I'm a Red Hat/Fedora user since Red Hat 4 (Slackware before that) and as a 25-year UNIX veteran, I often feel like I have no idea what's going on in (for example) the init process, X configuration, desktop management, app resources/configuration, etc. Where are the dotfiles located? Where are the/etc components? What are the command-line arguments? Where are the manual pages? What documentation does exist is generally in the awful "Help Tool" format (click Help -> Help Contents in an application window and get a lot of prose for beginners). This documentation typically offers NO INFORMATION beyond the navigation of the user interface for the application. Nothing on system resources, locations of configuration files, dependencies, APIs, command line arguments, or anything that would allow you to either troubleshoot or modularly re-use the software item in question.
This whine rates a 5? Give me a break. I've been using Unix for 1/2 the time as GP (since 1996), and the only unanswered questions I have are the ones I haven't researched yet. It's implausible to me that a "25-year UNIX veteran" doesn't have the slightest understanding of how to research the simplest of questions. Still doesn't know how init works? I might suggest that said poster stop posting on/. and start reading some of the excellent books (yes, as in dead trees) that are out there and are still relevant to the topic.
Most of the "lack of documentation" rant I attribute to laziness, not lack of documentation: Lack on the part of the complainers to get off their asses, stop relying on others to spoon-feed them the information they seek, and research the answers themselves.
...who have actually turned down Google's offer for a second interview. After they offered to fly me to Mountain View, I sat down and took a deep look at who I was, what I stood for, and whether my personal philosophies were compatible with Google's worldview. I decided that I could offer more to society through education than I could working for Google.
I don't regret the decision I made. As the years go by (this was about 2000 or so), I grow stronger in my conviction that it was the right choice as I watch Google's tendrils sneak into every aspect of society.
Since upgrading to new hardware, I've had issues with sound dropping out; these problems only occur for Myth, not for anything else.
Hallelujah! From the lack of responses to my post about this issue on the Mythbuntu forums, I thought I might be the only one experiencing this problem. No one has stepped forward to either acknowledge this problem or offer a fix, which is very frustrating: I've been using MythTV for several years, and was only recently forced to reinstall everything after my HD died. I've resisted the siren call of TiVO up to this point, and Windows is out of the question.
I've seem some PVRs at Fry's that claim to record to a HD. Are these not a viable option? They seem to come and go: Fry's had a Phillips PVR just a couple of months ago, but now I see it's no longer even listed in their online catalog. Is there some reason why HD-based PVRs appear to be so elusive?
...when someone shows me software that can edit PDFs seamlessly, and then export them to the file format of my choice. (Sorry, ImageMagick doesn't cut it.)
But even cooler is the Mobile Active Targeting Resource for Integrated eXperiments (MATRIX), a laser that is mounted on a truck (which probably costs less than a 747, but who knows) and that can shoot down small aircraft
Seems oxymoronic to me. I seen nothing "cool" about weapons of war. Necessary? Perhaps...but definitely not cool.
I keep an encrypted password file (several copies, actually) that I use with a GPG key. If GPG is good enough to general-use encryption, it's certainly good enough for your password needs.
Stop deluding yourself. By its very nature, DRM can never "work" in the favor of the consumer. It has zero benefit for the consumer, regardless of how one might sugarcoat its benefits (including statements such as it "works about as well as any.") It's a twisted mockery of the printed word, and any consumer who buys into this deserves what they get.
First it will be fraud sites. Then alleged copyright infringers. Then alleged porn peddlers. Then alleged left wing/right wing propagandists. Then any site deemed to be detrimental to the well-being of the Homeland.
And before you know it, the commercialization of the World Wide Web (a least from the viewpoint of a US citizen) will be complete.
Here's a message to Congress: Just stay the fuck out of my life.
...that is, introduce deliberate errors into their maps to detect copyright violations. Here's an example of an island that was simply "dropped" in the middle of a lake.
Most countries regulate amateur radio at a federal level, not a state level. So I wonder if these new laws implicitly exempt ham radio operation?
We have something similar in many states in the US in that it's illegal to operate a cellphone in a school zone. Again, I've never seen an exception to ham radio (federally-regulated in the US), so it would appear to me that regulations like these have no effect on federal mandates.
On an airplane, no less, with all the engine noise that entails
I actually find the drone of jet engines (and properly synced props) quite hypnotic, and can easily fall asleep to them (yes, while reading my book!). It's almost like white noise. It's the "out of band" noise that's the problem.
If they start looking into this, they might decide to not only ban laptops, but everything else that might have a lithium battery...
And where, exactly, is the problem with this? I long for the days of a relaxing flight that isn't marred by the clickety-click of a keyboard next to me, the horrendous sounds of Windows booting up, or the tinny whine of a pair of inferior earbuds hooked up to an iPod.
Yes, I'm serious: Ban everything, and force passengers to maybe, I don't know, read a book perhaps?
...is that I didn't even *know* I had this add-on installed until I saw a small pop-up advising me it had been disabled. This was on my iBook, BTW. I know that I never installed it myself (I have no use for.NET, especially on a Mac), but I cannot figure out how it was installed.
Worse yet: I can't even remove it, because the uninstall button has been disabled. Note to the Mozilla folks: Don't disable something and then prevent users from making it disappear.
"That could seriously damage the potential success of the firm's other 'cloud computing' plans, such as web-only editions of Office."
I can't tell whether this is spin put on the summary by the submitter or some other third-party (because we all know submitters are, absent any editorial constraints on/., free to post what they want without attribution). That said, it's highly unlikely Microsoft will suffer from this. Wisely, they offloaded all responsibility the moment they created this entity known as Danger. They've effectively washed their hands of the entire affair, because it wasn't really a Microsoft problem in the end, but a problem with an affiliated company.
It is simply wishful thinking on the part of the submitter (or whomever) that Microsoft will be tainted by this deal. In all likelihood, Microsoft will simply walk away from their relationship with Danger, and it will be business again as usual.
2009 - 1789 = 220, last I checked. Still, in this country, 220 years of precedents means something is pretty firmly entrenched in law.
Yes, despite my egregious math faux pas (as if none of *you* have ever screwed up a simple math problem), you have captured the point I was trying to make.
Since you seem to know, and I'm too lazy to hunt it down, where, precisely (article and section), in the US constitution is this "right" (I presume you really mean "power") given to the executive branch of the federal government?
Yes, you're right, "power" as opposed to "right."
Fourth Amendment...courts have ruled border searches (other than body/cavity searches, which still require a warrant) do not constitute illegal search and seizure.
IANAL, but the case law is out there for those who want to research it. Remember, Customs was created the same year as the Constitution was ratified (1789), so there's over 300 years' worth of precedent.
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I'm a Red Hat/Fedora user since Red Hat 4 (Slackware before that) and as a 25-year UNIX veteran, I often feel like I have no idea what's going on in (for example) the init process, X configuration, desktop management, app resources/configuration, etc. Where are the dotfiles located? Where are the /etc components? What are the command-line arguments? Where are the manual pages? What documentation does exist is generally in the awful "Help Tool" format (click Help -> Help Contents in an application window and get a lot of prose for beginners). This documentation typically offers NO INFORMATION beyond the navigation of the user interface for the application. Nothing on system resources, locations of configuration files, dependencies, APIs, command line arguments, or anything that would allow you to either troubleshoot or modularly re-use the software item in question.
This whine rates a 5? Give me a break. I've been using Unix for 1/2 the time as GP (since 1996), and the only unanswered questions I have are the ones I haven't researched yet. It's implausible to me that a "25-year UNIX veteran" doesn't have the slightest understanding of how to research the simplest of questions. Still doesn't know how init works? I might suggest that said poster stop posting on /. and start reading some of the excellent books (yes, as in dead trees) that are out there and are still relevant to the topic.
Most of the "lack of documentation" rant I attribute to laziness, not lack of documentation: Lack on the part of the complainers to get off their asses, stop relying on others to spoon-feed them the information they seek, and research the answers themselves.
...who have actually turned down Google's offer for a second interview. After they offered to fly me to Mountain View, I sat down and took a deep look at who I was, what I stood for, and whether my personal philosophies were compatible with Google's worldview. I decided that I could offer more to society through education than I could working for Google.
I don't regret the decision I made. As the years go by (this was about 2000 or so), I grow stronger in my conviction that it was the right choice as I watch Google's tendrils sneak into every aspect of society.
...and OpenNIC has no interest in maintaining records of your visits.
Google is beginning to get scary.
Since upgrading to new hardware, I've had issues with sound dropping out; these problems only occur for Myth, not for anything else.
Hallelujah! From the lack of responses to my post about this issue on the Mythbuntu forums, I thought I might be the only one experiencing this problem. No one has stepped forward to either acknowledge this problem or offer a fix, which is very frustrating: I've been using MythTV for several years, and was only recently forced to reinstall everything after my HD died. I've resisted the siren call of TiVO up to this point, and Windows is out of the question.
I've seem some PVRs at Fry's that claim to record to a HD. Are these not a viable option? They seem to come and go: Fry's had a Phillips PVR just a couple of months ago, but now I see it's no longer even listed in their online catalog. Is there some reason why HD-based PVRs appear to be so elusive?
As a person willing to drive to get what I want, I am saddened and dismayed that I cannot search within x miles.
Sure you can...
Nope, it looks like Microsoft has caved in as well. Try it now...no sign of the image. Pixsy, however, is still displaying it.
...when someone shows me software that can edit PDFs seamlessly, and then export them to the file format of my choice. (Sorry, ImageMagick doesn't cut it.)
Seems oxymoronic to me. I seen nothing "cool" about weapons of war. Necessary? Perhaps...but definitely not cool.
I'm not kidding...get it here.
I keep an encrypted password file (several copies, actually) that I use with a GPG key. If GPG is good enough to general-use encryption, it's certainly good enough for your password needs.
The Kindle DRM works about as well as any can (for eBooks).
The same Kindle that won't tell you how many times you can download a book you've bought? The same Kindle that can arbitrarily delete eBooks you've purchased?
Stop deluding yourself. By its very nature, DRM can never "work" in the favor of the consumer. It has zero benefit for the consumer, regardless of how one might sugarcoat its benefits (including statements such as it "works about as well as any.") It's a twisted mockery of the printed word, and any consumer who buys into this deserves what they get.
First it will be fraud sites. Then alleged copyright infringers. Then alleged porn peddlers. Then alleged left wing/right wing propagandists. Then any site deemed to be detrimental to the well-being of the Homeland.
And before you know it, the commercialization of the World Wide Web (a least from the viewpoint of a US citizen) will be complete.
Here's a message to Congress: Just stay the fuck out of my life.
...that is, introduce deliberate errors into their maps to detect copyright violations. Here's an example of an island that was simply "dropped" in the middle of a lake.
Most countries regulate amateur radio at a federal level, not a state level. So I wonder if these new laws implicitly exempt ham radio operation?
We have something similar in many states in the US in that it's illegal to operate a cellphone in a school zone. Again, I've never seen an exception to ham radio (federally-regulated in the US), so it would appear to me that regulations like these have no effect on federal mandates.
On an airplane, no less, with all the engine noise that entails
I actually find the drone of jet engines (and properly synced props) quite hypnotic, and can easily fall asleep to them (yes, while reading my book!). It's almost like white noise. It's the "out of band" noise that's the problem.
Really? You think that would work?
Well, it seemed to work fine during the first 60-70 years of commercial aviation...
Previous efforts have been much more enlightening and educational. I do recommend Columbine
Fortunately, accuracy isn't a requirement for enlightenment.
If they start looking into this, they might decide to not only ban laptops, but everything else that might have a lithium battery...
And where, exactly, is the problem with this? I long for the days of a relaxing flight that isn't marred by the clickety-click of a keyboard next to me, the horrendous sounds of Windows booting up, or the tinny whine of a pair of inferior earbuds hooked up to an iPod.
Yes, I'm serious: Ban everything, and force passengers to maybe, I don't know, read a book perhaps?
Thanks, that would explain it.
...is that I didn't even *know* I had this add-on installed until I saw a small pop-up advising me it had been disabled. This was on my iBook, BTW. I know that I never installed it myself (I have no use for .NET, especially on a Mac), but I cannot figure out how it was installed.
Worse yet: I can't even remove it, because the uninstall button has been disabled. Note to the Mozilla folks: Don't disable something and then prevent users from making it disappear.
Dr. Wheeler would probably beg to differ.
"That could seriously damage the potential success of the firm's other 'cloud computing' plans, such as web-only editions of Office."
I can't tell whether this is spin put on the summary by the submitter or some other third-party (because we all know submitters are, absent any editorial constraints on /., free to post what they want without attribution). That said, it's highly unlikely Microsoft will suffer from this. Wisely, they offloaded all responsibility the moment they created this entity known as Danger. They've effectively washed their hands of the entire affair, because it wasn't really a Microsoft problem in the end, but a problem with an affiliated company.
It is simply wishful thinking on the part of the submitter (or whomever) that Microsoft will be tainted by this deal. In all likelihood, Microsoft will simply walk away from their relationship with Danger, and it will be business again as usual.
And what happens if your phone has been stolen *and* your login compromised?
I seem to be the only person here who doesn't get this "poking" business. In more ways than one, it would seem.
Yes, despite my egregious math faux pas (as if none of *you* have ever screwed up a simple math problem), you have captured the point I was trying to make.
Yes, you're right, "power" as opposed to "right."
Fourth Amendment...courts have ruled border searches (other than body/cavity searches, which still require a warrant) do not constitute illegal search and seizure.
IANAL, but the case law is out there for those who want to research it. Remember, Customs was created the same year as the Constitution was ratified (1789), so there's over 300 years' worth of precedent.