....a Metacity theme that would work well on an 800x600 display.
This is a problem I've had with a lot of Linux software lately. Many developers assume a 1024x768 or larger display. This seems to be especially problematic with preferences dialogs. GAIM, for example, uses a massive preferences dialog, which is not resizeable. I think there are a lot of people using older hardware where the resolution is limited, (after all, wasn't part of the promise of Linux that you could give new life to old hardware?) and apps which make this assumption can be very difficult to use.
Advertising is one of the reasons I got rid of my ReplayTV. At first, there was none, but then after an update some time ago, it started showing ads when I'd pause a program. I bought one of these devices because I don't want to see ads. Ever. So I sold it, bought a hackable set-top box, and plan to install MythTV. I'll bet a lot of tech-savvy TiVo customers are now having similar thoughts.
"About babies and RFID... well, I have to say, I wouldn't say no to an RFID in the _bracelet_ that they already put on babies for identification. Certainly it'll come off as soon as it leaves hospital grounds, but I wouldn't mind it in a health-care setting. Heck, I wouldn't mind it in all patient's bracelets. But I'd cut out an implant with a knife."
Something like this is already being done, though it's not necessarily RFID. My sister-in-law had a baby last week, and the hospital had some kind of chip on a bracelet around the baby's ankle. If the chip was removed from skin contact, the alarms go off and the hospital gets locked down. If the baby is taken into an elevator with the bracelet on, a code has to be entered on a keypad to allow it to move. It sounded like an interesting, and probably very effective, system.
I've been using Thunderbird as an IMAP client since 0.3 or 0.4, and I've never had a problem with it, even after switching to IMAPS around the 0.5 release. It's been nothing but great for me.
As it stands, I have to navigate to/home/user/Documents/School/3A/ECE354/OS/src/memmg r/ to even access the files I'm working on for school. That's _9_ windows cluttering my screen, and I do this every day.
One thing I wish they had brought over from Windows is the ability to shift-click the close button of a file manager window, making that window, and all of its parents, close. It's a major time-saver when you have that many directory windows open.
I don't want anyone to think that this is a put down against Fedora, they do some wonderful work, but nothing that you mentioned has anything to do with Red Hat/Fedora. You should instead be thanking the kernel and Gnome developers for making your distribution faster.
You're right. Another heartfelt 'thank you' and many virtual beers to the hardworking hackers of the kernel, GNOME, and all of the other packages without which Linux distros could not be what they are today.
I downloaded Fedora Core 2 using the.torrent that was posted yesterday, and it's fast. Very fast. The combination of the 2.6 kernel, and updated GNOME flies on my P-III 600 compared to FC1. Menus appear in probably half the time they did before, as do Nautilus windows. Download and enjoy! And 'thank you' to the crew who work on Fedora!
Unfortunately, that turns out not to be the case. Think of any random business requirement that can be addressed by software - say, "Capital Depreciation Analysis". Google for a set of products to evaluate.
Note that at least 99 out of 100 products you find to meet that need are Windows apps. If not 99999/100000. And if you tell me "run it under an emulator", I am afraid the business units' response will be "if we need an emulator, why not just get Windows in the first place".
The real solution here is "use the right tool for the job." Maybe right now you do need Windows to do Capital Depreciation Analysis, but why not use Linux for things where it works well? For anyone who just needs a word processor or spreadsheet, email, and a web browser, Linux is quite usable.
Why should programming be taught to the average student instead of office applications such as Word? You call this a waste of computers? Rather than programming, it is more likely that these students will need office software skills when they enter the work force. NCLB states students are to be proficient at technology before leaving the 8th grade.
Because computer programming develops high-order reasoning and critical thinking skills? Basic office software skills, which is all kids are learning about technology, are dead easy to pick up, and for word processing and spreadsheets, I think kids could be taught the basics in an hour or less, per program. They should know as much as they need to complete real academic work. Education != Vocational Training
Apparently the country expects students to be able to do independant research, web research, use an electronic card catalog, type up reports, etc, in high school without a teacher walking them through every tiny little step. I think that is a pretty good goal.
I think the problem this article is trying to show is that kids are learning how to do things on a computer to the detriment of traditional pen-and-paper skills. They're doing research on the web without checking their libraries because it's easier, and they may be doing this before they've developed their critical thinking and analysis skills to the point where they can better distinguish valuable information from junk. I think there's a whole lot more junk online than valuable info. That said, I agree that being able to use an online card catalog is a valuable skill, as is online research. It is, however, my opinion that for basic academic work, the library skills should be emphasized over the computer, since the barrier to entry for print publishing is higher, and the information more likely to be accurate.
I don't care if students did that 20 years ago without computers. 20 years ago they didn't have libraries' card catalogs on computers, they didn't have online encyclopedias, they didn't have online discussion forums where students could follow that conversations and discussions of our greatest minds. I have two points there, one that resources are being made available on a computer versus paper and ink as they were 20 years ago; and secondly, that resources we have never had as a culture/society/student are now ours for the taking...if we have the skills and equipment to access them.
Again, personal opinion only here, and this is a general comment on online discussion, not a personal attack, but I think "our greatest minds" are far more likely to be represented in print than in online discussion fora.
So the way I see it, Lucas would have to edit all of that stuff out if he wants people to keep thinking that he had the whole story planned out from the start.
Anyone who's actually seen the movies should have no illusions that the entire storyline was laid out in advance.:-P
This seems like a good idea on the surface, and the music industry claims to be filing these lawsuits to protect the artists, but the reality is somewhat different as I understand it. From what I've read, musicians' contracts usually stipulate that although the *song* (the music and lyrics) may belong to the artist, the recorded performance (which is actually being downloaded) belongs to the label. So, if you're paying the artist directly, they would see that as paying the wrong person, and they would probably still have a legitimate copyright infringement claim against you (IANAL, of course).
The problem is, how do you trust someone who's just broken into your systems to tell the truth about how they did it? Or to tell you everything they did? You can't, so you must look over everything, and probably reinstall your systems.
The serial number you're referring to is the computer's hardware serial number, not a CD-key for installing the OS, which I believe was what the parent was talking about.
How nice would it be to go rent a movie and then not have to drive back to the store the next day?
That just leads to ridiculous waste. Think about it: you and countless other people "renting" (buying) self-destructing DVDs and their associated packaging and throwing them away after a single viewing? Ugh. We have enough waste problems already. Please, drive back to the store.
Yup. It'll be just like IPv6: "We're not supporting that until everybody else does." (Which is, of course, exactly what "everybody else" is thinking, too.)
It says right in the article (did you read it?) that "Japan plans to spend about 1 billion yen (US$8.3 million) funding Asian software developers working on the open-source Linux operating system for consumer electronics goods, an official said Wednesday." That is a sizable commitment.
The $450k figure in the article comes from this: " Tokyo has already budgeted 50 million yen (US$416,000) for next fiscal year to study the possibility of switching government computers to an open-source operating system." Note, that's the city of Tokyo, not the Japanese government.
First, this isn't your typical "imagine a beowulf cluster of these" troll. Also, I don't know much about Linux clustering, but...
What is the viability of using a cluster of moderately powerful workstations as an application server? If my limited understanding of OpenMosix, for example, is correct, your thin clients should be able to run an application from the cluster, have the cluster take care of the load balancing issues, and (ideally) ensure a positive experience for the users.
Does anyone else have thoughts on something like this?
I seem to remember most of the ones I've encountered as Universal Pictures' DVDs. I haven't found a way to get past that irritating intro, but I'll have to try the Stop, then Play again trick mentioned above.
I just confirmed with a phone call to Apple's Up-to-Date hotline: only systems bought on or after today qualify. People like myself, who just spent $4000 on a new mac LAST WEEK, don't qualify, and will have to spend $130 for a point release upgrade.
Forgive me if I'm just a LITTLE bitter.
Apple: if you're reading this, you might want to widen your upgrade window to avoid pissing off your early adopters.
It's not a VBA macro, but my office uses a program called WordPort, which converts back and forth between many word processing formats. It's
a little spendy (by a Free Software user's standards) at $149, but it does do a good job and is helpful if you need to convert documents often, and it is capable of batch processing.
WordPort's website isn't flashy, but the software gets the job done.
I wholeheartedly agree with you: TV is all about the ads. Last night, my wife and I watched "Moonraker" on ABC, which had a three-hour time slot. About 30 minutes in, I realized that four out of every 15 minutes were spent in commercials, totalling over 49 minutes of advertising interruptions. Rather than wasting an hour of my time trying to ignore the ads, I decided to spend it reading Cryptonomicon, and found that more enjoyable than the movie.
I've found that after all but ignoring the commercial broadcast networks for several weeks, (nothing but PBS on TV and NPR on the radio, with the exception of ABC World News) trying to watch or listen to anything on those networks is a frustrating experience, to put it mildly. I also realized that the local TV "news" broadcast I'd been watching is utter rubbish. I plan to try out the other local stations' news broadcasts and see if I can find anything more substantial, but I'm not holding my breath.
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This is a problem I've had with a lot of Linux software lately. Many developers assume a 1024x768 or larger display. This seems to be especially problematic with preferences dialogs. GAIM, for example, uses a massive preferences dialog, which is not resizeable. I think there are a lot of people using older hardware where the resolution is limited, (after all, wasn't part of the promise of Linux that you could give new life to old hardware?) and apps which make this assumption can be very difficult to use.
Advertising is one of the reasons I got rid of my ReplayTV. At first, there was none, but then after an update some time ago, it started showing ads when I'd pause a program. I bought one of these devices because I don't want to see ads. Ever. So I sold it, bought a hackable set-top box, and plan to install MythTV. I'll bet a lot of tech-savvy TiVo customers are now having similar thoughts.
Way to go, TiVo.
"About babies and RFID... well, I have to say, I wouldn't say no to an RFID in the _bracelet_ that they already put on babies for identification. Certainly it'll come off as soon as it leaves hospital grounds, but I wouldn't mind it in a health-care setting. Heck, I wouldn't mind it in all patient's bracelets. But I'd cut out an implant with a knife."
Something like this is already being done, though it's not necessarily RFID. My sister-in-law had a baby last week, and the hospital had some kind of chip on a bracelet around the baby's ankle. If the chip was removed from skin contact, the alarms go off and the hospital gets locked down. If the baby is taken into an elevator with the bracelet on, a code has to be entered on a keypad to allow it to move. It sounded like an interesting, and probably very effective, system.
I've been using Thunderbird as an IMAP client since 0.3 or 0.4, and I've never had a problem with it, even after switching to IMAPS around the 0.5 release. It's been nothing but great for me.
The only real problem then is packet sniffing.
Even that's not an issue for GAIM users, thanks to the GAIM Encryption plugin.
As it stands, I have to navigate to /home/user/Documents/School/3A/ECE354/OS/src/memmg r/ to even access the files I'm working on for school. That's _9_ windows cluttering my screen, and I do this every day.
One thing I wish they had brought over from Windows is the ability to shift-click the close button of a file manager window, making that window, and all of its parents, close. It's a major time-saver when you have that many directory windows open.
I don't want anyone to think that this is a put down against Fedora, they do some wonderful work, but nothing that you mentioned has anything to do with Red Hat/Fedora. You should instead be thanking the kernel and Gnome developers for making your distribution faster.
You're right. Another heartfelt 'thank you' and many virtual beers to the hardworking hackers of the kernel, GNOME, and all of the other packages without which Linux distros could not be what they are today.
I downloaded Fedora Core 2 using the .torrent that was posted yesterday, and it's fast. Very fast. The combination of the 2.6 kernel, and updated GNOME flies on my P-III 600 compared to FC1. Menus appear in probably half the time they did before, as do Nautilus windows. Download and enjoy! And 'thank you' to the crew who work on Fedora!
Unfortunately, that turns out not to be the case. Think of any random business requirement that can be addressed by software - say, "Capital Depreciation Analysis". Google for a set of products to evaluate.
Note that at least 99 out of 100 products you find to meet that need are Windows apps. If not 99999/100000. And if you tell me "run it under an emulator", I am afraid the business units' response will be "if we need an emulator, why not just get Windows in the first place".
The real solution here is "use the right tool for the job." Maybe right now you do need Windows to do Capital Depreciation Analysis, but why not use Linux for things where it works well? For anyone who just needs a word processor or spreadsheet, email, and a web browser, Linux is quite usable.
Why should programming be taught to the average student instead of office applications such as Word? You call this a waste of computers? Rather than programming, it is more likely that these students will need office software skills when they enter the work force. NCLB states students are to be proficient at technology before leaving the 8th grade.
Because computer programming develops high-order reasoning and critical thinking skills? Basic office software skills, which is all kids are learning about technology, are dead easy to pick up, and for word processing and spreadsheets, I think kids could be taught the basics in an hour or less, per program. They should know as much as they need to complete real academic work. Education != Vocational Training
Apparently the country expects students to be able to do independant research, web research, use an electronic card catalog, type up reports, etc, in high school without a teacher walking them through every tiny little step. I think that is a pretty good goal.
I think the problem this article is trying to show is that kids are learning how to do things on a computer to the detriment of traditional pen-and-paper skills. They're doing research on the web without checking their libraries because it's easier, and they may be doing this before they've developed their critical thinking and analysis skills to the point where they can better distinguish valuable information from junk. I think there's a whole lot more junk online than valuable info. That said, I agree that being able to use an online card catalog is a valuable skill, as is online research. It is, however, my opinion that for basic academic work, the library skills should be emphasized over the computer, since the barrier to entry for print publishing is higher, and the information more likely to be accurate.
I don't care if students did that 20 years ago without computers. 20 years ago they didn't have libraries' card catalogs on computers, they didn't have online encyclopedias, they didn't have online discussion forums where students could follow that conversations and discussions of our greatest minds. I have two points there, one that resources are being made available on a computer versus paper and ink as they were 20 years ago; and secondly, that resources we have never had as a culture/society/student are now ours for the taking...if we have the skills and equipment to access them.
Again, personal opinion only here, and this is a general comment on online discussion, not a personal attack, but I think "our greatest minds" are far more likely to be represented in print than in online discussion fora.
So the way I see it, Lucas would have to edit all of that stuff out if he wants people to keep thinking that he had the whole story planned out from the start.
Anyone who's actually seen the movies should have no illusions that the entire storyline was laid out in advance. :-P
This seems like a good idea on the surface, and the music industry claims to be filing these lawsuits to protect the artists, but the reality is somewhat different as I understand it. From what I've read, musicians' contracts usually stipulate that although the *song* (the music and lyrics) may belong to the artist, the recorded performance (which is actually being downloaded) belongs to the label. So, if you're paying the artist directly, they would see that as paying the wrong person, and they would probably still have a legitimate copyright infringement claim against you (IANAL, of course).
The problem is, how do you trust someone who's just broken into your systems to tell the truth about how they did it? Or to tell you everything they did? You can't, so you must look over everything, and probably reinstall your systems.
The serial number you're referring to is the computer's hardware serial number, not a CD-key for installing the OS, which I believe was what the parent was talking about.
Easier still, just say "(movie title) is a registered trademark of (studio)".
How nice would it be to go rent a movie and then not have to drive back to the store the next day?
That just leads to ridiculous waste. Think about it: you and countless other people "renting" (buying) self-destructing DVDs and their associated packaging and throwing them away after a single viewing? Ugh. We have enough waste problems already. Please, drive back to the store.
Yup. It'll be just like IPv6: "We're not supporting that until everybody else does." (Which is, of course, exactly what "everybody else" is thinking, too.)
OT, but I work for a 501(c)(3), and I'd love to have your NetVistas. :)
It says right in the article (did you read it?) that "Japan plans to spend about 1 billion yen (US$8.3 million) funding Asian software developers working on the open-source Linux operating system for consumer electronics goods, an official said Wednesday." That is a sizable commitment.
The $450k figure in the article comes from this: " Tokyo has already budgeted 50 million yen (US$416,000) for next fiscal year to study the possibility of switching government computers to an open-source operating system." Note, that's the city of Tokyo, not the Japanese government.
Read the article.
First, this isn't your typical "imagine a beowulf cluster of these" troll. Also, I don't know much about Linux clustering, but...
What is the viability of using a cluster of moderately powerful workstations as an application server? If my limited understanding of OpenMosix, for example, is correct, your thin clients should be able to run an application from the cluster, have the cluster take care of the load balancing issues, and (ideally) ensure a positive experience for the users.
Does anyone else have thoughts on something like this?
I seem to remember most of the ones I've encountered as Universal Pictures' DVDs. I haven't found a way to get past that irritating intro, but I'll have to try the Stop, then Play again trick mentioned above.
I just confirmed with a phone call to Apple's Up-to-Date hotline: only systems bought on or after today qualify. People like myself, who just spent $4000 on a new mac LAST WEEK, don't qualify, and will have to spend $130 for a point release upgrade.
Forgive me if I'm just a LITTLE bitter.
Apple: if you're reading this, you might want to widen your upgrade window to avoid pissing off your early adopters.
It's not a VBA macro, but my office uses a program called WordPort, which converts back and forth between many word processing formats. It's a little spendy (by a Free Software user's standards) at $149, but it does do a good job and is helpful if you need to convert documents often, and it is capable of batch processing. WordPort's website isn't flashy, but the software gets the job done.
I wholeheartedly agree with you: TV is all about the ads. Last night, my wife and I watched "Moonraker" on ABC, which had a three-hour time slot. About 30 minutes in, I realized that four out of every 15 minutes were spent in commercials, totalling over 49 minutes of advertising interruptions. Rather than wasting an hour of my time trying to ignore the ads, I decided to spend it reading Cryptonomicon, and found that more enjoyable than the movie.
I've found that after all but ignoring the commercial broadcast networks for several weeks, (nothing but PBS on TV and NPR on the radio, with the exception of ABC World News) trying to watch or listen to anything on those networks is a frustrating experience, to put it mildly. I also realized that the local TV "news" broadcast I'd been watching is utter rubbish. I plan to try out the other local stations' news broadcasts and see if I can find anything more substantial, but I'm not holding my breath.
I did this for a while, but with a fun twist: I shredded everything first. :)