Just brainstorming some possibilities for a diskless HTPC:
I googled "diskless htpc". This looks promising. It doesn't have details, though.
Boot from a linux install on a USB thumb drive.
Boot from a "Persistent Live USB" (or google for things like "casper" and "casper-rw")
Netboot (PXE boot), and set up an NFS root or SMB root (not sure if SMB root has been done before)
Netboot or boot from USB, and run from a ramdrive root. Then even if network goes down, system still has basic functionality (net being down is more of an issue on a home network and an always-on HTPC)
The other issue is the instant-on behavior. I looked at this a while ago when I was installing a uATX motherboard in my car. I'd say the biggest problem is the time it takes for the BIOS to POST. I timed it at 7 sec. Even when I had my kernel booting in 2 sec. and a GUI loaded in 2 sec. (initng, not loading X, small root partition), the BIOS was taking way too long.
I'm waiting for better LinuxBIOS and kexec support.
In case you were thinking "terrorist," I'm going to have to correct parents' post:
[UHF transmitters] need their multiple [power supplies] to [shut off before they fry the output coils]. So, just get a thyratron and use exploding wire detonaters like a [model rocket]. Ebay has several thytatrons available, including some large Russian models.
After all Apple runs iTunes to sell iPods, if you aren't buying iPods then they don't want you wasting their bits.
Maybe they don't want it, but anyone is allowed to download iTunes to their computer (Mac OR Windows) and purchase songs from the iTunes Music Store. The only restriction on what you can purchase is based on what denomination of money you're using. (What I mean is, if you intend to pay with US Dollars, e.g. a US Credit Card, you are forced to buy from the US iTunes Music Store. If you want to buy from the Japanese iTunes Music Store, you have to pay with Yen, etc.)
Since the mouse has only one cute little button (nose), it can fly past the windows. Who needs to go by the Gates? This mouse has Ball(mer)s. Insert Steve Jobs pwns Disney with Mouse joke here.
Still, Apple is by no means unseated from their dominant market position. The Record Labels could only lose, and lose they have: they have stiffed Apple *only* by offering mp3 downloads from Amazon. Wow, what a blow...
A real loss would be if Apple caved in and started selling tracks with variable pricing. On the other hand, what if Apple now said, "we will no longer sell DRMed tracks. Go give your DRM arguments to Amazon." As long as they continued to operate the iTunes store, Amazon would never have a full monopoly (there will always be a few people who buy through iTunes). Apple would be able to eliminate the DRM baggage on their music players, and in their contracts with the record labels. And the consumer would win, too.
I think you've got me on 2. I suppose people could "buy gold" by redeeming notes and create a deflationary spiral. But explain to me what a deflationary spiral would look like when the currency is backed by gold? I'm having a hard time imagining this.
For 1, it would be a win-win to tie gold to a large currency system: it would stabilize the currency system, and it would stabilize the gold price. For example, a lot of the volatility of gold prices right now is (by some) attributed to the devaluing US Dollar, so if that is the case often enough, tie the two to each other and everybody wins. What am I missing?
For 3, it's not the amount of oil in reserve, it's actually the amount being traded. As the amount of oil produced (and traded) increases, the value of the US Dollar increases. Thus Hurricane Katrina was a big deal.
Will somebody please mod the parent +1 insightful? Or post his bullet points at the top of wikipedia?
As a counter-argument (I have to play devil's advocate here):
1) The volatility of gold is only tied to the supply and demand of it. If the supply of gold increases, does it really reduce the value of currencies? Or does it create new wealth? If it creates new wealth (in the hands of the mining companies) then it hasn't reduced the value of gold holdings, as long as demand increases proportionate with supply. This is why gold is usually put forth as a standard: the demand for it increases almost exactly 1:1 with the increase of the supply. Or, in other words, there is infinite demand, but the price sensitivity is linear.
2) The opportunity cost of not being able to manufacture electronics with gold in it (or jewelry, or whatever you're going to do with the gold) is balanced by the opportunity cost of running out of gold. Gold is rare. It's not as rare as some other minerals, but by putting significant amounts in reserve, any government can then guarantee the value of its currency. Hyperinflation is a significant opportunity cost just so that manufacturers (and jewelers) have an unlimited supply of gold.
3) This may be the hardest one to counter. The environmental cost of mining for gold will probably never be properly taxed or regulated. I think the best counterargument is to compare a gold standard with our current environmental crisis, fueled by the U.S. Government's insistence that all oil be sold for U.S. Dollars (source). If we assume (pretty naively) that oil will continue to be pegged to the U.S. Dollar, then we effectively have Oil as our currency backing right now. The result is that in times of economic growth, (now I'm quoting you) "Increasingly huge portions of the economy are diverted to [oil] production... because that, rather than e.g. cancer cures, have the highest return."
The environmental impact of mining is arguably more controllable (it stays on the ground) than that of burning oil (it causes GLOBAL pollution).
OK, so please respond to me and let's debate the pros and cons of a gold standard.
I can't imagine anything shy of a PS3 game (and a big one at that) would be running the Cell full tilt, so why not Add a "Folding@Home" option in system settings and let me chose to add it as a background task?
The PS3 runs Linux, so it would be technically possible. But even though Sony did a Good Thing(tm) and added FAH for idle time, they're not going to go to the effort to test FAH in each game.
The best way to get FAH would be to add the Sony FAHrootkit(r) in the Sonygcc that everyone is forced to use to develop games for the PS3. Developers would be testing with a dummy FAH running in the background and not even know it. Work Units by stealth.
Naturally, they couldn't put that in the Preferences menu...
The clipping is final, and can't be fixed, but I've been thinking of writing a de-compressor that aims to reproduce the original sound automatically. I know there are decompressors out there but they require careful tuning and don't really try to "get back" the original. The truth is, information is lost when the sound is compressed. But just getting real dynamic range back would be nice.
But maybe I haven't looked hard enough. Anyone know of something like this?
My biggest problem would be this list. One hundred and twenty three patches to reinstall Windows XP Service Pack 2 (with Office XP), which I plan to do for a long, long time. It really hurts someone like me when Microsoft decides to get rabies w.r.t. AutoPatcher.
Here's the complete list to prove it (sorry for the lame formatting, it's Slashdot's lameness filter):
Well, your NSPSO needs an analyst, a consultant, an engineer, an intern, and a secretary for good measure. Fortunately, NSPSO Project 2037 makes Pointy-Haired Bosses obsolete. So don't invest in the Harvard Business School in 2036.
In all seriousness, NSPSO's would still need to be debugged. They would need to be tested on the new Apple iThinkThereforeIam designed by the Microsoft NSPSO v1.0 in Jobs' office. Someone would have to explain BusinessSpeak in terms an NSPSO could understand, and since BS 2007 is completely different from BS 2002, I am extrapolating that BS 2037 will be an entirely new language unrecognizable by anything from 2007. It will probably have thousands of new TLA's, but the BS NSPSO 2038 will be the killer app that every business buys. From SCO.
Ron Paul is a member of the Libertarian Party. He was their 1984 presidential candidate.
Look at the Libertarian Party article on wikipedia: (I bolded the relevant words)
In 1988, former Republican Congressman Ron Paul won the Libertarian nomination for president and was on the ballot in 46 states. Paul later successfully ran for United States House of Representatives from Texas, once again as a Republican, an office in which he still serves.
Because there can be no conviction if he refuses to press charges. It's only a theft if the property owner claims that it wasn't being given away. But laws vary.
This article shows how you can be arrested in the UK. Here is an email (on the interesting-people mailing list, google cache) about a case in Canada where a man was convicted for "war driving." But apparently, in the US (as of 2002) there is only an FBI advisory - from the politech mailing list
Perhaps someone with more legal knowledge can reply and update us on the state of the law in the US. And note that I'm not talking about DMCA violations if the connection is WEP or WPA-encrypted. I'm looking just at the "wireless theft" part.
I think this article is misleading. They talk about the antitrust investigation into Google's acquisition of DoubleClick... caused by:
Complaints that "publishers might fear that if they did not deal with Google, their ranking in Google's search engine might be affected"
In other words:
Before Google ever drops my search ranking because I cancelled my DoubleClick subscription, I'm going to spread FUD about this hypothetical possibility, and insist the Government shut them down.
There is also the typically worries about privacy after Google knows not only what you search for, what AdWords you click on, but now what DoubleClick Banners and Pop-Ups you click on too. And they talk about some of Google's competitors, trying to find the next Google killer. They think Wikia and OpenAds will be more open-source (Google's PageRank is a "closely guarded secret") and won't collect any consumer information.
It's all just so... hypothetical. Wake me up when you have an actual search engine or advertising model. In the meantime, let Google buy DoubleClick. If they fail to deliver on either front, there are plenty of competitors who will willingly accept all their dissatisfied customers.
So if you're like me, wondering what is being slashvertised today, Alfresco is an open source content management system like SugarCRM.
A CMS (Content Management System) or CRM or Wiki allows a large number of users to collaborate online, typically meeting business needs like product delivery, scheduling, Human Resource management, and internal business documentation.
Does anyone know of other similar open source projects? In specific, I'm curious if there are other projects like SugarCRM. I know about all the different Wikipedia projects.
We've got hungry executives to feed, and those Gulfstream jets don't exactly fly themselves, you know
There's more truth to that than meets the eye. I'm sure, if all the assets in Enron were totalled, there was enough to settle accounts. That is, before the Execs cashed out, hopped in their Gulfstreams, and exited the country.
If the RIAA or the Labels behind it are about to go under, I promise you long before any of us knows about it, the Execs will bail with golden parachutes. Everyone else can scrabble over the pennies.
The whole point of the article was to shift us to hi-def hardware. From the article:
1. The internet is a series of tubes:
In its journey from CD to MP3 player, the music has been compressed by eliminating data that computer analysis deems redundant, squeezed down until it fits through the Internet pipeline.
2. These aren't the DRM you're looking for. Move along. (EMI's deal to do iTunes plus will be "indistinguishable." But, for me, it is DRM-free and that's all that matters! Why don't they mention DRM?)
EMI Records announced earlier this year the introduction of higher-priced downloads at a slightly higher bit rate, although the difference will be difficult to detect. "It's probably indistinguishable to even a great set of ears," says Levitin.
3. Leading comments about how this new-fangled "HD Audio" thang will fix it for you like magic. Just keep spending, spending, spending.
The files will have to be stored at higher sampling rates and higher bit rates. [Please re-purchase all your music.]
Computing power will have to grow. New playback machines will have to be introduced. [Please re-purchase all your home theater equipment, and include DRM this time.]
(Ramone thinks high-definition television is the model for something that could be "HD audio.") [Since DVD-Audio didn't convince you, let's try it under a new name.]
Since no where on earth (no country I have ever read about) has had a company build the infrastructure from scratch if there is already an existing infrastructure
What about the Cable companies? They have identical infrastructure to the Telcos. Although their growth has been chaotic, they have always been a data network. First they competed against broadcast TV (and originally, IIRC, they illegally duplicated broadcast channels over the cable network, and later came back and signed licensing deals). Then they added cable modems and moved into the Telco market. But with Video-on-Demand and IPTV now, the cable cos have better FCC licenses than the Telcos, since they are already allowed to distribute video.
Girlfriends tend to outperform Spouses though. When they get their nice cosy contract they do far less work.
How much work is it to keep that contract? To actually love you? Along the same lines, how much work is it for Linus Torvalds to keep linux kernel developers productive? How much work is it to keep the project going where he intends it to go?
Shows exactly why amateurs are better than life time employed professionals.
That's not true, either for Linux or marriage. The large number of lifetime software professionals paid to work on open source projects indicates that they are more valuable than a script kiddie.
Spouses also tend to generate children which is a problem that only they can reasonably solve, this ensures that you don't fire them to look for a better performing model.
And why wouldn't you fire them? The law (in the US and UK) requires you to pay support for any children you produce, but you are certainly allowed to divorce the spouse. Software generally doesn't even have any laws mandating you continue to support it, though abandonware is closer to the behavior of a hooker than a spouse.
In the end the professional looks to do everything to make themselves irreplaceable, they leave you in a situation where it would cost you a lot of money and time learning to unravel their work if you opt to go for that young thing on a hot streak. For this reason you should always stick with amateurs to begin with.
From the way you describe software professionals, and spouses, I would assume you have not met very professional professionals or very loving spouses. In the end, two people in love look to do everything possible to enhance the quality of life of their significant other. They take out life insurance policies so it won't cost you even if they are taken from you by chance.
Hookers and Microsoft are amateurs. They try to cheat you as many ways as they can. You may be able to beat them some of the time, but the House Always Wins.
Slashdot Mirror
- I googled "diskless htpc". This looks promising. It doesn't have details, though.
- Boot from a linux install on a USB thumb drive.
- Boot from a "Persistent Live USB" (or google for things like "casper" and "casper-rw")
- Netboot (PXE boot), and set up an NFS root or SMB root (not sure if SMB root has been done before)
- Netboot or boot from USB, and run from a ramdrive root. Then even if network goes down, system still has basic functionality (net being down is more of an issue on a home network and an always-on HTPC)
The other issue is the instant-on behavior. I looked at this a while ago when I was installing a uATX motherboard in my car. I'd say the biggest problem is the time it takes for the BIOS to POST. I timed it at 7 sec. Even when I had my kernel booting in 2 sec. and a GUI loaded in 2 sec. (initng, not loading X, small root partition), the BIOS was taking way too long.I'm waiting for better LinuxBIOS and kexec support.
Since the mouse has only one cute little button (nose), it can fly past the windows. Who needs to go by the Gates? This mouse has Ball(mer)s. Insert Steve Jobs pwns Disney with Mouse joke here.
You, sir, are absolutely right.
Still, Apple is by no means unseated from their dominant market position. The Record Labels could only lose, and lose they have: they have stiffed Apple *only* by offering mp3 downloads from Amazon. Wow, what a blow...
A real loss would be if Apple caved in and started selling tracks with variable pricing. On the other hand, what if Apple now said, "we will no longer sell DRMed tracks. Go give your DRM arguments to Amazon." As long as they continued to operate the iTunes store, Amazon would never have a full monopoly (there will always be a few people who buy through iTunes). Apple would be able to eliminate the DRM baggage on their music players, and in their contracts with the record labels. And the consumer would win, too.
You answer your own question. Companies like TomTom should buy from Red Hat.
I think you've got me on 2. I suppose people could "buy gold" by redeeming notes and create a deflationary spiral. But explain to me what a deflationary spiral would look like when the currency is backed by gold? I'm having a hard time imagining this.
For 1, it would be a win-win to tie gold to a large currency system: it would stabilize the currency system, and it would stabilize the gold price. For example, a lot of the volatility of gold prices right now is (by some) attributed to the devaluing US Dollar, so if that is the case often enough, tie the two to each other and everybody wins. What am I missing?
For 3, it's not the amount of oil in reserve, it's actually the amount being traded. As the amount of oil produced (and traded) increases, the value of the US Dollar increases. Thus Hurricane Katrina was a big deal.
Easy. Design allows it to run at high temperatures. So heat it up. Usie anything from gas to electricity.
Will somebody please mod the parent +1 insightful? Or post his bullet points at the top of wikipedia?
... because that, rather than e.g. cancer cures, have the highest return."
As a counter-argument (I have to play devil's advocate here):
1) The volatility of gold is only tied to the supply and demand of it. If the supply of gold increases, does it really reduce the value of currencies? Or does it create new wealth? If it creates new wealth (in the hands of the mining companies) then it hasn't reduced the value of gold holdings, as long as demand increases proportionate with supply. This is why gold is usually put forth as a standard: the demand for it increases almost exactly 1:1 with the increase of the supply. Or, in other words, there is infinite demand, but the price sensitivity is linear.
2) The opportunity cost of not being able to manufacture electronics with gold in it (or jewelry, or whatever you're going to do with the gold) is balanced by the opportunity cost of running out of gold. Gold is rare. It's not as rare as some other minerals, but by putting significant amounts in reserve, any government can then guarantee the value of its currency. Hyperinflation is a significant opportunity cost just so that manufacturers (and jewelers) have an unlimited supply of gold.
3) This may be the hardest one to counter. The environmental cost of mining for gold will probably never be properly taxed or regulated. I think the best counterargument is to compare a gold standard with our current environmental crisis, fueled by the U.S. Government's insistence that all oil be sold for U.S. Dollars (source). If we assume (pretty naively) that oil will continue to be pegged to the U.S. Dollar, then we effectively have Oil as our currency backing right now. The result is that in times of economic growth, (now I'm quoting you) "Increasingly huge portions of the economy are diverted to [oil] production
The environmental impact of mining is arguably more controllable (it stays on the ground) than that of burning oil (it causes GLOBAL pollution).
OK, so please respond to me and let's debate the pros and cons of a gold standard.
The best way to get FAH would be to add the Sony FAHrootkit(r) in the Sonygcc that everyone is forced to use to develop games for the PS3. Developers would be testing with a dummy FAH running in the background and not even know it. Work Units by stealth.
Naturally, they couldn't put that in the Preferences menu...
The clipping is final, and can't be fixed, but I've been thinking of writing a de-compressor that aims to reproduce the original sound automatically. I know there are decompressors out there but they require careful tuning and don't really try to "get back" the original. The truth is, information is lost when the sound is compressed. But just getting real dynamic range back would be nice.
But maybe I haven't looked hard enough. Anyone know of something like this?
Here's the complete list to prove it (sorry for the lame formatting, it's Slashdot's lameness filter):
Well, your NSPSO needs an analyst, a consultant, an engineer, an intern, and a secretary for good measure. Fortunately, NSPSO Project 2037 makes Pointy-Haired Bosses obsolete. So don't invest in the Harvard Business School in 2036.
In all seriousness, NSPSO's would still need to be debugged. They would need to be tested on the new Apple iThinkThereforeIam designed by the Microsoft NSPSO v1.0 in Jobs' office. Someone would have to explain BusinessSpeak in terms an NSPSO could understand, and since BS 2007 is completely different from BS 2002, I am extrapolating that BS 2037 will be an entirely new language unrecognizable by anything from 2007. It will probably have thousands of new TLA's, but the BS NSPSO 2038 will be the killer app that every business buys. From SCO.
I can't find any primary sources on that (no, small government times doesn't count). Cite a source, please?
E.g. this wikipedia article does not prove that Ron Paul is a life-long libertarian.
Because there can be no conviction if he refuses to press charges. It's only a theft if the property owner claims that it wasn't being given away. But laws vary.
This article shows how you can be arrested in the UK. Here is an email (on the interesting-people mailing list, google cache) about a case in Canada where a man was convicted for "war driving." But apparently, in the US (as of 2002) there is only an FBI advisory - from the politech mailing list
Perhaps someone with more legal knowledge can reply and update us on the state of the law in the US. And note that I'm not talking about DMCA violations if the connection is WEP or WPA-encrypted. I'm looking just at the "wireless theft" part.
The story is tagged "copoi"... Romanian for hound? What does that mean?
I think this article is misleading. They talk about the antitrust investigation into Google's acquisition of DoubleClick... caused by:
... hypothetical. Wake me up when you have an actual search engine or advertising model. In the meantime, let Google buy DoubleClick. If they fail to deliver on either front, there are plenty of competitors who will willingly accept all their dissatisfied customers.
Complaints that "publishers might fear that if they did not deal with Google, their ranking in Google's search engine might be affected"
In other words:
Before Google ever drops my search ranking because I cancelled my DoubleClick subscription, I'm going to spread FUD about this hypothetical possibility, and insist the Government shut them down.
There is also the typically worries about privacy after Google knows not only what you search for, what AdWords you click on, but now what DoubleClick Banners and Pop-Ups you click on too. And they talk about some of Google's competitors, trying to find the next Google killer. They think Wikia and OpenAds will be more open-source (Google's PageRank is a "closely guarded secret") and won't collect any consumer information.
It's all just so
So if you're like me, wondering what is being slashvertised today, Alfresco is an open source content management system like SugarCRM.
A CMS (Content Management System) or CRM or Wiki allows a large number of users to collaborate online, typically meeting business needs like product delivery, scheduling, Human Resource management, and internal business documentation.
Does anyone know of other similar open source projects? In specific, I'm curious if there are other projects like SugarCRM. I know about all the different Wikipedia projects.
If the RIAA or the Labels behind it are about to go under, I promise you long before any of us knows about it, the Execs will bail with golden parachutes. Everyone else can scrabble over the pennies.
It's just another example of how the article tries to equate "compression" with loss of quality, and lead the reader to a foregone conclusion.
1. The internet is a series of tubes:
2. These aren't the DRM you're looking for. Move along. (EMI's deal to do iTunes plus will be "indistinguishable." But, for me, it is DRM-free and that's all that matters! Why don't they mention DRM?)
3. Leading comments about how this new-fangled "HD Audio" thang will fix it for you like magic. Just keep spending, spending, spending.
I won't be buying...
king-manic, I think I disagree: What about the Cable companies? They have identical infrastructure to the Telcos. Although their growth has been chaotic, they have always been a data network. First they competed against broadcast TV (and originally, IIRC, they illegally duplicated broadcast channels over the cable network, and later came back and signed licensing deals). Then they added cable modems and moved into the Telco market. But with Video-on-Demand and IPTV now, the cable cos have better FCC licenses than the Telcos, since they are already allowed to distribute video.
From the way you describe software professionals, and spouses, I would assume you have not met very professional professionals or very loving spouses. In the end, two people in love look to do everything possible to enhance the quality of life of their significant other. They take out life insurance policies so it won't cost you even if they are taken from you by chance.
Hookers and Microsoft are amateurs. They try to cheat you as many ways as they can. You may be able to beat them some of the time, but the House Always Wins.