Why boycott Windows XP? I'm not going to buy it for many reasons, not least of which is the price, but why boycott? The pricing clearly shows that their target market is business. I figure that any business that expends its capital on locking itself into monopolistic Microsoft products will simply spend itself into non-competitiveness. A prudent business will look long and hard at all of its options before writing a check to Redmond.
These are hard times. Everyone has to learn to do more with less. The IT department is not exempt from this economic reality. The CIO who blows the budget on the fastest new computers and the latest bloated commercial software had best keep his resume up to date.
"I didn't get rich by writing a lot of checks!" -- "Bill Gates" on The Simpsons
I'm delighted that SuSE has received another cash infusion. I've used SuSE for years, and it's solid, stable, a cinch to install, and comes with the entire contents of Freshmeat.net (OK, so I exaggerate - but not much!)
The most important thing is that it's the number 2 distribution, behind RedHat. They keep RedHat on their toes, and vice-versa. A little competition is a Good Thing. Besides, you've got to love a distribution that urges you to "Have a lot of fun..."
Personally, I think the best part of the article was the masterful self-control displayed by Lars Lindberg Christensen, who responded to the reporter's mind-numbingly stupid question by reassuring him that there's "no apparent danger" that the earth would be hit by this asteroid and waited until the reporter had left the room before convulsing in derisive laughter.
Just in case, though, we'd better send Bruce Willis...
Re:If you're in Eastern Mass. AT&T's lying
on
Broadband Crackdown
·
· Score: 2
I'm not on AT&T. I deliberately went with Verizon DSL because they didn't care what I was doing with my bandwidth. There are no prohibitions against httpd, etc. in the Verizon AUP.
What disturbs me most is not so much that they did it, but that they gave absolutely NO notification. I was beating up my server and firewall yesterday trying to figure out why I couldn't access my webserver from outside of my home LAN. Finally I got the bright idea that I was being blocked, and started checking around. Verizon's website has an announcements section, but there's nothing there about filtering http. Finally found a rather oblique reference on their system status page.
It's no way to run an airline...
I thought I'd read The Power of Positive Thinking, but what's the use...
Remember The Starlost? It was out about - oh, almost 30 years ago. A great premise, but it all fell apart due to a strike and studio machinations. Ellison refused to have his name on it, using instead his pseudonym "Cordwainer Bird."
IMHO, GROPOS, despite being scripted by David Gerrold, was a weak episode. The scene of the dead soldiers at the end looked like a staged tableau. Nevertheless, with the possible exception of "Infection," even a weak B5 episode was hands down better than what's been churned out lately by the Trek franchise. Pity, too. I just watched a bit of Voyager this afternoon. Fantastic opening, beautiful heroic music, and then the letdown of a silly plot. (Does anyone else think that the Voyager spaceship looks like Douglas Adams' description of the Heart of Gold, "a sleek running shoe?")
"Never send me something cute." -- JMS, about the "Bear-ba-lon 5" teddie bear
I'm a Verizon DSL customer, and this is an utter non-issue. For ~ $25/year, I have my own domain through a DDNS provider and I just run my own mail server. No sweat, and a good deal more reliable than Verizon's has been over the past year.
For the students who are suffering because they can no longer claim to be @foobar.edu when sending through @verizon.net, may I suggest a quick look at
RFC2822? Mail programs don't respond to the "From" address, they respond to the "Reply-To" address.
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
I've seen several slashdotters insist that this technology only invades the privacy of criminals and sex offenders. The innocent have nothing to fear.
Two things bother me about this stance. The first is that, while the apparatus of the state is currently aimed towards criminals, there's nothing to prevent it from being aimed at other "undesirables." It would take no time at all. The second is that while solid citizens may have nothing to fear, what about all us hollow citizens? Are any of us so scrupulously observant of the law? Or does the sight of flashing blue in the rear view mirror or the sound of the word "audit" give you a chill?
I received a traffic ticket in the mail once. I felt as though I'd been anonymously denounced to the authorities. It's one thing when the cop pulls you over; it's something much more disturbing when you're told that you were observed violating the law by persons or machines unknown.
Are you paranoid if they're really out to get you?
'Scuse, please. This argument of "it's not your network, it's the Organization's network" may be fine in a business environment. It's not a good argument in academia. The students are paying considerable bucks for the switched Ethernet dorm rooms. We are fully cognizent of the fact that a student doesn't just make the decision to attend our school once: he or she makes it each and every semester for four or five years. We engage in a never-ending upgrade cycle to keep our current students happy and attract new ones.
So, sure, we can tell students that they may not serve pr0n from a campus server, but forcing them to surrender their privacy because we're troubled about viruses? I don't think so. It's never a good idea to piss off the people who are giving you money.
Besides, he is no chef. He stood upon his cutting board. No chef would ever stand upon his cutting board.:-)
As any fan of the show knows, brash young Turks who are too full of themselves never win. Any bets that Flay will show a more respectful mien in Tokyo?
If the theme ingredient is still alive, take one drink --Iron Liver
What Mr. McNeally seems to miss is that while I would like it if my computer kept track of my taste in movies, etc. and gave me recommendations based on that, I really don't want that information to be on your computer, to be used for purposes neither known nor sanctioned by me.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the defendant before you may look quiet and unassuming, but that is merely a cunning disguise. He is, in fact, a homicidal sociopath. We've seen computer records that prove he regularly buys murder mysteries and watches slasher movies..."
Since it appears that the original article is specious, at best, the only thing remaining to discuss is whether "Headcasting" is a good idea.
To this discussion I will contribute one word: Bandwidth.
Unless you and everyone you're talking to has lots and lots of bandwidth, any kind of "headcast" is a pipe dream. Either the picture of your correspondent is the size of a postage stamp, or there's a palpable delay that fouls up visual cues and leaves parties stumbling over themselves when they try to jump in to the perceived pause in the conversation.
None of this is a slam at Matrox. I use a Matrox G450 myself and am very pleased with it.
"This is CNN." "You must avenge my death, Kimba... I mean, Simba." "Luke, I am your father."
I recently heard an old radio drama interrupted with a conversation by a grizzled old cowpoke and a smooth-talking announcer about a remarkable car battery that only required refilling four times a year (under normal driving conditions). Call Western Union and ask for Operator 80 for the location nearest you!
I wonder if, fifty years hence, today's high-tech product placements will seem just as artificial and funny as the old radio car battery and Jello tapioca pudding placements are today.
And now, another thrilling adventure with Tom Mix and his Ralston Straight-Shooters!
I agree with previous posters that Bill Shatner is the only actor in America who is as over-the-top as Chairman Kaga. However, there's more to Iron Chef than a flamboyant host and breathless commentary. The part I most enjoy is the strange and unique dishes made from strange and unique foods that likely as not were still writhing when the Chairman introduced the theme ingredient.
Unless the American show comes up with something really outrageous, it's going to be just Emeril kicked up a few more notches.
I don't think I've watched a TV show at the time it was broadcast in a year. Thanks to ReplayTV, I get to see what I want, when I want. (And the 30-second commercial skip is a godsend, too. Somebody really should explain to advertisers that the demographic who watches BBC America is not the demographic who buy cheesy Chia pets.)
The benefit of digital TV is a sharper, clearer signal - but only, apparently, if I'm watching the original broadcast. No, thank you. I've been liberated from "Must See Monday" and "Trapped in Front of the Tube Tuesday." I'm not going back.
Television is called a medium because anything well done is rare.
Is It Too Late To Get In On The Ground Floor?
on
The Worst Of Times
·
· Score: 1
What a brilliant idea! This is gonna make millions - no, BILLIONS! I missed out on Microsoft and Apple - I'm not gonna miss out on the Next New Thing! I'm gonna buy a heap of these stocks. Just let me liquidate my 401K and...
Only in America do we put people on pedestals because it's so entertaining to watch them fall. Most of these unfortunates are young. They've come far and fast by having the right kind of smarts at the right time and place. That they didn't know they were living in a speculative bubble and far beyond their means is due to inexperience and hubris, not malice.
We've enjoyed the longest peacetime economic expansion in our history, but it's over. The saying is that a recession is when someone you know loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. There but for fortune...
When I was a kid, radio was a magical passport to other places, other people, other lives. Listening to distant stations still gives me that thrill.
One of the fun things about driving cross-country is that you get to hear local radio. It's too late for most of the FM band - as others have noted, it's now mostly homogenized Musak controlled by small handful of media companies. The AM dial is a lot more fun. Hog feed ads and local housewives calling a cooking show with their pickle recipes and even Bible-thumping preachers add to the sense that you're actually travelling somewhere different, not just sitting on an anonymous Interstate.
Best of all is driving in Canada. The CBC is great!
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - Einstein
I remember the first time I heard someone speaking loudly on a bus. I heard no reply, but he answered as if there were. Moving slowly so as not to alarm him, I turned and found he was talking on a mobile phone.
Cell phones are now ubiquitous. Many people now have headsets and no longer assume the standard pose of holding one hand to the jaw which identifies the cell phoner from the raving nutter.
Soon, it will be impossible to tell the sane from the mentally MIA. We'll be seeing things that no one else can see, talking into the empty air, and scribbling notes on our finger. This is progress?
Psychotherapy is great! Just look at what it's done for Woody Allen!
The rational part of my mind dismisses this story as trivial. 1.7 GHz. Not far from 2 GHz. But I surely don't need to concern myself with that - my work box is 800 MHz and my big home box is an Athlon 1 GHz. All my software performs quickly and efficiently.
The irrational part of my mind cries, "Look! 1.7 GHz! That's almost 2 GHz! Blazing speed! Raw, brute, merciless POWER! More!! MORE!!! I'm still not satisfied!!!"
I can hold off the irrational only so long. When that magicical hertz hits two gigs, the irrational is going to sneak up behind my rational mind with an icepick.
"Everything louder than everything else!" -- Meatloaf
Slashdot Mirror
"My God! It's full of stars!"
These are hard times. Everyone has to learn to do more with less. The IT department is not exempt from this economic reality. The CIO who blows the budget on the fastest new computers and the latest bloated commercial software had best keep his resume up to date.
"I didn't get rich by writing a lot of checks!" -- "Bill Gates" on The Simpsons
The most important thing is that it's the number 2 distribution, behind RedHat. They keep RedHat on their toes, and vice-versa. A little competition is a Good Thing. Besides, you've got to love a distribution that urges you to "Have a lot of fun..."
Just in case, though, we'd better send Bruce Willis...
What disturbs me most is not so much that they did it, but that they gave absolutely NO notification. I was beating up my server and firewall yesterday trying to figure out why I couldn't access my webserver from outside of my home LAN. Finally I got the bright idea that I was being blocked, and started checking around. Verizon's website has an announcements section, but there's nothing there about filtering http. Finally found a rather oblique reference on their system status page.
It's no way to run an airline...
I thought I'd read The Power of Positive Thinking, but what's the use...
"Never send me something cute." -- JMS, about the "Bear-ba-lon 5" teddie bear
For the students who are suffering because they can no longer claim to be @foobar.edu when sending through @verizon.net, may I suggest a quick look at RFC2822? Mail programs don't respond to the "From" address, they respond to the "Reply-To" address.
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
1. Very little of the content is worth anything to me.
2. That which is worth anything provides no payment mechanism.
3. I'm a cheap bastard.
I didn't get rich writing a lot of checks.
--Bill Gates on "The Simpsons"
Two things bother me about this stance. The first is that, while the apparatus of the state is currently aimed towards criminals, there's nothing to prevent it from being aimed at other "undesirables." It would take no time at all. The second is that while solid citizens may have nothing to fear, what about all us hollow citizens? Are any of us so scrupulously observant of the law? Or does the sight of flashing blue in the rear view mirror or the sound of the word "audit" give you a chill?
I received a traffic ticket in the mail once. I felt as though I'd been anonymously denounced to the authorities. It's one thing when the cop pulls you over; it's something much more disturbing when you're told that you were observed violating the law by persons or machines unknown.
Are you paranoid if they're really out to get you?
Latin is a language, as dead as it can be.
First it killed the Romans, and now it's killing me.
So, sure, we can tell students that they may not serve pr0n from a campus server, but forcing them to surrender their privacy because we're troubled about viruses? I don't think so. It's never a good idea to piss off the people who are giving you money.
Gaudeamus igatur, iuvenes dum sumus...
As any fan of the show knows, brash young Turks who are too full of themselves never win. Any bets that Flay will show a more respectful mien in Tokyo?
If the theme ingredient is still alive, take one drink --Iron Liver
Human being. Do not bend, spindle, or mutilate.
Unless you and everyone you're talking to has lots and lots of bandwidth, any kind of "headcast" is a pipe dream. Either the picture of your correspondent is the size of a postage stamp, or there's a palpable delay that fouls up visual cues and leaves parties stumbling over themselves when they try to jump in to the perceived pause in the conversation.
None of this is a slam at Matrox. I use a Matrox G450 myself and am very pleased with it.
"This is CNN." "You must avenge my death, Kimba... I mean, Simba." "Luke, I am your father."
I wonder if, fifty years hence, today's high-tech product placements will seem just as artificial and funny as the old radio car battery and Jello tapioca pudding placements are today.
And now, another thrilling adventure with Tom Mix and his Ralston Straight-Shooters!
Unless the American show comes up with something really outrageous, it's going to be just Emeril kicked up a few more notches.
Bang!
Allez Cuisine!
The benefit of digital TV is a sharper, clearer signal - but only, apparently, if I'm watching the original broadcast. No, thank you. I've been liberated from "Must See Monday" and "Trapped in Front of the Tube Tuesday." I'm not going back.
Television is called a medium because anything well done is rare.
Oh. Oh, dear.
"Never mind..." -- Emily Litella
We've enjoyed the longest peacetime economic expansion in our history, but it's over. The saying is that a recession is when someone you know loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. There but for fortune...
Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold...
One of the fun things about driving cross-country is that you get to hear local radio. It's too late for most of the FM band - as others have noted, it's now mostly homogenized Musak controlled by small handful of media companies. The AM dial is a lot more fun. Hog feed ads and local housewives calling a cooking show with their pickle recipes and even Bible-thumping preachers add to the sense that you're actually travelling somewhere different, not just sitting on an anonymous Interstate.
Best of all is driving in Canada. The CBC is great!
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - Einstein
Cell phones are now ubiquitous. Many people now have headsets and no longer assume the standard pose of holding one hand to the jaw which identifies the cell phoner from the raving nutter.
Soon, it will be impossible to tell the sane from the mentally MIA. We'll be seeing things that no one else can see, talking into the empty air, and scribbling notes on our finger. This is progress?
Psychotherapy is great! Just look at what it's done for Woody Allen!
"A blessing for Tsar? Of course! May God bless and keep the Tsar... Far away from us!
Fiddler on the Roof
Everything old is new again!
Famous Last Words: "Oh, hi Laur... err, Sandra!"
The irrational part of my mind cries, "Look! 1.7 GHz! That's almost 2 GHz! Blazing speed! Raw, brute, merciless POWER! More!! MORE!!! I'm still not satisfied!!!"
I can hold off the irrational only so long. When that magicical hertz hits two gigs, the irrational is going to sneak up behind my rational mind with an icepick.
"Everything louder than everything else!" -- Meatloaf