I laughed myself sick reading this article...especilly the oh-so-helpful second page, entitled 'what it all means'.
Here's an especially good one from the list:
Excell - this helps to run programs on your PC.
With 'helpful' articles like this, us IT professionals should remain in demand for a good long time. ^_^
But seriously, a good IT professional isn't one who's good at explaining the jargon, or getting laypeople to understand the technical isues...it's one that takes care of the issues for the laypeople, so they don't need to worry about them. A correctly managed IT department should be all but transparent to the other people in the office. Everything should just work, with the IT guy making certain the users' needs are met before they even know what they are. In a correctly managed facility, the IT guy's phone should almost never ring.
Digging in on the PC platform was a winning strategy, and still is at this point, but the rules will be changing sooner rather than later. When they do, will Microsoft be able to overcome its own inertia and innovate fast enough to stay in the game? Probably not, but the good news for Microsoft is that it doesn't have to...it just has to acquire a company that can. As it's been said ad nauseum here by myself and others, Microsoft isn't about innovation...haven't been for a while...in fact, whether they ever were is a subject for debate.
As for when this paridigm shift will occur, it won't be able to until broadband access is as cheap, plentiful, and above all, dependable as electricity or running water. Givin the fact that many areas of the world are still having issues with those, I'd wager we have a while to wait before the Web-as-platform paradigm really takes off.
That's probably why Tommi's comments were subsequently yanked from the Tietokone story...because Tommi's bald, tactless summary of the industry's plan to strip us of our rights clashed with the illusio^H^H^H^H^H^Hmage the IFPI is trying to portray.
Yet another sordid chapter in the DRM saga...the insulting attempt to redefine our relationship to content we have purchased as a "privilege."
Here's the actual quote from Tommi Kyyrä himself:
"Now, we need to understand that listening to music on your computer is an extra privilege. Normally people listen to music on their car or through their home stereos," said Kyyrä. "If you are a Linux or Mac user, you should consider purchasing a regular CD player."
Tommi, don't you dare try to tell me that playing content I've purchased is a 'privilege'. I paid for that content, and I have the right to enjoy it. If your ridiculous DRM schemes get in the way of my legitimate use of my content, it's up to you and your cronies to remedy that, rather than try to redefine my rights as 'privileges'.
By the way, Tommi, your site seems to be down, but don't worry....I guess having a web site that's up all the time is a 'privilege' as well.
TrendMicro claims that the Symbos_Cardtrp.A trojan is a "fully functioning threat", while Sophos dissmisses the entire thing as "bonkers". I'm thinking that the truth is rather in the middle.
The Symbos_Cardtrp.A trojan is one of the first clumsy attempts at this sort of thing, but we all know that the malware only gets more sophisticated and polished over time. People certainly should be alarmed about the appearance of this trojan...not because it itself is all that threatening, but because it clearly demonstrates the potential for mischief.
As Raimund Genes, president of the firm's European Operations, said: "This attack is really a proof of concept and may be an indication of a new type of blended threat to come." You can bet that as cellphones become more sophisicated and more interconnected to our computers, malware authors are going to turn this into a genuine threat.
In short, while it's rather sensationalistic to tout this as a "fully functioning threat", claiming that there is nothingto worry about disingenuous in the extreme. Sophos' claim that paying attenton to this threat distracts sysadmins from the "real threat" of attacks on Windows desktops is pure sheepdip. Imagine if we dismissed out of hand the new threat of infection via USB thumbdrives, because we were all too busy paying attention to the "real threat" of infection over the network?
They [many of the Linux distributors] have realized that it takes more than open-source; it takes open-standards to make a successful open operating system.
That's why the LSB (Linux Standard Base) 3.0 release is so important.
As "Caesar" stresses in his article, DRM on TiVo is nothing new. There's really no point in getting steamed at TiVo about this...they're victims of DRM just as much as their customers.
If we're going to fix this problem, we need to do it at this level...not at TiVo's level.
Another option for HP could be selling a blank system, and let the end user worry about the OS. With this approach, HP neatly avoids any liability, and still can be seen to be tacitly suppporting Linux.
What's that sound? Uh-oh...that's the sound of the other shoe dropping.
Unfortunately, as Linux continues to gain popularity, this sort of thing is only going to increase. One of the basic reasons Linux used to be so secure is because anyone who took the time to sit down and learn the OS was technically savvy enough by the time they were done that they knew enough to take at least elementary precautions against infection. With the advent of easy to use, out-of-the-box Linux solutions (Xandros, I'm looking at you), the formerly steep learning curve for Linux has softened, and with that, some of its security has eroded.
Please don't think I'm trying to bill myself as some sort of Linux zealot, that believes that the holy OS should be kept out of the hands of the 'great unwashed', because I'm not. I'm just saying that a computer is only as secure as the person sitting at the keyboard lets it be.
Interesting tightrope Microsoft is being forced to walk here...if they don't change things enough, they still have OpenOffice and StarOffice nipping at their heels, but if they change too much, they risk alienating their established user base.
The real question is: Just how much can you improve an office suite, before it's 'good enough'? Many Office users (my employers included) feel Office 2003 is just fine, and have no plans whatsoever for Office 12. Other offices I've seen have standardized on Offive XP, or even Office 2000, and steadfastly refuse to upgrade. When these holdouts finally do upgrade, it's only because they are having issues with using documents from other facilities that are in the new format (non-backward-compatible by design...thank you so much, Bill), and when they do, they commonly skip at least one release.
The bottom line is that the strategy of staying out ahead of competitors like OpenOffice and StarOffice is becoming increasing untenable as the office suite becomes more and more complex and capable, and closer and closer to the ideal of 'good enough' for the average user.
the word Inukshuk (ee-nook-shook or ee-nook-sook) is an Inuktitut word that means to look like a person (an Inuk). It is a stone cairn which has been used by the Inuit people to mark high points of land, good hunting and fishing spots or the way home.
Clever name for a communications company...until you recall that this is also the 'magic' word used by Apache Chief of Superfriends fame to transform into a giant. ^_^
Good afternoon, gentlemen. As you are no doubt aware, I have recently come into possession of a magnificently virulent strain of Yersinia pestis, the delightful little bacterium responsible for Bubonic Plague, among other assorted health concerns. This acquisition was but Phase One in my plan, which I've dubbed 'Operation Ring-around-the Rosy'. Phase Two, already in motion, consists of infecting thousands of common rats with the same pathogen, while Phase Three consists of releasing these infected animals into the target city.
You see, gentlemen, when Phase Two is complete, my operatives will release the rats into one of your major cities every twenty-four hours, causing a national pandemic the likes of which has never been seen. As the old rhyme goes, gentlemen, "we all fall down'...that is...unless you pay me...
One hundred billion trillion jilllion fafillion dollaaahs!!!
According to the discussions I've seen on the topic, you can't put MythTV on a TiVo box for one or both of the following reasons:
The MythTV interface runs under X windows, and the TiVo can't run X11. -and/or-
TiVo has non-standard hardware for which no drivers are available.
I don't know if any of that has changed with Series2, but I'd love to know...odds are good you can pick up a used box for a song, since most ex-TiVo users will not have any further use for it.
Gads...this entire article reads like the conversation you are forced to have with the sweaty fat nerd at the con...you know the one...the one who insists on telling you all about his character, all the while constantly violating your personal space and assaulting you with his nasty aroma of Stridex, B.O., and Dorito breath.
(Hint: If this hasn't happened to you, odds are you're the one the rest of us are talking about.)
One more thing...what is up with the picture on the last page of the article? Are those two characters in a romantic embrace???
Slashdot Mirror
I laughed myself sick reading this article...especilly the oh-so-helpful second page, entitled 'what it all means'.
Here's an especially good one from the list:
With 'helpful' articles like this, us IT professionals should remain in demand for a good long time. ^_^
But seriously, a good IT professional isn't one who's good at explaining the jargon, or getting laypeople to understand the technical isues...it's one that takes care of the issues for the laypeople, so they don't need to worry about them. A correctly managed IT department should be all but transparent to the other people in the office. Everything should just work, with the IT guy making certain the users' needs are met before they even know what they are. In a correctly managed facility, the IT guy's phone should almost never ring.
Digging in on the PC platform was a winning strategy, and still is at this point, but the rules will be changing sooner rather than later. When they do, will Microsoft be able to overcome its own inertia and innovate fast enough to stay in the game? Probably not, but the good news for Microsoft is that it doesn't have to...it just has to acquire a company that can. As it's been said ad nauseum here by myself and others, Microsoft isn't about innovation...haven't been for a while...in fact, whether they ever were is a subject for debate.
As for when this paridigm shift will occur, it won't be able to until broadband access is as cheap, plentiful, and above all, dependable as electricity or running water. Givin the fact that many areas of the world are still having issues with those, I'd wager we have a while to wait before the Web-as-platform paradigm really takes off.
That's probably why Tommi's comments were subsequently yanked from the Tietokone story...because Tommi's bald, tactless summary of the industry's plan to strip us of our rights clashed with the illusio^H^H^H^H^H^Hmage the IFPI is trying to portray.
Yet another sordid chapter in the DRM saga...the insulting attempt to redefine our relationship to content we have purchased as a "privilege."
Here's the actual quote from Tommi Kyyrä himself:Tommi, don't you dare try to tell me that playing content I've purchased is a 'privilege'. I paid for that content, and I have the right to enjoy it. If your ridiculous DRM schemes get in the way of my legitimate use of my content, it's up to you and your cronies to remedy that, rather than try to redefine my rights as 'privileges'.
By the way, Tommi, your site seems to be down, but don't worry....I guess having a web site that's up all the time is a 'privilege' as well.
TrendMicro claims that the Symbos_Cardtrp.A trojan is a "fully functioning threat", while Sophos dissmisses the entire thing as "bonkers". I'm thinking that the truth is rather in the middle.
The Symbos_Cardtrp.A trojan is one of the first clumsy attempts at this sort of thing, but we all know that the malware only gets more sophisticated and polished over time. People certainly should be alarmed about the appearance of this trojan...not because it itself is all that threatening, but because it clearly demonstrates the potential for mischief.
As Raimund Genes, president of the firm's European Operations, said: "This attack is really a proof of concept and may be an indication of a new type of blended threat to come." You can bet that as cellphones become more sophisicated and more interconnected to our computers, malware authors are going to turn this into a genuine threat.
In short, while it's rather sensationalistic to tout this as a "fully functioning threat", claiming that there is nothingto worry about disingenuous in the extreme. Sophos' claim that paying attenton to this threat distracts sysadmins from the "real threat" of attacks on Windows desktops is pure sheepdip. Imagine if we dismissed out of hand the new threat of infection via USB thumbdrives, because we were all too busy paying attention to the "real threat" of infection over the network?
From TFA:Hold on a second...according to Ulrich Drepper, the LSB was fundamentally broken.
(Note: see the Slashdot discussion regarding Ulrich's assertions here.
If Ulrich is on target, LSB, far from being the saving grace of Linux, could well be its downfall.
ArsTechnica's Ken "Caesar" Fisher has written a rather insightful article about just this issue. Well worth the read.
As "Caesar" stresses in his article, DRM on TiVo is nothing new. There's really no point in getting steamed at TiVo about this...they're victims of DRM just as much as their customers.
If we're going to fix this problem, we need to do it at this level...not at TiVo's level.
Another option for HP could be selling a blank system, and let the end user worry about the OS. With this approach, HP neatly avoids any liability, and still can be seen to be tacitly suppporting Linux.
Some information on the Global File System can be found here and here.
The science of psychohistory is advanced once more.
Here's hoping Houston fares better than New Orleans.
Not likely...Rita is a Category 5 at this time, with sustained winds of 165 mph (gusts up to 200 mph).
At least Houston's not below sea level.
Don't worry...I see plenty of rain in your future...
Some information about Vanuatu, as well as its capital, Port Vila (misspelled in TFA) can be found here and here.
As for why WinMX might want to relocate there, this link should shed a little light on the issue...
Pledges to conform to the requirements of Version 3 are Red Hat, Novell's Suse Linux, Asianux and Debian.
Four down, only 458 to go.
What's that sound? Uh-oh...that's the sound of the other shoe dropping.
Unfortunately, as Linux continues to gain popularity, this sort of thing is only going to increase. One of the basic reasons Linux used to be so secure is because anyone who took the time to sit down and learn the OS was technically savvy enough by the time they were done that they knew enough to take at least elementary precautions against infection. With the advent of easy to use, out-of-the-box Linux solutions (Xandros, I'm looking at you), the formerly steep learning curve for Linux has softened, and with that, some of its security has eroded.
Please don't think I'm trying to bill myself as some sort of Linux zealot, that believes that the holy OS should be kept out of the hands of the 'great unwashed', because I'm not. I'm just saying that a computer is only as secure as the person sitting at the keyboard lets it be.
I've been trying to get my manager to let me try out OpenOffice on a few systems here, on a purely probationary basis.
So far, it's been a very hard sell
Interesting tightrope Microsoft is being forced to walk here...if they don't change things enough, they still have OpenOffice and StarOffice nipping at their heels, but if they change too much, they risk alienating their established user base.
The real question is: Just how much can you improve an office suite, before it's 'good enough'? Many Office users (my employers included) feel Office 2003 is just fine, and have no plans whatsoever for Office 12. Other offices I've seen have standardized on Offive XP, or even Office 2000, and steadfastly refuse to upgrade. When these holdouts finally do upgrade, it's only because they are having issues with using documents from other facilities that are in the new format (non-backward-compatible by design...thank you so much, Bill), and when they do, they commonly skip at least one release.
The bottom line is that the strategy of staying out ahead of competitors like OpenOffice and StarOffice is becoming increasing untenable as the office suite becomes more and more complex and capable, and closer and closer to the ideal of 'good enough' for the average user.
From this informative webpage:
Clever name for a communications company...until you recall that this is also the 'magic' word used by Apache Chief of Superfriends fame to transform into a giant. ^_^
Good afternoon, gentlemen. As you are no doubt aware, I have recently come into possession of a magnificently virulent strain of Yersinia pestis, the delightful little bacterium responsible for Bubonic Plague, among other assorted health concerns. This acquisition was but Phase One in my plan, which I've dubbed 'Operation Ring-around-the Rosy'. Phase Two, already in motion, consists of infecting thousands of common rats with the same pathogen, while Phase Three consists of releasing these infected animals into the target city.
You see, gentlemen, when Phase Two is complete, my operatives will release the rats into one of your major cities every twenty-four hours, causing a national pandemic the likes of which has never been seen. As the old rhyme goes, gentlemen, "we all fall down'...that is...unless you pay me...
One hundred billion trillion jilllion fafillion dollaaahs!!!
<dramaticmusic>
Gentlemen, you have my demands...peace out.
Here's an overview of the Sun Java Desktop System from sun.com.
What happened to flying cars by 2000?
What would it take to make a useful, functional grammar checker
How about a competently taught highschool English class?
Seriously, people...learn to use the language...you'll be better off.
According to the discussions I've seen on the topic, you can't put MythTV on a TiVo box for one or both of the following reasons:
- The MythTV interface runs under X windows, and the TiVo can't run X11.
- TiVo has non-standard hardware for which no drivers are available.
I don't know if any of that has changed with Series2, but I'd love to know...odds are good you can pick up a used box for a song, since most ex-TiVo users will not have any further use for it.-and/or-
Just one more good reason to bite the bullet, sit down, and build yourself a MythTV box.
There's a good walkthrough on building a MythTV box over on O'Reilly Digital Media, and another on the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Gads...this entire article reads like the conversation you are forced to have with the sweaty fat nerd at the con...you know the one...the one who insists on telling you all about his character, all the while constantly violating your personal space and assaulting you with his nasty aroma of Stridex, B.O., and Dorito breath.
(Hint: If this hasn't happened to you, odds are you're the one the rest of us are talking about.)
One more thing...what is up with the picture on the last page of the article? Are those two characters in a romantic embrace???
Far more information than I needed, thanks.