This plan has been in place for a couple years. IIRC it was a 5 or 6 year plan. But the cable companies and TV companies have been dragging their feet. If they had started broadcasting DTV sooner more people would be using it now. Same goes for HDTV's if companies were broadcasting for it and TV manufactures were actually trying to sell the sets to the middle class it would be much more popular and affordable.
Same old problem Linux has/had: "Don't use it because people aren't developing apps for it. Let's not develope apps for it because people aren't using it." Instead it is "Don't broadcast HDTV because people don't have the sets. Don't make the sets affordable because nobody broadcasts in HDTV." Same for DTV.
Somebody has to do something. The studios need to start making DTV and HDTV shows or cable companies need to start supporting it and TV manufactures lowing their prices or nothing will get done. And the FCC is getting fed up with none of them doing anything.
But uptime by itself is not a valid measure of the reliability of a system.
Neither is having the latest kernal patch. But your argument for why long uptimes are idiotic was so you can put in the latest kernel patch. I say if you pick your hardware right you can find very stable drivers that shouldn't require you to need to patch the kernel thus you get high uptimes. Which can be a vaild measurement when also looking at what else the server was doing. Especially if uptime is important for the application. The ability to move services helps make this less of a requirement, but also adds a lot of variables that can cause problems (Oops somebody forgot a little piece of the payroll system needed the machine, doh, nobody's getting paid this week). So isn't wise to take some preventive measure to reduce the likelyhood of needing a kernel patch?
Any measurement by itself is rarely valid proof of the greatness of the measured item. Oooh this plane does Mach 10, (yeah but does it kills the pilot?). Oooh this car does 0-60 in.00001 sec (yeah but can it stop?). Oooh I'm running kernel 100.75.99 (yeah but what did you have to go through to get there?). Oooh I have 9 million days of uptime (yeah but was it doing anything?)
They are all idiotic statistics when looked at individually, but by gathering various stats and looking at them as a whole you can get an idea of the reliability of a system.
And anyway, no sysadmin worth his salt will place high uptime ahead of keeping up to date with kernel patches.
HUH?!?! Any sysadmin worth his/her salt would know that you should only bring down a production server if NEEDED. If you don't need the latest kernal patch, say it fixes a bug in a driver for card XYZ, but you don't have card XYZ, do you need to patch? Heck no. Keep the baby running, and your clients/users happy, by NOT patching just for the sake of patching.
Maybe when you say "up to date patches" you mean patches actually needed, but if you really need good uptime you could design the system around drivers that are very stable and unchanging thus reducing the chance that you will need to patch.
IIRC you can still find some pre-1.0 linux kernels out there running. Why? Because the system requirements haven't changed, if it is stable and secure and does what it is supposed to do, don't mess with it.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but does the locking on the Intel chips have anything to do with the speeds of your PCI or AGP buses? They run off speeds based on the FSB. The multipliers for them are located on the chipset(BX/i820/etc) not the CPU. And these multipliers are not locked. Check out the new VIA Apollo Pro Plus 133 it allows you to up your FSB to 133 and multiply down your AGP bus to within spec (something not possible on the BX chipset).
Katz lays some heavy blame on Arnold. He is only an actor. Not the writer or director of this movie. Also Arnold's genre is Armageddon movies? Huh?
The only moives I can think of that Arnold is in that deals with the end of the world as we know it are EoD, the terminator movies. Yes he has starred in many action movies where he needs to stop some other large thing(building, town, etc) from being distroyed or stop some larger than life enemy, but that is a common model of the Action genre and will always be. Hopefully Hollywood will stop making Armageddon movies, but I hope they continue to make great action films.
Action films are not about believable stunts either. Ever see a James Bond movie? Did you like it? Were there unbelievable stunts? Most people will say yes to all three questions. Movies are often about suspending your beliefs in how the world works and escaping in a fantasy world. Or Star Wars or Star Trek, hearing explosions in space? Who cares! It is JUST A MOVIE!
One more thing, Dogma ROCKED! It questions faith, but really ends up being pro God. Also I'm sorry Katz can't handle humor and seriousness at the same time. I think it made the movie dynamic and a joy to watch while still providing a interesting story. Kevin Smith needs to work on his directing, but his writing is by far one of the best in the industy IMHO.
I know a lot of people that think C is too lax. Only one way to do something? Are you kidding me? while() vs for() vs until(). Arrays vs. pointer manip. Pointers alone can cause severe headaches if not used properly. Want more examples of problems with C and readability? It is only recently that basic C standards have been widespread that C has become more readable. Java is slightly better in that it is strongly typed, otherwise it mimics C to a great extent.
I could show you some C code that is still in use that uses the K&R style of C. And I've had other programmers ask me why the params were not in the parens of the function name.
Ok, I love C. I love Java. I love Perl. Each has it's good points and bad points. Each can be used to write horrible horrible code, or very elegant pretty code. You hit the nail on the head saying that it is the programmer's fault and inexperience. Also the people that hired them. Perl can be maintainable with some standards. C can be very ugly and unwieldy without them. Granted Perl is the most flexible, but since we as an industry moved away from languages that have a forced structure there has always been a problem with maintainability. And it has been up to the shop to enforce some types of standards.
Um, yes, Java is interpreted. There is an extra step than pure interpretation(they is called compiling, and it is). But you still need the VM(Vitual Machine, a.k.a. the interpreter) to run the program. It doesn't exist in machine code like pure compiled code. The VM "interpretes" the bytecode and runs it just like any other interpreter.
Ok, maybe you could call it a high-bred, but I'd still say it is interpreted because of the need of a VM.
Actually I don't think the free market would solve this one. Big farmers(all US farmers even the small ones are big compared to many third world farmers) would still buy the ones with the "Terminator" genes, because they buy new seeds every year. The seeds have advantages that these farmers are willing to pay for.
In fact, unless Monsanto patented it and inforces the patent, I would think other seed companies would try to copy the idea. They would all still happily make enough money off the larger farmers, while 3rd world farmers would find life much more difficult.
I was just discussing this with my Dad about a two months ago. He has been a farmer most of his life. I did work on the farm, but it has been awhile so this is all IIRC.
The "Terminator" seeds don't really effect US farmers. Why? Because they already buy new seeds every year. Why would they do that if they can re-sow what they have? Because they can't, current seeds have been cross-bread and genetically engineered already to the point where the second-gen seeds are not nearly as good as the original. How are they not as good? They don't produce as much crop as the originals, they aren't as resistant to bugs and weather, they aren't as healthy, etc. The cost of new seeds every year doesn't compare to the equipment costs and amount produced with new seeds. It is economically in their best interest to pay a little extra to get more yield.
So smart-guy who does this affect? Third world countries. Many of these farmers don't have all the equipment that big first world farmers have. They are out there with their ox and hand plow. So for them it does become economically better to re-sow seeds even if they don't produce as well. The cost of the seeds is their highest cost.
I think the US farmer organizations lobbied against it on principle though.
I'll agree with you, for almost the exact same situation. I mentioned big-O a couple times and I think there are only 2 or 3 people out of 30 that know what I'm talking about. But you know what, most of the time it isn't needed to know these things.
What is one way that things are changing? VB, JavaBeans, and other RAD tools. I've talked to a lot of people and they aren't looking for too many highly trained programmers, they want a lot of people that can slap some components together with Visual Basic or Visual Cafe. Sure they need a few smart ones for architecture and a few other tasks, but they want to turn out a product quick not make the best product they can make.
I think that attitude will bite some companies that want to be around for a long time. If their RAD tool disappears that'll hurt. Maintence may become a problem too. If the system architect gets hit by a bus you're screwed.
Anyway there will probably always be a place for the good programmers and sysadmins, even if the shortage goes away. I don't foresee the shortage ending really soon now, but I also don't expect it to last forever. I know my old college CS department doubled in size with one freshman class when I was a senior. That was only a couple years ago.
I took a typing class in HS and I have no problem with my wrists. But I have been having problems with my fingers. I am guessing this is a type of RSI and not CTS. Anybody with more information about RSI's and how to prevent them?
Why do I want a device that combines a Cell phone and a PDA? I don't want to have to carry both my organizer and my Cell phone around. I don't want to surf the web or play games on it. It would just make life a little easier if I had one thing that had phone #'s, addy's, appointments, take notes, make calls. Checking e-mail would be kind of nice, but I don't really want a hand-held laptop. I want it to perform just some basic functions and to perform them very well. And also be able to interface to a PC or laptop. One cool feature would be a PointCast type application that could fetch info that you've set it up to get. Kind of like the sports scores and stock prices you can get on some pagers.
Heck, I'm pretty ecstatic my digital phone has a phone # rolladex and caller ID. I would much rather have a laptop for mobile computing simply because of the larger/better screen and keyboard. Once again I want a PDA/Cell phone that doesn't try to be a PC. It should strive to be a convenient tool and not try to do everything.
I have a few more URL's, but they are only cover specific types of hardware like one for 3D boards, BX mobos, AMD chips, etc. Note these aren't really in any order of preference, but I do read Ars and Sharky the most.
I stand correct(actually I'm still sitting). Thanks for the info. Did Activition buy the rights to the games from Microprose? Or is this blatent coping?
Um, I don't think you can call it a rip-off. Isn't CTP from the company that Sid worked for when he created Civ and Civ2? I think they still have the right's to the engine. I think Sid got to take with him the name "Civilization". Sure Sid didn't work on it directly, but it is a derivitive of his work. Probably from many of the same people that worked on the originals with him. It isn't like a new company copy-catted the idea. Loki was hired to port CTP to Linux. How are they at fault?
Everything is the way to go. Once E2 is out it will be even better. We just need a Palm-type interface into it. As an everything contributer I would probably waste some money on one.
Everythings entry on Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a guide written to aid a galactic traveler in his or her or its journey through space.
Nah.
What it *really* is is a massively cross-indexed, incredibly complex, impossible to maintain reference book several million pages in length. Lots of internet-culture stuff is from here. See earth, 42.
It bears a striking resemblence to the Linux kernel source.
Written by Douglas Adams.
H2G2's entry for Everything:
Sorry it appears H2G2 is slashdoted. But everything is still up. hmmmm.
Everything: 63004 nodes, 8816 users, 735448 links and counting.
Open and shut as in if the Government did not use entrapment and he wasn't set up, what is there to argue about? They pretty much caught him red handed. Unless he had a good reason for having kiddie porn (which I can't come up with one legit reason). Now there is the question of Intent. Did he intend to have have real life sex with what he thought was a 13-year-old? That surely will be the debate, but it could be a tough argument either way depending on the evidence found in the previous correspondance. Since it involves knowing the thoughts of one man he will probably be the only one to ever really know the truth.
The Fatty Arbuckle thing looks like it is exactly what I was talking about. Naughton will be scarred for life whether he is guilty or not.
I really don't get the reference to the Salem Witch Trials. How does dunking a person, if they drown they were innocent, relate to me thinking there isn't a lot of points to argue in this case?
Of course a lawyer with a enought money can probably come up with quite a few things I can't.
Kind of like that OJ thing. Oh wait he was even found Innocent, but everybody still says they know he was guilty. To which I always ask "How do you know he was guilty, because I have no clue if he actually did it or not?"
Let me repeat that before somebody claims I defending OJ or this guy. I don't know. Granted some evidence heavily pointed toward OJ, and he may have done it and used all his money to get off scot free. But I don't know that nor have any proof to claim that.
The public will decide this guy's guilt or innocence long before the justice system does. But from the sounds of it this is a pretty open and shut case and if so I hope he gets a punishment appropriate for the crime(like multiple public whippings ala Starship Troopers). But we've all see what money can do:)
Actually you are still the copywrite holder of the software. The GPL isn't like releasing something into the public domain (which by doing you actually do lose all rights). You can release the same version of the same software with another license. If somebody else takes your GPL'ed code they must release under the GPL(this is the virus like nature of it), but you don't have to. Your next version could be under the WSL(warmi Software Lisence). You do surrender some rights, but you should probably know exactly what your rights under any software lisence you use.
Rochester, I liked the town when I was there on business. I really like the Empire Brewery. Damn fine stout.
I live in St. Louis, Mo (2.5 million). I've only lived here 2 years, and would feel much safer in the town I grew up in, in Nebraska(pop. 6,639). Still, I will probably be in St. Louis on 12.31.99, and I'm not really worried, but I would feel safer somewhere that I lived for 18 years.
Ah, but I come from a small town where I have alot of family and friends. Approx. 7,000 people not exactly "the hills". I'm not talking about heading into the country. But a small community where you know everybody around you. Atleast I would feel safer in that type of environment. Even a good suburb where you know all your neighbors, isn't bad.
Slashdot Mirror
Same old problem Linux has/had: "Don't use it because people aren't developing apps for it. Let's not develope apps for it because people aren't using it." Instead it is "Don't broadcast HDTV because people don't have the sets. Don't make the sets affordable because nobody broadcasts in HDTV." Same for DTV.
Somebody has to do something. The studios need to start making DTV and HDTV shows or cable companies need to start supporting it and TV manufactures lowing their prices or nothing will get done. And the FCC is getting fed up with none of them doing anything.
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Neither is having the latest kernal patch. But your argument for why long uptimes are idiotic was so you can put in the latest kernel patch. I say if you pick your hardware right you can find very stable drivers that shouldn't require you to need to patch the kernel thus you get high uptimes. Which can be a vaild measurement when also looking at what else the server was doing. Especially if uptime is important for the application. The ability to move services helps make this less of a requirement, but also adds a lot of variables that can cause problems (Oops somebody forgot a little piece of the payroll system needed the machine, doh, nobody's getting paid this week). So isn't wise to take some preventive measure to reduce the likelyhood of needing a kernel patch?
Any measurement by itself is rarely valid proof of the greatness of the measured item. Oooh this plane does Mach 10, (yeah but does it kills the pilot?). Oooh this car does 0-60 in .00001 sec (yeah but can it stop?). Oooh I'm running kernel 100.75.99 (yeah but what did you have to go through to get there?). Oooh I have 9 million days of uptime (yeah but was it doing anything?)
They are all idiotic statistics when looked at individually, but by gathering various stats and looking at them as a whole you can get an idea of the reliability of a system.
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HUH?!?! Any sysadmin worth his/her salt would know that you should only bring down a production server if NEEDED. If you don't need the latest kernal patch, say it fixes a bug in a driver for card XYZ, but you don't have card XYZ, do you need to patch? Heck no. Keep the baby running, and your clients/users happy, by NOT patching just for the sake of patching.
Maybe when you say "up to date patches" you mean patches actually needed, but if you really need good uptime you could design the system around drivers that are very stable and unchanging thus reducing the chance that you will need to patch.
IIRC you can still find some pre-1.0 linux kernels out there running. Why? Because the system requirements haven't changed, if it is stable and secure and does what it is supposed to do, don't mess with it.
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The only moives I can think of that Arnold is in that deals with the end of the world as we know it are EoD, the terminator movies. Yes he has starred in many action movies where he needs to stop some other large thing(building, town, etc) from being distroyed or stop some larger than life enemy, but that is a common model of the Action genre and will always be. Hopefully Hollywood will stop making Armageddon movies, but I hope they continue to make great action films.
Action films are not about believable stunts either. Ever see a James Bond movie? Did you like it? Were there unbelievable stunts? Most people will say yes to all three questions. Movies are often about suspending your beliefs in how the world works and escaping in a fantasy world. Or Star Wars or Star Trek, hearing explosions in space? Who cares! It is JUST A MOVIE!
One more thing, Dogma ROCKED! It questions faith, but really ends up being pro God. Also I'm sorry Katz can't handle humor and seriousness at the same time. I think it made the movie dynamic and a joy to watch while still providing a interesting story. Kevin Smith needs to work on his directing, but his writing is by far one of the best in the industy IMHO.
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I know a lot of people that think C is too lax. Only one way to do something? Are you kidding me? while() vs for() vs until(). Arrays vs. pointer manip. Pointers alone can cause severe headaches if not used properly. Want more examples of problems with C and readability? It is only recently that basic C standards have been widespread that C has become more readable. Java is slightly better in that it is strongly typed, otherwise it mimics C to a great extent.
I could show you some C code that is still in use that uses the K&R style of C. And I've had other programmers ask me why the params were not in the parens of the function name.
Ok, I love C. I love Java. I love Perl. Each has it's good points and bad points. Each can be used to write horrible horrible code, or very elegant pretty code. You hit the nail on the head saying that it is the programmer's fault and inexperience. Also the people that hired them. Perl can be maintainable with some standards. C can be very ugly and unwieldy without them. Granted Perl is the most flexible, but since we as an industry moved away from languages that have a forced structure there has always been a problem with maintainability. And it has been up to the shop to enforce some types of standards.
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Ok, maybe you could call it a high-bred, but I'd still say it is interpreted because of the need of a VM.
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If I actually cared I'd do a search and find out if the person actually exits and her book is actually being published. Hmm, maybe I will.
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In fact, unless Monsanto patented it and inforces the patent, I would think other seed companies would try to copy the idea. They would all still happily make enough money off the larger farmers, while 3rd world farmers would find life much more difficult.
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The "Terminator" seeds don't really effect US farmers. Why? Because they already buy new seeds every year. Why would they do that if they can re-sow what they have? Because they can't, current seeds have been cross-bread and genetically engineered already to the point where the second-gen seeds are not nearly as good as the original. How are they not as good? They don't produce as much crop as the originals, they aren't as resistant to bugs and weather, they aren't as healthy, etc. The cost of new seeds every year doesn't compare to the equipment costs and amount produced with new seeds. It is economically in their best interest to pay a little extra to get more yield.
So smart-guy who does this affect? Third world countries. Many of these farmers don't have all the equipment that big first world farmers have. They are out there with their ox and hand plow. So for them it does become economically better to re-sow seeds even if they don't produce as well. The cost of the seeds is their highest cost.
I think the US farmer organizations lobbied against it on principle though.
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What is one way that things are changing? VB, JavaBeans, and other RAD tools. I've talked to a lot of people and they aren't looking for too many highly trained programmers, they want a lot of people that can slap some components together with Visual Basic or Visual Cafe. Sure they need a few smart ones for architecture and a few other tasks, but they want to turn out a product quick not make the best product they can make.
I think that attitude will bite some companies that want to be around for a long time. If their RAD tool disappears that'll hurt. Maintence may become a problem too. If the system architect gets hit by a bus you're screwed.
Anyway there will probably always be a place for the good programmers and sysadmins, even if the shortage goes away. I don't foresee the shortage ending really soon now, but I also don't expect it to last forever. I know my old college CS department doubled in size with one freshman class when I was a senior. That was only a couple years ago.
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Heck, I'm pretty ecstatic my digital phone has a phone # rolladex and caller ID. I would much rather have a laptop for mobile computing simply because of the larger/better screen and keyboard. Once again I want a PDA/Cell phone that doesn't try to be a PC. It should strive to be a convenient tool and not try to do everything.
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- Sharky Extreme
- Ars Technica
- AnandTech
- Hard OCP
- Ace's Hardware
- CompHardware
- Tom's Hardware
- The Tech Zone
- Thresh's FiringSquad
- Review News
I have a few more URL's, but they are only cover specific types of hardware like one for 3D boards, BX mobos, AMD chips, etc. Note these aren't really in any order of preference, but I do read Ars and Sharky the most.--
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Everythings entry on Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
- The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a guide written to aid a galactic traveler in his or her or its journey through space.
H2G2's entry for Everything:Nah.
What it *really* is is a massively cross-indexed, incredibly complex, impossible to maintain reference book several million pages in length. Lots of internet-culture stuff is from here. See earth, 42.
It bears a striking resemblence to the Linux kernel source.
Written by Douglas Adams.
- Sorry it appears H2G2 is slashdoted. But everything is still up. hmmmm.
Everything: 63004 nodes, 8816 users, 735448 links and counting.--
The Fatty Arbuckle thing looks like it is exactly what I was talking about. Naughton will be scarred for life whether he is guilty or not.
I really don't get the reference to the Salem Witch Trials. How does dunking a person, if they drown they were innocent, relate to me thinking there isn't a lot of points to argue in this case?
Of course a lawyer with a enought money can probably come up with quite a few things I can't.
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Let me repeat that before somebody claims I defending OJ or this guy. I don't know. Granted some evidence heavily pointed toward OJ, and he may have done it and used all his money to get off scot free. But I don't know that nor have any proof to claim that.
The public will decide this guy's guilt or innocence long before the justice system does. But from the sounds of it this is a pretty open and shut case and if so I hope he gets a punishment appropriate for the crime(like multiple public whippings ala Starship Troopers). But we've all see what money can do :)
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Actually you are still the copywrite holder of the software. The GPL isn't like releasing something into the public domain (which by doing you actually do lose all rights). You can release the same version of the same software with another license. If somebody else takes your GPL'ed code they must release under the GPL(this is the virus like nature of it), but you don't have to. Your next version could be under the WSL(warmi Software Lisence). You do surrender some rights, but you should probably know exactly what your rights under any software lisence you use.
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Rochester, I liked the town when I was there on business. I really like the Empire Brewery. Damn fine stout.
I live in St. Louis, Mo (2.5 million). I've only lived here 2 years, and would feel much safer in the town I grew up in, in Nebraska(pop. 6,639). Still, I will probably be in St. Louis on 12.31.99, and I'm not really worried, but I would feel safer somewhere that I lived for 18 years.
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So, I do want to be in A city just not a large metropolitan area.
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Ah, but I come from a small town where I have alot of family and friends. Approx. 7,000 people not exactly "the hills". I'm not talking about heading into the country. But a small community where you know everybody around you. Atleast I would feel safer in that type of environment. Even a good suburb where you know all your neighbors, isn't bad.
So I do want to be in *A
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