Couldn't you just have changed the channel their router operated on? That would let them continue to use their wireless unharmed (so you avoid the bad karma:-) ) and your signal wouldn't get drowned out.
For those too lazy to watch the presentation, here are the personas:
Linux ExperimenterCharacteristics: "Tester" of Linux, willing to try Microsoft, Windows is the default choice for servers.
Sales pitch: don't experiment, use Windows, it's tried and true.
Market FollowerCharacteristics: Prefer Microsoft, risk-averse, don't really like Linux.
Sales pitch: Windows is the best in the enterprise. Look beyond initial cost to maintenance and reliability.
Application DrivenCharacteristics: Like Linux because it works and it's reliable.
Sales pitch: more productivity and lower TCO with Windows.
Linux AficionadoCharacteristics: Believe Linux is just better.
Sales pitch: lower TCO, more reliable, remember to avoid Microsoft vs Open Source.
UNIX TransitionerCharacteristics: Wants to take UNIX apps to Linux, not familiar with Windows.
Sales pitch: IIS is more secure, better TCO.
I've thought about it. Here's an outline I came up with:
/home/ - home directories
/home/user_name/ - holds all configuration files, including user-specific program configurations
/app/ - program files
/app/unique_program_name - holds all program binaries/documentation/libraries/configuration files. Also has a file called/app/program_name/index.conf that holds the location of the binaries directory and the help directory. The system reads this file and uses it for the man command and $PATH. The goal of these/app directories is that they hold everything a program depends on to run, so that a program can be copied from computer to computer simply by copying the program's/app directory.
/sys/ - system files
/sys/boot/ - holds boot partition
/sys/conf/ - holds system-wide configuration (not specific application configuration!)---for example,/sys/conf/users (the modern equivalent of/etc/passwd)
/dev/ - devices. Pretty much exactly like Unix/dev/, except with more human-readable device names.
/temp/ - temporary files
/temp/user_name/ - temporary files for each user.
/temp/system/ - system temp files.
/mnt/ - automounted file systems like the cdrom drive.
I'm presuming that if a student contacted the administration with a compelling reason to unblock a site, that it would be
Unfortunately, you presume incorrectly. My high school, for example, uses a WebSense proxy. When a site is blocked, the student is redirected to a page saying so, with a form to fill out if the site should be unblocked.
The school proxy blocks both mozilla.com and sourceforge.net. I filled out the unblock form for both of these sites, but 6 months later, they are still blocked.
While I accept that schools should block sites like MySpace, if they impose a blanket ban and don't make any effort to correct the filters, what choice do students have but to use a proxy?
FYI, I run a Squid proxy and an SSH server on port 443 on my home computer. To bypass the proxy for sites that genuinely shouldn't have been blocked, I tunnel traffic over SSH to the Squid proxy.
There was an alternative all along: S5. It stores presentations in XHTML+CSS and uses Javascript to advance to the next slide. It's friendly even for browsers that don't support Javascript or CSS---it falls back to plain text rather nicely.
You pay them for the programming information---the TV Guide for the TiVo. I know, it's really a ripoff, but TiVo Just Works, so it's worth it to a lot of people.
I do this to bypass filtering proxies using an SSH server on my home machine listening on 443, plus Squid on the same machine. The problem is that, since all Web content has to go through my cable modem uplink, Internet access becomes very slow -- 350kbps in my case. So I'm not sure if this solution is practical as an always-on kind of thing.
What really cracks me up, though, is that he argues that when deleting documents, there should be *no* confirm. I've had a few times when that windfall was really helpful, when I've accidentally hit the delete button or selected delete, and then said "No, I don't really want to delete this file." He compares it to starting a car, where the car doesn't ask you if you want to start the car or not. This is a horrible analogy: the last time I checked, turning a key didn't do something as devestating as, say, deleting your car.
I agreed with your post up till that point. I find a quick delete to be very handy. If I want to recover something, that's what the Recycle Bin/Trash is there for. And if you're concerned about new users not knowing about the recycle bin, go the way of Gmail: say "File foo has been deleted. Undo" and make the Undo a button.
At first I was kinda let down by the demo. The load time really wasn't that impressive compared to OpenOffice on my Pentium-M Edgy system. Then I came across something amazing....
Planner (spreadsheet program) can actually do excel style charting (read: crappy but easy for routine tasks) with half-decent trendlines and the ability to show the forula on the chart.
This basic functionality has been on my openoffice wishlist for years, I've filed requests for it with OO.o but got nothing. I've even tried to implement it myself but OO's code is kinda scary. Since then I started using gnuplot for plotting, but for basic stuff its kind of overkill.
I have a similar problem as you -- all my Windows-using classmates can make graphs and plot trendlines easily in Excel. I run Ubuntu Edgy and OpenOffice can't do stuff like trendlines.
I found a Windows program called Padowan Graph. It runs smoothly in Wine and can take a list of points and find a trendline, as well as being able to export to PNG, allowing me to include the graphs it produces in any of my documents.
solution #4: stop taking about worms! what the hell. that's not even an issue anymore. (since XP SP2 has buit-in firewall that's on by default...)
That's an interesting point. Everyone talks about how you don't even have enough time to install the latest patches when you plug in a computer because viruses will take it over so fast. So is the Windows firewall letting things in that it shouldn't (I don't think that's so likely), is Internet Explorer letting itself be infected without ever visiting a site other than Windows Update (no way), or are they talking about Windows XP pre-SP2?
During elementary, middle, and high school (and part of college) you're required to take core classes like English and History. Often the material taught in these classes has no relevance to what you will do after high school, and it's usually taught without depth -- just cover enough material to get by on the state exam. Case in point: AP World History. You cover ~8000 years of history in a 1-2 year period, and most of that is forgotten weeks after the final AP exam. It doesn't help in life. Instead, students should have the option to make most of their classes on a particular subject -- for example, math or computer science (obviously my two favorites). In my experience, many students already know what field they want to work in after college, and rather than treating all students like they don't have any idea what they're good at, high school should be a time to focus primarily on one area of study.
I agree with you -- that's why I use Firefox + NoScript. But there is a whitelist feature in NoScript, and the two sites on my whitelist are Google and Slashdot.
Slashdot Mirror
The server is just asking to be Slashdotted, with a 5.3MB file, so here's a torrent.
Couldn't you just have changed the channel their router operated on? That would let them continue to use their wireless unharmed (so you avoid the bad karma :-) ) and your signal wouldn't get drowned out.
Actually, the OSS world does have use cases. For example, see Ubuntu's use cases:
For those too lazy to watch the presentation, here are the personas:
Linux Experimenter Characteristics: "Tester" of Linux, willing to try Microsoft, Windows is the default choice for servers.Sales pitch: don't experiment, use Windows, it's tried and true. Market Follower Characteristics: Prefer Microsoft, risk-averse, don't really like Linux.
Sales pitch: Windows is the best in the enterprise. Look beyond initial cost to maintenance and reliability. Application Driven Characteristics: Like Linux because it works and it's reliable.
Sales pitch: more productivity and lower TCO with Windows. Linux Aficionado Characteristics: Believe Linux is just better.
Sales pitch: lower TCO, more reliable, remember to avoid Microsoft vs Open Source. UNIX Transitioner Characteristics: Wants to take UNIX apps to Linux, not familiar with Windows.
Sales pitch: IIS is more secure, better TCO.
Yes, she has. She pled not guilty in advance (before the trial, that is).
Here, let me show you: "and there's no reason not to think there won't be" "and there's no reason not to think there won't be"
Parent really deserves "+1 Insightful".
And a lot of other useful sites—mozilla.org for instance.
Even Firefox does that when you try to open a lot of tabs at once. I use Linux, but you can't bash Microsoft for something they did right.
Well he could be using Perl. Long live Perl! :)
Unfortunately, you presume incorrectly. My high school, for example, uses a WebSense proxy. When a site is blocked, the student is redirected to a page saying so, with a form to fill out if the site should be unblocked.
The school proxy blocks both mozilla.com and sourceforge.net. I filled out the unblock form for both of these sites, but 6 months later, they are still blocked.
While I accept that schools should block sites like MySpace, if they impose a blanket ban and don't make any effort to correct the filters, what choice do students have but to use a proxy?
FYI, I run a Squid proxy and an SSH server on port 443 on my home computer. To bypass the proxy for sites that genuinely shouldn't have been blocked, I tunnel traffic over SSH to the Squid proxy.
While we're spoiling jokes, you forgot to capitalize your WHERE. (I know, SQL is case-insensitive, but why not stick to standards?)
Sorry, you're mistaken. I have 6.10 and there's no Beagle.
There was an alternative all along: S5. It stores presentations in XHTML+CSS and uses Javascript to advance to the next slide. It's friendly even for browsers that don't support Javascript or CSS---it falls back to plain text rather nicely.
You pay them for the programming information---the TV Guide for the TiVo. I know, it's really a ripoff, but TiVo Just Works, so it's worth it to a lot of people.
Um...Firefox, at least, does do that.
I do this to bypass filtering proxies using an SSH server on my home machine listening on 443, plus Squid on the same machine. The problem is that, since all Web content has to go through my cable modem uplink, Internet access becomes very slow -- 350kbps in my case. So I'm not sure if this solution is practical as an always-on kind of thing.
I agreed with your post up till that point. I find a quick delete to be very handy. If I want to recover something, that's what the Recycle Bin/Trash is there for. And if you're concerned about new users not knowing about the recycle bin, go the way of Gmail: say "File foo has been deleted. Undo" and make the Undo a button.
Planner (spreadsheet program) can actually do excel style charting (read: crappy but easy for routine tasks) with half-decent trendlines and the ability to show the forula on the chart.
This basic functionality has been on my openoffice wishlist for years, I've filed requests for it with OO.o but got nothing. I've even tried to implement it myself but OO's code is kinda scary. Since then I started using gnuplot for plotting, but for basic stuff its kind of overkill.
I have a similar problem as you -- all my Windows-using classmates can make graphs and plot trendlines easily in Excel. I run Ubuntu Edgy and OpenOffice can't do stuff like trendlines.
I found a Windows program called Padowan Graph. It runs smoothly in Wine and can take a list of points and find a trendline, as well as being able to export to PNG, allowing me to include the graphs it produces in any of my documents.
Mirror of that
That's an interesting point. Everyone talks about how you don't even have enough time to install the latest patches when you plug in a computer because viruses will take it over so fast. So is the Windows firewall letting things in that it shouldn't (I don't think that's so likely), is Internet Explorer letting itself be infected without ever visiting a site other than Windows Update (no way), or are they talking about Windows XP pre-SP2?
But...1 + 1! always equals 2... Oh wait...
During elementary, middle, and high school (and part of college) you're required to take core classes like English and History. Often the material taught in these classes has no relevance to what you will do after high school, and it's usually taught without depth -- just cover enough material to get by on the state exam. Case in point: AP World History. You cover ~8000 years of history in a 1-2 year period, and most of that is forgotten weeks after the final AP exam. It doesn't help in life.
Instead, students should have the option to make most of their classes on a particular subject -- for example, math or computer science (obviously my two favorites). In my experience, many students already know what field they want to work in after college, and rather than treating all students like they don't have any idea what they're good at, high school should be a time to focus primarily on one area of study.
I agree with you -- that's why I use Firefox + NoScript. But there is a whitelist feature in NoScript, and the two sites on my whitelist are Google and Slashdot.