I just looked at that. The funny thing is that their basic DSL costs $80/month + hardware, and DSL from Bellsouth is $50/month + $30 for the phone line... hmmm... Just breezing through all of their packages, unfortunately (because I REALLY want to dump Bellsouth, both at my home and business) it looks like their prices are the same if not more than Bellsouth. We'll see when they get back to me with a quote....
... at least for us (a small business). Once you add in all of the per-line charges, the hardware, the setup fees, the broadband, and the fact that if you want to use DSL, you still have to buy at least one phone line from the phone company. Plus, of course, the reliability of broadband still isn't nearly at the level of hard telephone lines. After taking this into consideration, unfortunately, going through the local Ma Bell monopoly was still the cheapest and most reliable option for us (a business needing 3-5 phone lines).
That's what I mean. I think that in this current IT job market, that this kid was a fool for passing up an entry level position at Sun, which would've given him some security, and a huge possiblity for moving around in the organization. I've been there and done both. 5, 10 years ago, I would've said "Go for a dot-com for now as a contractor, and pocket the ridiculous money. It won't stay long.". I did that. Today, it's very different. Today, I'd want either a company like Sun on my resume (even as support), or I'd like a full-time job in a company that is very well respected in the industry. God knows it's easier to move around inside an organization like Sun than it is to even get in in the first place. (I'm no longer in IT, but I keep up with what's going on).
The problem, is that it is cheaper for MS to continue with this practice, as well as paying off the settlements they end up having to pay, and to keep making money by selling these products.
How is this a problem, exactly? A settlement is just that... a settlement. That means that the plaintifs are happy with the amount of money that MS is giving them to walk away without a lawsuit (which probably would be won, considering the amount of money MS is willing to pay.. That's how the system works.
If I had a startup, and I had a product that MS infringed would I A. Want to fight them, and take my chances with a startup, eating Ramen Noodles for several years, and living in my car with the *hope* that *maybe* I'd hit it big or B. Settle with MS for a lump sum? Hmmm.... tough one.
Why go with Sun when there are 100 other companies that will give me practical experience in programming?
Ouch. That was a real career blunder on your part. I'm sure that you, like many CS grads, assume that you *deserve* a job programming fresh out of school. The reality is that most of us who became professional developers do have to pay our dues in support. And the experience, even in support, at Sun, would have really set you up on a fast track into some good stuff. I hope your current job is somewhere as prestigious and well-respected as Sun and not some tiny Internet-based startup.
5 gigabytes of 128K MP3's that are roughly 1 Meg/Minute equals about 1250 4 minute songs. That's MORE than enough for anybody that's not an audiophile.
...sure, it won't among hip, young, urban yuppies, for whome the iPod is already as much a fashion accessory as their cell phones, but for the average person, it'll be a hell of a lot more affordable, I'm sure.
It's only bad when MS does it. When Apple releases a new version that you have to buy every 6 months to a year, then that's a good thing. Bizarre, I know.
I downloaded it about a week ago. Tried to install it on a generic PC. For some reason, the whole XWindows thing failed (a few esoteric error messages during install), so all I got after install was a command prompt. I wasn't too impressed.
I downloaded it about a week ago. Tried to install it on a generic PC. For some reason, the whole XWindows thing failed, so all I got after install was a command prompt. I wasn't too impressed.
This article is nothing but yet another libertarian call for unlimited dog-eat-dog capitalism
Dog-eat-dog capitalism is what brought you the lifestyle that allows you to post on Slashdot, kiddo.
I love it when geeks slam capitalism. Since high tech equipment of all kinds can only be affordable via mass production and massive R&D, it's pretty fucking hypocritical to say anything about capitalism while you're typing away on a product that took MASSIVE capital investment by the largest companies in the world.
Actually, even though all of the characters were Lego, I understood the story *better* playing the game than watching the movie. That doesn't seem like a good thing (for the movies).
So, you're on the net and you're reading an article about computer security
What normal person reads articles about computer security? Do you read articles about new studies concerning the use of various grains in dry cat foods? Why not? I do all the time.
... in a way. I just played the PS2 game Star Wars: Lego, which lets you play a very accurate game based on episodes 1-3. Episodes 1 & 2 were very accurate, so I'm assuming that Episode 3 was accurate, too. If that was the case, then Obi-Wan follows Annakin to some volcanic planet, where they have a fight, and Annakin ends up losing and falling into lava. Obi-Wan thinks that he's dead. The Emperor finds him, and restores him as Darth Vader. Darth Vader gets pissed as soon as he wakes up with his new body, and smashes all of the machines. There was quite a bit more, too. All in this game that was released some time back. I thought it was one hell of a slip on somebody's part.
If you put a quarter in the cup at mcdonalds each time you get a big Mac, chances are you're donating a larger fraction of your income to charity than Bill Gates does. Sure, it's better to donate something than nothing, but as the old saying goes, it's not what you give, it's what you sacrifice. The point of the comment was that Bill Gates can't make up for all the wrong he's done by giving away what is, to him, a pittance.
First off, numbnuts, Bill Gates singlehandedly made computers ubiquitous. He'll be remembered for a long, long time. That was a big accomplishment.
Secondly, how much has the Apache group donated to various charities?
With all of the crazy bullshit going on in this country right now, why do they think that Americans will WANT to come back? I'm worried about travelling right now, because if I find a place that isn't run by religious fundamentalists, I may just decide to stay!
Except they have? Article looks like flamebait/trolling to me, or else just ignorance.
If you think that large companies like IBM contribute more than they make off of that software, you've got to be incredibly naive. Large companies are making a mint using the current OS apps out there, and they'll continue to do so. Do you honestly think that the top brass at IBM give a flying shit about "giving back to the community"? It's got to be more like, "Hey boss, all we have to do is give this project a few man hours of development time, and in return, we have a free app that we can make a few hundred million on."
I'd say that most open source solutions only save money for tech companies. Why? Tech companies have the massive technical expertise needed to handle open source solutions. For my startup, it wouldn't cost us many thousands more to go with open source for our various software packages because we don't have a tech expert on staff (besides myself). Other companies that have nothing to do with tehcnology (the vast majority of all companies) shouldn't be wasting valuable time and money to implement open source just for the sake of open source.
Who stores data so secret that the hard drive needs to be physically destroyed before selling it? If you have data that's this important & secret, you don't read Slashdot. I mean c'mon, all this fuss over, what, credit card numbers? Jesus, anybody with a web browser can get stolen credit card numbers. Credit card users aren't liable for illegal/unauthorized activity on their cards, so what's the big deal here?
I'm not necessarily saying they should release more, and there is certainly a benefit to stability over many releases in a lot of computing enviornments, but we're hardwired to be attracted/interested in the newest, flashiest and best things (advertisers don't spend billions of dollars a year because they have too much money). So it stands to reason that no releases means declining interest.
There are also a lot of us who've been professional IT people for more than a few years who WANT stability. That's a big reason (other than usability) that I'm not moving towards any flavor of Linux. I don't want to have to "upgrade" my entire OS every 6 months. That's insane, unless it's purely a hobby, then it's fun. But if you're actually using it, then rapid releases are a major drawback.
The point is that instead of having one point to control data integrity (the database), you have countless other ways that people access the database (various applications, direct SQL access, other developers/departments, bad admins) that can all screw up the data.
As far as being lazy, it's MUCH easier to control everything at the database, and it's MUCH easier to maintain. You make one schema change (this item_id has to exist in table X, otherwise you can't insert it into table Y), and that's it. No matter who or what is accessing the database, you *know* that you have absolute data integrity because it's all controlled at one point.
And, with any "real" database, you have the same amount of control at the database level that you can get at the application level. You can double it up and still check at the application level first, if you want to, but ultimately, you don't need to do 50 data checks at 50 points. You simply do one, and that's it.
Slashdot Mirror
And I'm sure that both people who visit your web site are *very* impressed.
I just looked at that. The funny thing is that their basic DSL costs $80/month + hardware, and DSL from Bellsouth is $50/month + $30 for the phone line... hmmm... Just breezing through all of their packages, unfortunately (because I REALLY want to dump Bellsouth, both at my home and business) it looks like their prices are the same if not more than Bellsouth. We'll see when they get back to me with a quote....
... at least for us (a small business). Once you add in all of the per-line charges, the hardware, the setup fees, the broadband, and the fact that if you want to use DSL, you still have to buy at least one phone line from the phone company. Plus, of course, the reliability of broadband still isn't nearly at the level of hard telephone lines. After taking this into consideration, unfortunately, going through the local Ma Bell monopoly was still the cheapest and most reliable option for us (a business needing 3-5 phone lines).
Well, there's the fact that it's Free Software, so you are free to add any features you feel are missing, or remove ones you don't like.
So then your answer really should read: "Unless you're a professional programmer: No."
It all depends on what your expectations are.
That's what I mean. I think that in this current IT job market, that this kid was a fool for passing up an entry level position at Sun, which would've given him some security, and a huge possiblity for moving around in the organization. I've been there and done both. 5, 10 years ago, I would've said "Go for a dot-com for now as a contractor, and pocket the ridiculous money. It won't stay long.". I did that. Today, it's very different. Today, I'd want either a company like Sun on my resume (even as support), or I'd like a full-time job in a company that is very well respected in the industry. God knows it's easier to move around inside an organization like Sun than it is to even get in in the first place. (I'm no longer in IT, but I keep up with what's going on).
The problem, is that it is cheaper for MS to continue with this practice, as well as paying off the settlements they end up having to pay, and to keep making money by selling these products.
How is this a problem, exactly? A settlement is just that... a settlement. That means that the plaintifs are happy with the amount of money that MS is giving them to walk away without a lawsuit (which probably would be won, considering the amount of money MS is willing to pay.. That's how the system works.
If I had a startup, and I had a product that MS infringed would I A. Want to fight them, and take my chances with a startup, eating Ramen Noodles for several years, and living in my car with the *hope* that *maybe* I'd hit it big or B. Settle with MS for a lump sum? Hmmm.... tough one.
Why go with Sun when there are 100 other companies that will give me practical experience in programming?
Ouch. That was a real career blunder on your part. I'm sure that you, like many CS grads, assume that you *deserve* a job programming fresh out of school. The reality is that most of us who became professional developers do have to pay our dues in support. And the experience, even in support, at Sun, would have really set you up on a fast track into some good stuff. I hope your current job is somewhere as prestigious and well-respected as Sun and not some tiny Internet-based startup.
5 gigabytes of 128K MP3's that are roughly 1 Meg/Minute equals about 1250 4 minute songs. That's MORE than enough for anybody that's not an audiophile.
...sure, it won't among hip, young, urban yuppies, for whome the iPod is already as much a fashion accessory as their cell phones, but for the average person, it'll be a hell of a lot more affordable, I'm sure.
It's only bad when MS does it. When Apple releases a new version that you have to buy every 6 months to a year, then that's a good thing. Bizarre, I know.
I downloaded it about a week ago. Tried to install it on a generic PC. For some reason, the whole XWindows thing failed (a few esoteric error messages during install), so all I got after install was a command prompt. I wasn't too impressed.
I downloaded it about a week ago. Tried to install it on a generic PC. For some reason, the whole XWindows thing failed, so all I got after install was a command prompt. I wasn't too impressed.
This article is nothing but yet another libertarian call for unlimited dog-eat-dog capitalism
Dog-eat-dog capitalism is what brought you the lifestyle that allows you to post on Slashdot, kiddo.
I love it when geeks slam capitalism. Since high tech equipment of all kinds can only be affordable via mass production and massive R&D, it's pretty fucking hypocritical to say anything about capitalism while you're typing away on a product that took MASSIVE capital investment by the largest companies in the world.
Actually, even though all of the characters were Lego, I understood the story *better* playing the game than watching the movie. That doesn't seem like a good thing (for the movies).
So, you're on the net and you're reading an article about computer security
What normal person reads articles about computer security? Do you read articles about new studies concerning the use of various grains in dry cat foods? Why not? I do all the time.
... in a way. I just played the PS2 game Star Wars: Lego, which lets you play a very accurate game based on episodes 1-3. Episodes 1 & 2 were very accurate, so I'm assuming that Episode 3 was accurate, too. If that was the case, then Obi-Wan follows Annakin to some volcanic planet, where they have a fight, and Annakin ends up losing and falling into lava. Obi-Wan thinks that he's dead. The Emperor finds him, and restores him as Darth Vader. Darth Vader gets pissed as soon as he wakes up with his new body, and smashes all of the machines. There was quite a bit more, too. All in this game that was released some time back. I thought it was one hell of a slip on somebody's part.
If you put a quarter in the cup at mcdonalds each time you get a big Mac, chances are you're donating a larger fraction of your income to charity than Bill Gates does. Sure, it's better to donate something than nothing, but as the old saying goes, it's not what you give, it's what you sacrifice. The point of the comment was that Bill Gates can't make up for all the wrong he's done by giving away what is, to him, a pittance.
First off, numbnuts, Bill Gates singlehandedly made computers ubiquitous. He'll be remembered for a long, long time. That was a big accomplishment.
Secondly, how much has the Apache group donated to various charities?
And your point is...?
With all of the crazy bullshit going on in this country right now, why do they think that Americans will WANT to come back? I'm worried about travelling right now, because if I find a place that isn't run by religious fundamentalists, I may just decide to stay!
You're making it entirely too complicated, and too open to security holes. The answer is:
1. Don't use wireless.
Except they have? Article looks like flamebait/trolling to me, or else just ignorance.
If you think that large companies like IBM contribute more than they make off of that software, you've got to be incredibly naive. Large companies are making a mint using the current OS apps out there, and they'll continue to do so. Do you honestly think that the top brass at IBM give a flying shit about "giving back to the community"? It's got to be more like, "Hey boss, all we have to do is give this project a few man hours of development time, and in return, we have a free app that we can make a few hundred million on."
I'd say that most open source solutions only save money for tech companies. Why? Tech companies have the massive technical expertise needed to handle open source solutions. For my startup, it wouldn't cost us many thousands more to go with open source for our various software packages because we don't have a tech expert on staff (besides myself). Other companies that have nothing to do with tehcnology (the vast majority of all companies) shouldn't be wasting valuable time and money to implement open source just for the sake of open source.
Who stores data so secret that the hard drive needs to be physically destroyed before selling it? If you have data that's this important & secret, you don't read Slashdot. I mean c'mon, all this fuss over, what, credit card numbers? Jesus, anybody with a web browser can get stolen credit card numbers. Credit card users aren't liable for illegal/unauthorized activity on their cards, so what's the big deal here?
I'm not necessarily saying they should release more, and there is certainly a benefit to stability over many releases in a lot of computing enviornments, but we're hardwired to be attracted/interested in the newest, flashiest and best things (advertisers don't spend billions of dollars a year because they have too much money). So it stands to reason that no releases means declining interest.
There are also a lot of us who've been professional IT people for more than a few years who WANT stability. That's a big reason (other than usability) that I'm not moving towards any flavor of Linux. I don't want to have to "upgrade" my entire OS every 6 months. That's insane, unless it's purely a hobby, then it's fun. But if you're actually using it, then rapid releases are a major drawback.
The point is that instead of having one point to control data integrity (the database), you have countless other ways that people access the database (various applications, direct SQL access, other developers/departments, bad admins) that can all screw up the data.
As far as being lazy, it's MUCH easier to control everything at the database, and it's MUCH easier to maintain. You make one schema change (this item_id has to exist in table X, otherwise you can't insert it into table Y), and that's it. No matter who or what is accessing the database, you *know* that you have absolute data integrity because it's all controlled at one point.
And, with any "real" database, you have the same amount of control at the database level that you can get at the application level. You can double it up and still check at the application level first, if you want to, but ultimately, you don't need to do 50 data checks at 50 points. You simply do one, and that's it.