I agree 100%. And in this instance of Wilson, NC, this is the case. From the Mayor Brian Bowman's blog:
One last note, Wilson tax money does not fund Greenlight (ed note: Wilson's municipal ISP). Citizens who choose Greenlight buy the services just like they would from any other provider.
Clearly these functions will cause as many, if not more, bugs than they correct in the hands of hapless programmers who do not realize their truncating behavior.
Of course, any programmer worth his salt is going to check the return of every function of this type he calls. Unfortunately, many very skilled programmers simply do not perform this small bit of checking.
Hmmmm...here's some food for thought: city governments already run trash collection services, schools, snow removal services, real estate brokerages, electrical services, cable TV services, electric utilities, water utilities, etc. There are private equivalents for all these services (and more) that city governments provide. (Yes, including water utilities and trash removal. If you don't believe me, I will show you my water bill and trash removal bill) and in some instances these even compete in the same community.
I don't see anybody fighting over that. How is running an Internet service provider any different?
Absolutely right. Security is a mindset. It's a mindset that says "How can I misuse this? How can this be abused?"
It's absolutely possible to write secure code in C. It might be easier to make a mistake in C as opposed to languages that have strict overflow checking and proper garbage collection as built-in feature, but you don't throw out the baby with the bathwater so to speak.
I'll say this, like I always say it: there is no magic bullet when it comes to security. Even an operating system written from the ground up around security like OpenBSD can be configured incorrectly. Even an operating system written from the ground up around security can have security bugs.
The only completely safe computer from a security standpoint is one that isn't plugged in and stored in a bank vault. With armed guards trained to shoot first and ask questions later. And security cameras. Surrounded by a moat. Filled with sharks with friggin' lasers attached to their heads.
Yep. I remember that provision. And apparently so does Robert X. Cringely. I remember thinking back then that by now we'd have 45 mbps, which was practically unheard of back then. Most of the country was on dialup, and there were a few folks on cablemodems.
Agreed: all you people out there scoffing should go out and take a couple of post-secondary business finance classes. Typically, with any widget in the most generic business model, the cost of goods and services (COGS) is roughly 50% of the final price, +/- a few points. You figure 40%-45% for overhead, which consists of indirect costs such as R&D, distribution, administration, marketing, legal, etc., and the rest is profit.
No, no! This will SOLVE global warming! See, the size of collector you're going to need in order to stop a tropical cyclone is going to cast a really big shadow down onto the Earth! About two-thirds of the planet will always be in shade!
Hehehehe....no seriously, I doubt such things are even possible. Do you have any idea about the enormous scale of energies involved in a tropical cyclone? Has anybody ever even testing sending energy to a tropical cyclone? I mean a real one, not some swirly water in lab designed to 'simulate' a tropical cyclone or with imperfect mathematical models and theoretical knowledge.
Yup. Larry hates Bill. Hence the money Oracle has dumped into Linux through Red Hat, partnering with Red Hat.
Therefore, I predict: Solaris won't be going anywhere and neither will OOo, VirtualBox and especially not the big prize here, Java.
Re:What about MySQL?
on
Oracle Buys Sun
·
· Score: -1, Flamebait
Sun's hardware works best (faster doesn't mean better) with Solaris, so I can't see Oracle dropping Solaris.
It's not about the hardware. Sun itself has all but scrapped SPARC.
Re:Java is safe, mysql is safe...
on
Oracle Buys Sun
·
· Score: 1
Java is far from safe. The language will continue to exist, but the platform will most likely stop developing. Oracle has never shown commitment to Open Source.
Re:Wow. Just Wow.
on
Oracle Buys Sun
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
You're right. I just don't get it. MySQL makes sense for Oracle. The hardware business makes no sense whatsoever.
Java really doesn't make much sense for Oracle, either. A lot of databases might get use Java front-ends, but so what? Oracle hasn't been in that business.
In the end, I think goes down like this: This is about two things: Red Hat and MySQL. Oracle's RHEL variant has been a a complete bust; Oracle customers have been sticking with Red Hat. Read Matt Assay's column over on C|Net if you don't understand the whol;e Red Hat/Oracle rivalry; he makes pretty good sense of it.
Oracle may have always wanted MySQL, but it's also been desperate for an OS to compete with Red Hat's, and it just got one in Solaris. It also has Sun's Linux offering (Java Desktop), but I don't think that's a real prize for Oracle, who has always been on the server end.
If they are going to turn off the power while I'm trying to watch "Ow, My Balls" on Fox or if my government successfully gets me to believe that, I am going to vote for whoever will blow them back to the stone age.
Don't laugh. That's what the "war on terror" and now, this, are all about. We here in the U.S. need a bogie man! We need for someone to be the "bad guy" so that the government can "protect us" from them. And it's really easy to in a culture that is heavily inundated with religions that have a Zorastrianist view that everything is a struggle of "good" vs. "evil". And of course we're the "good guys", so they must be the "bad guys", right?
I, for one, wouldn't be surprised if the electrical grid weren't being inflitrated by CIA or NSA hackers.
Terrorist #1: My brother, with this 'iTunes' we will FSCKING KILL the infidels! *throws chair*
Terrorist #2: Yes...Glory be to Mic...errr...Allah! Terrorist #3: Allah damn it! *spits* The EULA says we cannot use it in violation of U.S. Laws! Terrorist #1: I'm gonna FSCKING KILL Apple! *throws chair*
Oh, gawds! I was hoping that article would be a stub with no references or citations, but alas, it's true!. Sadly, my government was really that stupid!
We don't. On Linux and other Unixes, we have things like APT and Synaptic, which, when combined with the software updater interface used in Ubuntu, does just fine checking for updates at specific intervals, etc.
There are also several open source software installers that can be easily extended using already existing scriptability to do updating on Windows (NSIS and Loki Installer are two such examples).
I think Google's main point in open sourcing Google Updater was just to be more transparent.
If MS sells the suite directly from its website, doesn't that cap what a retailers can charge?
Not really. People are stupid. Example: the Capresso Infinity conical burr coffee grinder in black ABS plastic sells for $89 on the manufacturer's website. Other manufacturers also sell the same grinder for $89. But there's a few vendors like this one that are selling it for $139, while claiming a "list price" of $219. (Don't buy from that link).
If the same food vendor was advertising filet mignon for $0.50/lb and then provided me some over-tenderized flank steak disguised at $0.50/lb that included a pamphlet with a 'Terms of Food' agreement that says "You agree that this is over-tenderized flank steak disguised as filet mignon and not actual filet mignon", they are still guilty of false advertising and I can still sue the pants off of them.
The ISPs' costs aren't based on how much you download, but on the bandwidth they provide. A better limit, and more fair for consumers, would be tiered service based on speed.
A lot of ISPs are already doing this and maybe that's why there aren't usage caps on mine (yet). They have 768K for $33/mo, 7 Mbps for $48/mo, 15 mbps for $58/mo and 20 Mbps for $63/mo. That's without any cable TV bundling.
Look at this way: If [insert favorite food vendor here] advertised filet mignon at $0.50/lb, even though I know there costs are higher, I better damn well be getting real filet mignon at $0.50/lb. Internet connectivity is no different.
Don't advertise unlimited if it's not unlimited. If you are advertising a 6 Mb pipe, it better be a 6 Mb pipe. That's that. 6 Mb, unlimited. Your costs are none of my business.
Long story short: don't write no check your ass can't cash.
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I agree 100%. And in this instance of Wilson, NC, this is the case. From the Mayor Brian Bowman's blog:
One last note, Wilson tax money does not fund Greenlight (ed note: Wilson's municipal ISP). Citizens who choose Greenlight buy the services just like they would from any other provider.
Clearly these functions will cause as many, if not more, bugs than they correct in the hands of hapless programmers who do not realize their truncating behavior.
Of course, any programmer worth his salt is going to check the return of every function of this type he calls. Unfortunately, many very skilled programmers simply do not perform this small bit of checking.
Hmmmm...here's some food for thought: city governments already run trash collection services, schools, snow removal services, real estate brokerages, electrical services, cable TV services, electric utilities, water utilities, etc. There are private equivalents for all these services (and more) that city governments provide. (Yes, including water utilities and trash removal. If you don't believe me, I will show you my water bill and trash removal bill) and in some instances these even compete in the same community.
I don't see anybody fighting over that. How is running an Internet service provider any different?
Absolutely right. Security is a mindset. It's a mindset that says "How can I misuse this? How can this be abused?"
It's absolutely possible to write secure code in C. It might be easier to make a mistake in C as opposed to languages that have strict overflow checking and proper garbage collection as built-in feature, but you don't throw out the baby with the bathwater so to speak.
I'll say this, like I always say it: there is no magic bullet when it comes to security. Even an operating system written from the ground up around security like OpenBSD can be configured incorrectly. Even an operating system written from the ground up around security can have security bugs.
The only completely safe computer from a security standpoint is one that isn't plugged in and stored in a bank vault. With armed guards trained to shoot first and ask questions later. And security cameras. Surrounded by a moat. Filled with sharks with friggin' lasers attached to their heads.
Yep. I remember that provision. And apparently so does Robert X. Cringely. I remember thinking back then that by now we'd have 45 mbps, which was practically unheard of back then. Most of the country was on dialup, and there were a few folks on cablemodems.
So where did the $200 billion go? Read Cringely.
Agreed: all you people out there scoffing should go out and take a couple of post-secondary business finance classes. Typically, with any widget in the most generic business model, the cost of goods and services (COGS) is roughly 50% of the final price, +/- a few points. You figure 40%-45% for overhead, which consists of indirect costs such as R&D, distribution, administration, marketing, legal, etc., and the rest is profit.
Producing a product isn't free. Who knew?
Out on my lanai latte firmly in hand, sunny day, not too hot. After sunrise, before sunset in the summer, during the day the rest of the year.
No, no! This will SOLVE global warming! See, the size of collector you're going to need in order to stop a tropical cyclone is going to cast a really big shadow down onto the Earth! About two-thirds of the planet will always be in shade!
Hehehehe....no seriously, I doubt such things are even possible. Do you have any idea about the enormous scale of energies involved in a tropical cyclone? Has anybody ever even testing sending energy to a tropical cyclone? I mean a real one, not some swirly water in lab designed to 'simulate' a tropical cyclone or with imperfect mathematical models and theoretical knowledge.
Yup. Larry hates Bill. Hence the money Oracle has dumped into Linux through Red Hat, partnering with Red Hat.
Therefore, I predict: Solaris won't be going anywhere and neither will OOo, VirtualBox and especially not the big prize here, Java.
Sun's hardware works best (faster doesn't mean better) with Solaris, so I can't see Oracle dropping Solaris.
It's not about the hardware. Sun itself has all but scrapped SPARC.
Java is far from safe. The language will continue to exist, but the platform will most likely stop developing. Oracle has never shown commitment to Open Source.
BerkeleyDB?
Oracle MyJavaSQL on Bulletproof Solaris?
You're right. I just don't get it. MySQL makes sense for Oracle. The hardware business makes no sense whatsoever.
Java really doesn't make much sense for Oracle, either. A lot of databases might get use Java front-ends, but so what? Oracle hasn't been in that business.
In the end, I think goes down like this: This is about two things: Red Hat and MySQL. Oracle's RHEL variant has been a a complete bust; Oracle customers have been sticking with Red Hat. Read Matt Assay's column over on C|Net if you don't understand the whol;e Red Hat/Oracle rivalry; he makes pretty good sense of it.
Oracle may have always wanted MySQL, but it's also been desperate for an OS to compete with Red Hat's, and it just got one in Solaris. It also has Sun's Linux offering (Java Desktop), but I don't think that's a real prize for Oracle, who has always been on the server end.
If they are going to turn off the power while I'm trying to watch "Ow, My Balls" on Fox or if my government successfully gets me to believe that, I am going to vote for whoever will blow them back to the stone age.
Don't laugh. That's what the "war on terror" and now, this, are all about. We here in the U.S. need a bogie man! We need for someone to be the "bad guy" so that the government can "protect us" from them. And it's really easy to in a culture that is heavily inundated with religions that have a Zorastrianist view that everything is a struggle of "good" vs. "evil". And of course we're the "good guys", so they must be the "bad guys", right?
I, for one, wouldn't be surprised if the electrical grid weren't being inflitrated by CIA or NSA hackers.
Bah, putting photocells into space is easy. Getting them up there in one piece and into a predictable orbit, well, those are just minor details. ;)
Or iTunes:
Terrorist #1: My brother, with this 'iTunes' we will FSCKING KILL the infidels! *throws chair*
Terrorist #2: Yes...Glory be to Mic...errr...Allah!
Terrorist #3: Allah damn it! *spits* The EULA says we cannot use it in violation of U.S. Laws!
Terrorist #1: I'm gonna FSCKING KILL Apple! *throws chair*
LLNL and LANL are both sites of large IBM Linux clusters. You're right, AC, if they are use XGrid, it's not as their primary sim platform.
Oh, gawds! I was hoping that article would be a stub with no references or citations, but alas, it's true!. Sadly, my government was really that stupid!
ugh.
I'm leaving now.
Why do we need GoogleUpdater anyway?
We don't. On Linux and other Unixes, we have things like APT and Synaptic, which, when combined with the software updater interface used in Ubuntu, does just fine checking for updates at specific intervals, etc.
There are also several open source software installers that can be easily extended using already existing scriptability to do updating on Windows (NSIS and Loki Installer are two such examples).
I think Google's main point in open sourcing Google Updater was just to be more transparent.
Google doesn't have an updater on Linux, at least not one that came with Google Earth or Google Picasa.
If MS sells the suite directly from its website, doesn't that cap what a retailers can charge?
Not really. People are stupid. Example: the Capresso Infinity conical burr coffee grinder in black ABS plastic sells for $89 on the manufacturer's website. Other manufacturers also sell the same grinder for $89. But there's a few vendors like this one that are selling it for $139, while claiming a "list price" of $219. (Don't buy from that link).
Easy. $9 million is not only pocket change to to Microsoft, it's very likely that $9 million < the legal bills to fight it.
They could pay the lawyers > $9 million to fight it, or they can just pay the fine.
Either way, the outcome is the same.
Sometimes you just take the practical way out.
How, exactly, is that relevant?
If the same food vendor was advertising filet mignon for $0.50/lb and then provided me some over-tenderized flank steak disguised at $0.50/lb that included a pamphlet with a 'Terms of Food' agreement that says "You agree that this is over-tenderized flank steak disguised as filet mignon and not actual filet mignon", they are still guilty of false advertising and I can still sue the pants off of them.
The ISPs' costs aren't based on how much you download, but on the bandwidth they provide. A better limit, and more fair for consumers, would be tiered service based on speed.
A lot of ISPs are already doing this and maybe that's why there aren't usage caps on mine (yet). They have 768K for $33/mo, 7 Mbps for $48/mo, 15 mbps for $58/mo and 20 Mbps for $63/mo. That's without any cable TV bundling.
No. That's just completely wrong.
Look at this way: If [insert favorite food vendor here] advertised filet mignon at $0.50/lb, even though I know there costs are higher, I better damn well be getting real filet mignon at $0.50/lb. Internet connectivity is no different.
Don't advertise unlimited if it's not unlimited. If you are advertising a 6 Mb pipe, it better be a 6 Mb pipe. That's that. 6 Mb, unlimited. Your costs are none of my business.
Long story short: don't write no check your ass can't cash.