is that it's growth is organic. It's development has about as much to do with money as a tree's.
Redhat may come and go. Maybe Debian will fall too. Who knows? The development of Linux will continue despite what happens to the people and organizations involved now. Maybe it will evolve into something else if necessary.
It's more about mother nature than human nature, and you can't stop mother nature that easily.
numb
The whole idea behind G27 Radio is that creators of open source software are artists much like musicians. A lot of them get overlooked because they don't fit the commercial model (both musicians and OSS coders) We hope to give some exposure to both. I'm glad to see that other people see the art in source code too.
:)
numb
P.S. We're looking for volunteers so please e-mail us if you are interested in being broadcast
OK, I'll tell you right off the bat that this my theory--based on something I heard somewhere I don't remember a couple years back...
Obviously it's impossible to track every time someone sends e-mail. I do however remember hearing something about the USPS planning to continue making money on some kind of certified document delivery.
If the US government determined all e-mail agreements to be not legally binding in any way unless it passed through the USPS, they will certainly have a method to continue making income without actually having to do much other than collect the money.
Who knows, I'm just a Linux geek.
numb