As a side note, if you use '-g', make sure you have iptables/ipchains/hosts.{allow|deny} rulesets enabled to make sure that only authorized machines can use the gateway.
This is an EXCELLENT POINT that CANNOT BE OVEREMPHASIZED.
I recently had to set up tunnels to allow a set of NAT'd workstations (laptops runnin a mix of Linux and W2K) access a system on the inside of a remote firewall where SSH was the only available securable protocol. We needed to use the "-g" switch, and the need for filtering access was immediately apparent.
We ended up using a set of scripts to build the tunnel, including the necessary iptables rules.
As an aside, I'd check if hosts.allow|deny rules are sufficient - I think the ssh tunnel would make all connections appear to be coming from the host running the tunnel. (Can't check for myself right now)
"Don't assume the light bulbs are the only thing drawing power from the batteries. That's a large box and can hold plenty of other electronic apperatus" - like some BIG deep-cycle batteries and inverters.
"The machine could be drawing power from ambient heat, various radiation, or even chemical reactions with air/water/gasses." - Ambient heat? Look for frost. Radiation? Go look up the solar constant? See any p-v cells or heat exchangers? Neither did I. Chemical reactions - with what?
"This probably is a hoax" - it is.
"Even if(though) it's not creating power from nothing, it could still be a viable power source" - it is - look how much energy this one story released on/.!
The onus is on the inventors to prove their claims, not on us to accept them.
Spent about 12 years in that business, then used the IT skills I learned to move to the commercial side. Having a higher level clearance (TS or poly/lifestyle) REALLY helps.
There are different types of contractors - some build/code stuff, some advise the program offices that buy the stuff other contractors make, some help the government operate the stuff they've bought. My experience was in the second group, the "support contractors". There are many IT jobs in the 3rd group (operating contractors, sometimes also called support contractors, depends on the agency)
Since we didn't "officially" build anything, much of our work was writing reports, making presentations ("viewgraph engineering"), etc. On one project, however, we wound up developing and running a substantial web-based information system (yes, we used linux for some of it). A.com person would have felt at home (and it did become the youngest and most civilian-background group on the contractor team).
I got bored and left for a real.com. Now working for yet another commercial firm.
In the meanwhile, the project is STILL going strong. People who were working on it in 1985 (when I joined it) are STILL THERE. So as long as your employer wins the contract renewals (or the customer INSISTS the new contractor take you on - it happens), there's job security, as long as politics (it was a high-visibility program and a political target) doesn't kiil it. Many projects do take on aspects of jobs programs, the job security follows. Helps if your Senator is a committee chairperson.
Breaking in - it helps if you speak the language. There are a lot of TLAs, processes to learn, the way of doing business is DIFFERENT. Not always good, not always bad, but DIFFERENT.
Having a clearance helps, it was less important when the job market was tight.
At least up here in NoVA (Northern Virginia, the DC suburbs), the big issues in local elections are traffic, schools, crime. Taxes are always a factor, especially if it involves shipping $$ to Richmond and not getting as much back in roads, schools, etc...
In your case, there MIGHT be a campaign issue involving the "efficiency" of city government, espcially if there's a program to "wire" the city or get city departments "on line". Without knowing the politics in Charlottesville, I will assume it is not a burning issue. (It took Marion Barry YEARS to make government incompetance an issue in DC - by causing much of it - and it's STILL far from being fixed). Schools? You might have computers in the classroom issues, or the town/gown deal with UVA, but I expect just getting a "passing" grade on the state Standards of Learning exams are a big enough deal.
Sure, you can work open source software into elements of the campaign, but it isn't going to get you elected. Or understood.
[semi relevant factoid: The Al Gore presidential campaign web site ran on linux and used open source software throughout (apache, php, mysql...). Did anyone care? The campaign did - it saved them $$ and worked better than W's big $$ Dell cluster running ASP. Did it help the campaign - yes, for raising money and building "community". Did it make a difference in winning or losing the election? IMHO, not a bit.]
Business Software Alliance. The folks who get the US Marshals to conduct raids of companies AND CITY GOVERNMENTS that didn't pay their required license fees. Or at least didn't conduct the 100% compliance audit they were expected to conduct.
On topic: Using "free" (beer or speech) software may reduce costs associated with license fees and audits.
Get your facts straight re: Israeli population
on
The Drone War
·
· Score: 2
You said: "Nearly half the population of Israel is Palestinian. How much voting power do those folks have? Nearly zero."
More like 1/6 the population of Israel is Arab. They vote. They have representatives in the Kenesset (some of whom bastardize their position by calling for Israel's destruction, but that's my opinion). It's not a perfect situation by far (social and economic discrimination), but they're better-off than 99% of the "Arab" world and can work to change things PEACFULLY. Those who chose to riot last year are getting what they deserve.
The so-called "Palestinians" are the Arabs who fled the fighting when Israel declared its statehood and the Arabs decided to destroy them. They have been kept in PERMANENT refugee status by these same Arab "brothers". They've also been fed lies for years about the "theft of their land". I could go on, but we're suppossed to flogging Katz, not the current war on Israel.
(and you're right about every faith having their extremists. Kahane could have held his own with the ayatollas. And the Zealots of 2,000 years ago make the Taliban look like whimps)
NEVER EVER provide information that is documented false. Especially on resumes and applications. Most employers can terminate you immediately for cause for any false or misleading information you submit. Even something as simple as a birthdate.
HR will know, anyway. In the US at least, you have to show proof of citizenship and if you use a birth certificate, they know your age. And you have to supply a birthdate for insurance, 401k enrollment, lots of things.
But you can be vauge (on a resume, leave dates off key events, like college graduation). Appear and act "older" than you are and most people will assume you are as you appear and act. When the "truth" does come out, you will already have established a positive reputation for your maturity.
Unfortuantely for you, there are few laws regarding age discrimination for people under 40.
Heh. I once attended an HR-sponsored meeting for managers and other "senior" (me) staff. The HR guy noted that I was the ONLY person in the room who did NOT fall into one of the "protected" categories (I was not female,a racial minority, over 50, disabled, or a veteran). The company was mostly retired military, therefore I was perpetually the "youngster" as well as the "token civilian". Fortunately, I showed the same work ethic the military guys did, let the retired Colonels handle the politics, had a name-brand college degree and experience and enough smarts in the IT area to be valuable to them. I was already much older than the original poster, and had an excellent track record with the senior managers, so there were no questions about my "maturity" from within the company. Plenty from the other contractors we worked with, but that's one reason we had the retired colonels around - "flak supression" (esp. the retired F-4 driver).
Point is, you MUST understand and play the politics. Which comes with experience; few people are fortunate to have been born with the skill. If your boss wants you out badly enough, he or she will succeeed. With the exception of union jobs, most of us are "employees at will" and can be terminated for almost any reason with minimal recourse.
Unless this is a "to die for" job (I doubt it), take this as a warning and start looking for a better gig. Proving any form of employment discrimination is extremly difficult, even in cases of egregious behavior by the employer. If the apparent reason is your age, proving discrimination in a legal sense is almost impossible - age/experience CAN be used as a bonifide occupational qualification.
The choice is not using a different company. The decision is use broadband from THE company servicing your community under THEIR terms or revert to dial-up service.
*IF* you're lucky, you can "choose" between the monopoly cable company's service and the monopoly phone company's service. If you are REALLY lucky, you can get DSL from a CLEC or COVAD reseller. If you are insanely fortunate, you can get wireless service or your buddy next door has a T-1 you can tap into.
I live a few miles from AOL, mci/worldcom/uunet, and many other MAJOR data centers. Yet *my* choices are: Cable modem, overpriced IDSL service, ISDN, or modem. People living in spitting distance of the main MCI center can't even get my limited selection.
There is no choice, the broadband providers are well aware of that fact, and they are determined to keep it that way.
Dear Valued OmniSky Customer, Today we announced that OmniSky has agreed to sell its subscriber base and key technology assets to Atlanta-based EarthLink, a leading Internet service provider.
Omnisky service has never been available in Atlanta. That's BellSouth territory, and they've never allowed CPDP access in there (at least to competitors)
but I agree coverage in NoVA, at least for ATT and Nortel, sucks with holes and drop-outs in the damndest places. (Like Tyson's Corner, a MAJOR office and retail development area that's basically an "edge city", or areas in sight of AOL and MCI Worldcomm.) I'm sure, however, that the coverage near congressional and FCC staffers overseeing the cellular industry is first-rate.
I think MS Word interoperability is perhaps the single most important barrier limiting companies from changing to Linux. Other Office products such as MS Excel and MS Powerpoint are also important.
Desktop office applications are a noticable but small part of "the Enterprise" and NOT the main point of the original article.
"Enterprise" usually refers to the core applications running in the corporate data center. Inventory, payroll, order processing. Applications where downtime costs $$/minute. Applications where "No application"=="No business".
Linux is making gains in these areas. The adoption rate appears slow because
It is slow. "Bet the company" decisions are always slow. Implementation is slow. Anyone remember how long it took Windows NT to break into corporate data centers? (Many would argue it still isn't ready)
Companies don't always consider what is a "mission critical" application. Areas where Linux excels - web, mail, dns, and many other RFC-based services, for example - may not be viewed as "critical". At least until the boss wants to know why the corporate web site is down (nmida) or the email system is hosed (badtrans). Then we get something like the Giga Group recommendation to use anything but IIS.
Companies see this as a competitive advantage and do not want to discuss it. The big NYC financial firms are a good example.
Consulting firms need more linux experience. Many enterprise customers rely on the IT consulting arms of the big system integrators and consulting firms. If these outfits push something other than Linux, something other than Linux gets proposed. Do they get incentives from MS, Sun, IBM, HP, CPQ...? Maybe. Anyone pushing Linux like that? Not yet.
CIOs don't always know what's running. I've come across repeated examples where the top managers swear "Linux isn't allowed" but there are stealth, pilot, and production deployments all over the shop. The file sharing and print system runs Samba on Linux and "just works" (and isn't considered "enterprise" until a key document is needed).
Penetration of Linux could still be better, of course. We need better support from enterprise management and backup systems. We need more "mind share". This article helps.
Desktops remain a problem. Out of sight, out of mind. Windows is in everyone's face every day.
Go to the SonicBlue on-line store and click on the "Rio" link on the navigation bar. It's about 1/2-way down the page. FWIW the version with the PNA support is $199.95.
And prior to that on the AMSAT Microsats (AO-16, DO-17, WO-18, LU-19), IO-26, AO-27, the two Univ of Mexico satellites, and probably a few other university and amateur satellite projects.
It's a simple and effective technique well-known in the amateur satellite community.
PCSAT works. "Survivable"? That depends. The core of the spacecraft electronics are two off-the-shelf Kantronics TNCs. They have reset a few times, and I have no idea if the ROMs were replaced with rad-hard units or not. Time will tell how well they hold up in the space radiation and thermal environment.
There are a number of successful amateur spacecraft using commercial chips and RF components. All operate in LEO where they receive some radiation protection from the Earth's magnetic field.
NASA using similar components and design techniques in a low cost LEO mission may make sense. The same techniques in a high-risk or deep space mission would be foolhardy.
Hams and researchers have been using the material used in tape measures (including sometimes using tape measures from the local hardware store) since at least the AMSAT Microsats (1991, IIRC).
For low gain end-fed whips and dipoles for HF up to 70cm, they make great antennas - self deploying, keep the correct shape, and CHEAP.
NASA has used similar materials WHERE IT IS APPROPRIATE. I would not, for example, use a tape measure dipole for an S-band system for high data-rate communications from Mars. I might use it as a UHF ground-link antenna on a surface rover.
My kids still prefer building free-form objects with legos over the kits (my son will build the kit, then after it begins to fall apart - they PLAY with it, after all - use the "special" pieces to make more interesting things himself).
One of the BIG advantages of Legos is they require less manual dexterity than traditional models, while allowing greater creativity. Kids gravitate to that. OK, marketeers and the toy store buyers who decide what goes on the shelves DON'T. That doesn't make LEGO themselves "obsolete", Just harder to get into the stores.
Wash DC TV reported for several hours rumours of bombings at State Dept and other sites that were FALSE.
National TV showed virtually NO pictures of the "celebrations" in Gaza, West Bank, and other locations. And since there were no pictures, they didn't discuss WHY videos had been supressed. (Or why they're being surpressed again by the Palestinian Authority)
Consider this: How many times have you watched TV coverage of a subject you know and understand and you find yourself thinking "they're getting it wrong, that's false, they're missing it,..."?
Now think about their coverage of things you know little to nothing about.
Mass Market TV exists to sell airtime to advertisers based on estimates of the number viewers and their demographics. The news departments are under great pressure to attract viewers and their coverage reflects this. (Even small things like leaving the weather until almost the end of the 10:00 or 11:00 PM news shows.)
IF you are prepared to do your own digging and think about what you read, the Net is FAR superior to TV news. Especially for stories that require some background, require thinking about details, or lack captivating images.
Forecasters at NWS in Suiteland, MD, have *nix boxes all over the place for figuring out what tommorrow and next week and next season may be like. Many of the forecasters are linux-saavy.
NOAA has the big beowulf clusters in Colorado that are used for running weather simulations and forecast models.
The NWS shop in Minnesota that forecasts snowpack and runoff for the Mississippi River basin (flood and river level predictions) has at least one linux beowulf cluster I know of.
Yes, they have a lot of macs there - mostly used by admins and medical researchers who need easy to use desktop office systems.
Plenty of Unix and Linux workstations around. (I have seen a few VA Linux 3500s - Quad CPU Xeon boxes) being used as "deskside" workstations for some heavy-duty medical imaging work. Also Dell's, more VA workstations (when they still sold them), etc.
There are also several beowulf clusters on the campus - running linux, of course.
Most important of all - the DC Linux Users Group meets there! (How's THAT for Linux support)
Many people may have held off upgrading because Office 97 does everything they need. MS states in their bulleting that Office 97 is an unsupported product. So to get "support" for any fixes to this bug, they must buy Office XP now. (and then download the patch.)
Furthermore, petroleum-based fuels are near-ideal for general-purpose transportation. They are relatively easy to handle, liquid at typical storage temperatures, easily vaporized for combustion, and provide excellent engery density by volume and system weight in real applications.
The exception is space flight, where some missions simply require the delta-v cryogenic hydrogen-oxygen fuel can provide.
A better long-term energy policy would be to move fixed-location energy usage (electricity generation, heating, industrial processes) away from petroleum-based fuels, where the the handling, volume, and energy density problems are easier to solve. Using liquid petroleum-based fuels for transportation and chemicals wouldn't address the WTC attacks, but it WOULD reduce the potential weapon certain oil-producing countries have over the rest of the world.
Slashdot Mirror
NOVA QRP Club (http://www.novaqrp.org) will be at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, VA.
Sterling Park Amatuer Radio Club (SPARC) at one of the middle/high schools in Sterling, VA.
73
KS1G
This is an EXCELLENT POINT that CANNOT BE OVEREMPHASIZED.
I recently had to set up tunnels to allow a set of NAT'd workstations (laptops runnin a mix of Linux and W2K) access a system on the inside of a remote firewall where SSH was the only available securable protocol. We needed to use the "-g" switch, and the need for filtering access was immediately apparent.
We ended up using a set of scripts to build the tunnel, including the necessary iptables rules.
As an aside, I'd check if hosts.allow|deny rules are sufficient - I think the ssh tunnel would make all connections appear to be coming from the host running the tunnel. (Can't check for myself right now)
to show the hog's being bathed,
/.!
"Don't assume the light bulbs are the only thing drawing power from the batteries. That's a large box and can hold plenty of other electronic apperatus" - like some BIG deep-cycle batteries and inverters.
"The machine could be drawing power from ambient heat, various radiation, or even chemical reactions with air/water/gasses." - Ambient heat? Look for frost. Radiation? Go look up the solar constant? See any p-v cells or heat exchangers? Neither did I. Chemical reactions - with what?
"This probably is a hoax" - it is.
"Even if(though) it's not creating power from nothing, it could still be a viable power source" - it is - look how much energy this one story released on
The onus is on the inventors to prove their claims, not on us to accept them.
Spent about 12 years in that business, then used the IT skills I learned to move to the commercial side. Having a higher level clearance (TS or poly/lifestyle) REALLY helps.
.com person would have felt at home (and it did become the youngest and most civilian-background group on the contractor team).
.com. Now working for yet another commercial firm.
There are different types of contractors - some build/code stuff, some advise the program offices that buy the stuff other contractors make, some help the government operate the stuff they've bought. My experience was in the second group, the "support contractors". There are many IT jobs in the 3rd group (operating contractors, sometimes also called support contractors, depends on the agency)
Since we didn't "officially" build anything, much of our work was writing reports, making presentations ("viewgraph engineering"), etc. On one project, however, we wound up developing and running a substantial web-based information system (yes, we used linux for some of it). A
I got bored and left for a real
In the meanwhile, the project is STILL going strong. People who were working on it in 1985 (when I joined it) are STILL THERE. So as long as your employer wins the contract renewals (or the customer INSISTS the new contractor take you on - it happens), there's job security, as long as politics (it was a high-visibility program and a political target) doesn't kiil it. Many projects do take on aspects of jobs programs, the job security follows. Helps if your Senator is a committee chairperson.
Breaking in - it helps if you speak the language. There are a lot of TLAs, processes to learn, the way of doing business is DIFFERENT. Not always good, not always bad, but DIFFERENT.
Having a clearance helps, it was less important when the job market was tight.
At least up here in NoVA (Northern Virginia, the DC suburbs), the big issues in local elections are traffic, schools, crime. Taxes are always a factor, especially if it involves shipping $$ to Richmond and not getting as much back in roads, schools, etc...
In your case, there MIGHT be a campaign issue involving the "efficiency" of city government, espcially if there's a program to "wire" the city or get city departments "on line". Without knowing the politics in Charlottesville, I will assume it is not a burning issue. (It took Marion Barry YEARS to make government incompetance an issue in DC - by causing much of it - and it's STILL far from being fixed). Schools? You might have computers in the classroom issues, or the town/gown deal with UVA, but I expect just getting a "passing" grade on the state Standards of Learning exams are a big enough deal.
Sure, you can work open source software into elements of the campaign, but it isn't going to get you elected. Or understood.
[semi relevant factoid: The Al Gore presidential campaign web site ran on linux and used open source software throughout (apache, php, mysql...). Did anyone care? The campaign did - it saved them $$ and worked better than W's big $$ Dell cluster running ASP. Did it help the campaign - yes, for raising money and building "community". Did it make a difference in winning or losing the election? IMHO, not a bit.]
Business Software Alliance. The folks who get the US Marshals to conduct raids of companies AND CITY GOVERNMENTS that didn't pay their required license fees. Or at least didn't conduct the 100% compliance audit they were expected to conduct.
On topic: Using "free" (beer or speech) software may reduce costs associated with license fees and audits.
You said: "Nearly half the population of Israel is Palestinian. How much voting power do those folks have? Nearly zero."
More like 1/6 the population of Israel is Arab. They vote. They have representatives in the Kenesset (some of whom bastardize their position by calling for Israel's destruction, but that's my opinion). It's not a perfect situation by far (social and economic discrimination), but they're better-off than 99% of the "Arab" world and can work to change things PEACFULLY. Those who chose to riot last year are getting what they deserve.
The so-called "Palestinians" are the Arabs who fled the fighting when Israel declared its statehood and the Arabs decided to destroy them. They have been kept in PERMANENT refugee status by these same Arab "brothers". They've also been fed lies for years about the "theft of their land". I could go on, but we're suppossed to flogging Katz, not the current war on Israel.
(and you're right about every faith having their extremists. Kahane could have held his own with the ayatollas. And the Zealots of 2,000 years ago make the Taliban look like whimps)
Lie about your age.
NEVER EVER provide information that is documented false. Especially on resumes and applications. Most employers can terminate you immediately for cause for any false or misleading information you submit. Even something as simple as a birthdate.
HR will know, anyway. In the US at least, you have to show proof of citizenship and if you use a birth certificate, they know your age. And you have to supply a birthdate for insurance, 401k enrollment, lots of things.
But you can be vauge (on a resume, leave dates off key events, like college graduation). Appear and act "older" than you are and most people will assume you are as you appear and act. When the "truth" does come out, you will already have established a positive reputation for your maturity.
Heh. I once attended an HR-sponsored meeting for managers and other "senior" (me) staff. The HR guy noted that I was the ONLY person in the room who did NOT fall into one of the "protected" categories (I was not female,a racial minority, over 50, disabled, or a veteran). The company was mostly retired military, therefore I was perpetually the "youngster" as well as the "token civilian". Fortunately, I showed the same work ethic the military guys did, let the retired Colonels handle the politics, had a name-brand college degree and experience and enough smarts in the IT area to be valuable to them. I was already much older than the original poster, and had an excellent track record with the senior managers, so there were no questions about my "maturity" from within the company. Plenty from the other contractors we worked with, but that's one reason we had the retired colonels around - "flak supression" (esp. the retired F-4 driver).
Point is, you MUST understand and play the politics. Which comes with experience; few people are fortunate to have been born with the skill. If your boss wants you out badly enough, he or she will succeeed. With the exception of union jobs, most of us are "employees at will" and can be terminated for almost any reason with minimal recourse.
Unless this is a "to die for" job (I doubt it), take this as a warning and start looking for a better gig. Proving any form of employment discrimination is extremly difficult, even in cases of egregious behavior by the employer. If the apparent reason is your age, proving discrimination in a legal sense is almost impossible - age/experience CAN be used as a bonifide occupational qualification.
Start looking - NOW.
The choice is not using a different company. The decision is use broadband from THE company servicing your community under THEIR terms or revert to dial-up service.
*IF* you're lucky, you can "choose" between the monopoly cable company's service and the monopoly phone company's service. If you are REALLY lucky, you can get DSL from a CLEC or COVAD reseller. If you are insanely fortunate, you can get wireless service or your buddy next door has a T-1 you can tap into.
I live a few miles from AOL, mci/worldcom/uunet, and many other MAJOR data centers. Yet *my* choices are: Cable modem, overpriced IDSL service, ISDN, or modem. People living in spitting distance of the main MCI center can't even get my limited selection.
There is no choice, the broadband providers are well aware of that fact, and they are determined to keep it that way.
Omnisky service has never been available in Atlanta. That's BellSouth territory, and they've never allowed CPDP access in there (at least to competitors)
but I agree coverage in NoVA, at least for ATT and Nortel, sucks with holes and drop-outs in the damndest places. (Like Tyson's Corner, a MAJOR office and retail development area that's basically an "edge city", or areas in sight of AOL and MCI Worldcomm.) I'm sure, however, that the coverage near congressional and FCC staffers overseeing the cellular industry is first-rate.
Desktop office applications are a noticable but small part of "the Enterprise" and NOT the main point of the original article.
"Enterprise" usually refers to the core applications running in the corporate data center. Inventory, payroll, order processing. Applications where downtime costs $$/minute. Applications where "No application"=="No business".
Linux is making gains in these areas. The adoption rate appears slow because
Penetration of Linux could still be better, of course. We need better support from enterprise management and backup systems. We need more "mind share". This article helps.
Desktops remain a problem. Out of sight, out of mind. Windows is in everyone's face every day.
Go to the SonicBlue on-line store and click on the "Rio" link on the navigation bar. It's about 1/2-way down the page. FWIW the version with the PNA support is $199.95.
And prior to that on the AMSAT Microsats (AO-16, DO-17, WO-18, LU-19), IO-26, AO-27, the two Univ of Mexico satellites, and probably a few other university and amateur satellite projects.
It's a simple and effective technique well-known in the amateur satellite community.
PCSAT works. "Survivable"? That depends. The core of the spacecraft electronics are two off-the-shelf Kantronics TNCs. They have reset a few times, and I have no idea if the ROMs were replaced with rad-hard units or not. Time will tell how well they hold up in the space radiation and thermal environment.
There are a number of successful amateur spacecraft using commercial chips and RF components. All operate in LEO where they receive some radiation protection from the Earth's magnetic field.
NASA using similar components and design techniques in a low cost LEO mission may make sense. The same techniques in a high-risk or deep space mission would be foolhardy.
Hams and researchers have been using the material used in tape measures (including sometimes using tape measures from the local hardware store) since at least the AMSAT Microsats (1991, IIRC).
For low gain end-fed whips and dipoles for HF up to 70cm, they make great antennas - self deploying, keep the correct shape, and CHEAP.
NASA has used similar materials WHERE IT IS APPROPRIATE. I would not, for example, use a tape measure dipole for an S-band system for high data-rate communications from Mars. I might use it as a UHF ground-link antenna on a surface rover.
Robert Heinlein said it best:
"When ID's are mandatory, it is time to leave the planet."
My kids still prefer building free-form objects with legos over the kits (my son will build the kit, then after it begins to fall apart - they PLAY with it, after all - use the "special" pieces to make more interesting things himself).
One of the BIG advantages of Legos is they require less manual dexterity than traditional models, while allowing greater creativity. Kids gravitate to that. OK, marketeers and the toy store buyers who decide what goes on the shelves DON'T. That doesn't make LEGO themselves "obsolete", Just harder to get into the stores.
Wash DC TV reported for several hours rumours of bombings at State Dept and other sites that were FALSE.
National TV showed virtually NO pictures of the "celebrations" in Gaza, West Bank, and other locations. And since there were no pictures, they didn't discuss WHY videos had been supressed. (Or why they're being surpressed again by the Palestinian Authority)
Consider this: How many times have you watched TV coverage of a subject you know and understand and you find yourself thinking "they're getting it wrong, that's false, they're missing it,..."?
Now think about their coverage of things you know little to nothing about.
Mass Market TV exists to sell airtime to advertisers based on estimates of the number viewers and their demographics. The news departments are under great pressure to attract viewers and their coverage reflects this. (Even small things like leaving the weather until almost the end of the 10:00 or 11:00 PM news shows.)
IF you are prepared to do your own digging and think about what you read, the Net is FAR superior to TV news. Especially for stories that require some background, require thinking about details, or lack captivating images.
Still plenty of unix at GSFC after all these years.
Lots of Linux and *nix at NASA Langley, too.
Since no one has mentioned them....
Forecasters at NWS in Suiteland, MD, have *nix boxes all over the place for figuring out what tommorrow and next week and next season may be like. Many of the forecasters are linux-saavy.
NOAA has the big beowulf clusters in Colorado that are used for running weather simulations and forecast models.
The NWS shop in Minnesota that forecasts snowpack and runoff for the Mississippi River basin (flood and river level predictions) has at least one linux beowulf cluster I know of.
Yes, they have a lot of macs there - mostly used by admins and medical researchers who need easy to use desktop office systems.
Plenty of Unix and Linux workstations around. (I have seen a few VA Linux 3500s - Quad CPU Xeon boxes) being used as "deskside" workstations for some heavy-duty medical imaging work. Also Dell's, more VA workstations (when they still sold them), etc.
There are also several beowulf clusters on the campus - running linux, of course.
Most important of all - the DC Linux Users Group meets there! (How's THAT for Linux support)
Many people may have held off upgrading because Office 97 does everything they need. MS states in their bulleting that Office 97 is an unsupported product. So to get "support" for any fixes to this bug, they must buy Office XP now. (and then download the patch.)
Correct! (so why post anonymously?)
Furthermore, petroleum-based fuels are near-ideal for general-purpose transportation. They are relatively easy to handle, liquid at typical storage temperatures, easily vaporized for combustion, and provide excellent engery density by volume and system weight in real applications.
The exception is space flight, where some missions simply require the delta-v cryogenic hydrogen-oxygen fuel can provide.
A better long-term energy policy would be to move fixed-location energy usage (electricity generation, heating, industrial processes) away from petroleum-based fuels, where the the handling, volume, and energy density problems are easier to solve. Using liquid petroleum-based fuels for transportation and chemicals wouldn't address the WTC attacks, but it WOULD reduce the potential weapon certain oil-producing countries have over the rest of the world.